Read naYana
Curated English passages rendered in naYana spelling, paragraph-by-paragraph alongside the original. Toggle the view to read in either script alone, or keep both side-by-side as a reading trainer.
Passages
Returning Time to the Reader — opening
riːdɪŋ ɪz ðə moust kɑːnsəntreitəd fɔːrm əv ətɛnʃən hyuːmənz rɛgyələrliː pɚfɔːrm…
Aesop — The North Wind and the Sun
ðə nɔːrθ wɪnd ən ðə sʌn wɝ dɪspyuːtɪŋ wɪtʃ wəz ðə stroŋgɝ…
Lincoln — Gettysburg Address (extract)
fɔːr skɔːr ən sɛvən yɪrz əgou aur fɑːðɚz brɔːt fɔːrθ on ðɪs kɑːntənənt…
BBC headline — sample news
[placeholder — short modern English news extract]
Recipe — simple bread
[placeholder — bread recipe in naYana]
Returning Time to the Reader — opening
Reading is the most concentrated form of attention humans regularly perform. It is also the activity our writing system makes hardest. We spell wonder as if it were rhymed with wander.
riːdɪŋ ɪz ðə moust kɑːnsəntreitəd fɔːrm əv ətɛnʃən hyuːmənz rɛgyələrliː pɚfɔːrm. ɪt ɪz ɔːlsou ðə æktɪvətiː aur raitɪŋ sɪstəm meiks hɑːrdəst. wiː spɛl wʌndɚ æz ɪf ɪt wɝ raimd wɪð wɑːndɚ.
A child who is "learning to read" is, almost entirely, learning to decode the orthographic ambiguities of English. The cognitive load of that work is huge, and it is concentrated in the years when the brain is most plastic — and most easily discouraged.
ə tʃaild huː ɪz "lɝnɪŋ tə riːd" ɪz, ɔːlmoust ɛntairliː, lɝnɪŋ tə diːkoud ðə ɔːrθəgræfɪk æmbɪgyuːətiːz əv ɪŋlɪʃ. ðə kɑːgnətɪv loud əv ðæt wɝk ɪz hyuːdʒ, ən ɪt ɪz kɑːnsəntreitəd ɪn ðə yɪrz wɛn ðə brein ɪz moust plæstɪk — ən moust iːzəliː dɪskɝɪdʒd.