9.5 yr old still confuses script zayin & gimel when writing.

amother

Aquamarine

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 11:04 am

Is this normal? Any tips that can help differentiate them?

amother

Blonde

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 11:07 am

Does the child speak Yiddish?
Have them write the word "zayg" (vase). Show them how the picture of a vase is made from those letters.

Every time they need to remember, they should think of or write zayg.

amother

Mustard

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 11:09 am

I confused them till age 15 at least, and I have fluent Hebrew!
Till this day I sometimes need to stop for a moment and think.
My tip, which works for me: the zayin is almost the number 5, just missing the top line.

Rappel

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 11:11 am

I did something similar. Some kind of visual trick helped me differentiate until it became automatic - I don't remember what

amother

Cyan

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 11:51 am

The trick that helped me is that the print Gimmel is facing the script Gimmel. (If that doesn't make sense, write them next to each other.) I still sometimes need to stop and think.

hodeez

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 11:52 am

Had the same issue. What helped me is that gimmel and C are both the 3rd letters in their respective alphabets, and they both have the opening on the right side

NewMom36

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 12:01 pm

Gimel looks similar to a G and they both make the same sound

mishpacha1

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 12:03 pm

I was taught Gimel goes in the direction of C, and there both third letter...I remember for years air tracing a b c till I remembered which direction it went.
But I think its totally normal, it honestly is very confusing for a 9.5 year old.

amother

Salmon

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 12:23 pm

mishpacha1 wrote:

I taught that this year to my second grader.
She writes a,b,c on tho of her papers, and then knows that gimmel is the third (we said a,b,c,alef,bais,funnel a few times) and inn the same direction as third of alphabet, c.

Good that helps!!

amother

Forestgreen

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 12:29 pm

amother wrote:

Is this normal? Any tips that can help differentiate them?

Perfectly normal. I did that as well.

sweet

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 12:34 pm

amother wrote:

I like this idea, never heard of it.

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 12:34 pm

Does your child mix up "p" and "q" in English? Can he reliably print a lower-case "g?" If the answers are "no" and "yes" respectively, show him that if you extend the vertical line of the gimmel you can turn it into a "g."

amother

Floralwhite

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 4:05 pm

For letter b: first comes his back and then comes his belly
For letter d: the letter c walks into a door

MadameX

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 4:30 pm

I have a tip that is similar to the yiddish one from above, only mine is in Hebrew.
The Hebrew word for "friends who are not speaking to each other due to a fight/argument" is called "Brogez". When you spell it out, it looks like the Gimmel and the Zayin have their backs to each other lol
I still use this tip till today

ra_mom

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 4:56 pm

amother wrote:

For letter b: first comes his back and then comes his belly
For letter d: the letter c walks into a door

Thank you for this! Hug

My little one confuses b and d and everyone keeps suggesting the bed trick but that one just confuses her more.
These tricks are simple and clear - thanks!

Rachel Shira

Thu, Feb 21 2019, 5:07 pm

A trick I learned for zayin and gimmel is that gammal in Hebrew is a camel, and the gimmel goes in the direction of a c.

avital613

Fri, Feb 22 2019, 8:55 pm

sounds pretty normal to me, personally I confused the two until high school, and even today when I am writing quickly I still occasionally accidentally switch them. the trick that hellped me remember is that the "smaller/younger" gimmel faces backwards (like a child looking for support) and the "bigger/older" zian confidently marches forward

renslet

Sat, Feb 23 2019, 6:22 pm

Totally normal, I've taught for over twenty years and I still have to think a second before writing on the board. I also have a problem with directions (right and left). I've been told it's a form of dyslexia but the gimmel zayin confusion never really affected me