Phonetic Alphabet

It is really important to be able toPhonetic Alphabet spell out something so others can understand you.  That is why the military uses the following words to make letters understandable.  Many letters in our alphabet sound similar, like “D” and “T” and “C” and “E” and “Z”,  but they don’t sound at all alike when you say DELTA and TANGO and CHARLIE and ECHO and ZEBRA.  Believe it or not, many people who work in offices use these on a regular basis to spell out things like e-mail address and when booking travel itineraries.

I shouldn’t laugh but just today I overheard someone spelling out a word and she said “Iguana” for the letter “I”.  Of course, the person on the other end ddidn’t even know what letter “Iguana” started with so there was a bit of confusion.  It sure would have been easier if she used the International Alphabet.  Give the International Alphabet a try while spelling out your name.

Morse Code

Radio Telegraph

Every kid should know a little about Morse code. This language was devised so that messages could be sent using a Telegraph machine. You see, long before there were phones, people would send messages using a machine called a Telegraph which could make only two sounds: a short beep, which they called a dot, and a long beep which they called a dash. By using these two sounds in sequence, they communicated using Morse code. You can, too.

Morse Code

The absolutely, positively most important thing to know in Morse code is S.O.S. If you learn nothing else, you should learn these two letters. This is critical information for every kid and every Adult. Dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot. If you are tapping it to someone it’s three short taps, pause, three long taps, pause, three short taps. Go on and give it a try. This has become the international symbol for help.
A good game to play is hangman using Morse code. Yes it’s difficult but it’s fun and good practice. Give it a try and see how much fun it can be.