WHEN IS "w" A VOWEL

It is in fact a vowel.
"A, E, I, O, U, Y, and sometimes W."

Was the rhyme as I remember it.

My daughter is 5 1/2, she came home singing A,E,I,O,U and sometimes Y and W.  I thought she was nuts, my sisters are all teachers and assured me she was correct.  I asked the girls I work with who ask the teachers at the public school their kids attend, they said there was no such thing that it must be a "private school thing".  Now that I read this, it does make sense-who knew?  I'm printing this out for the "public school" teachers to read. 

A character can have a vowel sound otherwise there are only five vowels.

M. Caliban wrote:

English would be so much simpler if we stopped stealing other people's words.

That has been the way of languages since they began. Every language in existance is a bastardization of one or more older langauges. What some call "complicatiing the language", and what others call "stealing" is in fact the natural evolution of the human language center.

Always gunna happen, always has.

Being educated by the very reputable school system of South St. Paul, MN, I can assure you that W is, in fact, a vowel. Don't be a victim of vowel abuse, stand up for your vowel beliefs. I'd recommend creating a laminated card that shows the word "cwm" and its definition. Then, the next time you find yourself in a vowel, debate, whip that baby out and enjoy the victory!

- MR DAN