Ms Khan said that Indian languages use very similar alphabets and many of their letter sounds are much harsher than their Western counterparts.

BBC: Indians learn to be Brad and Britney

Advocates of synthetic phonics believe that children should have an intensive period of learning letter-combination sounds before they are introduced to books.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Scotland | Gruffalo author makes sound move

Writing at Gameranx, Ian Miles Cheong points to a number of the other obvious flaws in the hoax letter, but sounds off with some words of warning.

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