Meet Lethu, the two-year-old girl that can read

JOHANNESBURG – On a small yellow chair and desk sits Lethukuthula Bhengu and her mother, reading a colourful storybook in their Soweto home.

Lethu as small and timid but can read at only two years old.

Her mother, Ntombikayise Bhengu, started teaching her how to read in January this year when she was just 25 months old.

Ntombikayise said she realised that it was time to start introducing reading into her child’s life, when Lethu was playing a game on her cousins phone’, which required her to match the picture with the word.

She noticed that after playing the game a couple of times, Lethu was able to remember the words.

Ntombikayise noticed how quickly her toddler caught on: “I wrote three-letter words and after a few minutes or an hour, she able to remember those words. It was ten words.”

This prompted her to research reading techniques on TikTok.

Ntombikayise uses a phonic method of breaking down each word into each letter sound to help Lethu read.

“I saw this video of this other teacher saying before you teach a child how to read a word, like a full word, make sure that they know each letter of that word – the sound of each letter of that word.”

Ntombikayise said her daughter was shy but a lively child when she was around people she knew.

“She’s very shy but she loves to read and she loves to play.”

She said Lethu taught her that children can do anything, if they are given enough patience. “It has opened my eyes that kids can read early, kids can do big things, so if you teach your child anything and you have the patience to teach them and move at their pace, they will learn.”

Lethu is also an internet sensation, her TikTok account has over 32 million views and 700k followers while her Instagram account boasts 26,100 followers.

Ntombikayise said more parents should be teaching their kids how to read.