sub count {
        # pass it the long sentence and the match word/char!
	my ($LONG,$CHAR) = @_;
	my $count = 0;
	while ($LONG=~m/$CHAR/) {
		$LONG=~s/$CHAR//; # remove match?
		$count++;
	}
	return $count;
}

##</code><code>##

foreach ( @check ) {            
        print "[$_]: " . count($string,$_);
       }