That kid talks funny
I've forgotten to mention an intriguing conversation we had last week at the dinner table.
"Ah-WAH!" Edith shouted, then giggled.
"What?" we asked.
"Ah-WAH!" she shouted again, laughing harder. Edith can crack herself up shouting nonsense words. So we kept eating.
"Zeke. Ah-WAH!" she shouted. And looked at us.
"Zeke. Wadduh. Ah-WAH!"
Suddenly I had a flash of inspiration. Zeke is a little boy in her class who was adopted from Guatemala.
"Does Zeke say 'agua' when he wants water?" I asked.
Edith beamed and nodded. "Zeke! Ah-WAH! Want wadduh."
I was fascinated that this had made an impression on Edith, enough so that she wanted to tell us about it. I wonder whether she recognized it as different from the other times that kids in her class shout nonsense words, none of which she has tried to tell us about. Maybe the fact that the teachers respond predictably to Zeke's agua but not to Edith's zzyzzy-zah has registered with her and made her curious about the power of Zeke's special word.
The converstion reminded me that unlike me or Tom, Edith could still learn a different language fluently if she started hearing it regularly right now. I think of her as a little English-thinking being in the making, but she could still be otherwise. In that respect her capacity for language is so much more exquisite than ours, though she sounds much more limited. It's strange to think that if our family moved to say, Hungary, Tom and I would still be hearing mostly nonsense syllables at the end of a year, whereas Edith could hear the same sounds we did and soon understand and communicate with the people around her in Hungarian. Wouldn't that be an amazing thing--to watch your baby learn things effortlessly from the same stimuli that had no effect on you?
4 comments:
What a great insight of Edith's! Sadie's daycare is run by a native Spanish speaker who does simple Spanish language activities with the kids daily and it's amazing how much she has picked up...and we don't use it at home at all. She can name animals and some objects, count and sing a few songs. She holds up her hand and says "cinco dedos"...five fingers. Their minds are so flexible at this age, it's fascinating.
*Especially* true with Hungarian, as it is not an Indo-European language and therefore would have pretty much no resemblance whatsoever to any language you and Tom *have* been exposed to. (Unless either of you have studied Finnish, that is.) ;)
Ahhh, a post after my own heart. Find that kid a bilingual friend, or teacher, or babysitter, or something!
Hee hee, I remembered that about Hungarian and chose it specficially...remembering also that my particular friends would appreciate the particular choice. Ah, language nerds, all of us.
*sigh* So, I'm that predictable, huh? :)
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