Now he speaka la lengua
Six weeks ago, before we came to the States, our youngest son, Jay didn't, couldn't, wouldn't speak English. Once he started speaking in Chinese, we had perfectly "normal" conversations in which I spoke English to him and he replied in Chinese. Other people's eyes would grow wide and they'd shake their heads - but to us it seemed perfectly normal. Everyone we know in Taiwan speaks some level of Chinese so he was never in a position where he had to try to speak English.
Sometimes, though, when I found myself in an advantageous position, I would try to force the issue a bit. Imagine me holding a chocolate chip cookie just out of his reach saying, "Repeat after me, 'Mommy, can I please have a cookie?'" Finally, as I'd hoped it would, the desire for the cookie usually won out and I'd get a rather resentful "kooookeeeee" out of him before he snatched the treat and got as far away from me as possible before devouring it. One more issue for the future therapist's couch.
As soon as we arrived this summer, however, he immediately sensed that the rules of the game had changed. We had no sooner set foot in my dad's house when he was staring intently up at his grandpa willing him to understand what he wanted - much as a dog might do with its master. Come on man, think, I've just been outside so it's not that, the water bowl is full, what else could it be? That's it, you're almost there.....Yes! He's going for the can of Alpo! When Grandpa didn't read his mind after a few intense minutes, he broke down and decided to try to speak to him. Grandpa, ni keyi mai yi ge fishingpole gei wo ma? And "fishingpole" was drawn out ever so slowly and carefully to ensure comprehension. Dad looks at me. My first and last time as interpreter, "Grandpa, can you buy a fishingpole for me?" Jayden nods enthusiastically, Grandpa promises a pole and we're on our way.
Jay went through the one-word phase of English in about 3 days. The two-word phase in 4 and the three-word stage in 5. After two weeks he was speaking fluent - albeit sometimes strange - English. One day Jason and I just looked at each other and said, "Hey, he's actually speaking English!" For the first week of the phenomenon I was barely able to control my tears of joy every time I heard him speak in my mother tongue.
It seems that the most difficult thing about becoming bilingual is that you don't always have the right word at the right time in the right language. Jayden has taken to using "descriptive language" to solve the problem. I had read about this happening with people in more advanced stages of Alzheimer's - calling an orange "the round sweet juicy fruit" when they can't come up with the name of the thing itself. Jay seems to do the exact same thing - minus some of the dementia. His long-sleeved shirt with the collar is "the big clothes with the neck thing."
The other day when we were staggering out to the car to head out on an early morning fishing expedition, Jay realized he didn't have his Spiderman fishingpole with him. Rather than unbuckle him from the car seat and drag him back inside the house, I figured I'd just ask him where the pole was and run get it myself. He says in Chinese, "It's in the fragrant stinky place." My mind did a quick inventory of possibilities, the bathroom, the garage, the flowerpot that functions as a urinal that I discovered in the back yard....Okay, I shrugged my shoulders and released him from the carseat.
He leads me directly to......the front closet. After he snatched out the pole, he stuck his head back in, looked at me and said, "Yep. It stinks." There is no such thing as a closet in a Taiwanese home so there's very little chance that he'd know the word in any language at all. I myself learned the word in Chinese only three months ago and that was because it was in the freshman English textbook and the students had no idea what I was talking about. "It's like a tiny room with a door that you can put things in." Blank looks. Even when I said it in Chinese they still only seemed to have a very vauge notion of what a "wall - clothing- storage" might actually be.
He is still most fluent in fishing English and bad word English.
Jay's Top-Ten most frequently used English phrases or expressions:
10. Where my Spiderman fishingpole?
9. butthole
8. I caught a peeeeerch.
7. dumbass
6. Where my lure?
5. I caught a sheepshead.
4. You buttass. - I know, what does that even mean???
3. I caught a big white bass.
2. Where my fishing backpack?
1. It was this big. (accompanied by the arms stretched ever so wide gesture)
All he needs is a six-pack of PBR and he'd be ready to join any fishing tournament around. As Jason remarked many months ago, "We don't have a baby in the house any more." No, we have a little bilingual potty-mouthed pre-fisherman.
Sometimes, though, when I found myself in an advantageous position, I would try to force the issue a bit. Imagine me holding a chocolate chip cookie just out of his reach saying, "Repeat after me, 'Mommy, can I please have a cookie?'" Finally, as I'd hoped it would, the desire for the cookie usually won out and I'd get a rather resentful "kooookeeeee" out of him before he snatched the treat and got as far away from me as possible before devouring it. One more issue for the future therapist's couch.
As soon as we arrived this summer, however, he immediately sensed that the rules of the game had changed. We had no sooner set foot in my dad's house when he was staring intently up at his grandpa willing him to understand what he wanted - much as a dog might do with its master. Come on man, think, I've just been outside so it's not that, the water bowl is full, what else could it be? That's it, you're almost there.....Yes! He's going for the can of Alpo! When Grandpa didn't read his mind after a few intense minutes, he broke down and decided to try to speak to him. Grandpa, ni keyi mai yi ge fishingpole gei wo ma? And "fishingpole" was drawn out ever so slowly and carefully to ensure comprehension. Dad looks at me. My first and last time as interpreter, "Grandpa, can you buy a fishingpole for me?" Jayden nods enthusiastically, Grandpa promises a pole and we're on our way.
Jay went through the one-word phase of English in about 3 days. The two-word phase in 4 and the three-word stage in 5. After two weeks he was speaking fluent - albeit sometimes strange - English. One day Jason and I just looked at each other and said, "Hey, he's actually speaking English!" For the first week of the phenomenon I was barely able to control my tears of joy every time I heard him speak in my mother tongue.
It seems that the most difficult thing about becoming bilingual is that you don't always have the right word at the right time in the right language. Jayden has taken to using "descriptive language" to solve the problem. I had read about this happening with people in more advanced stages of Alzheimer's - calling an orange "the round sweet juicy fruit" when they can't come up with the name of the thing itself. Jay seems to do the exact same thing - minus some of the dementia. His long-sleeved shirt with the collar is "the big clothes with the neck thing."
The other day when we were staggering out to the car to head out on an early morning fishing expedition, Jay realized he didn't have his Spiderman fishingpole with him. Rather than unbuckle him from the car seat and drag him back inside the house, I figured I'd just ask him where the pole was and run get it myself. He says in Chinese, "It's in the fragrant stinky place." My mind did a quick inventory of possibilities, the bathroom, the garage, the flowerpot that functions as a urinal that I discovered in the back yard....Okay, I shrugged my shoulders and released him from the carseat.
He leads me directly to......the front closet. After he snatched out the pole, he stuck his head back in, looked at me and said, "Yep. It stinks." There is no such thing as a closet in a Taiwanese home so there's very little chance that he'd know the word in any language at all. I myself learned the word in Chinese only three months ago and that was because it was in the freshman English textbook and the students had no idea what I was talking about. "It's like a tiny room with a door that you can put things in." Blank looks. Even when I said it in Chinese they still only seemed to have a very vauge notion of what a "wall - clothing- storage" might actually be.
He is still most fluent in fishing English and bad word English.
Jay's Top-Ten most frequently used English phrases or expressions:
10. Where my Spiderman fishingpole?
9. butthole
8. I caught a peeeeerch.
7. dumbass
6. Where my lure?
5. I caught a sheepshead.
4. You buttass. - I know, what does that even mean???
3. I caught a big white bass.
2. Where my fishing backpack?
1. It was this big. (accompanied by the arms stretched ever so wide gesture)
All he needs is a six-pack of PBR and he'd be ready to join any fishing tournament around. As Jason remarked many months ago, "We don't have a baby in the house any more." No, we have a little bilingual potty-mouthed pre-fisherman.
posted by lifeintaiwan at
9:38 PM
1 Comments:
They do eventually clean up the language (at least in front of more easily-offended ears) but the lying about the size of the fish never goes away.
By
punkinsmom, at 11:04 AM
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