2.21.2013

danglish

I have always wanted to raise children that spoke more than one language. It is one of those things from the moment I was aware it was possible that I just felt would improve my life. Language is so basic and yet so powerful. It only made sense to me, even as a young child, that knowing more than one language would be a good idea. Growing up in the US is a disadvantage for a child who desires to be a polyglot. I can remember looking at my life, my parents divorce, my after school time filled with so many other things and automatically turning the hope of mastering more than one language from myself into hope my future children would have this amazing opportunity that I didn't have. It was just an idea, not a goal, and I never recognized it to be anything more than that.

Sometimes ideas become a reality without doing anything to actively make them happen.

E is 2.5 now. He is has a very athletic body. He loves to jump. He has a physical ability beyond his age. He has always been a physical kid and never a communicative one. Now days, he communicates, but not like any other 2 year old child I have ever met. His English vocabulary is at least 100 words. His Danish vocabulary is probably matching, but I don't know for sure because he doesn't speak Danish directly to me. He will start or end his sentences with recognizable words from one of the languages, but the middle is this hilarious language that he has made up himself. E's language is essentially the equivalent of someone saying "blah blah blah blah" but with proper inflections because to him, it has meaning.
Marc came home from work the other day and E had a story to tell him. He used his hands as he spoke. "Daddy! sadada dada luh buh luh luh, sadada more! Oh suuh lu de da duh da sa more." It was as if he was saying "I was enjoying the fruit I was eating, so I wanted more! And then I went into the kitchen and ate I more." But I don't know what he actually said, except that he used the word "more" twice.

I am not sure if this is what E thinks language is. He is exposed regularly to at least four different languages, so it could be that he thinks everyone just makes up sounds as they feel. It's also possible that while his head is full of a Danish and English words to say, his mouth is just not capable of forming those words yet. Or, he knows something should go in there, but doesn't know what exactly so he just fills in the blanks with noise- similar to how, when I speak Danish, I will just stick in the English word in a sentence if I don't know the Danish one. I don't really know whats going on, but I am thoroughly entertained.

I honestly have done zero research on raising a child that speaks more than one language. This is actually not normal for me as a parent. But, for whatever reason, I am passive about it. I care about other things more, probably because my dream for my child is being fulfilled. I am content to sit and watch as he grows up with two languages in his head. I am content to laugh, smile and nod as if I understand all these sounds that are nonsensical to me. It clearly makes complete sense to him and I don't want to discourage any verbal communication. I hope one day he can explain it to me, even a little, what it is like to grow up learning two languages at once. I would love to know what is going on in his head right now.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...