Language

Being a bilingual family, language is a common topic of conversation around here. I thought you might be interested in some of the interesting language developments and topics lately.

Both JA & JT began speaking by omitting portions of words, usually the last syllable. Well, JMC is showing his need to be different by speaking complete words from the get-go. He does struggle with 2 vowel sounds in a row, and usually will just say 1 of them. For example, he says "aga" instead of "agua" and "carto" instead of "cuarto." Just as the older 2 eventually began to speak complete words, I'm confident JMC will as well, all in his own time.

The other thing that JMC has begun is to play with words. He likes to add "y" to words that he knows full-well don't have it. He adds it on to his siblings' names, and to any other words he thinks of. He knows it's incorrect and he's just playing around, which makes it all the more fun.

JT has begun to read in English. Just like his sister, once he was fairly confident in his Spanish reading, he taught himself to read in English. This has brought about a whole slew of questions about English spelling and grammar and why can't English just make sense like Spanish does. :)

When asked what language they would like to learn next, JA chose Chinese, and JMC chose Mexican. He is very aware that there are several words/phrases that are different between Guatemalan and Mexican Spanish, since we have made some new Mexican friends at church this year. I explained that it's all the same language, just a few differences, and even gave him examples of how there are different terms for things in English depending on where you are in the country. He accepted this and decided to choose Korean as his next language so he'd be able to understand the lyrics of "Gangnum Style."  :)

I am a lot more relaxed teaching our 3rd child both languages than I was with our first. I haven't changed much, I just have a better idea of the stages of development and basic time table. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, changes as baby #4 joins our family and the language acquisition process begins once again.