I already posted about Ian starting to figure out words. More and more, now, he's actually communicating. Lea has told me that she speaks Tagalog to him during the day, "so he doesn't forget the Philippines." I'm not sure if she just likes speaking Tagalog (makes her less homesick) or if she really wants Ian to speak it (her lasting contribution to his development).
Patch grew up in a dual language environment, too - well, actually tri-language, since while our nannies spoke Hindi/Urdu at home, many of the surrounding people spoke Telugu, and we of course spoke English. In Patch's case, this meant he hardly spoke a word at age two. I remember telling his first pre-school teacher in Manila that my "goal" for him was to have him be able to say more than just "mama" and "milk." In a few months, he figured it out and was speaking in sentences.
Ian seems to be taking a more incremental approach, showing an interest in saying words in both languages. Yesterday, I noticed him differentiating between how he spoke with Lea and how he responded to me. To Lea, for an affirmative answer, he consistently said, "O-o," Tagalog for "yes." He can't quite make the "yes" sound in English, so to me, he would nod his head. Kind of cool.
[side note: for no, to anyone, he firmly shakes his head and, if at all possible, pushes the offending item away. It doesn't matter what language you speak!]
Patch grew up in a dual language environment, too - well, actually tri-language, since while our nannies spoke Hindi/Urdu at home, many of the surrounding people spoke Telugu, and we of course spoke English. In Patch's case, this meant he hardly spoke a word at age two. I remember telling his first pre-school teacher in Manila that my "goal" for him was to have him be able to say more than just "mama" and "milk." In a few months, he figured it out and was speaking in sentences.
Ian seems to be taking a more incremental approach, showing an interest in saying words in both languages. Yesterday, I noticed him differentiating between how he spoke with Lea and how he responded to me. To Lea, for an affirmative answer, he consistently said, "O-o," Tagalog for "yes." He can't quite make the "yes" sound in English, so to me, he would nod his head. Kind of cool.
[side note: for no, to anyone, he firmly shakes his head and, if at all possible, pushes the offending item away. It doesn't matter what language you speak!]
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