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Friday 8 July 2011

Fancy Foreign Languages


Looking at my most recent Frock It entry, those dresses reminded me of a little conversation I had with H this week. Yes, I'm actually having to speak directly to him. Fancy Therapist is still on holiday. Counting the days. 

Anyway, the Minis are being raised to be bilingual. As in two languages from the get go. I know what you are thinking. “Of course they are! Why stop at just being Little Fancies. Why not allow them to make fun of others in a foreign language their peers can’t understand?”

Seriously. We think it’s a gift and from the start, H and I have been very committed to the process. He speaks one language with them, I speak another. Oh and then I hired two Nannies who speak his language since for our plan to work, he’d actually have to ever be home. Anyhoo.

It’s going pretty well. Although Fancy here had to relearn all her animal sounds in a foreign tongue. Turns out dogs and cows and ducks don’t woof and moo and quack in every language. No they don’t. And sometimes that creates problems:

“Tough Cookie keeps saying something I can’t understand. What the hell is, ‘meheh?’” I asked H.

“Sheep.” he mumbled, shoving some lamb (irony!) into his mouth. “Sheep say ‘meheh.’ Duh.”

Really?

“What about ‘baa?’ Can they say ‘baa?’”  I asked.

“What?! That’s stupid. Sheep don’t say, ‘baa,’ they say ‘meheh.’ Not baa. Don’t be dumb. Why would we teach our children something so ridiculous?”

Oh of course. We are, after all, trying to give them advantages.

Meheh....

10 comments:

  1. Hmm, racking my brain for what language that could be and drawing a big fat blank. And I'm now thinking about rack of lamb...

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  2. Sounds like every conversation Husband and I ever have. Except... we speak the same language. Hmm.

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  3. Obviously sheep are also multilingual.

    I love the fact that you are bringing up bilingual children. I think the small Fancies are very lucky.

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  4. My parents made me take Latin, like that was so fricking helpful.

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  5. Yeah there's loads of shit like that. I think in Japanese frogs say 'click clack' or summat. Don't quote me...

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  6. There is actually (ah, but of course) a Facebook group: Sheep go "meh", not "baa"

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  7. I understand your pain. Went to a Vietmanese restaurant in South of France recently - frogs legs in curry sauce. Best of both worlds ? It's the owls that really get me x

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  8. Thank you! I wish they'd hurry up and thank me already! :-)

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  9. H thinks he can "speak Latin." Again, pointless. :-)

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  10. So know I've got a Facebook site to let me know I'm not alone. And I agree. Owls and Japanese Frogs and who knows what else. The world is funny...

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