In the world of modern, competitive parenting, not giving your half-Brazilian child his bilingual birthright is seen as a mortal sin. But however Sam's international language skills do develop, I'm already finding it hard not to give him at least two different versions of English.
English-English (as opposed to American-English etc.) has of course always been very class-conscious. Do you (sorry, does one) say couch, sofa or settee ? Dinner, tea or supper ? Toilet, loo or bathroom ?
But it's more tricky than just class when trying to teach a baby to speak. For instance, do I stick more to generics or specifics ? Is it a photo, a painting or simply a picture ? Do we live in a house, a flat or a home ?
I'm supposed to be pretty good with words, at least compared to the average, but I'm finding this a tough gig. It's made more confusing by the peculiarities of baby books. "Where's Spot ? It's time for dinner !" Well, Spot may be required for dinner attendance but I'm sure I'm more of a supper man myself. Yet after my Spotty re-education I now find myself telling Sam about "dinner", not just on the page but in the real world too. Presumably consistency is king at this age ?
Then there's abbreviations. I try to keep it short, so it's a phone rather than telephone. But I keep slipping up and going for the full verbal monty, simply because sometimes I instinctively say telephone.
And don't get me started on aural descriptors. Modern trains are silent, but then you find yourself sitting on one with your son and making "shu-shu-shu-shu" and "chuu-chuuuuu" noises. Babies need accompanying sounds, not modern, efficient, electrified silence. And anyway, all the baby books tell you that this is the sound a train makes. Consistency again.
This is the kind of post where I'll probably think of a million troublesome words and phrases after I've posted. So I'll keep it short for now, publish and be damned, and invite comments from any readers, whether they are as bemused asme I me I the author or ready to offer the magic wand of been-there-done-that parental wisdom.
Update 1: I didn't even mention all the American-English that comes with many / most of the electronic toys these days. Two versions of childhood separated by a common language, from A to Zee (Zed).
English-English (as opposed to American-English etc.) has of course always been very class-conscious. Do you (sorry, does one) say couch, sofa or settee ? Dinner, tea or supper ? Toilet, loo or bathroom ?
But it's more tricky than just class when trying to teach a baby to speak. For instance, do I stick more to generics or specifics ? Is it a photo, a painting or simply a picture ? Do we live in a house, a flat or a home ?
I'm supposed to be pretty good with words, at least compared to the average, but I'm finding this a tough gig. It's made more confusing by the peculiarities of baby books. "Where's Spot ? It's time for dinner !" Well, Spot may be required for dinner attendance but I'm sure I'm more of a supper man myself. Yet after my Spotty re-education I now find myself telling Sam about "dinner", not just on the page but in the real world too. Presumably consistency is king at this age ?
Then there's abbreviations. I try to keep it short, so it's a phone rather than telephone. But I keep slipping up and going for the full verbal monty, simply because sometimes I instinctively say telephone.
And don't get me started on aural descriptors. Modern trains are silent, but then you find yourself sitting on one with your son and making "shu-shu-shu-shu" and "chuu-chuuuuu" noises. Babies need accompanying sounds, not modern, efficient, electrified silence. And anyway, all the baby books tell you that this is the sound a train makes. Consistency again.
This is the kind of post where I'll probably think of a million troublesome words and phrases after I've posted. So I'll keep it short for now, publish and be damned, and invite comments from any readers, whether they are as bemused as
Update 1: I didn't even mention all the American-English that comes with many / most of the electronic toys these days. Two versions of childhood separated by a common language, from A to Zee (Zed).
Update 2: Dog or doggie ? Little dog(gie), baby dog or puppy ? Then there's the bizarre choice of wording on some (English-English) baby books: a picture of a biscuit accompanied by the word "treat"; a picture of a kiwi and the word "kiwi" - but is that really more appropriate at this age than the more generic word "fruit" ? The very next page does indeed go for the generic by showing what looks like Emmental but writing "cheese". Then we see something called a "beaker" rather than "drink" or "cup". And "cutlery" next to a picture of a spoon and fork. Cutlery ?!
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