back from the coastal south |
[posted by bkmarcus] |
We're back from an oceanside Thanksgiving spent with both grandmothers in South Carolina.
(No, none of us is from South Carolina, but that's nevertheless where we gathered by the ocean.)
Benjamin got to put his toes into the Atlantic for the first time. He was also in a richer bilingual environment than he's used to, because there were more people speaking each language, or sometimes both languages.
Here are his words from the past week:
Papier: After Nathalie demonstrated the French word for "paper" (we went through a lot of paper products this past week) Benjamin walked over to a cardboard box and said, "Boîte papier!"
Packing: Benjamin is at a stage where he wants both his parents around all the time. If I'm not there, he apparently says "papa" a lot. When he's with me but not Nathalie, he spends the whole time asking after maman, plaintively.
While we were getting ready to leave South Carolina yesterday morning, Nathalie needed me to keep the boy occupied while she packed (because when he's around for this activity, he spends the whole time undoing everything his mother does).
So he kept asking "Maman?" to which I would at first reply, "Maman's packing. She's packing her bags."
Then when Nathalie took a load of luggage down to the parking level, I changed the answer to "Maman's packing the car."
Then when it was my turn to pack bags and load the car, Benjamin was asking his mother, "Papa?" And she replied "Papa fait sa valise," at which point Benjamin turned to my mother and explained in English, "Papa packing."
(No, none of us is from South Carolina, but that's nevertheless where we gathered by the ocean.)
Benjamin got to put his toes into the Atlantic for the first time. He was also in a richer bilingual environment than he's used to, because there were more people speaking each language, or sometimes both languages.
Here are his words from the past week:
- ketchup
- papier (paper)
- ça (this, that, as in "mo' ça!" — meaning "give me more of that")
- Josh (Miss Angel's husband)
- Mick (Miss Angel's youngest)
- apple
- coucou (peakaboo, pronounced like the cuckoo bird)
- couvercle (cover)
- tache (stain)
- ceiling (pronounced "see" or "seal" and referring only to ceiling fans)
- mouche (fly)
- bounce
- baiser (kiss)
- douche (shower)
- picture (as in photo)
- dehors (outside)
- keys
- packing
- clock (pronounced without the L, unfortunately)
- nounours (teddy bear, pronounced "noorsh")
- piano
- poireau (leek)
- computer (pronounced 'puter)
Papier: After Nathalie demonstrated the French word for "paper" (we went through a lot of paper products this past week) Benjamin walked over to a cardboard box and said, "Boîte papier!"
Packing: Benjamin is at a stage where he wants both his parents around all the time. If I'm not there, he apparently says "papa" a lot. When he's with me but not Nathalie, he spends the whole time asking after maman, plaintively.
While we were getting ready to leave South Carolina yesterday morning, Nathalie needed me to keep the boy occupied while she packed (because when he's around for this activity, he spends the whole time undoing everything his mother does).
So he kept asking "Maman?" to which I would at first reply, "Maman's packing. She's packing her bags."
Then when Nathalie took a load of luggage down to the parking level, I changed the answer to "Maman's packing the car."
Then when it was my turn to pack bags and load the car, Benjamin was asking his mother, "Papa?" And she replied "Papa fait sa valise," at which point Benjamin turned to my mother and explained in English, "Papa packing."
- papa
Labels: first time, French, holiday, vocabulary
posted by bkmarcus
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