This post is more about Dad (Papai) then about LS. It just speaks to what LS is up against.
Speaking Portguese to LS is generally pretty easy. I like to say that I can speak well enough to fool an infant. Though sometimes I wonder. Mostly it isn't too bad, as you generally are saying a lot of the same things over and over again. Should I ever have occassion to say to someone in Portugal that it is time to change their diaper, they'll be impressed how authentic it sounds.
What I dislike the most is speaking too slowly, so sometimes I risk inaccuracy for speaking a little faster. Sometimes it doesn't work out.
Today there was a funny exchange. I took a bike ride during lunch, which takes me a little less than an hour. This was during the time that LS was being fed by Mamãe.
Upon my return I said to Mamãe, in Portuguese:
"She you ate well?"
I realized as soon as I said it that I mispoke, so I quickly corrected it:
"She I ate well?"
Gah! I realized right away that I had incorrectly corrected myself. Finally:
"She ate well?"
After which I muttered under my breath, in English. My consolation is that at least I didn't invoke any of the plural conjugations. Hitting all the singular cases is bad enough...
Oh, LS. How long before you are the one correcting me?
(For the record, she did eat well)
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That's marvelous. Robert has attempted to learn a few languages. The most memorable thing he could say in Chechua (a language of the Amazon) was Your Pink Flamingo has Spotted Earwax. Truly, they taught that on the tape. In Arabic, he picked up something a bit more practical: Please, where is the American Embassy?
ReplyDeleteeba - awesome! I like language too. I can say a couple choice things in Swahili, including: "where is the bus station?" This will likely never be useful in my life.
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