Joseph's language abilities are growing steadily; it's amazing to see how much he has learned in the short time I've been here. And that's just in English! It is so strange to hear Swiss German words coming from his mouth, and to see that he obviously understands when Stephan speaks to him. The latest game is for him to hand Janet one of his number puzzle pieces, whereupon she says (for example): Mommy and Grandma say nine. The Germans say neun. Daddy says nüün." (The last two sentences are said not in English, but in German and Swiss German, respectively.) Then Joseph gets her another number and asks, "more." This is as close to formal language teaching as he gets—because he asks for it. Mostly he just hears people speaking and figures it out, as all babies do.
Of course a 19-month-old does not speak clearly in any language. Joseph has a few words that anyone can understand, but mostly it takes a parent, or a grandparent who has been living with him for a while, to make out what he is saying. For example, it took me some time to realize that he knows the number "0," because the word he uses doesn't sound at all like "zero" to me. But it is consistent and always associated with that number. (And, no, it's not the German or Swiss German word; Joseph says "null" clearly.)
It's especially helpful that Janet has taught him many ASL signs. It's too cute, really. Please, thank you, help, water, sleep, milk, down, play, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, airplane, train, and more, including the very useful toilet. Joseph will often speak and sign at the same time, which helps me understand his speech, be it English, German, Swiss German, or Josephese. I know I'm going to be helpless on the phone, though.
Note: I love American Sign Language, but what sadist designed the sign for "please" to involve rubbing the hand on the chest? No one who had to do the laundry after a toddler's spaghetti dinner or yoghurt-and-muesli breakfast, that's for sure.
And Vivienne? Janet's beginning to learn the difference between the cry that means, "I'm hungry" and the cry that means, "I need to go to the bathroom." But I'll let her write the post about Elimination Communication. :)
Joseph finds Grandma's attempts at Swiss German amusing. He has a rash that he keeps making worse by scratching. This morning, he was not listening to my repeated "don't scratch" in English, so I attempted to say what Daddy says. He smiled, and immediately it turned into a game: He'd reach his hand out as if to scratch; I'd say, "Don't scratch"; he'd prompt me ("ka!") to say it in Swiss German, which I'd attempt, and he'd smile.
Only later did I learn that instead of saying, "Don't scratch," I was telling him, "No cats."
