Dweenk! or return to the simple.

To all of my fellow mums out there:

Ladies, there is absolutely no doubt that we are superwomen. We defy space and time every day, managing to do several things at the same time, to talk and listen at the same time, to be in two different places at the same time. We are educated professionals and full time caregivers, teachers, maids, cooks, and all of that AT THE SAME TIME. We can withstand hunger, sleep deprivation and raging all-family stomach bugs. We are even resistant to KRYPTONITE! Nothing beats us!

So much for the opening; now let’s get back to the point – bilingual babies, speech development etc. A few days ago, while teaching Slovak to my very bright English student (I am a superwoman, remember?), I introduced the topic of verbs. I realised that compared to English Slovak verbs are complex, confusing and infuriatingly irregular, even the easy ones. So how does one learn all those conjugations and patterns? What can I do to help my student learn faster and easier? How about Will, as he just started to learn verbs, what is his strategy? Does he speak in infinitives? Does he understand the whole conjugation thing from the beginning? Could I use his verb mastering tactics in teaching a grown up English guy?

Up until very recently William’s vocab consisted mainly of nouns, one or two simplified verbs and some memorised short phrases. Each word had one fixed form so when he started to form his first sentences all of these “words” had an equal function in the sentence. There were no real subjects or predicates or objects; two nouns could form a sentence just as well as a noun and a verb, or a noun and an adverb, or even a noun and a phrase. (You will be able to read more on the composition of the first sentences in the next article.)

Will’s first “verbs” were “ham” (English yum – meaning to eat) and “haja” (English sleep or French dodo). Even though these words came quite early, (about a year and a half of age) I wouldn’t count them as real verbs as they didn’t hold their function of a predicate in a sentence. The real real verbs appeared in Wilko’s speech shortly before the age of two and a half, and even though the sentences are still as simple as possible, some consisting of two and

some of three words at a time, we can observe in them a certain level of syntax beginning to form., a conscious placing of predicate in front of an object. That is why I consider these verbs to be real - predicate verbs.

Now to tell you shortly about Slovak verbs: there are nine conjugation patterns, more or less similar but each of them slightly different from the other ones. The form of the verb (the ending and sometimes the root of the word too) is different in each person singular and plural, which gives us six different forms of a verb within just one conjugation pattern. Now do you own math and use a little bit of multiplying and you might begin to understand what I am talking about.

So how did Will deal with Slovak conjugation? He chose the simplest solution ever and started to use English verbs. No conjugation, no problem. Ok, I can hear you say, but English DO conjugate their verbs through the use of pronouns! And you’re right. But my genius son found a way around this problem as well. He doesn’t bother with indicative mood but jumped straight to imperative avoiding the use of pronouns. And, to be honest, what more does he need really? Mami go! Pull! Push!  And the very adorable Dweeeenk! Come here! Go find! Get ball! Look at that! Stop it! Make food/milk/rocket! It is so beautifully simple and logical it makes me wonder if I could use it with my student and teach him the imperative of Slovak verbs first. Unfortunately the adult life requires more sophisticated communication. Even in expressing desires and needs, something that could obviously be dealt with quickly and easily, we need to use modals, condition phrases, subjunctive, various formulas and words of politeness and a whole army of tenses...

On the other hand that is exactly what makes language rich and colourful, and a bit of brain work and memorising is a small price to pay for mastering the jungle of grammar of a language. That is why we like linguistics, and that is why I will continue tormenting my student with conjugation patterns until he knows what he’s doing. 

Word of the week

Second - the word has many meanings as a verb, adjective and a noun, but we will focus on the relationship between second, adj. - next after the first and second, n. - a sixtieth of a minute. Second as the next after the first enters English language around 1300 and comes from old French second, which originated in Latin secundus, meaning following in order, sequi =  follow. Second with the meaning of a sixtieth of a minute appears in English about a hundred years later, originating in old French seconde, coming from Latin secunda - short from secunda pars minuta = second diminished part. This phrase denotes the second division of an hour, the first division being the division of an hour into sixty minutes (prime minute).

Word of the week

blackmail - extortion of money or other valuables by unfair pressure, threats or intimidation. The second half of the word mail comes from Scottish male meaning rent. Male has its origins in old Norse mall meaning agreement or contract. The word first appears in 16th - 17th century, when Scottish chieftains used to raid villages asking farmers and villagers for protection money, the people thus ended up paying an "extra rent". As an opposition to the normal rent - so called white money - the Scots started to call the extra rent "black mail". Hence the word blackmail.

Butterflies and bed bugs

Why are some English names of insects, such as bed bug, spelled as two words and some, butterfly for instance, as one? The answer is hidden in the article posted by World Wide Words, check it out! http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-bug1.htm

We all make mistakes

What are the most frequent mistakes English learners make in their business communication? This article is useful for all those who learn English and use it to communicate with their business partners, check it out: http://www.englishtown.com/community/Channels/Article.aspx?articlename=117-5mis&etag=E15637

We had a mama

Let us start at the beginning, shall we, that sounds like a logical thing to do. At the beginning there was a cry, then a coo, a gurgle and an occasional scream. And then a word came around. A mama, to be precise. Ordinary, I know, utterly unoriginal, but sweet. Was it Slovak or English? Couldn't tell you. But it sure sounded familiar. 

Wilko's first word came just before he was one year old and left me slightly confused as they say bilingual kids start to speak later, some of them not uttering a word before their third birthday. However, after several successful repeats of mama I felt proud and highly optimistic. I could not wait to let his father know (We had a mama!!! the message said, At least I think so...). Although Wilko still had a long way to go with his articulation, I was already beginning to think he was a genius. He must have taken after me after all! A word! and a mama! My friend's daughter kept calling her mum daddy even after she gained relative fluency and she only had one language. Boy, was I glad that my son was so eloquent! 

Right after that he took in a couple more words. I think his second one was nie (no in Slovak) and then the English word apple. He went on at an average rate of three words a month. Although it was slow he had "spongy" periods when he learned a couple of words a week, and then quiet periods that could last for two months when he seemed to cease learning new words and even stopped using some of the ones that he already knew. I know that on the inside, his brain kept working full speed, I guess he was just switching from output to input and back again. 

In general he picked up the easiest from both languages and by the time William turned two his vocab consisted of about 35 words, some of them Slovak, some English, some a mixture of the two and some, well, of unexplainable origin. He began to put together his first two word sentences and I was really proud of my baby. We finally had our own weird language and were managing to communicate, at a certain level at least. 

One day, when Will had just turned two, I got a call from a friend who needed a babysitter. She brought over her 14 months old baby girl. And yes, you can see it coming, can't you, the tiny girl, who had barely started to grow hair on her bald scull had a vocabulary comparable to my son and showed more understanding and focus when it came to communication. So while my darling son was shouting out slogans for himself, like "Look at that!" and "Oh my dog!" the baby girl could, in a very simplified manner, actually react to what I was saying, and even answer my questions - something William wouldn't do even during his highly focused moments. That was when I realised that yes, he is slower, in a way. He started out early enough but progressed at his own pace. We often visit our family in Slovakia and in Scotland and I observed that switching the situation from bilingual to pure Slovak or pure English and back to bilingual seems to move him forward faster. I suppose it makes him realise the difference between the language systems and that they are not both interconnected within one language, but separate. But who knows what is really going on in those clever minds of our little ones. 

Today William is 2 years and 3 months old and he is actively using around 50 words. It is now becoming difficult to count them. He gains more focus in conversation and has a good understanding of both languages. He is going through one of his spongy periods at the moment when he surprises me with new words every day. And of course, I am still proud, I don't know a mum that isn't. 

William's most recent words are: bunda (a jacket), mokre (wet) and finally the long awaited YES. Hurrah! 

Word of the week

discombobulate - Americanism, meaning confuse, disconcert. This word first appears sometime between 1825 - 1919 and was supposedly created as a word play on the word "discompose" or "discomfort". Other forms of the word are "discombobricate", "discombobberate" or even "discomboobulate"