Dwiving Daddy to Distwaction
As I've previously mentioned, Amy's mastery of English is... shall we say... pending. She's got all the non-verbals right - her intonation and gesticulation are spot-on, if a little insistent and chubby. The only thing she's really got to work on now is the pronunciation of words. A mere trifle, really.
Usually hubby and I can work out what she's trying to say, by playing charades, making educated guesses or, as a last resort, holding up every item in the room consecutively until she says "Yay!" And like many other mummies, I'm a lot better at deciphering Amese than her father is. Except for yesterday.
I'm currently working on a lovely contract with my old employer (with money and everything!), in which I'm required to travel to Sydney once a week to make an appearance at head office. There were a few teething problems when I started, but Stocko is generally pretty awesome in the kid-minding department, and instances of exasperation are getting fewer and further between. Yesterday, however, I was sitting at my desk when my phone rang. It was Stocko. No hello - just the familiar sound of Amy's wail in the background, and Him Indoors asking desperately, "I give up. Babe, what does 'Mah-bwee' mean?"
We never did figure it out.
I'm guessing "Mugabe".
ReplyDeleteShe is quite political, after all.
But aren't those moments when you do figure it out amazing? Like suddenly they've stopped speaking Swahili, and you realize that the babble meant something - it's such a light bulb moment.
ReplyDeleteAnd so if she was saying 'Mugabe'..is she pro or against, do you think? Thinking of his early glory? In favour of stronger sanctions? Just ask, I bet she has a totally fresh viewpoint.