Thought we could get a family picture in last weekend at the ShilLin Official Residence Flower show, and use it for Christmas cards. Alas, the sun was too bright! But we miss that sunshine now, it is cold! It’s supposed to get down to 9C, (that’s colder than when you were here Dad!).
Thought I might share with you some of Jayden’s vocabulary and pronunciation. It’s pretty much all the same sounds, in different combinations.
1. Mommy (Eng & Ch) = mama
2. Daddy (Ch) = baba
3. Daddy (Eng) = dada
4. Sister (Ch) = jyeahjyeah
5. banana (Eng) = nananananana
6. stand up/bum up (Eng) = ba ub
7. help (Ch) = bama (bang mang)
8. go (Eng) = go go
9. dog (Ch) = go go
10. no (Eng) = nononono (but in a cute way)
11. stop (Eng) = bap
12. more (Eng) = mo
13. milk (Ch) = neigh neigh
14. bye (Eng) = ba ba
15. older brother (Ch) = gege
16. open (Eng) = ba
17. throw away (Ch) = doh doh (dyao dyau)
18. carry (Ch) = bao bao
19. vroom (Eng) = vroom vroom
20. yes (Eng) = mmm (with a head nod)
The only signs he does regularly are “bye”, “come”, and “stop”. He’ll do “more” if it’s the tickling game and “milk” if he’s really frustrated at our lack of comprehension.
If you want to compare, this is what I have jotted down for Jaylene’s word list at 18 months:
Eng: hello, Mama, mommy, Daddy, Ahji, nose, ear, mouth, eye, eyebrow, cheek, toes, tummy, hair, duck, moo, water, more, no, bye bye, soother, book, ba (open), hello, apple, papa, sticker, peepee, happy, bum, uh oh.
Ch: dou ji (belly button), go go (dog), niao (bird), niao niao (pee), che tz (car), fei ji (airplane), neigh neigh (milk), dyou dyao (throw away), mei mei (little sister), jyeah jyeah (older sister), di di (younger brother), ge ge (older brother), ah pwo (elder lady), yi (one), er (two), san (three), zhei ge (this one), bau bau (carry/hold), cou cou (cry), shyeah shyeah (thank you).
Julie K in Taiwan 
6 comments
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November 27, 2008 at 11:31 pm
leasanders
Great photo nonetheless! Have a great weekend. =)
November 28, 2008 at 12:07 am
Heather T.
I think the word list is absolutely normal for a boy, especially one trying to get a handle on 2 languages at once. Give him another year, and he’ll be talking your ears off…
I think you could photoshop that photo into looking just fine, because it’s a wonderful photo of you guys!!
November 28, 2008 at 3:15 am
toyfoto
i love toddler speak
November 29, 2008 at 3:49 am
Suzerella
Looking good!
November 30, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Cam
It IS a nice picture! He is doing well with his words!
December 3, 2008 at 4:37 am
snowdrops
Amazing!! I wish I had documented my little sis and little bro’s words too when they were growing up, as they also had to learn to speak in a bilingual environment.
It’s funny to see the similarilty of the sounds between Chinese and English – I didn’t realise just how similar they were really, and it’s mind-boggling how the little ones could differentiate the different meanings between the two languages with the same sound at such a young age. (And perhaps even more amazing is the fact that we adults know which meaning they refer to in a particular context!)
And yes, it’s a really cute picture of your family 🙂