der, die, das February 8, 2013

We are really making an effort to get back into German. And by “we” I do mean both myself and Aleksander! He’s reminding me once again of it being German time in the afternoon. We’re reading more German books at naptime. And we’re watching German shows or talking about his musical shows in German – he still likes to go back to “Baby Mozart” and “Classical Baby”, neither of which has much spoken text. We’re also playing Candy Land in German (but I have a few words and phrases I still need to look up!)

I’ve noticed a few things about Aleksander’s language. I’ve been wondering about the use gender and when he will use the appropriate article (der, die, das) with the nouns. So I’ve been paying a little bit of attention to that and emphasizing the articles when we talk about objects. The funny thing is that he has been generalizing with just one … but in the wrong case! He’s calling everything “den” (masculine accusative). I wonder when he’ll sort this all out? I do hope he gets a feel for it. I still have trouble, since I’ve had to memorize all the noun genders as I’ve learned new words – and I often forget. It’s one of the most frustrating things for me in German.

The other thing I’ve noticed is a potential effect of German on his English! It has to do with word order and his use of “also”. In English, I might say, “He also wears a hat.” You put the “also” before the verb. But in German, you can’t do this – the verb has to be in the second position. And so I’ve noticed Aleksander saying, “He wears also a hat.” I can’t say for sure that this is German interference, but it sure sounds like it!

And that’s all I have time for today. I am trying to make the effort not only to speak more German with Aleksander but to write about it all here, too!

Note to Self: Just Keep Going!! July 29, 2012

This past month, I’ve written a lot about challenges and frustrations and wondering if I’m doing enough to make a difference. The answer there has become very clear: YES!!! From now on, when I wonder if all the effort is worth it, I hope I remember to come back to this post for inspiration. All of a sudden, Aleksander is speaking more and more German! We are definitely back in a groove!!

Here are a few examples….

Last week we were in the car, driving home from running errands in the morning. We’d been speaking German and listening to German songs in the car. Somehow his little (brilliant!) mind worked its way to the topic of Eric Carle’s The Very Quiet Cricket. We’d read it in German a few times in the past couple of days. At first I thought he was talking about a gorilla (same in German: Gorilla). But no, he was talking about the Grille [cricket]. And then he said his first complete sentence in German: “Der Wurm komm aus dem Apfel” [The worm comes out of the apple] !!!!!! I was floored! Luckily I was able to keep my attention on our driving enough to stay on the road   (I wasn’t sure at first if his grammar was correct, but he’s said it again since, and I was able to listen more carefully. The only thing wrong with the sentence is the conjugation of the word kommen, which should be kommt with a T on the end. I’ll take it!!)

Over the weekend, I noticed myself switching more between English and German. This happens a lot when PER is home or other people are around. Yet Aleksander continued to answer in German! For example, he asked for “zusammen” [together], so that I would say or sing something with him.

I’ve also been working on modeling complete sentences and questions. So when he talked about watching his show after his nap, I said “Ich will mein Programm anschauen” [I want to watch my show]. (I’m still not sure myself if Programm is the best word, of I should use Sendung instead. Any German-speakers out there to help me out??) Hours later, when he woke up from his nap, he started to say “watch a show” and then corrected himself to say “Programm“! And it wasn’t even German time! It’s working, it’s working!!

I can’t remember what was happening yesterday when he suddenly said, “Das war knapp” [That was close]! I asked who says that, and he told me “Kleiner roter Traktor [Little Red Tractor]” – one of his current favorite DVDs. WOW! He’s even learning from watching his shows!!

Here’s the best one yet. He’s actually teasing me in German!! Check out this conversation we had over breakfast:
Aleksander: “Mehr … Gabel, bitte!”  [More ... fork, please!]
Mama: “Wie bitte? Was willst du?“  [What? What do you want?]
Aleksander: In his teasing voice, he replied with an elongated “Neeeeeeeeein! Mehr Pfannekuchen, bitte!” [Nooooooo! More pancakes, please!]
I just can’t get over it! You could see him looking for a different word than pancake, so that he could tease me! It’s so much fun!!

Sweet Language Moments April 22, 2012

We just put Aleksander to bed. After a shower with Daddy (his new favorite thing instead of a bath), PER and I got him in his pajamas. Usually I read him a book and then say goodnight, and PER brushes his teeth and finishes the bedtime routine. But tonight, Aleksander wanted Daddy to read to him first.

Okay, the sight of Aleksander curled up with his Daddy is already enough to melt my heart But then Aleksander chose a Dutch book:Bobbi wort grote broer [Bobbi Becomes a Big Brother].

I love the Bobbi series – even though I can’t actually read it. They’re such sweet children’s books with wonderful drawings of a bear named Bobbi.

What really got me, though, was that Aleksander loves this book! I wonder how much Dutch he understands at this point? I know PER has been reading this book to him lately. And I can’t imagine a child would choose to sit through a book he can’t understand. Right? Then, I realized PER was leaving off the last word of each verse (the books is written in rhyme). And Aleksander was doing a pretty good job of filling in the missing word! Now, of course, we do this with him in English and German, but I was so surprised to hear him doing it in Dutch!! There were a few hard/long words he didn’t get. But most of the words sounded pretty close – to my ears, at least. Amazing! I sat there watching it with a big, goofy grin on my face

As for German, Aleksander is doing quite well. I just wish I could get him into more German-speaking situations and environments. He continues to be my little language police, letting me know that he knows it’s German time in the morning and English time after his nap. And he catches me every single time I slip into the wrong language! Sometimes he even seems annoyed when I speak English to PER during lunch!

When the two of us are alone, I notice him speaking some more German, too. He still mixes the languages a bit, though. Today he went running through the kitchen, giving his usual commentary. “Are you running?” he asked (as if I were supposed to be asking him the questions). So I translated, “Läufst du?” Then I heard him say, “Are you läufst du?”

Last week, our playgroup met at the park, so the boys could play on the slides and swings. But this time, Anika’s mom was visiting from Germany. She doesn’t really speak any English, so Aleksander heard a lot more German being spoken. The result was that he spoke a lot more German, too! Frau Kiehne was highly impressed, in fact, by the things he said – and so was I! When he first went down the slide, he went so slowly that I asked him, “Bist du eine Schnecke?” [Are you a snail?] Later on he repeated the same thing as Frau Kiehne watched him go down the slide. Then as she was about to catch Logan and said, “Ich fange dich” [I'll catch you], Aleksander followed and asked, “Du mich auch?” [me, too?]. I didn’t hear that one myself. I actually find it rather hard to believe! It sounds somehow very advanced to me – but maybe that’s the non-native speaker in me??? Ah well – the main thing is that he was speaking a lot more German!! And it continued as we drove home and then had lunch. I’ve been after Anika to start a German playgroup, but she’s been so busy teaching. Now that the semester is over, I’m going to have to start pushing again! I think it makes such a big difference!

On the other hand, my German story hour isn’t going as well. Attendance has been low these past couple of months, and I’m not quite sure why. Also, Aleksander is getting rather unruly. He’s starting to interrupt more and sometimes does not want me even reading a book. It’s very disruptive – not to mention embarrassing. He never behaves that way at music class, but then my full attention is on him, and I’m not trying to do the teaching. I’m thinking of having a babysitter come with me to see if that helps. My mom will be here for our next session, so she’ll come with us, and we’ll see how that goes. Otherwise, I’m not quite sure what to do….

I’m hoping the third time is a charm for finding a German-speaking babysitter! I have an interview in a couple of weeks with a college student who will be home for the summer. She grew up bilingually in the US. I’m curious to know more about that, too! I just hope it works out this time. It would be great to have someone else around who speaks German with Aleksander. Great for my German, too! Even if it is only for the summer.

One final German story…. Aleksander has discovered the stop sign. We live at the end of a long street and have been taking walks to the end and back – or to the stop sign. So now he points them out every time he sees one. Let me tell you, I had no idea there were so many stop signs around! In the mornings when are driving around (and speaking German), he calls out, “Noch ein Stoppschild!” [Another stop sign!] It’s awfully sweet