Monday, June 30, 2008

Bilingual Baby

Yesterday evening I was trying to talk the little girls into watching some Muzzy today. The Lone Star Niece asked me what Muzzy was and, simplifying things, I explained that it was a video about a creature from outer space and that it was in Spanish and could help you learn Spanish (note - do not actually try to learn Spanish from Muzzy - it will not work. It is not bad for reinforcing language skills you already have, for a kid like the Lone Star Baby who already speaks Spanish, however, although it is pretty stupid. On the up side, Muzzy eats clocks. That's kind of fun.). The Lone Star Baby, informed by the ads on the tapes, said: There is also Muzzy in English. And Aleman. Well - yes there is, but...aleman? Since I minored in Spanish in college, I know what that means: it means German - in Spanish. I really did not think my bilingual four-year-old's vocabulary extended to words like "German", though, a word she has probably never heard in English, except on the Muzzy commercial (and really, I can't remember the last time she watched Muzzy - it is not like she sees it much). I do however recall that her teachers are fluent in aleman, as well as English and the Spanish that is spoken at school. My. Wow. Aleman.

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