Noah and Sophie have both become very proficient Portuguese speakers. Our nanny, Katty, has very limited English so they learned the language very quickly. Noah, being a bit older, tends to think of what he wants to say in English and then try to translate it into Portuguese. Sophie, on the other hand, moves between the two languages much more seamlessly. If you ask her a question in Portuguese she will most likely answer you in Portuguese. If you ask in English, she'll respond in English. The problems creep in when the kids run into certain words that have meanings in both languages.
The other night I read The Polar Express to the kids. Near the end of the book, when all the children enjoy hot cocoa on the train, Noah started remembering drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows back at home. Immediately Sophie became absolutely disgusted and with the idea of drinking hot cocoa and did her best, through her cute stutter that appears when she tries to talk too fast, to tattle on Noah for using "bathroom talk". You see, Sophie wasn't old enough for hot cocoa last year and so her only reference for cocoa is here in Brasil. In Portuguese, coco is poop. With that being her only understanding of cocoa, I'd say she was rightfully disgusted by the idea of drinking hot "coco".
We've also struggled reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom here. I love that book, but boom boom in Portuguese means your bottom. So once again, my little rule follower insists we cannot read a book that uses "bathroom talk" (as in, discussing your backside). No amount of explaining really changes her mind. We've shelved the book for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment