Ok, so I know I just posted, but this really couldn't wait. The Japanese language is rife with onomatopoeic phrases, one of which is 'Shyua', 'Shyua', for the sound you make while brushing your teeth. Robert is very familiar with this phrase; one of his morning cartoons features the "Shyua Shyua" song.
Robert also attends pre-school several days each week. One of his closest friends at the school is another boy named Kenzo. Kenzo is Belgian by heritage, his folks are from the French speaking part of Belgium (not to be confused with the Flemish speaking part of Belgium -- they aren't really on speaking terms), so Kenzo gets mostly French at home. Kenzo is also just learning to talk, and the reports we get from Robert's teachers basically say that Kenzo and Robert spend all day talking in a language that only they can understand.
While "Shyua Shyua" is the Japanese sound for toothbrushing, "Amagake" is the official term for brushing your teeth (or so I've gathered from Robert's show). So the other night I gave Robert his bath, got him dressed for bed, turned to him and said "Amagake?", and he looked at me and responded "Le Shyua!" before running into the bathroom for his toothbrush.
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2 comments:
You're going to have a bilingual kid there!! Cool!
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