More English with Mireille

It’s been nearly 5 months now, and Mireille has really amped up her mastery of the English language. We recently went on vacation with the whole family to Wisconsin, so I had the opportunity to spend a lot of focused time with her. As the week went on, I started to see how she is systematically adding new words to her vocabulary all the time. First, she will point at something and ask you what it is (she says “Ques at?” which means “what’s that?”). Then you will tell her the name for that thing. Then she will repeat the name, but with a question inflection at the end of the name, forcing you to then repeat yourself. Finally, she will repeat the word, this time with statement inflection. The word isn’t always locked in at this point, but you can see it settling in for remembering.

Some of the new phrases and words that she’s been working on:

• One second
• Dad, can you please help you (she still says “help you” when she wants help)
• I have to go potty (she still says kosuba and kosumba-poop, but she has also started using the western vernacular for waste)
• Momma’s mean, Mireille nice

Actually, she’s been referring to herself in the third person quite a lot, though she pronounces it “Mu ray” as though it rhymes with “Blu Ray”. Maybe we’re pronouncing it wrong…