For all that she is a wildly creative and clever kid, Natalie has never had a particular love for naming things. Some time last year, she did start to name her stuffed animals. The dolphin was "Dolphiny". The leopard was "Leopardy". The panther was "Panthery". We knew she was committed to this scheme when she wound up with a new elephant and named ( Read more... )

In the spirit of "post the stories when they happen", I was reminded this morning of something that happened during bedtime-story-reading the other night: I wound up explaining the difference between an en dash and an em dash to N because she stopped me in mid-sentence to ask why they were different.

I admit I conflated the en dash and the hyphen ( Read more... )

This is N's last week at the French school. After two years of daily immersion, Natalie won't have any more cause to speak French after lunchtime tomorrow. Sure, I can take her to Montreal, or to France, and sure, she's a smart, outgoing, language-oriented kid that will certainly pick up a thousand other things in her lifetime, maybe even French! ( Read more... )

El Perezoso ( Read more... )

As pointed out by Language Log, this facebook video of a ranting toddler is completely excellent. The kid furiously gesticulates and speaks a very intense gibberish for several minutes. So soulful! The subtitles are also entertaining. I remember that when N babbled like that, I also used to wonder what she was thinking...

I really want to watch this documentary. It's called "American Tongues", and it catalogues a bunch of different pockets of unusual English dialects around the country. Here are a couple of clips of it that exist on Youtube:

Tangier, VA
Cajun

It looks like I can get it in this (interesting-looking) collection on Amazon for $225, or for $100 less ( Read more... )

OK, Lady Gaga is actually kind of adorable. Here she is on French TV last December: she sings Eh Eh, plays a little ragtime, and screws around with Poker Face on the piano, throwing in some random made-up French lyrics and playing while standing up on the bench for no obvious reason.

Click to view

My hungry bee:

( Read more... )

So, you know that thing where you talk with your hand, pretending it's a mouth? Like this:


( Read more... )

Poll universalizing

A note, because it matters! I mean the one that runs lengthwise, like a spine in the middle of your mouth where your palates fused together.