Emersion through Immersion

So our little Talia may be taking her time talking, but she's certainly an early reader. :)

I'm actually a bit amiss in saying that this cutie-pie doesn't talk much--the truth is that she jabbers non-stop. It simply requires the gift of the interpretation of tongues to figure out what she's saying, particularly since it may be English, French, or a language that's completely her own.

Here are some of her most recent favorite phrases: carry you (unfortunately, that means carry me), regarde (look in French), attend (wait in French), Brookalyn (this 3 syllable pronunciation gets shouted loudly at bedtime when her big sis falls asleep but she still wants to play), I want chocolate (she takes after her mother), I want chocolate more (she has a unique word order), and I want chocolate more, please (yes, she really is that obsessed.) Tally's picked up on the fact that the magic word please goes pretty far and uses it liberally, even in unusual contexts such as "no like it, please."

As far as Brooklyn goes, over the past few weeks she has reclaimed her extroverted personality in French. When we first arrived, she would chatter at all of the strangers on the bus, metro, etc., in English, even though they didn't understand a word she was saying. Then came months of the "silent period" where she stayed quiet in public, immersed in the language but listening, absorbing, and taking it all in. Well, I suppose you could say that she's emerged because she's now regularly striking up conversations with everyone we meet. She usually starts with "Moi, parle français anglais" (literally translated, me speak French English.) Her tarzan-esque conversations leave just about everyone chuckling, and she's pleased as pie to have regained her voice.