Learning Language

Poor Mercy has been inundated with language the past few months. As I’ve mentioned before the first 15 months of her life she primarily heard Lugwere and a bit of English. Then since August, she’s been in Kampala where she’s heard a lot of English and Luganda. And then to add to the mix, the past few weeks I’ve been working on baby sign language with her. The funny thing is she knows a little bit of all of it.

As far as I know, I’ve never heard her say any words in Lugwere, although I don’t know any, so she could be. But when she hears it (occasionally a Ugandan will try it out on her), her ears perk up and she’ll follow basic commands like “come here”.

She’s picked up several words in Luganda. It is very similar to Lugwere, so I think it’s a bit easier for her in some ways to understand. It is funny how you can tell she understands something when someone speaks it to her. It’s really just the basics, like “hello”, “how are you?”, “fine”, “come here”, “no”, and “amen”. She’ll say these words occasionally.

Then with English she understands a lot of what I say. Trust me, with her eyes and facial expressions you can tell she knows exactly what I am saying, although she may choose to ignore it. English seems to be what she will actually speak the most. She can say, “Mom or mommy”, “Daddy”, “uh oh”, “no”, “thank you” (this is very mumbled, but I know what she means), “please”(sounds more like ‘peas’ and is very cute!), “Hallelujah” (one of the Howard girls taught her this one). “Hi”, “Bye”, “nana” for banana, and “yes” (new word for yesterday) and my favorites, “Hey baby!” and “baby Jesus” (this is part of a popular kids’ song here). All of these things she only says when she feels like it. Mercy is a strong-willed child and she has to want to do something. She’s a lot like one of my other children who shall remain nameless. Ha! Sometimes I can drill her and get her to say most all of her words. I did this the other day for the Taylor kids who were highly entertained by it. But when I said, “No”, she answered “nyeda”, which is “no” in Luganda. Isn’t it amazing how their brains work! She’s already translating.

I have noticed that Mercy gets quite frustrated when she wants something and I do not understand. This often leads to aggression and/or biting, again much like one of her sisters! Who knew I’d get to relive the joy of those days. Thankfully, I’m much more relaxed about it this time, since I know they eventually outgrow it. Anyway, I’ve been trying to teach Mercy some signs to use. I’ve been told this is a great tool to relieve some of the frustration, especially for adopted children. So far she just knows the basics, “eat”, “drink”, “please”, “thank you”, “all done”, “come”, “no”, and we just started learning “more” and “yes”. And she made up her own sign for a poopy diaper. .. that’s the Busby coming out in her. It’s amazing to me how quickly she picks this up and how much she likes it. Last night, she went and stood in the kitchen signing “eat” until I started making her plate. She’s also learned that “please” is often the magic word for getting what you want. But she now thinks anytime she signs “please” I am obligated to do whatever she wants… like give her nail polish, coke, my phone, etc.

All of it makes me a bit sad that I can’t really speak another language. Isn’t it interesting that most everyone in the world speaks at least two languages, yet the average American only speaks one. Most Ugandans know at least three and can say the basics in about four. I wish I would have paid more attention in Spanish and French class. From birth is the best time to learn another language, and Mercy is a shining example of that. She’s like a little sponge just ready to soak it all in. Ahh, to be young again!