kellan knows quite a bit of spanish. the colors listed above his just a portion of his repertoire...he can count and also knows the word for car (coche) and a few others. i tried to teach him some more while we were together, particularly words for family members and animals. i don't know how much he retained, but i hope at least a little bit. i have always loved speaking spanish and have been able to keep a bit of the language in my arsenal. i am by no means fluent at all, but i think it is important for kids to learn spanish. and, gosh, they are like sponges. now is the best time for kel to possibly delve into the world of learning a second language.
my favorite part of him learning spanish is the "spanglish" that he is developing. while turning the couch into a jeep liberty, and later a ford ranger, he explained that he would need "dos or tres pieces of tape." at the zoo he told me about the "negro and blanco monkey." i then tried to add the word mono to his bag of tricks as well. he is definitely able to integrate his growing vocabulary into his day to day conversations, and it cracks me up. i also got a kick out of him calling me "tia jessy." the kid is a riot. a so unbelievably intelligent riot.
his spanglish is especially impressive to me because it shows he knows what the words mean, and that they are for all intents and purposes interchangeable with their english counterparts. he knows that dos or tres means the same thing as two or three. it isn't a completely separate entity, or a vocabulary card trick. he has truly made meaning of knowing these words and has connected them to his world.
kellan is the first kid that as an adult i have gotten to watch grow up first hand. i am so excited to see how is knowledge base, personality, and general being grows and develops when he begin kindergarten this fall. but it is hard to believe that kindergarten is around the bend...seems like only yesterday...
then...
and now...
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