Good afternoon! From where I sit, there are two fluffy white clouds floating in a picture-book blue sky, with a few rooftops, palm and eucalyptus trees scattered about. I can't see the traffic on the busy street two houses away, but i can hear buses and cars passing, as well as the ubiquitous sirens off in the distance of downtown. Inside it's quiet; both Del and Daddy F are napping. Boxes and random "to-be-packed" items crowd the room in which I sit. It's an interesting feeling, living in limbo. There is a buzzing of excitement about all the new and unknown heading our way, while concurrently we are busy and exhausted packing our lives away and attempting to see "everything" before we depart. There is never, ever enough time to do it all. But that is okay. It provides me the opportunity to re-evaluate my priorities. I strive to strike a balance that will indeed get us through this massive transition, but with less stress, fewer meltdowns (mine, not Del's), and more adventure.
Speaking of adventure, what could be more adventurous than a blog about language!? Let's get down to it, shall we?
ENGLISH
For the "official" record, Del is 15 months tomorrow. All of the new information has been acquired since my last post on May 30th. What this translates to for me is astonishment that there is far too much to share here from the few short weeks since I last wrote. The speed at which the earth turns round the sun while watching your child grow, lordy! And I digress (as usual). . .
Del still babbles in conversational style, and lately engages in a lot of mimicry. She likes to copy me as I play around with different consonant and vowel combinations, and she loves to sing. She really enjoys the velar sounds /k/ and /g/ lately, and discovered /p/ a few days ago as we popped bubbles in the bath. She still greets the world with her exuberant "hi!" and she approximates the name of Neighbor Baby and has said a word that sounds very close to "cow" several times while playing with her magnet barnyard animals. She follows two step commands consistently, and sometimes follows three-step commands (without me also simultaneously signing) such as "Del, go over to the couch, get Grinch, and bring him to Daddy." She can identify over fifty animals and objects in English, which she shows by pointing to pictures or signing what I say. Her receptive skills in English seem to have caught up to her ASL, but her expressive skills in ASL blow the few verbal words she has out of the park. Let's talk more about that.
ASL
I believe Del has entered what some people refer to as the fast-mapping part of her ASL acquisition. A theory of cognitive psychology, fast-mapping describes when a child needs only one receptive exposure to a symbol (be it a word or a sign) to memorize it, integrate it, and then use it expressively. It has happened countless times in the last week or two when Del signs something (such as "clock" or "walrus") that neither of us recall overtly teaching to her. She is picking up on so much and storing the information so quickly, that when she uses signs to show us what she knows, she's already five steps ahead of us! This theory of fast-mapping applies to language acquisition in young native speakers of any language, and generally tries to account for the massive explosion of vocabulary in children as they learn to communicate. For spoken languages, this tends to occur roughly between 18 months and somewhere between 2-3 years of age (see here for information and research on fast mapping).
Signs added in the last couple of weeks:
- cell phone: open B hand to ear with "ba ba ba" vocalizations
- watermelon: one hand tapped on opposite back of hand
- shhh: one finger aside the nose
- girl: open B against chin repeatedly
- caterpillar: alternate between one and X finger (correct production)
- sirens: open/close all fingers on both hands (correct production)
- pizza: open B against mouth
- outside: open/close all fingers one hand (correct production)
- work: S hand on opposite wrist (correct production)
- time: one hand on opposite wrist (correct production)
- pasta sauce: one hand twisted against cheek (same sign as for applesauce!)
- walrus: two open B hands, fingers against mouth then away
- hot: open 5 hand at mouth then away
- show me: one hand with finger in middle of opposite palm, both hands coming towards body
Del's signs for "mom" and "dad" are now signed correctly, with open 5 hands at the chin and forehead, respectively. She mouths "mom" when she signs it, but doesn't yet say it consistently.
Speaking of adventure, what could be more adventurous than a blog about language!? Let's get down to it, shall we?
ENGLISH
For the "official" record, Del is 15 months tomorrow. All of the new information has been acquired since my last post on May 30th. What this translates to for me is astonishment that there is far too much to share here from the few short weeks since I last wrote. The speed at which the earth turns round the sun while watching your child grow, lordy! And I digress (as usual). . .
Del still babbles in conversational style, and lately engages in a lot of mimicry. She likes to copy me as I play around with different consonant and vowel combinations, and she loves to sing. She really enjoys the velar sounds /k/ and /g/ lately, and discovered /p/ a few days ago as we popped bubbles in the bath. She still greets the world with her exuberant "hi!" and she approximates the name of Neighbor Baby and has said a word that sounds very close to "cow" several times while playing with her magnet barnyard animals. She follows two step commands consistently, and sometimes follows three-step commands (without me also simultaneously signing) such as "Del, go over to the couch, get Grinch, and bring him to Daddy." She can identify over fifty animals and objects in English, which she shows by pointing to pictures or signing what I say. Her receptive skills in English seem to have caught up to her ASL, but her expressive skills in ASL blow the few verbal words she has out of the park. Let's talk more about that.
ASL
I believe Del has entered what some people refer to as the fast-mapping part of her ASL acquisition. A theory of cognitive psychology, fast-mapping describes when a child needs only one receptive exposure to a symbol (be it a word or a sign) to memorize it, integrate it, and then use it expressively. It has happened countless times in the last week or two when Del signs something (such as "clock" or "walrus") that neither of us recall overtly teaching to her. She is picking up on so much and storing the information so quickly, that when she uses signs to show us what she knows, she's already five steps ahead of us! This theory of fast-mapping applies to language acquisition in young native speakers of any language, and generally tries to account for the massive explosion of vocabulary in children as they learn to communicate. For spoken languages, this tends to occur roughly between 18 months and somewhere between 2-3 years of age (see here for information and research on fast mapping).
Signs added in the last couple of weeks:
- cell phone: open B hand to ear with "ba ba ba" vocalizations
- watermelon: one hand tapped on opposite back of hand
- shhh: one finger aside the nose
- girl: open B against chin repeatedly
- caterpillar: alternate between one and X finger (correct production)
- sirens: open/close all fingers on both hands (correct production)
- pizza: open B against mouth
- outside: open/close all fingers one hand (correct production)
- work: S hand on opposite wrist (correct production)
- time: one hand on opposite wrist (correct production)
- pasta sauce: one hand twisted against cheek (same sign as for applesauce!)
- walrus: two open B hands, fingers against mouth then away
- hot: open 5 hand at mouth then away
- show me: one hand with finger in middle of opposite palm, both hands coming towards body
Del's signs for "mom" and "dad" are now signed correctly, with open 5 hands at the chin and forehead, respectively. She mouths "mom" when she signs it, but doesn't yet say it consistently.
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