Arthur finally seems to be picking up at least a smattering of French. He said 'C'est bon' at least once recently, and knows at least the names of a few words and song titles (e.g. 'Alouette') that they sing at day care. Of course, he got very upset when I actually started singing the aforementioned song, shrieking, "You don't like it in Frenchie! You don't like it in Frenchie!" (He still says 'you don't like it' for 'I don't like it' although his command of the first person is significantly improved otherwise, and I presume that in Frenchie is what passes for a toddler loan-translation of en français). Had me howling in laughter, though.

I wonder who has done research on toddlers' use of simile and metaphor. This evening when I was giving him his bath, we were playing with a mostly-empty liquid soap bottle that I had refilled with soapy water. He was squirting it on himself and I said "You're making a soap waterfall"; shortly thereafter, in contrast, he remarked, "I'm making it like a soap waterfall."

Tags: arthur, language