Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Ember and the English

Yesterday on my nightly walk I ran into a woman, a mother of many ranging from 3 - young adult. I see her frequently and she met Ember just after we brought her home. Anyway, yesterday she saw me walking alone and we had a short rather strange conversation.

woman: How's your daughter? How's the English coming along?

me: Oh, she's doing great! She just turned a year old a few weeks ago. (Thinking that would answer the question about English.)

woman: So, what does she say? Does she speak English or Ethiopian?

me: (Huh?!) Well, you know...she's only a year old. She isn't saying many words yet. She says bye-bye and that's about it.

woman: So, is she still speaking Ethiopian?

me: (Huh?!) She was only 4 months when we got her. She was born in Ethiopia, but she wasn't speaking yet. Not Amharic or English. She was just a little baby. Why? When did your kids start to talk?

woman: Oh, they were all talking by 3 months.

me: (Huh?! Not sure what to say at this point since I'm thinking she's either crazy or seriously confused. I just wished her a pleasant evening and was on my way. A little strange if you ask me.

8 comments:

TT said...

Actually, I think John has some students in his classes who tend to think that way (about other topics, not babies), so it is strange but not all that unusual.

Anonymous said...

Huh??? I bet they could read too. They do have those Your Baby Can Read videos.

Clive and Dawn said...

yeah and probably potty trained at 3 months aswell! lol - what a silly woman!

Anonymous said...

I would like to note that she also says "DaDa" quite clearly!

Melissa said...

I LOL at this...are you serious? Confused is the key word here..is it even possible that kids(babies is more like it) talk at that age?!

Gretchen said...

Wow.

emme said...

what can i add to this - yes, she is completely insane or completely misguided, but then, so many are!

Anonymous said...

Hey, Emme; I resemble that remark.