Thursday, April 17, 2008

Ich kann das nicht "reachen"

Here is a concrete example of the changes the Nanny ushered into our lives. Emma started speaking more German. Now Emma will occasionally respond to me in German.

It actually brings a tear to my eye when she does. I've been speaking to her in German for almost three years now, and she has always answered in English (since she could talk). And now, with the same excitement that accompanies most of her actions, i.e., jumping up and down and smiling or laughing, she talks to me in German. It is sweet.

One funny phrase jumped out the other morning. I don't remember what she couldn't "reach", but there was something that she wanted and couldn't quite reach. What she said to me was "Ich kann das nicht 'reachen'", mixing an English word with German verb conjugation into the German sentence. By the time it registered, I was a already in the next room. Very cute.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my that is so cute. It happens to me too that I mix up german and english LOL. It happens quite often and is absolutely natural when you live with two languages. But from a little girl.. it must be so cute and you must be one proud mom. Thank you so much for sharing.

Maria said...

That's so cute! There's a man in my German class that does that all of the time... on purpose... not as cute. But a little one... adorable!

March 2007