Now, Luka talks pretty clearly but back in the Fall (2004), he had some very endearing Luka-speak. And, even now, of course, sometimes he pronounces things a little off.
Some recent funny ones
“Mommy, I want to do it in Spenlish” (= English)!
“Petit Papa Noël, quand tu descends pas du ciel" (should be "quand tu descendra du ciel" – or else, how would you get any presents ?!)
When he was asked what his little brother's name was going to be by his teachers at school, they asked me later how to say brother in French, because he was telling him that #2's name is "petit frère" ("little brother"). This is true - this is what we call him at our house. :)
"There was a farmer had a dog and mingo was his Nemo… b-i-n-g-o…” (He loves flamingos and used to call them “mingos”…and we all know Nemo.)
Sometimes mixes up "facile" and "difficile" or "pas facile" and "pas difficile" actually, that is understandable. I am sure a lot of adults learning French do too. :)
Some of Luka’s pronunciation from Sept and Oct 20004
(some of them were right on even then)
First and Favorite French Words from Fall 2004
FOR LUKA SAID Yaourt Yato Gâteau Gâteau Montagne Mont-ta-ta Avion was “abu” then “a-ion” Pantalon Patata Bisou Bisou Bonjour Beau-jour People People Au revoir au voir Flamingo mingo Calin ca….ca
Drapeau (flag) – one of his first words, and probably the first unprompted one – a big surprise (he still loves to pick out flags) was perfectly pronounced as “drapeau,”then mutated to “drapeau – rrrrrr” (can blame that on Mommy’s pronunciation, I am sure), now it is “drapeau” again (usually, that is).
Chapeau (hat)
Bye bye
Baby / Bébé
Maman
Papa (was “maman" for a long time too – both parents were “maman”. Then, nothing for a while as he sorted it out, then “baba” and then, finally, Papa!)
First Animal sounds (Fall 2004 and before)
Cochon (pig) – Luka would snort instead of saying oink oink (English) or groink groink (French). Got that from me too, I think…
Gorille (gorilla) – unhhh unhhh! Ohhh ohhh!
Cheval (horse) – (neigh in either language)
Chat (kitty cat) – meow / miaou
Chien (dog, or as we call it, “woofie” – as in Papa Woofie, Mama Woofie or Baby Woofie) – originally, Luka made the dog sound as “vvvvvv” then it because “woof woof.”
In October of 2004, he also said "All done" (learned at day care) and "fini".
Some Favorite Phrases around February 2005
These phrases were particulary popular in the Spring of 2005.
"Ce n'est pas de tout marrant"
"Ce n'est pas de tout rigolo"
"Ce n'est pas drôle"
(all these often said in succession at the same time)
"That is not funny"
Additions
06/28/05 - lately Luka has been confusing "faster" with "louder". Sort of the same idea, if you think about it. When he wants to hear his favorite songs on the car CD player louder, he will say, "Faster, Mommy, faster!"
07/06/05 - My friend Corinne just reminded me about Luka saying, "Maman, goblet n'a pas de visage" when referring to his Sponge Bob sippy cup(s). (He has a set of 4 that we rotate.) "Goblet" is almost like a stuffed animal or other "friend" in that "he" has taken on special importance. Often, when Luka mentions members of his family, he will include Goblet along with Mommy, Papa, Gorille, Baby, etc. One day he told me that Goblet did not have a face. Well, he has some pictures of Sponge Bog and friends faces on him, but Goblet himself, it is true, does not have a face. But, he is still our good buddy. :)
08/10/05 - Luka likes to say, "Hang loose, baby" and make the Hawaiin sign with a modified fist, with the pinky and thumb sticking out. Mommy taught him this one day when he was in the car with us because it looked like that is what he was doing with his hands.
08/23/05 - When Luka was around one year old, that Christmas, we read him a book about Santa (French Santa) looking for his reindeer that Jean-Claude and Annick had sent. In it, there was a candle and from the very beginning, he loved the word "bougie" (candle in French). He would laugh his head off every time we said it. He was also fascinated by real candles. That has somewhat subsided now, but he still likes candles if we light them and, at the time, he was really tickled by them and loved that word.
