ah-bol

I was eating some broccoli coleslaw at dinner the other night when Hannah bursts out: "¡ah-bol!!!" She had just noticed how similar my broccoli looked to trees (árboles)! I know it sounds weird that she just noticed that, but she really doesn't like broccoli in it's natural form, and so it is usually pureed for her in her spaghetti sauce, so this was exciting to see it in it's purer form!)
We've backed off a bit with the Spanish while we get Hannah started in speech therapy. Surprisingly, though, the Spanish is in there. And I'm always surprised when she says a new word, but my cup just runneth over when it's a Spanish word. It's an interesting journey we're on... using Spanish in our home. Turns out that it requires a patience entirely different than using/teaching Spanish in the classroom. Because I don't receive as much feedback from Hannah as I do a high school student, I am constantly wondering how much Spanish she really knows, and how it will all come together, and it seems to peek out in small flashes of brilliance more and more lately, and I couldn't be prouder.
I've been reading that great book I mentioned a while back, Bilingual, and it is thought-provoking in every way, and I'm so inspired to keep track of Hannah's speech journey, day by day, as much as I can! I ran across the most interesting statement in the chapter about children acquiring two languages (Chapter 15):
"Where do we stand, then, on this issue? The two languages in the young bilingual are definitely in some form of contact but not in a state of "fusion," which could explain some of the observations made by earlier proponents of the unitary language position. Jürgen Meisel points out that the two languages do not develop at the same pace and this leads to such cross-linguistic influence as interference (transfer) and acceleration or delay in the acquisition of specific constructions. Researchers Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews, who studied young Cantonese-English bilinguals, observed the pervasive influence of the dominant language on the weaker language, as well as some structures developing more quickly in one language due to their simplicity or transparency. They conclude that the bilingual children they had studied - and this probably true of most of these types of children - have a distinct and unique linguistic profile that cannot be characterized as a composite of two monolinguals housed in the same mind."
I love that. She is not two monolinguals housed in the same mind. I can't compare how her Spanish develops with how mine did, or with how my students learn, she is learning two together and simultaneously. Crazy. I need to capture this.
The mystery of child development is mind-boggling and utterly humbling to me. Because speech is an area where Hannah actually has a delay, I almost hesitate to write about this, knowing how much more other children her age are capable of saying. I know it's not healthy to compare, but sometimes when they play together it is so obvious. But when I pray about this, wondering what is the right thing to do, I am always reminded of a wonderful story I once heard about an African boy who found a bundle of grain stashed in a corner of the barn during a famine. Starving, the boy ran to find his father, thrilled that there would be grain to eat that night. The father then explains that they must throw the seed out in the field, to start the crop for the next season's grain, because he believes it will grow. I love the moral of the story: Believe in the harvest. Even when it is so hard to sow the seeds. Though I have loved this story over the years for how it has applied to faith, and to teaching, now I love it even more as I battle to share something I believe is so important with my daughter. Do I wonder sometimes if her speech delay could have been caused by hearing two languages? Sure. Do I stop teaching her? NO. She continues to use her Spanish, as it is part of her life, part of our life together, as mother and daughter. I'll keep teaching her because I believe one day it will be important that she knows it. I have visions of her, grand and small - making friends across the world, or seamlessly moving between Spanish and English on the playground with whoever she's playing with - and everywhere in between. I'll keep on teaching her because I believe that one day she will speak both. And it will be so worth it. I believe it.