language acquisition

i have been trying to write about nadia nasira's language acquisition and this has been a draft for a long time. that is purely because every time i make a mental note to record some of the cute things she said, i won't be able to remember exactly what she said and how she said it.

my darling nadia nasira started talking before she was a year old... she started saying maa for amma but ended up with mummy. i use both interchangeably when i refer to myself. she calls me amma now and then when she wants to manja with me which is very well fine with me. i didn't keep tract of her vocabulary until she was 18 months old. i read that one of the milestones to be achieved by 18 months is the ability to say at least 50 words.

both my husband and i did a quick count in the microsoft excel just to make sure she has achieved the milestone. when the list hit 51, i stopped counting.

mummy car tepuk dog mosque cheese
daddy bas abang miaw bag jump
nanni eye shame wow wow rice
na tree tutup adik up
mama go boom baby down
light key poo poo moon bye
red nana aeroplane star
stop bear kakak a ball
eat fish jojo b water
air clap cat flag susu

she is now 27 months, going on 28. she is fluently speaking a mix of malay + penang malay + english + bits of tamil. i have to say that my MIL's penang malay has a very strong influence on her language development.

there are some words which she says wrongly but it is so funny.... she says, tekkulung for telekung, bekkalang for belakang, gapru for garpu.

she sometimes amazes me with the things she says...

...mummy, slipper nadia lingkup (actually, when i carried her, one of her slipper landed on a plant).

...mummy malu, mummy tak pakai baju (i came home from office and removed my jacket as i was going to feed her dinner).

...nadia nak makan nasi lemak, nadia high (she meant tall), strong.

...mummy go, motorcycle fly (we stopped at the traffic light and when it turned green, the motorcycle that was beside my car fled away).

well, this is what i remember for now...i shall continue with this now and then....