Voici Baptiste
(pronounced “vwah-see bah-teest”, meaning “Here is Baptiste”)Baptiste is two-and-a-half. Here’s an account of a conversation we recently had, complete with visual documentation. The following has, of course, been translated from French.
“Gimme the camera.”
“No, Baptiste.”
“Gimme the camera!”
“No.”
“Gimme the camera, Kate!!”
“Hang on… I’ve gotta get your picture first.”
One of my favorite things about my situation is the linguistic heaven I’m in. I live in a region with a notable accent yet with a family from the Paris area (therefore with the standard Parisian accent) which, further, has small children who are still learning how to speak correctly. It’s all just too interesting and fun!
Baptiste was just beginning to learn how to express himself when I arrived back in September. In fact, he couldn’t even say my name correctly at first and so called me “Go-Kate” because he already knew how to ask to ride his toy “Go-Kart”. :o) Since then he has learned a multitude of things (including my name), most recently “C’est pas à toi, c’est à moi” (That’s not yours, that's mine) and “C’est fini dodo?” (Is naptime over?) and “J’ai pas envie!” (I don’t wanna!). The cutest, though, is when he’s trying to situate something by himself and he says absentmindedly, “Vvvoila” (There).
posted by Kate @ 1:23 PM
15 Comments:
this is GREAT.
now give him the camera.
Le Dad.
The kid could not be cuter.
BESS
What does his shirt say?
I thought that said "vwoila" with a double-u.
Toooo cute. It's fun to think about him learning French while my kiddo's learning English.
-RT
I had to laugh, because I heard two of the phrases I listed within the first ten minutes of seeing Baptiste this morning. I love hearing that kid talk.
ANNE: I believe his shirt says "le chat" and has a picture of a cat below.
BETHANY: Yeah, I noticed that too. A lamentable result of the font I usually enjoy so.
He is adorable. Can't wait to hug him. And kudos to your photo skills. We could have added the captions ourselves. BTW, what's "gimme" in french?
Aunt Amy
Well, in Baptiste, "gimme" is simply, "À moi? À moi? À moi?" ("to/for me?"), but with worry in his voice such that there's no question he'll be utterly crushed if he's not given whatever it may be. I don't remember if he actually said "appareil-photo" ("camera") since it's such a hard word, but I know he recognizes it, at least.
Kate, as I mentioned by your comment on our blog, thanks for remembering us on the 10th! I prayed you would remember because we needed prayers. Thank you much! Love Jessica
He is so cute! I love how you documented the conversation and how concerned he looks.
Not that anyone's looking at this post anymore, but I thought of another thing he says that's just too cute:
It begins again with Baptiste talking to himself, then pausing, drawing in a long breath, and saying freshly, “Alors... ” (Now then... ).
That may be the best one yet.
Do French kids have speech impediments?
American kids say "ow" instead of "r"... do French kids accidentally roll their "r"s instead of doing the correct "Fchrench" thing?
I tried to imagine a 2-year-old saying "Alors" and I couldn't hear the "r" in my... "mind's ear"(?).
Do you "think" that I "used" enough "quotes" in this comment? And my punctuation is sketchy at best. Sorry. :o)
You may be pleased to know that I think this merits an post all its own (which is another way to say that I started writing a response and it was WAY too long). I'm gonna wait until I'm done "playing catch up" and then get back to this topic. Don't let me forget! :o)
"a post". Oops.
Post a Comment
<< Home