Parlez-vous Francais?

With all this talk of flying off to Paris, it was time for Ryan and Lucie to learn to speak to the locals, or at least for me to have a little fun breaking out my rusty French.

Since they were babies, we've been trying to expose them to a bit of the language by listening to French music and reading a board book that Aunt Rach and Uncle Jason brought us from a trip to Paris. Before Ryan and Lucie started speaking, they'd listen patiently to the book (or in Ryan's case, climb on and off the couch), waiting eagerly for the mirror on the last page. But now that their own speaking skills have taken off, they are intrigued by the book. They recognize a few of the words, and then like to mimic my reading by speaking gibberish/baby talk and dissolving into giggles.

I've since tried to teach them a few French words at a time. They love to say, "WaYa!" (voila), "Bonjour!" and are working on introducing themselves in, as they call it, "Fwench". I quickly learned, though, the key is to find words to teach them related to their favorite things. We found a book in the library about things with wheels and their French translations. It was perfect! Ryan quickly picked up "camion de pompier" (fire truck), "tracteur" (tractor) and "pelleteuse" (digger).

The trouble is, now he wants more specifics. He's not satisfied with saying fire truck, he wants to know how to say hook and ladder truck, brush breaker, backhoe loader, front end loader, and excavator. Funny, that vocabulary never came up in any of my courses, nor did I probably even know these words in English until I started reading truck books to my kids. Until I do some research, we call all unknown heavy machinery a "camion" (truck).

Lucie's requests are a bit easier, but not much. She wanted to know how to say Ducky (of course), green blanket, and duckling. For lack of any better translations, I taught her the word for teddy bear to refer to all her loved ones. Calling Ducky a "canard" sounds straight off a restaurant menu, and doesn't begin to explain the love and devotion she has for that little furry-headed guy.