English, Naturally!

"A Day of Shopping for Mommy!"

For Nancy ...

At first, all she spoke was Chinese. This was certainly different from our first little China doll, Lily Grace. Lily didn't have much of a vocabulary at all, Chinese or English, when we first met her, but I'm sure she understood quite a bit of Chinese. Since we barely knew a word of Chinese, Lily had to pick up English fast ... or risk being given a glass of milk when she asked to go potty! And she did. Her English skills began developing even before we left China and by the time we departed Guangzhou, she could communicate most of what she needed and understood quite a bit of what we were saying. Once she got home, her English skills took off like a rocket. Her first complete English sentence, of course, was "Roll Tide!" Courtesy of her mommy, not her daddy. Now, fast forward two years ...

"Wei, Ni Hao! Boo Yow, Xie, Xie. Tai Guala"

"She won't know how to talk English will she Daddy?" Lily asked before we left for China a second time to bring home Lia Faith. "No, sweet baby girl, she won't. That's why Austin and I are taking Chinese lessons. So maybe we can at least understand what she needs. And maybe having her hear something in her own language will be comforting." "Well, daddy, we'll just have to teach her to talk." Lily replied. And so she has.

"Granny's Grandkids!"

As expected, when we first met Lia Faith in Taiyuan, she couldn't speak any English. An Angel who occasionally visited Lia Faith at her orphanage in Datong informed us that Lia was easily the most vocal child in the orphanage. Uh oh, what does that mean. Now we know. Lia talks incessantly, sometimes not even able to keep up herself with what she wants to say. Our Angel in Datong had spoken with Lia many times and had prepared her to meet us as best she could. When we met, Lia Faith wasted no time in talking, issuing a number of Chinese 'orders' the first day back at the hotel after we brought her home from the Civil Affairs office. Of course, we didn't know what she was saying, even though Austin and I had completed six or seven lessons - like we'd really understand anything after such a short training regimen.

"My Very First Baseball Game!"

Complicating matters was that Lia's version of Mandarin was not common in China. It appeared to be a local dialect, spoken only in Datong. Our interpreter/guide, Emily, could tell us a little of what she was saying, but didn't know all the words she was speaking. Mostly Emily would laugh when Lia talked, partly because she understood part, but not all, of what she said and partly because Lia talked so fast. Great, not even the Chinese can understand this 'most vocal child in the orphanage!"

"Do You Like My Dora Tricycle?"

"Let's Go for a Ride!"

So we spent a few weeks in China, listening carefully and noting expressions on her face to figure out what she was saying. Not once did we give her a glass of milk instead of taking her to the potty! She finally said something that the interpreter understood when we went back to Datong to visit her orphanage. Translated to English, she said "the train is coming." After a block or two, we came to a railroad track and sure enough, there was the predicted train. Apparently, Lia was familiar with her surroundings at that point, which is curious, given her time spent in the orphanage - they don't usually go anywhere. I expect that Lia hadn't been in the orphanage long and that her time with foster parents had lead to her knowledge of the train.

"Lia, Say Lemon Cake for Mommy!"

By the time we left China for home, Lia Faith had begun to mix in a few English words that Lily and Austin had taught her. It was funny to watch them try to teach her English. No patience. "Dad, why doesn't she know?" Lily would cry. Thankfully, laughter and play are apparently a universal language amongst toddlers, because Lily and Lia did a lot of that in China. We weren't fully aware of how much Lia was picking up from Austin and Lily Grace until we got home and got over the flu. The flu was something of a setback, because there wasn't much talking at all by any of us for the entire month of January.

"Eee, Er, San!"

Gradually, we all got better and Lia decided she'd have to start trying a little English, forgoing her native tongue on occasion and mixing a few English words with a few Chinese words to convey her thoughts. We called her new language "Chinglish," pronounced "Cheen glish." It was certainly a funny thing to behold. She'd say something with all the authority of a grade school teacher on the first day of class and wait with great expectation on our response. Sometimes, she would be rewarded with a correct response from her confused new family. Most times she'd have to try again and again. Since the word we had learned for potty apparently didn't match the Datong dialect of Mandarin, Lia decided the best way to inform us of an impending problem was to jump up and down and point where she thought a potty might be located. We learned this one very quickly! Now, both Lily Grace and Lia Faith use the jump up and down method to gain access to potty.

"Two Peas in a Pod!"

It was also interesting to see Lia teach Lily how to count in Chinese. Now they both can count to ten, with absolute correctness in their tones - which is very critical in the Chinese language. They both love to watch Ni Hao, Kai Lin and are learning quite a bit of Chinese language from that. They even have a Dora episode that we got in China that's completely in Chinese. Hilarious, watching this little Hispanic girl speak in Chinese. I guess that's no different from watching these little Chinese girls speaking in English.

"Reflecting"

After a time spent exercising both her native tongue and her newly discovered English, Lia decided to drop most of the Chinese. Apparently, she finally figured out we weren't getting it and she wasn't getting what she asked for most of the time. So she went boldly into the unknown and began uttering complete English phrases that actually meant something. Her ENT asked us one day "How many English phrases does she say?" Our answer of several was quickly followed by a "that I can understand!" Oops. On second thought, not many. We understand, but probably no one else could. In fact, Connie and Lily could understand her better than I could and that's still true today. But I know that her English is improving greatly. Tonight, Lily Grace had her book taken away because she had pulled out a few pages. A few minutes later, Lia Faith, aka the messenger, appeared in our bedroom, hands on hips, and issued a stern warning from her big sister "Lily Grace wants her book back!" It was hilarious to see the expression on her face - she knew without a doubt that she was delivering a demand from on high, though she didn't know the consequences of her complicit involvement with her big sister's plea. "Oh, yeah, gimme your book too, you little co-conspirator!" Lia also knows when the tone of our voices means someone's in trouble. As soon as she hears something that sounds like the least bit of trouble, she begins singing like a canary - "I not do nothing, Lily did it!" Ah, the joys of the twin twisters. We'll never again know "Who done it" and will be left to conduct investigations and inquiries for the serious offenses of these two, while laughing off the misdemeanors.

"Daddy, Do You Think Mommy Will Like It?"

Today, Lia's English is more than sufficient and we fully expect that she'll be able to communicate well enough by the end of the summer to join Lily Grace at school. In fact, Lia's already planning for it. She has a backpack on her wall and won't let anyone move it, because she knows that one day she'll need it for school. Wait'll she springs the Chinglish on those poor, unsuspecting teachers at Lindsay Lane. If their response is anything like ours, the cute expressions on her face and the beauty of her eyes will ensure she never gets more than a slight nod when time comes for dishing out discipline. As for the other children, Lia will be able to choose between English and Chinglish as she wishes to keep 'em guessing!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five