Parlez-vous francais?

Just returned from spending a wonderful week with my totally delightful grandchildren (my totally unbiased opinion, of course!!) I am blown-away by the way they are able to switch from speaking French to English at such a young age!!!!

The almost 5 year old goes to a french school where all instruction is in french, and only french is spoken all day ... and we are all thrilled at how her french has blossomed during her first year there in Jr. Kindergarten. (To qualify for this school, one parent MUST be french speaking, and luckily our daughter-in-law is French Canadian.)

However, it is the two-and-a half year old little fellow who is totally amazing to my mind. (I should qualify, and say that he himself is not totally amazing - although, of course WE in his family all think so - it is the workings of his young brain that surprises us.) Until 6 months ago he hardly said a word ... his mum spoke to him in french, dad in english ... and although he appeared to understand both, he did not venture into the world of language at all.

We weren't too concerned about this - after all, he is a male! :-) But, we saw his brain working in many other matters, and knew that language would come when he was ready (Einstein didn't utter a word until he was 3!)

Anyway, whilst staying with them I watched open-mouthed, while this little fellow switched from french to english with absolute ease. He even knew who he should speak which to!! One lunch time his mother gave him a bowl of soup, and he said to her, "C'est chaud, mama!" then looked at me and said, "It's hot, Gran!" If his mother spoke to him in french he answered in french, if she spoke in english he answered in english ... I was blown away!!!

How very lucky these two youngsters are, learning 2 languages with such ease ... if the young brain is easily capable of handling this, why are we waiting until children are so much older before introducing a new language, and even then at such a slow rate???

It is obvious that these two children not only are learning 2 languages at the same time, but are quite aware of the fact, do not mix them up, and can switch very easily between the two. My granddaughter will often sneak an english word in when she is speaking french if she doesn't know the french word - but, this isn't due to confusion on her part, she knows she is making a substitution.

Isn't the brain amazing???? (Not to mention my two very special little people!!)

Bye, until next time ...

Ramblings ...

Having just returned from almost 4 weeks in the UK - specifically Wales and England - my mind is full of items of note which struck me whilst visiting the island of my birth ... hope you can follow my ramblings ...

- I had forgotten how chatty total strangers can be in UK. Where I live here in central/northern Canada the people are friendly, and strangers will nod and say hello. Yet, over 'ome, in supermarkets, bus stops, any queue etc. I would be engaged in conversation and often given a good deal of the person's life story. I thoroughly enjoyed these exchanges, and they always left me with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step ...

- Parking is horrendous there, and a total pre-occupation for most of the people we met. It is understandable when there are so many cars and so little space, but the worry about "Where will we park?" really began to wear me down, and certainly took a lot of joy out of some outings ... guess I've been spoilt living in such a vast country without these worries!

- Rain, rain and more rain! We spent June in the UK, and it was listed as the wettest June since records had begun - lucky us! But, I was struck by how the locals often seemed oblivious to the rain - many just going about their business, sometimes not even wearing a jacket or head covering. We used to be like that when we lived there, but we've become soft and will often stay indoors if it rains here, and moan about it! When rain is a reality the majority of your days the best way is to just get on with life - isn't it!!

- Narrow canal boats are the MOST fun!!! Ray and I had an absolutely fabulous time just meandering along the canals - operating lift bridges and locks as they occurred ... and seeing the countryside from an entirely new perspective - marvellous experience!

- We had no idea how much Welsh is spoken in northern Wales! It was delightful to hear the young children chatting to each other and to their parents in this delightful sounding language. All signs are bilingual in Wales, but we did not encounter much Welsh being spoken in southern Wales.

- Castles, castles, castles! Another surprise for us was the large number of castles in Wales - particularly in the north. Most dating back before the 13th century, not many were in good shape, but a joy to explore never-the-less.

- We loved our B&B's!! Never stayed in them before, but would definitely choose them again - met wonderful fellow travellers from all over the world, and the B&B operators were super, often giving us great tips on places to avoid and what was a must-see!

- Cricket - forgotten how much it is enjoyed and revered! Strange not to see the teams in the traditional 'whites' though. My disgusted, traditional brother-in-law often commented that they were playing in their pyjamas!

- British TV - we love the Brit dramas and period films that we get in Canada, but found that they had just as much junk on their TV now as we have ... more channels than we remember, but just filled with more brainless reality shows!

- Couldn't believe the open racism we encounted - not encouraging!

- Ray loved driving the narrow country lanes again ... whipping around bends with high hedgerows impossible to see over, with me simply hoping we wouldn't meet another car ...

- Super clear signs on the motorways - we only got lost once! But, in towns the road names were not clearly marked at all ...

- Internet service at the various libraries was super! Very cooperative librarians would book me 30-60 mins free of charge - just as well, as I didn't see many Internet cafes.

- Cream cakes!! Oh, the decadence!! Luckily we did a lot of walking to shed the extra pounds they gave us!

- Welsh lamb is the BEST!!! With 4 sheep for every person in Wales, it's little wonder ...

- The pub food we tasted was a huge improvement over our last visit! Not cheap, but often very good - still serving chips with everything though!!

- I often enjoy shopping when abroad, looking at the different items for sale. However, we found they had much the same things as we have here in Canada - only twice the price! So, didn't buy half the amount of things we have in past visits - Ray was pleased!

- Beautiful scenery in Wales - it knocked our socks off! Unspoilt, well-marked coastal paths gave us great hiking experiences ...

A super holiday - Britain is still the best!!!

Bye for now ...