Are You a Great Child Translator?

LOL, yeah, I am, ESPECIALLY since my son (my 3rd) has a speech delay.

At his group therapy session, a little boy kept saying 'Ma-waa it-it'... which I immediately heard as 'I want to go outside'... his mom started crying when I repeated it back to the kid and he got all excited and the teachers looked shocked... apparently the kid has said NOTHING but this phrase for a year, and no one knew what he meant! I did good :)

Yep! It's less about the words being spoken, and more about the facial expression and body language and tone of voice.

Works well with other languages as well.

LOL... Although, there's a specific phrase I forget, which translates into the things that become a private language in families. Example:

Peace & Quiet = Cheese & Crackers

Dad would come home and say he wanted some peace and quiet, make himself some cheese and crackers, and sit and read. Kids start calling cheese and crackers 'peace & quiet', and mom and dad start making THEM cheese & crackers when they "ask for them"!

All families have these little code words... that mean something different from what the person is actually saying... but they usually forget about them, even as they're using them, until a nonspeaker of this language is present (babysitter, grandmother, schoolfriend, etc.).

When I met my wife her daughter was 3, she is now 6. But initially I was able to translate for my wife what her daughter was saying all the time. Cute :)

Sure, but wait til the teen years when you'll need to interpret a zillion very subtle variations of the same three words (well, utterances really):

Uh, Um, Meh

Good Luck!

:)

No, not so much!
There were actually times my oldest son had to translate what my little one was trying to say :)

I'm a great MY kid translator. And I should be! I spend all my time with her. =) Other people's kids just sound like they're speaking another language.

I think all moms can understand their own child's kid speak, but it's harder when the child is not yours. I have one child, two step children, nine grandchildren and numerous young grand nieces and nephews so I have a lot of experience. I can usually make out what they're saying.

My GS used to say "cock" for "truck.:" We'd be rolling down the road and he would be announcing every "cock" to me!

My daughter will say off the wall things all the time. Since I am with her all the time I can usually put two and two together. But, my poor husband, he gets so confused!

There are times where we are just both looking at each other going, "What the hell does that mean?"

I'd have to say that for my own kids - yes - for others not so much. I think it's because you get used to how they pronounce certain sounds and say certain words = almost like your own families language!!!

I love your story.
Yes, I can do that too with my kids when they were younger.
Especially my son, who earlier on was speech delayed and not real articulate with pronunciation yet.
LOL
Makes for great memories.

Usually for my own kids, but not for others. And I don't know why but I sometimes can't understand a word my SD says and she's 14. It's not just that she speaks softly, which is no big deal, but she swallows her words in some peculiar way that has us all going "what? Speak up...what? Enunciate. What? Try again, we have no idea what you're saying!"

My youngest has a speech impediment and one morning he was trying to tell me that the letter of the day for school was "R" but was saying "aw" (rhyming with raw). I thought he was making an O sound so kept saying "you mean O? The letter of the day is O?" and finally he yelled, "NO! Like a piwate says! AAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Me: "You mean Argh?" him "THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" LOL poor kid...usually I was a little better than that.

Yep, it's true but with me I actually "understand the words that are coming out of his mouth (some movie reference).

It's so weird to know I can completely decifer "his" language while my parents & sister have no idea what he is saying. So funny & so cute.

Must be "mommy-speak".

My husband used to have a hard time but he is so much better at it now.

These were when he was much younger but....
pew pew = bird
apo jus = apple juice
ucko = motorcycle
cocklate = chocolate
kitty = was any animal
mana = banana

My husband and I could translate really well for my son when he was little. It was one of the reasons we didn't pick up up on his speech problem sooner. One time we were in the car and he said, I want to go to Hanka-Hanka. I couldn't figure it out, but my husband knew instantly that he meant San Francisco.
These days, I have trouble understanding kids. I think I'm losing my hearing. I have to ask the elementary school aged kids to repeat or spell what they're saying. I have to remind my son all the time that I can't hear what he's saying when he's upstairs and I'm between a noisy dishwasher and a sizzling frying pan.

Lol...I guess you gotta know your kid. Mine says "da-da", and I know when it means "thank you" or "Daddy" or "bye-bye" or "tit" (teta in Spanish) or he's just singing.

For my kid, yeppers! That's probably one of the main reasons that it's taken us this long to realize that she has a "major speech delay in articulation." Ugh. We are going to start her in speech therapy soon (the IEP is next week) and hopefully other people will be able to understand her like I do.
She has a huge vocabulary and remembers some of the most interesting words (even after hearing them only once). The best one was when she was about 1 and got so excited about a "fancy house! fancy house!" that she saw. I was trying to figure out what she was talking about, since we were driving through a part of town that is all businesses and car dealerships. On the return trip I figured it out--it wasn't a "fancy house!" it was a Bouncy House (that was on the back side of a dealership)! She used to say "dink-um" for "thank you" and she still pronounces her name "Id-a-bedda" (Isabella). The lady who did her speech evaluation said she could only understand about 25% of what she was saying--at age 3, a stranger should be able to understand at least 50% of what they're saying. I even asked her "Well, her daddy and I are from Mississippi, could that be part of it?" Ha!

I think I am fantastic! I know that when my son says that he wants "Arby" and "chocate moot" and "awsauce", that means that he wants to watch Barney and have a chocolate milk and applesauce...it just comes with the territory. However, my husband always struggles!! I still don't understand why my son calls my mom "Money"--but she answers to it!!

IWith my kids yes others ppls kids not so much. my daughter from ages 2-4 put an "o" on the end of everything...

drawer = drawero
guitar =guitaro

Used to drive me nuts. Now she no longer does that but she bracelet is brace-clet with a pause and extra c in there.

When we were younger my sister always spoke very fast. For a long time I was the only one who could translate for our parents. Still sometimes I have to catch her when she's telling a story to others that she's got to slow down...they don't speak Natalie.

That's so sweet! I remember that it really helped to have the context. I could understand what my kids were talking about because I knew what books they were reading, songs they were hearing, and tv shows they were watching. Other people were clueless.

As a mom to a nonverbal little boy I translate wonderfully even for other parents whose kids are in my son's class. My son can say a few words though they're only partially spoken. For instance, he came into my room this morning to wake me up and said "go school" but what he actually says is "gOh koooool." One of my favorite things that I just now figured out, that he has been saying for months, is hug. He comes up to me and says "h" as in the sound the letter h makes but I could never quite figure it out til now.

Oh that is SO cute. And yes. Not only do I totally understand my almost 3 year old, I also understand accents way better now too. Something about tuning in and listening for certain parts of speech and context.

I can usually understand other people's kids even when they can't. It's a gift.: )
Part of it is paying attention to context and expression as much as the words. I have been taking care of kids for most of my life, though, because it's just what I liked to do. Not everyone is as in tune with kids as others, and some may never have a prayer!

I can understand my granddaughter who is around me all the time when she was this age. The granddaughter who wasn't around that much, I had a harder time understanding, but her mother never understood my other granddaughter and thought her daughter was so much more advanced. The girls are 4 months apart.

Yep. I have a hard time hearing, so I usually hear a blurb and can make the connections. I mess with my husband all the time. I will hear something on the tv and say, "Did they just say.......?" He looks at me and says, "Ummm, no. They said, ........." Which sounds similar in tone, texture, and syllables. I just smile.

I can also read broken English, and children's stories. Years of teaching bilingual kiddos. :)

LOL. My 2 year old can say "chocolate cupcake" clear as can be, but insists on calling bananas "lalas". She can say "ba" and she can say "nana" since that what she calls her grandmom, but I can't get that kid to say banana!