How's His English?

This has been the most frequently asked question these days. From the beginning Nes has been very good at communicating with us. He is able to use sign language to make us understand if he can't find the word. He is also at the stage where imitating is fun. He goes around chanting his full name. It has a nice little cadence and usually everyone joins in.

His vocabulary is growing everyday. For now he has the important things down: I love you, finished, cookie, Mom, Dad, Madie, NO!, yes, good morning, come on, please, thank you, my turn, go cougs, amen... He has a very sweet accent. He rolls his R's, and doesn't pronounce H's. He is more articulate than our homegrown 3 year old.

Of course he understands much more than he can actually say. He knows what I am telling him, and follows directions well. I'm not an expert, but I would say that he is doing very well. He also has the advantage of living with people that are used to trying to interpret unclear messages. We have had babies and toddlers around for the last 14 years. It also helps to have a group of people to decipher, somebody will get it eventually.

The children I have met from Ethiopia do know some English before they come. Most Ethiopians know some English, and love to talk to English speakers so that they can practice. They had DVDs in English. He came to us knowing the theme song to Dora The Explorer, he could sing his alphabet, and he could sing this old man. They teach the children basic English at the orphanage. Language has not been a problem for us so far. I didn't have any trouble at the orphanages in Ethiopia either. The older kids were very good English speakers, and they enjoyed interpreting for the younger kids if they had trouble. They also got a lot of laughs trying to teach us Amharic.