The other week, Hannah Grace was looking at a baby book. I would ask her to show me different pictures on the pages and she would point. She was doing great, correctly responding to cat, dog, boy, girl, flower, and different facial features. Then, I asked her to point to the juice. Since the juice in the picture was in a small box with a straw, she didn't recognize it. After looking all over the picture, she finally pointed to some shoes. To her ears, "juice" and "shoes" sound an awful lot alike. She has the same trouble with "tummy". Every time I ask her where her tummy is, she sticks out her tongue.
I could sympathize with her. Whether you're learning your first language at the age of two, or your second (or third) at a much older age, there are so many new words to learn, and so many sound the same. Every person who has lived overseas and learned the language has at least one funny story about getting similar words confused. Hannah Grace, however, has a definite advantage: babies learn language a lot better than adults!
Please remember Randy as he continues his language studies with a tutor, and as I continue to learn informally.
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