Is there a banglish dictionary?

January 27, 2010

It may come out sounding like “I sorry” or blumbrabooga but either way you look at it, my kid is speaking in banglish (baby + English)! As his vocabulary grows and new words become a part of his repertoire his desire and efforts to speak are coming on stronger and stronger each day. It’s been so thrilling watching him progress to include words we have tried to teach him. He is not only able to articulate “I sorry,” but now understands the meaning of the term. My little sponge is changing shape each and every day. Yesterday I was showing him a turtle and within seconds he found another one and articulated turtle! The times, however, that he points to something and comes up with an elaborate sentence that makes absolutely no sense to anyone but him can be as painful for him as it is for us. He has such a need to communicate that the frustration we all get from not understanding our little banglish speaker is very hard. Although the issue of translating his vocabulary will improve with time, it made me realize that this is a struggle we may have the rest of our lives. Understanding his needs and wants has evolved so much in his 19 months of life. He used to just cry, then he pointed, then he grunted and now words (sometimes in other languages) when he wants something. His vocabulary will grow and he will be able to express himself but my mind will have to open and grow with his needs and wants. When he gets older and he tells me that he wants a bicycle, I can understand that and buy it for him. We will have had successful communication. What happens when he wants a tattoo or a motorcycle? He will be able to articulate that need or want but will I be able to understand those needs/wants? Will I be able to keep open communication with someone that is changing to become something I don’t understand? I never wanted to travel through Uganda on donkey back, what happens if he does? Then our challenge will no longer be vocabulary but understanding each other on a whole different level. As I have grown as a parent to understand his cries, points, grunts and now words, will I be able to evolve to understand what his adolescence, twenties, etc. bring? And if I can understand him, will I be able to respond and handle it in a way that brings both of us little frustration? It makes the challenge of interpreting his banglish sound much easier…

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