Friday, November 2, 2012

Naughty Doesn't Begin to Describe It

Yesterday my daughter misbehaved enough that she got sent to her room. This was her version of events when the Slovak got home:

"Apo, já jsem dneska trošičku zlobila a mamka byla cross tak jsem šla do mojej izby ale teď se už ukľudnila"

(Apo, I was a tiny bit naughty today and mommy was cross so I went to my room to play and then she calmed down again...)

First of all, how's that for a trilingual sentence?

Second, both the Slovak and I had to turn away so K wouldn't see us laughing.

Third, which part is best? "a tiny bit naughty", "Mommy calmed down" or the claim of voluntarily going to her room?

Fourth, I think the clear lesson here is that everything depends on your point of view. From K's perspective this was a perfectly valid representation of events.

***

K enjoys helping out around the house, but of course only on her own terms. She recently requested to help put the groceries away by saying, "Můžu je dát pryč?"

Literal translation from English "put - away". Not what she intended to say, though.

***

I have noticed several times that K has mixed up the words "lend" and "borrow". This is a typical Czech mistake (půjčit v. půjčit si, so the distinction is hard to remember when learning English), so it is mildly grating to hear coming from a native English speaker (even if a child).

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so, because this week K was telling me how a friend "borrowed" her a toy when the Slovak stepped in to tell her no, it has to be "lend", and explained the difference.

At least she doesn't say "willage". I definitely couldn't live with that!

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