During our trip to the U.S., we were really worried that Maya's Amharic skills would get a little rusty due to a prolonged lack of exposure. And my worry over Amharic was heightened after a trip to an Ethiopian restaurant in Seattle during which Maya refused to respond when our waitress spoke Amharic to her. I don't just mean she didn't answer, but she didn't respond at all. I was a bit worried that all the progress we had made in the weeks before our vacation was for nothing.
Then we got home to our apartment in Cairo, and Maya ran in and saw her ball on the floor.
"Kwas, Kwas," she shouted, followed by "Tibi, Tibi" (Her nanny's name).
So Maya clearly remembers that she speaks Amharic. It was a very strange experience that was later repeated in Arabic. Here is the Arabic example.
Maya asked for yoghurt and Mike went to get it for her. When she saw he was getting yoghurt, she said: "Shukran, shukran" ('Thank you' in Arabic).
I guess we will have to see how the Amharic goes when Tiberh comes back tomorrow
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3 comments:
We are teaching Makena Amharic but were cautioned to do so until she gets a better grasp of English. It is funny because Tesfaye will swear she said something in Amharic and I will argue to say it was English. At some point it will all work itself out :)
Wow! That's so great that you are teaching her Amharic, and lucky her to have the benefits of a native speaker!! It's also good to know we are not the only family doing this, too!
I can certainly understand that Maya is glad to be home, but we are missing her terribly(and you and Michael, too)! Glad the trip home went well. The pictures are wonderful. We look forward to "seeing" all of you this weekend thanks to Skype (we'll be with Auntie Avni and Uncle Josh). Love, Grandma L.
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