Learning English

Sterling's English is advancing in leaps and bounds this summer. I have blogged about this before - American summers tend to be a time when my kids' language abilities improve. The English development is especially marked in Sterling, of course, though I have noticed richer and more varied language use on Magdalena's part. (Though she still says "except of" instead of "except for." I'm no prescriptivist (really!) but after a few months of hearing "except of" last year, Jeremy and I did explicitly correct her. But she says it feels like it should be "except of." Sigh.)

Sterling gets to hear other adults speak English here, and - even better - lots of other kids (his cousins)! For the first few days in the US, he kept asking, "Mama, do they speak like us?" I kept having to explain that yes, people in the US speak English. I confess I find myself startled by it every once in a while, too. On Tuesday we were at the pool and I kept hearing people speak English and I would get all excited because there were Americans there...and then I remembered where I was.