We were playing with Apple's Siri and Google Now over dinner with Sawa. She thought it was hilarious, and intentionally spoke gibberish, then we would laugh at the voice recognition errors. Our favorite was "Can I get a fake ID kit?" It seems a bit early for that.
Jacob & Ayako's blog
Friday, October 31, 2014
Waking up to Hallowe'en
Sawa is usually hard to raise in the morning. This morning, like she'd just been plugged in, she sat upright, ran off the bed, and asked "Is it Hallowe'en? I don't hear any ghosts outside... Maybe it isn't Hallowe'en...."
Everyone goes to California
Sawa loved the elephants at the Toronto zoo. She was very unhappy when they left for a sanctuary in California. We explained that that is where Grampa and Jill live, and they'd be happy there. We are pretty sure she thinks they live in the same house. On our last visit to the zoo, when animals retreated from public space Sawa would ask questions like "Did the giraffes go to California too?"
Learning to read
Sawa is learning to read. We were pleased about that. Then, this morning, she asked for the shoes that were hidden in the box labelled "shoes" high up on the shelf. "It says shoes!" she told us.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Hallowe'en 2013
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
A toddler's life in verbs
At first Sawa learned mostly Japanese nouns. But now she's picking up verbs incredibly quickly, as well as the occasional adjective. This is both annoying and impressive, because I've been struggling to add verbs to my Japanese for a long time.
Here's a reasonably comprehensive list of Japanese verbs Sawa uses.
Akeru - to open
Aru - to have
Aruku - to walk
Asobu - to play
Butsukeru - to collide
Deru - to go out
Hashiru - to run
Iku - to go
Iru - to be
Iu - to say
Kaeru - to return
Kasu - to lend/share
Katazukeru - to put away
Kowareru - to break
Kuru - to come
Matsu - to wait
Miru - to look
Nageru - to throw
Naku - to cry
Nakusu - to put away/lose
Neru - to sleep
Nomu - to drink
Noru - to ride
Nugu - to remove
Ochiru - to fall
Okiru - to wake up
Oriru - to descend
Owaru - to end
Shimeru - to close
Suru - to do
Suwaru - to sit
Taberu - to eat
Tatsu - to stand
Tobu - to fly
Toru - to get
Yameru - to stop
We never got around to posting our previous vocabulary list, but here it is, last updated approximately August 17, which is when we could no longer maintain a complete vocabulary list - it was growing too quickly. Sorry for the strange formatting.
.
| Word | Pronounciation | Language | Meaning | Frequency @2012-05-08 | Frequency @2012-08-17 |
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| all done | awdun | English | I've finished eating (or occasionally other actions) | Common | |
.
| apple | appo | English | apple, but likely also other things too | Occasional | |
.
| baby | baby | English | babies, line-drawings with round heads, teddy bears, her favourite teddy bear | Common | |
.
| ball | ball | English | ball, anything round or spherical | Common | |
.
| berries | bish | English | berries, especially blueberries or strawberries | Common | |
.
| boat | boat | English | boat | New | |
.
| Bonobo | bonobo | English | her stuffed monkey | New | |
.
| boo | boo | English | boob, breast | Common | |
.
| boots | boots | English | boots | New | |
.
| bottle | bottle | English | bottle | New | |
.
| bubble | bubble | English | bubble | New | |
.
| bumgoo | bum goo | English | sudocrem zinc ointment | Common | |
.
| bye-bye | bye-bye | English | Good-bye | Common | Common |
.
| doggie | doggie | English | dog | Occasional | |
.
| don't touch | dontouch | English | don't touch (presumably from daycare) | Common | |
.
| down | down (drawn-out, mimicking daycare scolding) | English | get down, but also simply being up on something | Common | |
.
| Eden | Eden | English | Eden (classmate) | Occasional | |
.
| Emma | Emma | English | Emma (classmate) | Common | |
.
| Emma | Emma | English | book (maybe because Emma read her books) | Common | |
.
| fish | fish | English | fish, One fish two fish by Dr Zeuss | Common | |
.
| Grampa | ampa, bum-bum | English | Grandfather | Occasional | |
.
| grunt | uhm (with clenched fists) | English | pooping, the book "Everybody poops" by Gomi Taro | Common | |
.
| hi | hi | English | hello | Common | Occasional |
.
| I don't know | aidon-no | English | I don't know (where something/someone is) | Common | |
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| ishe dere? | is she there? | English | is she there? (game of where is mama...) | Rare | |
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| Jacob | Jacob | English | Father | Rare | |
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| Jenny | Jenny | English | daycare teacher | New | |
.
| Jill | Jill | English | Aunt Jill | Rare | |
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| Josh | Josh | English | Cousin Josh | New | |
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| Keyshawn | Keeshaw | English | Keyshawn (classmate) | Rare | |
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| Miffy | mimi | English | Miffy the rabbit (Nijntje by Dick Bruna) | Common | |
.
| moon | oon | English | moon | Rare | |
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| more | Mo | English | more please | Common | |
.
| night-night | Good night | English | good night | New | |
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| no | no | English | no, but also just an acknowledgement that you asked a question | Very common | |
.
| noodle | noono | English | noodles (any kind) | Occasional | |
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| nose | nose | English | nose | Occasional | |
.
| oink | oink | English | pig | Rare | |
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| out | out | English | let's go outside, we're going outside | Common | Common |
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| ow | ow | English | ouch | Common | |
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| peek-a-boo | peek | English | English version of inai-inai-ba | Rare | |
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| Peter | eta | English | Uncle Peter's photo | Rare | |
.
| poo | poo | English | I pooed (while pulling on pants) | New | |
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| Pounce | Pow (before meeting mo-mo), Mow (after meeting mo-mo) | English | our cat, cats in general | Common | Common |
.
| roar! | roar! | English | roar like a bear (teddy bear, or ice-shaving bear) | New | |
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| shoes | ish | English | shoes or socks | Common | |
.
| Sophie | wowee, dzowee | English | Cousin Sophie | Common | |
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| thank you | ankyou, thank you | English | thank you, but sometimes please | Common | |
.
| that | dat | English | indicating something | Rare | |
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| this side | ish-aide | English | this breast next... | New | |
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| uh-oh | uh-oh | English | something fell | Common | Common |
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| up | up | English | lift me up | Common | Common |
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| water | wawa | English | drinking water, bath water, lakes, oceans, puddles | Common | Common |
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| zoom-zoom | zoom-zoom | English | something moving quickly | Occasional | |
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| Dada | Dada | English/Japanese | Father, a Gomi Taro book about a child who loses his father in a department store | Occasional | Common |
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| Mama | Mama | English/Japanese | Mother | Rare | Common |
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| Sidu | Sidu, but increasingly Donna | Eritrean | Sidona (classmate; also black people in general, sadly) | Common | |
.
| atsu | hatsu (with blowing, as though cooling hot food) | Japanese | hot food, hot stove, hot fire, hot bath | Common | |
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| atta | atta | Japanese | it's there | New | |
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| Baba | Baba | Japanese | Grandmother | Common | |
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| boo-boo | boo-boo | Japanese | onomatopoeia: car, bus, truck, train, a Gomi Taro book about a train | Common | |
.
| boon boon | boon-boon | Japanese | onomatopoeia: airplane | Rare | |
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| chi-chi | chi-chi | Japanese | onomatopoeia: bird | Common | |
.
| chisai | chisai | Japanese | small | Occasional | |
.
| chocho | chocho | Japanese | butterfly | New | |
.
| dozo | dozo | Japanese | please/kindly/by all means (when offering something) | New | |
.
| ha | ha | Japanese | teeth | Occasional | |
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| Hana | Hana | Japanese | Hana (classmate) | Occasional | |
.
| hebi | ebi | Japanese | snake | Rare | |
.
| inai | inai | Japanese | not there (part of peek-a-boo) | Formerly common | |
.
| ita | ita | Japanese | [person] is [here] | Occasional | |
.
| itai | itai | Japanese | ouch | New | |
.
| Jiji | Jiji | Japanese | Grandfather, but maybe also computer (due to video chat) | Common | |
.
| ke | ke | Japanese | hair | New | |
.
| kingyo | ingyo | Japanese | goldfish, a book about a goldfish that camouflages himself while adventuring | Rare | |
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| me | meh | Japanese | eye | Occasional | |
.
| Mimi | mimi | Japanese | ears | Rare | |
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| moo | mo-mo | Japanese | cow | Common | |
.
| Moshi-Moshi | Mo-mo | Japanese | Grampa and Jill's cat | Common | |
.
| nihihi | nihihi | Japanese | horse | Rare | |
.
| nori | noni | Japanese | nori (green algae sheets used as condiment, wrapper) | Occasional | |
.
| o | o | Japanese | tail | Occasional | |
.
| oheso | oheso | Japanese | belly button | New | |
.
| oishii | Oissii | Japanese | delicious (but we aren't sure if she knows the meaning) | Rare | |
.
| oppai | oppai | Japanese | boob/breast | New | |
.
| Sawa | Awa, wawa | Japanese | Sawa | When prompted | |
.
| te | te | Japanese | hand | Occasional | |
.
| wanwan | wawa | Japanese | onomatopoeia: dog, a book about animals | Common | Common |
.
| Sasha | Sasha | Russian | Sasha (classmate) | Rare | |
.
| tea | tea | English | tea | New |
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Sawa counts!
Who knew? Either she's learning to count at daycare, or she's possessed by a demon that likes to count and giggle.