Language acquisition

I'm still working on that new 2011 picture, I just can't get it to be the correct size.

Shella May has been home now 18 months and it has been great to watch her grow in many ways, but watching her language skills grow has been very interesting. When she first came home she wouldn't talk at all. We don't know what she understood those first few months, there was a lot of sign language going on. She has been a classic case from a linguistic stand point, but I think her speed has been above average. The best part now is how she is so aware of what she still needs to learn. It may be the English teacher in me, but I find this really fun. Her vocabulary is getting better and more importantly she asks questions now. No more "yes" just to answer and please someone. The three things we are working on right now are; the pronouns "he and she", past tense irregular verbs and her favorite- sarcasm. She often makes mistakes when using he or she and her brothers take full advantage to tease her, luckily she laughs with them. She knows the rules, but when she gets going fast she slips any old pronoun in. She also knows the rules of simple past tense, but she is still learning all of the exceptions to "ed", but I run into native speakers that are still having trouble also,haha. I just gently correct her on that one. Her last area is the cutest. She is really interested in defining sarcasm. She will often ask us if something is sarcastic and gets so excited when she is correct. She has the basics down, but the more advanced cases (Ryan) still get her mixed up. Overall we are so happy with all that she has learned. She is reading at a second grade level now and actually comprehends well. I will be sad the day she perfects everything and loses her cute little accent.

I just want to share my favorite language story. For the longest time she would call toilet paper, paper toilet. I often heard her and corrected her, but it was her brothers' gentle teasing that got her to say it correctly. The first time they heard her say it they both busted up laughing and made jokes out of it. Of course she has a great sense of humor and jumped right in. They were describing what it would be like to sit on a paper toilet in full detail. I think that funny image stayed with Shella May and helped her correct that one.