Need to write some things down before I forget them. We will spend the next five months in Edinburgh starting in August and he will be going to school, so I think things will change pretty rapidly.
The summer after he was four, I held his tongue down a couple of times and taught him how to say /k/ and /g/. It took him a month to sort it all out, but he got it.
However, he still cannot say /r/ or /l/. They both come out as /y/ or /w/ depending on the context. (This is in both languages).
At 5 years old, he is still doing some pretty quirky things with respect to grammar.
After a good two years of having do-support for past tense even in positive affirmative utterances, he has finally started using -ed.
i.e. from ``I did break it´´ to ``I breaked it.´´
He has the perfect ending -en and is massively overgeneralizing it.
``I have breaken it.´´
any and ever seem to be emphatic versions of none and never. (He has been doing this a long time, and shows no sign of changing).
Another thing he has been doing for a long time in the face of much evidence to the contrary, is the use of why to mean because.
``Why did you do that, Vidar?´´ ``That´s why I was tired.´´
He seems to be equally balanced in the three languages, though, and is extremely consistent with speaking English to me. He even enjoys and insists on translating Swedish and Barnehagespråk for me, and on translating English for Björn.
Swedish and Norwegian are well distinguished, phonologically, grammatically and lexically.
He does not like to code switch. He would rather explain things to me in a roundabout way in English than use the Swedish word.
Likes to talk. Keeps up a running commentary when he is playing by himself. Language of play is usually English. My impression is that his Swedish is grammatically a bit more sound, but English is a heart-language.
He can count properly and do simple additions and subtractions. He can recognise complex numbers up to about 40 in their written forms.
He can read slowly, many words of Swedish. Not so good on the English yet though.
He does 100 piece puzzles by himself.
He builds lego things mostly by himself by reading the instruction books.
Still likes dinosaurs.
Likes superheroes. Batman, Spiderman.
Plays lots of fantasy symbolic role playing games with his lego figures and vehicles. This is when he is playing on his own. Lots of talking, lots of flying, lots of shooting.
Just introduced him to Star Wars. We watched the first two movies together the other weekend. He didn't understand everything and was a little bit scared, but it engaged him.
Still completely uninterested in clothing or his appearance.
Seems to have his first crush--- a little girl of six years called Adele.
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