The Cow Says . . .

So Natasha is at the magical age where she is making animal sounds. You know - looks at her stuffed monkey and says oo-oo-aaa-aaa not unlike curious george.

I have been doing animal sounds with her for a while. Something I never really thought about until the other day we were outside and saw a dog. It wasnt so much that we saw a dog - we see them all the time. This time though - the owner was right there. in hearing distance- looking at us. I was about to unleash my woof and then suddenly was a little self conscious. I have never been self conscious about speaking english in public with the kids. But this time my mind flashed forward to little Tushi in Dyetsky Sad being admonished for saying a dog says woof! Natasha saved me by pointing to the dog and belting out an "oo-oo oo".

So why the moment of doubt? what does a dog say? woof woof, right? maybe arf if it is a little scrappy dog (I have never met a dog that said bow-wow - where did that come from?!) Anyway - here dogs speak Russian.

They say gav. As in "gav-gav"

I think the cow and cat are the same but here are some other animals - see if you can guess the animal (no cheating!):

1.kva kva

2.chik-chirik

3.krya-krya

4.khryu-khryu

5.kookary-koo

6.ee-ga-go

7.ga ga ga

8. bee

Now the American English:

1 Ribbit

2 tweet tweet (or chirp chirp)

3 quack quack

4. oink oink

5.cockadoodle doo

6 neigh

7. honk honk

8. baa

(1frog,2bird,3duck,4pig,5rooster,6horse,7goose,8sheep)

So - what do i teach natasha? Russian or American animal sounds? I guess I should teach russian as we will send her to a russian preschool when she is old enough- she will learn in English at some point I am sure, and honestly, how often are you asked animal sounds outside of preschool?

If dogs in America said "gav' we would lose our talking dog jokes* which I am sure would be a serious tragedy.

*so a guy and his dog are standing on a street corner. Guy is holding a sign which reads "Fabulous Talking Dog! $100 to hear him speak!" a lady passes by and says "wow! a talking dog! that is Fabulous! Here is $100 - lets hear him speak!" The guy looks at his dog and says "what is the top of a house called?" Dog replies "Roof!" Guy notices lady looking suspicious - "ok" he says, "what does sandpaper feel like?" Dog says "Rough!", Lady is now looking quite angry. Guy says "hold on, one more and you will be convinced! Dog, who was the best baseball player in history?" Dog promptly says "Ruth!" Lady, now furious grabs her money and stomps off, muttering under her breath. Guy looks at the dog with disdain . Dog says "what? Should I have said DiMaggio?"

hilarious, right! :-)