Funny things that bilingual children say...

[kindersurprise]

that you cannot tell anyone else as they do not "get" it.

Strictly speaking, this is not a bilingual thing but none of my family would understand it, and I need to share it!

DS was eating cereal yesterday and when he had finished he tipped the bowl up and drank up the milk. I was telling DH that it was his fault that DS has terrible table manners and said, "das ist Dein Einfluss".

DS howled, "ich bin kein Fluss!"

What funny things have your children said?

One of the best mistakes I've heard is a story about a former Dutch Prime Minister (Van Agt) who gave a speech in English and wanted to tell his audience that he came from a family of entrepreneurs, the dutch word being: ondernemer. He unfortunately translated the dutch word too literally and told the people that he came from a family of undertakers!

jessia - that's very funny

HHofhair....i guess you have heard the joke about the dutchman who is a horsebreeder (in Dutch a Fokker)who goes to the UK and says, "I am fu*king horses...."
to which his English host says "Pardon?!"
to which he replies, "ja, ja, Paarden"

Paarden are horses in Dutch for the non DUtch speakers here

My DC also mix the two languages but it is my mom you have to keep an eye on! She went to the corner shop to get some tobacco (she smokes Drum - rollies) and she asked: Can I have some shag please! She told me they looked very strange at her!

There has been a big improvement in DS's Dutch since he started the SNOO (Dutch school) though and it makes me more consistent in speaking Dutch to them as well.

Isnt it amazing though how easily they pick it up?

lol at all your Dutch stories!

For those living in Holland... lots of people keep telling me about a new book out over here called "I always get my sin". Full of bad Dutch English.... "I always get my sin" is a poor translation of "I always get my way" ("zin" = "way" / "what you want" but in the north they pronounce it with an "s"). The Dutch are generally good at English but sometimes they're not as good as they think...

Does anyone else over here get reaaaaalllly ready to punch the next person who says "i-dee" instead of "i-dee-a"?! (Shall we start a "Foreign" Pedants' Corner...?)

My favourite at the moment is 'shoe-ssure'. He's 23 m.o and talking lots but neither in English nor French yet.

dc's aren't bilingual but learn Irish in school and there's a great song about a donkey (Asal) that's goes something like 'feach ar an asal' (look at the donkey) which sounds very like fcking ashole.

Wheredowegofromhere: DS went through a "chau-shoes" phase at one point.

My DS (2.5) says "kickle" instead of tickle, because the Dutch word is "kietel"

Another Dunglish thread hijack... When DH first came to the Uk and visited my family in Scotland he warned me to "Watch out for the midgets!" He's never been allowed to forget it... (he meant midgies). He's been with me so long now that people ask which part of Scotland he's from.

DD is just two and isn't speaking enough yet to come out with any funny combinations. She baffles me on a daily basis though, with her version of a Dutch word, which takes me an age to interpret. Today - 'Mummy bill, mummy bill pease!' (Translation - please can I have my sunglasses (brille))