When Anea was just a baby and some of the kids I knew from my friends were growing, I'd be so envious at how they were talking so fluently in English. I'd marvel at their pronunciation and diction. I told myself my kids are going to be like these kids in the future.
True enough, they all did. Anea lost the consistent use of the language when she entered preparatory. She learned nicely in preschool. Dale gained it in special school and at home. Tony gained it because of Dale. Since Dale speaks and understands only English before, everyone was "obliged" to use it. We just realized our mistake when he entered Regular school.
But now, I'm pleased that Dale can understand more tagalog words. He can even try talking in Tagalog, but still, he's been experiencing difficulties, both with meaning and pronunciation. We studied Sibika today, and it took us a long time to get everything right.
Noli Me Tangere, he pronounces like "tangerine". And El Filibusterismo, as "bus" like what we ride on... and the "o" in the end is very-well pronounced. Super sleng, kumbaga. If you hear him say it, you might think it funny at first, but when he cannot pronounce it right after a number of tries, that's when you start to pity him.
He kept on saying Apolinio Manibi (Apolinario Mabini), and he just couldn't get it right. He started being annoyed and wanted to cry in frustration.
Until he just gave up and said he wanted to sleep coz he was so tired of studying. Of course, I let him sleep. We can always try again later.
Everything about Dale comes with perfect timing and consistency. I'm sure later, everything will be better.
