May
11
2012

Language is no barrier

To me, play is very important for Ethan. I try to bring him to the playground every day if we are at home. Sometimes the weather doesn’t permit us to do so but on good days we spend our evenings in the playground, soaking in some sunshine, filling our lungs with fresh air and treating our eyes to the lush greenery around us.

Ethan used to play with our neighbour’s kids but their Mom made a new rule of not going to the playground during school days recently so Ethan is mostly on his own these days. Until today that is. He saw a boy about his age. He asked me if he can play with him. I said yes. Ethan ran up to him. The boy ran away… Ethan looked at me and asked why? I said maybe he ran too fast, maybe he startled that boy. Ethan walked gently to that boy and again that boy ran away…

I walked up to that boy, asked for his name and asked if Ethan can play with him and he answered, “Tapi saya tak tau cakap Cina” to which Ethan quickly replied, “Saya pun tak tau cakap Melayu”. LoL! Ethan actually said he doesn’t know how to speak Malay IN the MALAY language! >_<

Immediately those two ran off and played together. I heard Ethan counting, “Satu, Dua, Tiga..” and then the boy counted, “One, Two, Three”! Haha..

Ethan can’t speak Bahasa Melayu well. In fact, he has never really spoken Bahasa Melayu to anyone before until today. His only exposure to BM is during my tuition classes with the Malay kids.

Kids are so cute. They played together the entire evening like as if they are the best of friends even though they don’t have a common language.

Be it Chinese or Malay… Right now, they are the best of friends!

Race. What race? The only race they know is, “I’ll RACE you to the FINISH line!” race…

Tags: playground, Playtime

About the Author: Merryn Tan

15 Comments + Add Comment

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Jobless Girl May 10, 2012 at 11:38 pm

So cute, kids are like that. One minute is best friend and next minute is enemy.

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Ken Wooi May 10, 2012 at 11:54 pm

hahaha “Saya pun tak tau cakap Melayu” lol.. adorable :)

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suituapui May 11, 2012 at 1:49 am

Kids that age pick up language the fastest…up through primary school. Many parents make the mistake of blindly insisting that they master ONE language only at this time. Actually, by secondary school or later, already too old to learn new languages. (Not my theory, according to the experts – this is in the language teaching and learning books)

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suituapui May 11, 2012 at 1:52 am

P.S.
Some girl trying to promote something phoned, speaking in Mandarin…and to avoid speaking to her, I said, “Woe pu hoi ciang hua yee!” and she asked, “Nee sien chai ciang sher mer hua leh?” LOL!!!

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  Merryn May 11, 2012 at 2:42 pm
  
  Haha! U know oso! Exactly macam Ethan! Lol..
  
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henrytan May 11, 2012 at 7:19 am

yupppp! so true! sometimes we adults make it so complicated. =D
btw so cute la ethan!!

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Eunice May 11, 2012 at 9:14 am

awwwwww!!!!!!!!!!! SHO CUTE!!!! saye pun tak tau cakap melayu! *pinch pinch ethan boy* ;D

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sheohyan May 11, 2012 at 10:04 am

So good that Ethan is so sociable.

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mnhl May 11, 2012 at 11:04 am

Ethan is so friendly. Kids get along well very fast. As long as there are play, they are the best of friends.

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Kitty May 11, 2012 at 11:51 am

So cute…! Yes, kids can blend immediately even if they have not met each other before. It’s so natural.

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Carolyn May 11, 2012 at 12:38 pm

Klang Valley still got fresh air ah? hehe. Ethan is a very friendly boy. He will have lots of friends next time

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Kristie May 11, 2012 at 4:21 pm

Kids are so cute and naive :-)

Ethan is so cute in saying that!

Happy Mother’s Day to you :-)

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Mummy Gwen May 11, 2012 at 6:30 pm

Some kids also runaway from Gwen when she approach them. Ethan is so cute..suddenly he speaks BM haha.

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Qi Tyng May 14, 2012 at 12:04 am

The boy play alone in the playground before you guys came?

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Choi Yen May 14, 2012 at 10:07 am

this is the 1 Malaysia!

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About Me

Home is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.