Sasha signs

So, I am wondering if we need to start a sign language vocabulary page for Sasha, as yesterday he has successfully used his first sign in a context. Greg was reading him books, one after another, and Sasha was signing "more" in between. There was no other interpretation for his sign, because he was actually complaining if you put him down and insisting on more by putting his fingertips together.

Truthfully, we did not teach Sasha sign language early on, when it would be helpful. Apparently, you can teach your baby to sign as early as at 3 months! The benefits are obvious - your child will communicate before he can speak. In our situation, we don't use sign language consistently, and the only signs Sasha uses so far is the pointing sign and "more".

For those who wonder whether communicating with signs diminishes child's ability to learn a spoken language, here is my linguistic opinion: No, it does not. A sign language (whether it is American Sign Language or British Sign Language or French Sign Language) is a language in it's own right. Different sign languages develop independently from each other and if you can sign in ASL, you cannot communicate with a Russian person who speaks Russian sign language. These languages have their own grammar, their own vocabulary and their own form. They also change with time.

So, if you are teaching your baby to sign, you are raising her in a bilingual environment. She might not be bilingual later on, but you are building the foundation to bilingualism with sign language.

Interestingly enough, ASL is widely used in speech therapy in America. I wonder if anybody has ever considered using a spoken language for speech therapy.

What language does he babble in?

That's a good question! According to Barbara Zurer Pearson, Ph. D., "there is no reflex to say 'gooh'" ("Raising a bilingual child", Living Language, 2008). So, that means that every time Sasha is babbling he is trying to say something or, at least, practicing the sounds he heard. With my linguistic mind in action, I can imagine that, if he is practicing the sounds he heard from us, he should have a nice stew of English and Russian.