The talking puppy

My family sent Sasha a Russian speaking puppy for his first birthday. In actuality, it is Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Learning Puppy that speaks Russian and is sold in Russia. It is great to have a toy that speaks my language, for a change. Not that I think that Sasha can learn any words from this puppy, but there are many ways to incorporate it into our daily plays.


However, there is one big BUT: all songs, rhymes and finger plays are translated from English and the translation is not stellar. There is Itsy Bitsy Spider, Heads Shoulders Knees And Toes, Let Your Ears Hang Low, and many more. In some instances, the songs are actually great. For example, the alphabet song. There is no alphabet song in Russia. When I was growing up, we were drilling the Russian 33-letter alphabet without any melody. And so, I agree that it is easier to learn the alphabet with some music. The same stands for the numbers song. Counting is just so much easier with La Cucaracha.

Other songs, however, were translated word for word, without any rhyme and put on the melody that is sometimes shorter or sometimes longer than the words that are being sang. For example, "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" translates into Russian as "golova, plechi, koleni i nogi" (голова, плечи, колени и ноги), which does not even rhyme with "nose" - "nos" (нос), and has more syllables than the English version.

The rhyme This Little Piggy Went To Market was translated: "This little puppy went to market", and did not have any rhyme or rhythm. Russian children have different rhymes, for example, Сорока-Ворона. They would not know that This Little Puppy Went To Market is a toe play. The translation of Patty Cake Patty Cake just made me depressed. No rhyme, no rhythm, no sense. Again, Russian children have a different rhyme for clapping their hands - Ладушки Ладушки. They wouldn't know to clap their hands when hearing the nonsense: "Baker, Baker! Bake me a cake! Faster, please!"

I see how the Fisher Price puppy can be effective and helpful when it speaks English and plays with American kids. A child could press the hand of the puppy and start the Patty Cake rhyme inviting his mom to play together, for example. But the rhyme is learned with American adults. They would know that this is when they are supposed to teach their baby clap. Russian parents would not know that. Russians would know to clap with Ладушки Ладушки. It's disappointing to see how this toy does not offer an authentic play in a foreign language. Am I asking too much?

Meanwhile, Sasha claps to Ладушки Ладушки, as well as to Patty Cake Patty Cake. The rhymes are very different, and the movements are different. Yet, he recognizes both clapping plays the second he hears them. It's amazing how our brain can recall plays in two different languages.

This story made me think: Raising a bilingual child means raising a bicultural child. One cannot communicate effectively without the background information - the humor, the history, the popular culture, and, yes, the nursery rhymes.

As for the puppy, it serves Sasha well, causing all kinds of high pitched exclamations and mature babble.  And it has been helpful for nail trimming (I play a song after a song to keep Sasha distracted, as I clip his nails).