He is surrounded by English speakers in a predominately English speaking country but was raised and schooled in the native language of his people. He has not been learning English for very long, about 3 years, but if add these years to his maturity, it might equate to around 3 months!
Anyway, back to the kaupapa...
We were driving to Wellington and one of his two older sisters (his twin is one) decided that we should play a 'tense' game. This game involves me saying a sentence in the present tense and them repeating the sentence in the past tense. Right! The game!
I talk.
Sister, "I talked." Son, "I ...."
I see.
Sister, "I saw." Son, "I seed."
I tell.
Sister, "I told." Son, "I tall."
Climb.
Sister, "Climbed." Son, "Clum."
By this time I had to pull over cos my eyes were welling up with tears and my belly ached from the laughter. I could no longer concentrate on the road.
But...
Do you see the pattern here? It wasn't until later that I realised what he was doing. My son was, inm fact, paying attention and using the knowledge he gained from what was previously said to help him solve the next problem.
Yeah, he's my boy.
Very clever!
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