He Speaks

Many of you have asked us if Aaron is talking. The short answer is a definite “yes.” When we first met him, he communicated mainly with silent pointing and facial expressions, and we even wondered how many native words he knew; but now, we’re getting the full force of his well-rounded native vocabulary, along with a library of little boy sounds and loud noises. He is going to rival Ben and Elijah for the “most talkative” prize in our house. Most of what he says is lost on us, but that no longer seems to bother him. He directs our daily playtimes with word and gesture, and we meekly obey. Since we rarely understand him, he often repeats his instructions at double volume. I’m sorry I forgot my earplugs. His life of disappointment has made him so patient that he doesn’t get frustrated with us when we don’t understand him.


At first we were not sure if the noises Aaron began making were real words. Most of the boys at his internat have little to no language skills, and we were so ignorant of the sounds of the native language that we couldn’t really distinguish his words from the guttural groanings of the other boys. As the weeks have gone by, we have learned a bit more, and Aaron has begun to use a great number of native words with us. We even understand a few of them, but very few indeed. I just wish we had a couple of hours with both him and a translator, but it’s no use-- he clams up whenever other adults are around. We’re just pleased to know that he has developed some language ability, which is pretty impressive when you consider his surroundings. For a child who has been locked away for six years, with only a few caretakers to speak with, he’s done very well. We are taking a great deal of pleasure in hearing his voice.

We’ve even started him on English. It’s like having a toddler again. He started with “truck,” which is of course the most important thing in the universe. He also knows “uh-oh,” which he uses every time the axles fall off of his cheap little truck. He’s hopping down steps two-footed now, so he’s learned to say “hop” with his little native accent. When we go through his picture book, he can identify plenty of objects when we say their English names, even if he can’t say the words himself. He’ll have some frustrating times when we get home, but he’s going to get along just fine.