I have been in the primary grades
for four years now. Each year I’ve had
twins. This year I have two sets of
twins. Both sets have language issues, but I’m seeing, or rather, hearing something I haven’t had
in the other years. I often can’t
understand the girls. They seem to have
their own words for things. When I
question their meaning I can usually, with some effort discover what they are
saying. But often if the other girl is
standing there, she repeats the statement, as if I’m hard of hearing…well that
may be, but it’s more like hard of understanding.
Last week during writing time one girl referred to the mirror as a “may may”, She
took me to the bathroom door to show me the one we have at school. When I asked her twin what the mirror was
called she repeated it. I’ve started making
a list of their language errors, in preparation for a meeting with the parents and the speech teacher. I want
to make certain I identify which of the identical girls says what. I’m not even going to mention their dressing
similarity and the slight difference in their names! Now that I understand what a "may may" is, I’d
really like to know why she was climbing it.
A secret language of twins... in the abstract it sounds kind of cool, although your pragmatic approach is certainly best. I also love the image of the mirror in this piece about twins.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting an entirely different piece from your title, thinking you were going to write about your own personal children and secret twin language! I didn't know it could continue into the school years as you've described. Thanks for the really interesting post--and the funny ending!
ReplyDeleteI had a set of twins one year that did the same thing - it was like they had their own secret language. I suggested they be separated the following year, and the problem never happened again. They spoke the same language as their classmates. :)
ReplyDeleteBest of luck deciphering their code for the rest of the year.
Hmmm. climbing the mirror! Now that's talent!
ReplyDelete