One twin "translating" for the other

This morning we had the first unmistakable occasion of Amy translating for Sarah. Sarah said something at breakfast, I didn't understand it and said "What, Sarah? I didn't understand you," and Amy said "More avocado, she said."

It was definitely helpful (that was what Sarah wanted), but I'm also not sure whether to encourage this. The goal is obviously for Sarah to talk for herself, and Amy tends to trample her (verbally) already. OTOH, it would certainly be helpful to have a clue what she is saying. If your twins have very different levels of ability in speech, how do you deal with this?

 

Personally, I think it's ok depending on the situation. I think there will come a point where you may need to say to your dd, "Thank you for helping mommy to understand what she is saying but she has her own words and she can use them." Or something to that effect. Or, you could say, thank you Amy, and then turn to Sarah and say, what do you want? so that she repeats it and you could understand the way she says it. It's very frustrating when they are just developing lanuage and they KNOW what they are asking for but we just can't decipher what they are saying. It's upsetting for us and for them. For the longest time, my dd used to say fi fi and I didn't know what she was saying and she would get upset and cry. I finally figured it out one day that she was saying muffin :huh: but at least then I knew when she said fi fi she wanted a muffin. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is important for you to be able to figure out her language but at the same time take the help that sarah is offering towards helping you. kwim? Is this making any sense? It's really interesting how they can take a word we say and process it and understand it but when it comes to pulling the word out of their brain and turning into the word that it can be such a funny translation. The human developing brain is just so fascinating.

 

One of my boys had a severe stutter that started not long after they started to talk. It didn't help that they both have a LOT to say and are in constant competition to be the one talking. Sam would often translate OVER Kiko as he was trying to get his words out. Basically we had to work really hard as a family to not interrupt. It became the mantra, "Don't interrupt. Let him finish." It also didn't help that my husband is a horrible interrupter. Anyway, taking turns speaking and waiting for the person to finish is important. You can even go so far as to get a "talking stick". Whoever is holding it gets to talk, and until they put it down, no one else can speak.

Also, try to find time to spend alone with Sarah so that she can have the time and opportunity to practice speaking without competition or someone translating for her. You want to encourage her and keep her working so that she doesn't begin to rely on her sister.

My boy's different verbal abilities, and the fact that Sam often answered/translated for his brother, is one of the main reasons we decided to separate them in preschool.

 

Since the boys are both pretty vocal, I don't hestitate to ask J what R is saying. I'll often ask R to repeat himself, but sometimes I just don't get it so I'll ask J for a translation! R's pronunciation has gotten much better in just the last month, but he is certainly still more difficult to understand than his brother. I figure that it will correct itself fairly soon.