Language development

It's the most incredible thing to watch your own child developing his language skills.  I'm watching Michael develop his understanding of languages.  Since he's being raised in a multi-language/multi-cultural household, he has learned at a very early age that there are many words for the same thing.  He really seems to grasp this well.

For example, if we're at the dinner table and he wants "meat" (i.e. chicken or pork), he will say:

"yuk6 yuk6 ... MEAT!"

If you say "Meat" to him, he will respond with "yuk6 yuk6" (Cantonese for "Meat").

If you say "yuk6 yuk6" to him, he will respond with "Meat!"

He's also very good at repeating what he hears, picking words out of sentences, and refining his pronounciation.  I was reading a book that my sister (his auntie) bought for him, about Owls.  I said the word "owl", and he tried to repeat it.  Of course "owl" is a difficult word to say, he said "OW ... OW" initially, so I repeated it, with emphasis on the "L" sound, by saying "OWLLLL", and he repeated "OWLLLL".