I might sound weird, but I communicate mainly in Slovene with my kids which is totally not my mother tongue. Obviously, my Slovene is not perfect and my kids also make some funny mistakes as well. Most of the time, I have no problem with them because it is part of the learning process. Although, some mistakes are so “bad” that I just have the urgency to correct them immediately!
But remember:
“It is better to speak with mistakes, than to not speak at all”.
“Radam“
When my son is eating with gusto (YAY), he would often say “radam” or “to radam“. Well, I’m very happy that he likes his food, but unfortunately, “radam” is not a verb… He actually should be using “všeč mi je” (I like) to express that he likes it.
I have a feeling that he confuses it with “rad imam” (I like), which is also used to express that you like something.
| “Všeč mi je” is used with the first sklon. “Rad imam” is used with fourth sklon. |
“Močem”
Sometimes, when I ask my son to do something, like putting his shoes on or going to the potty, he would start making a little crisis and screams “močem” or “ne močem“. Well, I’m actually not sure if he means to say “nočem” (I don’t want to) or “ne morem” (I am not able to).
It’s actually sounds like a combination of both. Either way, it’s not happening.
| Both “nočem” and “ne morem” are model verbs. |
“Pomagiš”
A while back, my daughter would keep saying “a lahko mi pomagiš” instead of “a lahko mi pomagaš” (can you help me) when asking for help. Like 500 times per day. I’m not even sure where she picked it from. After a while of refusing to help her until she says it correctly – she finally got it!
| Verbs in present tense have different “endings”, beside the conjugation. |
“Smo jedali”
My son likes to report what we did (or ate) during the day, so he often says “smo jedali” instead of “smo jedli“(we ate). He would just add an extra syllable “je-da-li“…
And another similar one when he tells off his sister… “Mami je rekala” instead of “Mami je rekla” (mommy said) – because what mommy says is the rule (especially, when it works in his favor… haha).
| The participles for past and future tense are Root of Verb + L_ (Learn more here.) |
Most of the time I speak Slovene with my kids, but I do explain a few things in English, scold them in French (so, they won’t understand too much) and teach them some Cantonese words and phrase. That’s the joy of speaking many languages!
What about you? Any funny mistakes that you or your kids make? Or that you’ve heard? Please share with me!
Anna in Slovenia 