Sounding Off

I’ve been “baa-ing” and “neigh-ing” and “gobble gobble-ing” myself silly in an attempt to teach the girls what animals say.  “Silly” being the operative word.  Have you ever stopped to think about where we come up with animal sounds?  Other than the sounds emanating from the animals themselves.  I mean, who decided that a cat says “Meow?”  My cat makes noises more similar to a child whining than anything else.  And does a pig really say “Oink”?  That word is much too cute for the snorting, grunting, belching sound I’ve heard come out of pigs.  As I’m teaching the girls how to make different animal sounds, I feel almost fraudulent, as if I’m purposely teaching them the wrong language.  It’s as if someone has come to me requesting my help prior to a trip to France, and I tell them to greet the Frenchmen with a hearty “hola.”  I can just imagine a dog looking quizzically at the girls and thinking, “Why do these kids keep “arf-ing” at me?” 

It’s not like we can even agree on the sounds that animals make.  For those of you with way too much time on your hands, you can check out this fascinating multilingual list of animal sounds.  There are some significant similarities.  For instance, most every culture agrees that a bee “buzzes.”  However, the Germans and Japanese must have much more finely-tuned insect ears than the rest of us, since they interpret the noise as a “summ summ” and “boon boon,” respectively.  I think the next time I get dive-bombed by a bee, instead of flailing and running around in circles, I’m going to have to try to remain calm and listen very very closely, just to educate myself for the purpose of passing on the proper pronunciation to my girls. 

In the meantime, though, I’ll still “buzz” my way past bee illustrations in our story books.  After all, we’re not really trying to teach our kids how to communicate with animals by learning what sounds they make.  Isn’t the real purpose of having kids parrot back the noises simply to demonstrate how cute the kids can be?  Because even if the girls never engage in a meaningful conversation with a rabbit, they’ll bring a smile to your face with their bunny imitations!

Here’s a video clip of our current progress on the animal front.  We’re far from mastering any particular sound, but we sure have fun trying.  Be forewarned: Don’t watch the film if you’re prone to dizziness, as my poor videographer skills coupled with the girls’ constant motion makes for a wild ride.