Occasionally I stil whip out the one or two phrases of Russian I still remember from my Pimsleur CDs. I’ve said before that the kids have been away from speaking Russian for just long enough that they mostly just laugh when I say the Phrase That Pays.
The other day I looked at CootieGirl and completely for no reason said (in Russian): “Do you understand me?”
She turned, somewhat absentmindedly since the tv was on, and replied, “Yes, mama!”
Whoa.
Last night I was sitting with her in the kitchen and I asked her again, and she replied yes again. Then I added one little word and changed the phrase a bit so that it required a “No” answer. I said that phrase and she grinned and said, “Nooooooo, Mama!”
I told Denis that I was definitely going to get my Russian language CDs back out that Jean gave me a couple years ago. If she does still remember some phrases, then I’m definitely going to learn more. I REALLY want her to speak Russian (would that I could find a class down here that taught conversational Russian) in addition to the Spanish that she is already learning.