CP4E was Re: Deitel and Deitel Book...

[Simon Brunning]

> From:	Geoff Gerrietts [SMTP:geoff at gerrietts.net]
> I'm a parent, too, and there's a big difference between "daddy",
> "mommy", and the pronouncements that come from a child anywhere on up
> to 18 months and spoken language.
> 
> At three (in April), my son speaks more or less complete sentences
> with occassional nods to the rules of grammar. About 3/4 of the time
> my wife and I understand him. About 1/4 of the time, others can
> understand him. And he's pretty advanced for his age; a lot of parents
> guess him at older.
 
Ooops! OK, you *do* have kids. Sorry.

But I'll bet that your son has been making himself understood for some time,
and he isn't three yet. I *can't* agree that "For those first three years,
the child is almost completely incapable of making him or herself
understood."

And his 'nods to the rules of grammar' are almost certainly a lot more
accurate than you think.  Children his age get things right the vast
majority of the time. It's just that the errors stand out. Again, Pinker
talks about this in 'The Language Instinct'.

Cheers,
Simon Brunning
TriSystems Ltd.
sbrunning at trisystems.co.uk




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