Worried about your child or pupil not talking until quite old?
There is a joke about a German child who said nothing until he was about eleven, when one day he did speak, to complain about something. When asked why he had not spoken sooner he said: "Because until today everything was satisfactory."
Take heart from the fact that apparently something similar really did happen in the case of Thomas Carlyle, later the author of many learned books and writings. Young Thomas said nothing for year after year. His first spoken words, as recounted by pinko thesp Corin Redgrave on Quote Unquote last Sunday came when Carlyle was, if I remember it rightly, seven. Then, an aunt (or someone) poured boiling water on him, and apologised profusedly to young Thomas. Who then said:
"Thank you madam, the agony has abated."
Relax. He's just hasn't yet had anything important to say.
I can find no Internet reference to these words. But more about Carlyle is to be found here:
Thomas Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway, as the son of a stonemason and small farmer. He was brought up in a strict Calvinist household. At the age of 15 he went to [the] University of Edinburgh, receiving his B.A. in 1813. From 1813 to 1818 he studied for the ministry of the Church of Scotland, but abandoned this course and studied law for a while.Carlyle taught at Annan Academy (1814-16), at Kircaldy Grammar School (1816-18), and privately in Edinburgh (1818-22). …
It's off message, but I also like how Tennyson defended Carlyle's marriage, to someone equally strange, against various critics of it:
"By any other arrangement, four people would have been unhappy instead of two."
UPDATE: I tried again, and this time I did find a reference to this literary late talker tale. And apparently it was Macaulay, not Carlyle at all.
Macaulay also wrote many books and writings.
My niece's first word was "Schrodinger". I suppose that's what happens when you're born into a family of scientists.
Macaulay also wrote many books and writings.
It takes a wise man to realize he's in a hole, and then to stop digging. I salute you, sir!
When I was little, my father taught me the medical names of obscure sexually transmitted diseases. I don't know what my first word was. <.p>
My nephew started talking very early. Should I start worrying about him?
The way I heard your first story, the kid was Einstein and the exact words were "Alles war in ordnung"
Thomas Sowell wrote a whole < ahref="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465038352/102-2279992-1656165?v=glance">book about late-talking kids (mostly boys.) His own son, now a successful computer programmer, was one. He says that schools are too quick to label them as mildly autistic or some souch.
such.
Aaagh! Not content with typos I didn't close the link. Sorry. Sorry. Delete all these errors and hide my shame.
While I'm here, though, my friend and regular blog-commenter ARC has multiple physics degrees AND can quote whole chunks of Macaulay from memory and he was a late talker, too
This is a very interesting theme for me, as my son is growing up hearing four languages on a regular basis. We live in Germany; I speak English to him, his mother speaks Russian and he goes to a Turkish childminder.
I read in one of Stephen Pinker's books that two languages is absolutely no problem for most kids, more can be confusing and can cause a delay in starting to speak. (Possibly, in my son's case, because he thinks everybody speaks their own language and he has to invent one too). So I will try very hard not to worry if he doesn't talk for a while. His mum is already worried that his cousin the same age in Russia is already producing sentences, and trying to persuade herself that it's because she (the cousin) is growing up in a monolingual environment.
Alan, don't worry. My youngest son grew up with Norwegian, Spanish and English, but didn't speak a word of Norwegian till he had visited the country. In general he started talking quite late. I liked the idea that everybody invents their own language. :) Maybe my son didn't speak Norwegian because he thought I was the only one in the world who spoke it. :)
I had a friend back in college who didn't start talking until she was four or five. She was the third child in the family and the only late talker. They took her to a rather clever specialist who sat her down to play a game of Candyland, and by the end of the game she was talking. When asked why she had never spoken before, she explained that she had never needed to. Her mother had always anticipated her needs.
We have a friend's daughter, also a third child, who is also quite taciturn. Our friends have often worried about her lack of speech, however she will talk if she has to. She wanted another roll, so she came up to the table and pointed. We explained that if she wanted another roll, she could have one, but she would have to ask for it. So, she asked, in a nice, complete, well pronounced sentence. We gave her our permission, and she got a roll.
I wonder if this kind of late talking is more common among latter children since their parents are more likely to anticipate their needs.
Two things apropos of Thomas Carlyle:
I used to know a chap in London – a fanatical Chelsea supporter, but not David Carr – who had been to only one place in Scotland and, yes, it was Ecclefechan. That took some doing.
My mother attended Annan Academy but some years after TC taught there. She continues to talk non-stop. I was born just around the corner from Annan Academy.
George Orwell said that the Carlyles' wasn't an unhappy marriage as such, merely the marriage of two unhappy people.
These are not my first words... but to you, they are...
I'm enjoying your writings... I was doing research on
my weekly Thursday File and came across you Blog.
I hope to find time to read more.
Your subject is fascinating. My youngest was slow to speak. We thought there might be something wrong. But a friend said not to worry, just let her be. Well she was right. Once our Liz started to speak she could keep up with the best of them...
thanks
Steve
