I am already behind my son in language skills. Almost every week he uses some Japanese word I do not know and I am sure he sooner rather than later will start to read faster than me too. In one area we are on the same level though, and that is when it comes to songs. Our son loves to listen to music and often times he sings along or for that matter just start singing by himself when there is no music on. The Swedish songs we are always singing together, some of them he has quite nailed and knows the lyrics to but some he is mimicking what he thinks they are singing thus ending up with completely non-Swedish lyrics. Just like me when trying to sing along to his Japanese songs.
My wife has come to like Swedish nursery rhymes and lullabies and I have come to adore Japanese children’s-music. The ambiance they create makes me want to listen to Japanese kids songs all day sometimes; there is a somewhat melancholic touch to many of them that makes me long for the innocence of childhood. Some songs I have come to learn to sing and the lyrics are quite adorable, some I struggle to hear the words of and thus my son and I end up singing unrecognizable gibberish at the top of our lungs. We think it is very very fun and I encourage my wife to sing along to our Swedish songs while she has the chance; soon our son will master his songs in both languages. Then it will only be my wife and I who are lost for words.
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