Survey of the 18-month-old’s vocabulary

At E’s recent 18-month appointment, his family doctor quickly went through a questionnaire to assess his developmental milestones – he passed with flying colours. I got stumped on how many words he says. On the order or 20? 30? And – more interestingly, how many of them are Chinese.

I can’t be too disappointed because I know that a lot of consonants and sounds he doesn’t have yet. And when he does, we better watch out!

The stats –
40 words
– 16 English (E)
– 16 Chinese (C)
– 8 Neither (X)

Exclamations
– “Hi” / hi (E)
– “Nie” or “No” / no (E)
– “Bye” and “Buh-bye” / good-bye (C)
– “Wow” / “that is cool” (E)
– “More more” / “I want more” (E)
– “Poe poe” / “Please carry me” (C)
– “Da” / “Please let me down” (E)
– “Uh oh” / “Uh oh” (X)
– “Muah!” / giving you a kiss (X)
– “Dang Doo” / “thank you” (E)
– “Bop!” / “pop!” (X)

People
– “Ma ma” / mom (C)
– “Ba ba” / dad (C)
– “Ye ye” / grandfather – father’s dad (C)

Objects
– “Bo bo” / balls, balloons, spherical objects (C)
– “Boo bo” / football – we find this one hilarious (E)
– “Che che” / car (C)
– “Dan dan” / bicycle (C)
– “Whee!” / slide (X)
– “Boo-k” / book (E)
– “Ta” / star (E)
– “Ya ya” / flower (C)
– “Buh-boe” / bubble (E)
– “Shees” / shoes (E)

Food
– “Nai nai” / milk (C)
– “Joos” / juice (E)
– “Zeez” / cheese (E)
– “Nana” / banana (E)
– “Bao bao” / bread (C)
– “Dan dan” / egg (C)

Animals
– “Wo wo” / dog (C)
– “Mao mao” / cats and bears (C)
– “Moo” / cow (X)
– “Nei” or “Ma mah” / horse (C)
– “Ba ba” or “seep” / sheep (E)
– “Roar” / lion (X)
– “Duck!” / ducks and other birds (E)
– “Yu yu” / fish (C)

Brand name
– “Moe mo” / Elmo (X)
– “Why why” / Wild Kratts (X)