Baby Talk

Marco: Hello English learners! Welcome back to another podcast here at EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

Erika: And I’m Erika.

Marco: And today we have a fun dialogue.

Erika: That’s right, well, maybe the language in this lesson you won’t use everyday, but, um, it’s… it’s fun, it’s interesting and it’s a little bit on the lighter side.

Marco: That’s right, today we’re gonna be looking at baby talk. So, we’re gonna see some of these words that aren’t really words. They’re not real words that you can find in the dictionary, but, uh, native English speakers use them when they’re talking to little babies.

Erika: Yeah, in many languages there’s… there’s a rule for how you make baby talk words, right?

Marco: Right.

Erika: But in English we don’t have really clear rules about how you make a word a baby word. So, we’re gonna teach you a few of these baby words.

Marco: Exactly, so, uh, before we listen to the dialogue, why don’t we take a look at “vocabulary preview”?

Voice: Vocabulary preview.

Erika: Okay, we have two words here we’re going to hear in the dialogue, um, and the first one is diaper.

Marco: Diaper.

Erika: Diaper.

Marco: Okay, so, a diaper. A baby uses a diaper.

Erika: That’s right, it’s a… it’s a piece of cloth or material that you put around the baby, so that it can go to the bathroom and not make a mess.

Marco: Okay, a diaper.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Now, we also have another word that we commonly use in English language, it’s nana.

Erika: Nana.

Marco: Nana.

Erika: So, nana is the name we call a grandmother.

Marco: Right, so, an informal name just like in Spanish we would say something like abue or abuelita.

Erika: Or in Italian you might say oma. This is another way that we can call a grandma or granny - nana.

Marco: Okay, so, nana.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Why don’t we listen to the dialogue for the first time? Let’s see how these new parents are talking to their little baby using baby talk.

Erika: Okay, well, that was pretty cute, wasn’t it?

Marco: A cute dialogue and the baby seemed to be cute and, well, everyone’s excited about the new baby.

Erika: Uhu, but they used some really interesting little words that are pretty unfamiliar, so, let’s look at them now in “language takeaway”.

Voice: Language takeaway.

Marco: Alright, so, as we mentioned before, these words aren’t actually words. They… you won’t find them in the dictionary.

Erika: Right, but you’ll hear them commonly when people are talking to babies and you might see them in a movie or something like that. So, why don’t we get started with the first one?

Marco: Alright, the first word that may seem a little bit strange, uh, the father said “Hello widdle baby”.

Erika: Widdle baby.

Marco: Okay, widdle.

Erika: So, widdle is just, um, a baby talk way of saying “little”.

Marco: Little, that’s right.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Now, the father saw that the baby was crying, because he made a doo-doo.

Erika: The baby made the doo-doo, not the father.

Marco: Right, the baby made a doo-doo.

Erika: Uhu, a doo-doo.

Marco: Okay, so, basically, a doo-doo is, ah, when the baby poos or poops in the diaper.

Erika: Okay, so, you know, sometimes you go to the bathroom and it might take a little bit longer.

Marco: Exactly.

Erika: That’s cause of the doo-doo.

Marco: The doo-doo.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Right, the actual technical or maybe the proper English word for this would be defecate.

Erika: Okay, so, make a doo-doo.

Marco: Alright, now, our third words are interesting because he said “Icky diaper”.

Erika: That’s right, an icky diaper.

Marco: And then he also said yucky.

Erika: So, we’ve got two words here that mean the same thing – icky and yucky.

Marco: Uhu, and basically means disgusting.

Erika: Right, something that’s really, really not nice.

Marco: Aha, so you would say icky or yucky.

Erika: Now, these words have other similar words. We might recognize ick or yuck.

Marco: Right, so, you would use ick or yuck if something is disgusting, but when you’re kind of talking to a baby, you would say icky, yucky.

Erika: Uhu, yeah…

Marco: Smelly.

Erika: It’s the adjective.

Marco: Now, our next word, um, the… the father said he has some Mickey Mouse jammies.

Erika: Jammies.

Marco: Jammies.

Erika: Okay, so, what are jammies?

Erika: Well. The word jammies is short for pajamas.

Marco: Okay, pajamas, so, the clothes that you put on when you go to sleep.

Erika: Uhu, jammies.

Marco: Jammies, alright, and now for our last two words, they mean the same thing as well. The little baby tinkled all over daddy.

Erika: So, to tinkle.

Marco: And then his mom said “A wee-wee all over daddy”.

Erika: You made a wee-wee.

Marco: Okay, so, tinkle and wee-wee.

Erika: Basically, also going to the bathroom, but this time to pee.

Marco: To pee, exactly.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: To urinate.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: Wee-wee.

Erika: So, the verb - to tinkle and the noun - a wee-wee.

Marco: Uhu, very good. So, these are the words that we have for you today in language takeaway. As you can see they’re kind of cute and very common when you’re talking to babies and, you know, you have to be a little bit nicer.

Erika: Uhu, alright, so, why don’t we listen to the dialogue another time, a little bit slower and you’ll catch these words a little bit easier.

Marco: Alright, so, now that we’ve seen those great words, let’s take a look at two phrases that we’re gonna look at now in “fluency builder”.

Voice: Fluency builder.

Erika: So, the mother didn’t really wanna get up and… and, um, look after the baby, she said it’s your turn.

Marco: It’s your turn.

Erika: It’s your turn.

Marco: So, when she says “It’s your turn”…

Erika: That means “You should do it now”.

Marco: Right, so, she’s basically saying “Now you have to do it”; I did it last time, so now you have to do it.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: It’s your turn.

Erika: That’s right, it’s your turn. And, well, the nana, the grandmother, she was really… of course, she really loves this little baby and she said I could just eat him up.

Marco: I could just eat him up.

Erika: I could just eat him up.

Marco: Now, does she wanna really eat him? Cause…

Erika: No, of course.

Marco: So…

Erika: Of course, not.

Marco: Uh, wha… so, what’s, uh… what does she mean by this?

Erika: This is a phrase we often use with very cute things. It just means “Oh, my God, he’s so cute!”

Marco: Okay, he’s so cute that I wish I could just hug him and kiss him a lot.

Erika: Yes! We might use this with babies or maybe with puppies. I could just eat them up.

Marco: Alright, so, great two phrases that we’ve just taken a look at. Let’s go back to our dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back and talk a little bit more about these babies.

Marco: Okay, so, they are obviously new parents. They’ve just had a baby, so they’re excited about him waking up and… they’re all excited about the baby and how he wakes up and everything.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Uh, but an interesting thing, the baby was sleeping in another room.

Erika: In English speaking countries people have sort of two different opinions about how you should, um, sleep with your baby. You know, some people wanna have the baby in the bed with them, right?

Marco: Uhu.

Erika: But some people think “No, the baby should definitely sleep in its own room”.

Marco: Okay, in another room and in a crib.

Erika: Yeah.

Marco: Right, I think this is a very important issue, because many people consider that it’s a good thing for the baby to sleep with the parents and they feel safe…

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: And you can make sure the baby’s okay.

Erika: And it’s easier for, you know, waking up to feed the baby and change its diaper.

Marco: Exactly, and well, if the baby is sleeping with its parents, it might not wake up as much.

Erika: Uhu, but other people think if you let the baby sleep with the parents, the baby will become kind of spoiled and… and not a very good baby.

Marco: Right, it might become too dependent on the parents and, for example, if you ever wanna go out or leave the baby with a babysitter or when the baby starts maybe preschool or kindergarten, it might not be really independent.

Erika: Uhu.

Marco: So, why don’t you tell us what you think? Do you think it’s a good idea to allow a baby to sleep with you or should it sleep in its own room?

Erika: Yeah, you can tell us at our website englishpod.com where you can also ask any questions you have about the language in this dialogue.

Marco: Alright, guys, so, we’ll see you there and until next time…

Erika: Thanks for downloading and… Good bye!

Marco: Bye!