Ming the Mechanic:
Mr. Flemming
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 Mr. Flemming2002-12-27 00:35
13 comments
picture by Flemming Funch

My little daughter Nadia likes coming into my office to pretend she's me. So, she sits in my chair and gets this really deep voice: "I'm Mr.Flemming". And I ask "What are you doing Mr.Flemming?". I speak Danish to her, but she answers in English. "I'm working on my computer" she says. "Oh, but what are you actually doing on that computer?", I say. "Dot Com" she answers, with great conviction. I don't know where she picked that up from, but it's funny. And then she went and loaded an MP3 file. It is fascinating to see how the generations change, and later generations take things for granted that the earlier generation only learned about along the way. Nadia learned about e-mail first, so she also calls the stuff the mailman brings "e-mail". A cassette tape she calls a "CD". Film cameras don't make a lot of sense to her, and she's never seen a vinyl record or a rotary phone. She hasn't known a world without always-on Internet and digital cameras and cell phones for everybody.


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13 comments

27 Dec 2002 @ 10:18 by shawa : *Sweet*
:-)  

28 Dec 2002 @ 05:01 by spiritseek : Imitation
is a high honor given to the one that is being imitated. Love of a child, there is nothing more wonderful.  

28 Dec 2002 @ 09:07 by cho : Floor, down; ceiling ... up!
I used computer and electronics stuff as just other ways for my kids to learn that the world actually works. (Everyone has heard the help desk stories of users being totally clueless, like trying to troubleshoot a PC that hasn't been plugged in?) They never related to it as complicated or nerdy or beyond them ... just stuff. Do this, it does that; do that, it does this (at least until Win95 came on the scene! *sour grin*) Of course there are aspects of the world that they relate to differently than I did in my day, but since the world of this day is actually different in those aspects, _!no es problema!_

p.s. great to hear about the multi-lingualism ... EU is soooo ahead of NA in this ... IMHO, "more than one" is the key here, the second language laying the groundwork (quite literally, at a neuronal level) for others.  

28 Dec 2002 @ 13:50 by ming : Just stuff
That's a good point, how kids don't relate to technology as something difficult or fancy. It is just there. Whereas, if we weren't born with it, we keep a distance, an awareness that it is really complicated. Nadia can spend an hour surfing the web (ok, a couple of kids sites with many sections) without getting stuck, despite that she can't read. And she never asked for instruction. Just for a little help if something doesn't do what she wants it to do.  

13 Jan 2007 @ 11:03 by Nadia @82.234.200.36 : cool
its nadia thats me  

13 Jan 2007 @ 11:06 by Nadia @82.234.200.36 : Hey
hey im nadia funch nice comments  

13 Jan 2007 @ 14:11 by ming : Nadia
Haha, so it is. Hi Nadia! Thank you for visiting!  

17 Jan 2007 @ 15:10 by Nadia @82.234.200.36 : why is there nobody takeing ?
daddy why is there nobody als takeing ???????  

17 Jan 2007 @ 15:13 by ming : Talking
Hi Nadia! This is only one of the many articles on my blog. Usually people will comment on the newest articles.  

17 Jan 2007 @ 19:03 by GeZi @76.168.91.127 : I am talking
Hi Nadia,
this is interesting that you now started to be active on the internet.
I am Gunter, and I am pretty sure that you don't remember me, but maybe you remember Zen, my son, who you hang out with a few times.
I even have a picture of your visit - click here.

So, I guess you can already speak french, right? I tried to learn it once many years ago, but I don't remember much of it.

Gunter  

21 Jan 2007 @ 13:30 by Nadia @82.234.200.36 : hi Gunter
hi i dont remember Zen or you but it is a nice picture of us yes i can speak french like this (Bonjour je m'appelle Nadia) thats french

love Nadia  

23 Jan 2007 @ 00:36 by GeZi @76.168.91.127 : cool...
... Nadia, that you speak two languages. When I was your age it was only German, nothing more - maybe some secret language that I figured out with some friends.
Some years ago I could also see how cool this is with a little nephew. Both his parents where from Thailand so he could speak Thai, but he also learned English here in California - mostly from TV - and he could switch back and forth so easily.
Thai with his parents and English with his uncle - me.
Take care and maybe one of these days we will meet again.
Bye
Gunter  

12 Apr 2009 @ 20:54 by Nadia @82.234.200.36 : Im... WOW
thats so cool its like 6 years ago im like crying wile im looking at this picture im so happy ;)
i cant belive im on the computer at that age omg ;)
im crying ;)  

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