There may be 6,000 ways to say I love you, but I’d settle for one.

There are 6,000 languages of the world. The Hurricane speaks two of them. In theory. Of course, in reality, he speaks none of them. At least for 22.5 months he’s basically spoken none of them.

But who’s counting?

Oh yeah, that's right, I am. I'm counting back to two years ago right at this time when I was very pregnant and watching my niece like I was cramming for the test. Our baby was coming any minute, and I needed to learn overnight what kids did, ate, pooped, and said. Two years ago, she was exactly the Hurricane's current age, and she said a heck of a lot. In fact, she talked more than I do ever, even on my most talkative day.

And now two years later, it seems the Hurricane is a fantastic candidate for mime school. In other words, he thinks talking is for losers.

Oh sure he sometimes says a random “more” or “mine” or “no”, but by and large he’s not talking. And he’s definitely not doing anything of the sort on cue. For instance, if I ask a question (that he totally knows the answer to) in front of any breathing person, something easy like let's say, “what’s a cow say?”, he looks at me incredulously like I’ve just signed KFed for a record deal.

The boy doesn't like the talking.

When I bring this up to our pediatrician, he usually says something in the vacinity of...not to worry, he's learning two languages at once, and kids who are learning two languages talk later.

Okay, I can roll with that. It's true the Hurricane does spend a lot of time with Spanish and English speakers, so okay, maybe we'll put mime school on hold. At least until he's three.

But then last week, I read "The Bilingual Edge" a book written by two Georgetown University linguistics professors on why, when and how to teach your child a second language. And these linguists say there are three major myths about second language learning:

1. Only bilingual parents can raise bilingual children
2. Television, DVDs and ‘edutainment’ like bilingual talking toys are great ways for all children to learn second languages.
3. Exposing a child to two languages means that child will be a late talker.

Crap. Number three blows my "just chill out" reasoning. So I kept reading. And I reviewed the book today on Cool Stuff con Queso. Check it.

(And leave a comment there to be entered to win your own copy of The Bilingual Edge.)