Der Wunderbare Student

I often address the children as "Kinder" - with a short "i", as in the German word that brought us "Kindergarten," not as in "A Kinder, Gentler America," to quote that most kindly of men who brought joy to countless Iraqi civilians 20 years ago.

But this morning, Daniel wanted me to get up, from where I was reading to him and Madeleine, and retrieve something from the other room, and so I said, "I'll be right back, Kinder."

And suddenly the unexpected happened: Daniel corrected my German. Presumably, he thought I was talking only to him, and Madeleine:

"You mean 'Kind'."

"What?"

"You mean 'Kind' - right? 'Cause there's only one."

Somehow, although I almost never address a single "Kind," Daniel had picked up on the nuances of singular-versus-plural in German, and corrected me on the basis of real awareness of the grammar of an entirely foreign language.

Perhaps our next German word should be "Wunderkind."

(October 29, 2011)