The Language Instinct

Yes, I lifted the title of today's post from the Steven Pinker book.

So I wonder what concept Alex has of language. He'll be 3 in June. He asks to hear different parts of Magic Flute in German and then in English. He sometimes asks for the "vogelfanger" song. He knows that some operas are sung in Italian. He even sings a little of "Non Piu Andrai" in Italian. Today we listened to part of the Saturday Afternoon Broadcast of Faust, which was in French. He knows about Spanish from Sesame Street. He knows that his cousins speak Russian and English. I've explained to him that people speak different languages in various parts of the world. But can he really understand the concept? Sometimes for fun I'll ask him where or how he learned to talk, and what language he speaks. He just ignores me. So either it's such an obvious question that he won't grace it with an answer, or else he has no idea what I'm talking about so he just ignores me. Sometimes I think it's the former...