Writing a scene where a 2-year-old toddler (a normal one. not a super intelligent kid or a reincarnator or transmigrator) is telling his friend about going on an outing with his dad. This is a translation of a dialogue from a Chinese novel. So please understand that I can't get too creative and have to be as faithful to the original text as possible. Example #1: “Just now, papa come see me. Papa say he take me climb hill when not cold. We take car on top of hill and then we ‘swoosh’ to next hill.” Example #2: "My papa came to see me earlier. He promised me that he will take me mountain-climbing when the weather turns warm. We are going to take the cable car on top of the mountain and then "swoosh," we will fly to the next mountain." Which example is more likely to be spoken by a 2-year-old? 1 or 2? Suggestions and feedback welcomed.
Neither are super realistic at all, at 2 they are just barely learning any words at all, let alone stringing along a full sentence.
I remember kids using "then" and "and then" a lot. They also tell things out of order. They also sometimes don't know the word, e.g. "That thing, you know that thing". Play 20 questions to extract the info.
According to the two people before me, it's like this: Papa says we uh- *pause to rethink* that *describe idk with hand* ehhhh.... *Triangle describe* that thingy? Ohhh yes that thingy!! *Insert someone saying mountain* nononononono *shakes head*, that's not it! It's thingy here *describe mountain again* then we go swooosh *describe flying*
A cousin of mine turned 2 a week ago and I tell you he does not think in sentences yet so I'll say neither
Nearest to an actual child talk is #1 But example #1 is more attuned to 4-7years old, or someone whose main mother tounge is not english. Most probably it'll be "Mountain! Car! Vroom!" Without understanding the meaning what the father said, just parroting a small part of the father's dialogue.
Two year olds don't speak in sentences yet. Hell, some two year olds barely have a vocabulary of more than 50 words.
Thanks for your feedback, everybody! I have to clarify one thing here though. I did not make up this scene on my own. I am doing a translation. That's why there are only examples one and two. I can't really make things up here. Have to follow the original text as faithfully as possible.
Some people here are seriously underestimating 2-year-olds. It's pretty normal for them to talk clearly and in full sentences, especially if they're at the higher end of 2. You can just search youtube for videos of 2-year-olds talking to get plenty of examples. Neither of the options in the first post are good, though. The second is closer, but much too adult. The first doesn't sound like a small child at all, it sounds like an adult who's still learning English.
Friendly reminder that the average chimpanzee is as intelligent as a 3-4 year old human. Thats roughly what you can expect...
Can't help but include since the kid's already in the original Chinese text. Problem is, the author assumed that the average 2-year-old knows how to pronounce complex medical terms etc.