The Babbler

[walda]

Anyone have a babbler, a talking toy by Neurosmith that babbles sounds and words in Spanish, French and Japanese? I received one as a gift, and am rather disappointed in it. It is so quiet that we can barely hear it, especially when ds is cooing. Also, to make it talk, you have to really hit it, something my 4 month old cannot do. Anyone else have similar problems? I know it is a rather silly toy, but ds seems to like it.

:)

[elaine]

I had the same problem with mine. I think it is a neat idea, but I agree the toy needs to be louder and more responsive, particularly for younger babies.

Neurosmith is very responsive and very helpful. My mom did the legwork to exchange ours. The first one was loud enough, but needed a good whack to activate it. The new one was more sensitive, but IMHO too quiet. If you call them, you may get one that is more responsive. And maybe they'll update the electronics to work a bit better.

[docreeler]

I admit that I have not seen the toy you mention, but I feel I have to put in my two cents worth anyway...I have a doctorate in linguistics, with specializations in sociolinguistics and language pedagogy. One thing that was repeatedly emphasized in numerous classes (and backed up by considerable research) is that children won't learn a language merely by passive exposure to it (e.g., by watching television programmes in the other language -- or, in this case, by playing with a toy which says words in a different language). They need to have *interactions* with other human beings in a language in order to learn it. So while it certainly couldn't hurt to expose your child to the sounds of other languages, and while s/he may pick up a few stray words in that other language, don't expect a toy to work miracles...

- Lynn

[opus]

I have some specific questions regarding linguistics but don't see a private email with your post. Lynn, if you are still out there, please email me. Thanks.

[mspacman]

We saw a babbler in a toy store. My mother, who speaks fluent Japanese, could not recognize a single "word" it said. My 4-month-old was completely unimpressed.

If your child likes it as a toy, fine, but I doubt it has any more educational value than reading a $3 book.