How can I talk to children?

November 6, 2009 11:16 AM

How can I talk to children?

I'm working on some writing projects that require me to know how children talk. I think I have a fairly good ear and memory for it from my own childhood, but you inevitably forget things, or you never would have noticed certain patterns when you were a child.

I would like to speak to children aged 6 - 13. I cannot think of a direct way to do this. Obviously, I'm not going to be the creepy guy lurking around a playground with an open notebook. I think observing classrooms would help, but I don't know any teachers who live near me.

What I'd like to do is to be able to sit down with some kids with a tape recorder running and just talk to them in a free-ranging way. How can I set something like this up? I don't want people to think that I am doing market research for some corporate product, or misrepresent my intentions in any way. Do you think there is some kind of school / church / community group that would let an outsider come in to talk to kids?

posted by meadowlark lime to society & culture (12 comments total)

There are all sorts of volunteer programs that involve working with kids. I don't know where you're located, but there's probably something in your area that only requires signing up. Bringing in a tape recorder is the tricky part. I would feel a little weird about a stranger recording my kid's speech (if I had a kid), honestly. But if you really spend time with these kids, it'll stick with you anyway.
posted by katillathehun at 11:21 AM on November 6

I would start by calling your local school / church / community group, explaining your situation and asking if you could do some observation. I'll bet they'll be more accomodating than you imagine. It may help if you volunteer to help in some capacity.
posted by gnutron at 11:24 AM on November 6

What about watching some documentaries that involve someone talking candidly with children? You wouldn't be able to control the direction of the conversation, obviously, but you could still observe kids talking in a totally non-creepy way.
posted by amro at 11:29 AM on November 6 [2 favorites has favorites]

I think a school may let you do this with the right information and explanation.

But you'll have to have informed consent forms prepared for parents to complete, especially with tape recording. If you're associated with a medical or academic institution, you will probably have to seek approval through IRB for this before contacting schools, so check on that.
posted by zizzle at 11:33 AM on November 6

How about just looking for cute kid videos on YouTube? There seems to be an unending amount of stuff out there, and the parents themselves shot them (so the kids are probably talking naturally).
posted by aabbbiee at 12:02 PM on November 6 [2 favorites has favorites]

How about just looking for cute kid videos on YouTube? There seems to be an unending amount of stuff out there, and the parents themselves shot them (so the kids are probably talking naturally).

Not to discount this out of hand, but I'd imagine that children might speak differently:
1) if they know they are being recorded
2) if they are speaking to adults (in particular their parents) rather than their peers
posted by juv3nal at 12:25 PM on November 6

Check out the first couple of movies in the Up series (and/or some of the spinoffs if you can find those).
posted by so_gracefully at 12:35 PM on November 6

>Do you think there is some kind of school / church / community group that would let an outsider come in to talk to kids?

I hope not. None of these places should be setting up conversations between children in their charge and strange men with tape recorders, particularly if you aren't doing IRB approved research. But if you are volunteering in some other capacity that involves talking to the kids, then you get what you want and they get what they want. Your motives for volunteering, as they are not nefarious, are no one's concern.

Potential opportunities:
Volunteering as a crossing guard
Volunteering at afterschool programs
Boyscouts/Girlscouts or their church equivalents
Assistant coaching for children's sports teams

It wouldn't even have to be a longterm thing, if you have an interesting job/workplace/hobby call up schools or organizations like the Scouts and offer tours. Run as many groups through as you'd like and you could even select groups of different ages and genders if that would be helpful for your project.
posted by pseudonick at 12:47 PM on November 6

As a parent of kids in your age group I have to say that I would be livid if I found out that a school/church group allowed my child to be recorded without my permission.

I second the idea of trying YouTube. I've seen some of the silly videos and that is pretty much what kids sound like when they are talking to each other too.

If you want help with specifics, like what an 8 year old would call a certain object, let me know and I'll talk to my kids for you. Some of the stuff they come up with is priceless. For example, my kids (6 and 8) call magazines "mazageens".

If you just want to know how a regular kid would phrase something, I'd be more than willing to help you out.
posted by TooFewShoes at 2:06 PM on November 6

Don't you have any relatives with kids that age? Or friends with kids that age? That would be a lot easier and would have no creep factor because it's people you know. And it's really better to talk to one kid at a time anyway-- groups produce their own problems in terms of kids not talking freely necesarily.
posted by Maias at 2:15 PM on November 6

I remember reading that to get the dialogue right in Lolita, Nabokov sat on buses taking notes on the conversations of young girls. But this probably harkens back to the 'creepy guy with notebook' example you said you wanted to stay away from. All I can say is, it worked for him, and I don't remember having read that he was (or was mistaken for) a pervert.
posted by marmaduke_yaverland at 3:15 PM on November 6

Thanks for all the advice in this thread.

I think volunteering somewhere where kids go is the best option. It's the clearest way to hang around kids while also doing some good.

Objections to tape recording are noted, and taken onboard.

The bit about Nabokov also makes me rethink just hanging around somewhere kids are (fast food place, bus stop near a school, etc.) and just writing some things down.
posted by meadowlark lime at 3:32 PM on November 8