Babbling and Blurting

I'm always fascinated by babies.  They sit in their little carrier and gaze around them with such intensity.  As their family and others swirl around talking, they're taking it in.  At some stage they begin to babble, practicing language sounds.  That's followed eventually by word-like sounds (to great fanfare from their loved ones).  And after something like two years, they begin to talk.

I don't have the skill to pursue any kind of meaningful conversation in Greek yet (greetings and other rote pleasantries don't count).  But that's OK.  I can be a language-baby for a while.  Since I'm an adult with language experience (native language, German, Spanish and tidbits of others), I've begun sound-babbling and word-blurting right off the bat.

When I'm visiting with my Greek friends, we have a lot of real catching up to do so we speak exclusively in English. But when I think of some Greek that seems to fit the context of our conversation, I toss it into the mix.  It's often badly mangled but I do get feedback, which is crucial.  And when they sometimes talk to each other in Greek, I hang on every word.  I guess that could be a little annoying.  Especially since I blurt out any word I recognize like some kind of deranged parrot!  Well, let's hope the baby stage doesn't last too long ...