DogsBirdsFish Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I haven't figured out how to teach Emma to say certain things. I have been repeating the same words and phrases over and over again and nothing; not even a bad pronunciation of any of the words. Yet she is clearly repeating words, phrases, and noises that I may say once or only a very few times. For example, today she repeated the last few words I said on a phone call yesterday. Is she purposely trying to drive me nuts or is there a secret to tricking a Grey into saying what you want them to say? I do like the randomness of the words she has learned to say; however, I would like her to learn a few cute words and phrases that my family, in particular, would be surprised to hear her say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 LOL! When you have the answer to that one we would all like to know. I don't have a lot of experience, but as far as I know they won't "learn on command or repetition" with words very well. I think their thinking is a lot more complicated than that. Sometimes Timber says words that I think he just "likes the sound of." Other times he picks up words said loudly and/or with emotion (like the words I don't want him to repeat and he only has to hear it once). He does seem to pick up comfort type language (like "good bird" "I love you" "it's OK Timber" "such a pretty bird") but he could be picking up on my emotion in those too. They also seem to learn the name of things they like and use them to request them. Timber says artichoke, peanut, etc. when he wants that particular thing. Maybe someone with more experience or who has done more research can give you a more definitive answer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Timbersmom is spot on. They select words and phrases that are important and useful to them. If they could roll their eyes like us humans. They would do so when we keeping saying the same thing over and over and over. Wile thinking, I wish they would just stop saying that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aw64 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I just talk to Alfie through out the day he started talking at 11months and words just keep coming an example, we brought him a bell had it on the outside of cage once he excepted it wasn't going to eat him I would sit by cage and gently tap it saying 'ring the bell' its now progressed to the bell being in the cage and when he whats attention he will bang it saying 'ring a bell alfie' or 'ann ring the bell' I now question myself, why on earth did I start this!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 LOL! Love the "Ann ring the bell." I swear if Timber starts saying fetch when he throws that ball on the floor I'll never pick it up again... Famous last words! Dan, they may not be able to roll their eyes, but I swear they all have a long-suffering, "Lord, why did you give me such a dull-witted human" look! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 LOL! When you have the answer to that one we would all like to know. They say what they like or want to say and it has been shown time and time again its things they only hear once or twice they repeat many times over and then other things we say to them repeatedly they never catch on to, seems if you want them to repeat something only say it once or twice and you may have a hit. I agree Karen, they can give some pretty interesting looks with their eyes at times, no words needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 They do certainly say what they want, when they want. Sterling Gris can repeat a phrase immediately and other times not a word. Picky little boogers our greys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 ******Yet she is clearly repeating words, phrases, and noises that I may say once or only a very few times. For example, today she repeated the last few words I said on a phone call yesterday.******** That's the way a grey learns--only by association. That's what they're known for. They're one the rare species of parrots that can do that. Repeating and repeating is only teaching the bird how to do a very unnatural thing--mimicing. Many birds mimic. An example of a grey of a grey talking by association A person will take a phone and go to another room and start taliking. Eventually the call ends as you're coming near the bird. """sytu bujlst ogdo meape rway yusw kabu lrtq uhttagy mij hlpywhbq cjyt pusb wqay ghvw wjta lpko cpot qyh''''; ( now it's time to say good by to the person on the phone-- higher pitched voice) """Ok, nice talking to ya. Be good thanks for calling.""""" So this whole proces sounds like the bird is mumbling. It's not. When that person went away with the phone and starting talking, the sounds above were the only sounds it could hear because of distance. As the person got closer and the words were very clear it caused the bird to say those words much more clearly. So, the bird was imitating the whole sentence/sentences. Trying to make a grey talk on que is not very easy and many won't talk with more than one member of the family around. On the other hand, greys talk all day long in their own natural language. A person doesn't understnd it and there's a way to learn it but it takes time. The person who does this know that he/she needs to learn parrotese in order to understand what the bird is saying especially when the grey is not a human mimicer. I'd much rather understand what a bird is saying in their own language rather than listen to mimicing. They say so much more in their own language. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogsBirdsFish Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 [b.......[/b] An example of a grey of a grey talking by association A person will take a phone and go to another room and start taliking. Eventually the call ends as you're coming near the bird. """sytu bujlst ogdo meape rway yusw kabu lrtq uhttagy mij hlpywhbq cjyt pusb wqay ghvw wjta lpko cpot qyh''''; ( now it's time to say good by to the person on the phone-- higher pitched voice) """Ok, nice talking to ya. Be good thanks for calling.""""" So this whole proces sounds like the bird is mumbling. It's not. When that person went away with the phone and starting talking, the sounds above were the only sounds it could hear because of distance. As the person got closer and the words were very clear it caused the bird to say those words much more clearly. So, the bird was imitating the whole sentence/sentences. Trying to make a grey talk on que is not very easy and many won't talk with more than one member of the family around...... Wow that is exactly how it went (your experience is obvious). She started with imitating two phone rings, then she said hello followed by a long stretch of gibberish. Then she perfectly said the last few words as I said goodbye. I am also amazed that they can remember things a day or more later without practice (unless she was up all night rehearsing...LOL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Well 90% of the time if you ask Jake what he wants to eat he will say either pork chop or peanut. The other 10% of the time he will either give you the look or say nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisachristine Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I always do random shouts from the neighboring room, my neighbors think I'm nuts, but I have one heck of a talker! Standing at the cage side never worked for us.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 They repeat what ever they want to and we have little control over their selection, some times I wonder who is training whom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 True Greywings, you could say Flap Jacks a hundred times a day for 20 years and your Grey never use it UNLESS they have a use for it. To them it's just a moron human babbling nonsense words of no use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 It took me a long time but Sterling Gris, CAG, does say some phrases with no association. "Gabriel is a genius" and "Hello Gorgeous". But Sterling loves to repeat. Right now it is" Hello, open the door, let me out, I want to come out." He has also added, "Damn bird" at the end. The things and words they remember. My daughter is working on "red butt" although I have asked her not to she is determined for Sterling to learn this little phrase. In my daughter's defense, Sterling loves to dive bomb her head when she is here, so they do have a little feud going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyparrot Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I think that Greys will learn the sounds or words that they associate with objects things events and animals including people that interest them. Those are the sounds that they will learn most readily.The trick I think is getting their interest. Dr Pepperberg uses the "Rival - Model" technique to demonstrate to the parrot how he or she might get a result that the parrot wants. The "Rival" is a person or another parrot that knows the correct words that will trigger the correct response from the teacher usually an offered object or treat. The student will then model the action of the "Rival". Constantly repeating a a word or a call including whistled tunes may work to a limited extent because Greys naturally like to repeat calls of their family and flock members as part of the social bonding process but often there is no related context. The best way if no "Rival" is available is to explain what is happening in a simple and consistent way. They will learn to associate the words you say with the object you are offering or the activities happening at that moment. They are also very responsive to emotive situations which is one of the reasons why they often pick up bad language. Remember that Greys are very observant of every thing that happens around them and every thing they see you do. Steve n Mistyparrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffNOK Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 I have found that consistently narrating our lives together in simple ways does the trick when it comes to learning new words. 80% of what Gracie says is related to our daily routines. I have taught her songs, animal sounds, and "fun phrases" as well. Mainly she picks it up based on my enthusiasm and tone of voice. I have tried to teach her a few phrases which she refuses to repeat no matter how many times she hears them. It seems word use among greys is very dependent on the individual. Gracie seems to prefer human language to parrotese. When she vocalizes, 90% of the time it is in English. The only sounds she makes in parrotese are the pterodactyl screech when playing with toys, a kind of squawk when she is nervous and outside her comfort zone, and some whistling here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 Jake is another who learns by association. His latest is that he added "cook" or "go cook" to some of his food words. Go cook corn, cook pork chop, cook chicken but I have noticed that he does not say cook peanut because we don't cook that. Jake loves to sit on my arm when I do the dishes. I show him each piece and tell him what it is. I don't know if he will ever use the words plate, fork, spoon etc but we have a good time doing chores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyparrot Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 ..................... Jake loves to sit on my arm when I do the dishes. I show him each piece and tell him what it is. I don't know if he will ever use the words plate, fork, spoon etc but we have a good time doing chores. I have been doing that with Misty for some time but he is obviously very stupid because he still hasn't learned to do the washing up!:confused: Steve n Misty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 I have been doing that with Misty for some time but he is obviously very stupid because he still hasn't learned to do the washing up!:confused: Steve n Misty How do you know he hasn't learned how? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 (edited) Probably knows how and doesn't want to. Ha ha They say the words they like-unfortunately. Brutus hates yogurt but he LOVES to say the word. We tried to teach him our address and he is only interested in parts of it, which will not work if he gets lost. Bummer. And, we tried to teach him, "I Left My Heart In SF" and he doesn't want to say the sis part of San Francisco, so there is nothing we can say or do to change that. He sings, "San Fran-co" with great conviction. It is a great mystery how Brutus thinks, but he is unwavering and adamant. You gotta give him credit for that. Edited July 16, 2013 by chezron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 My birds all learn by association as well as by me repeating phrases or songs over and over. Talon can sing Happy Birthday to you & say Merry Xmas ho ho ho. She also says Be back soon, when I am going to put her in her cage for when I go out. They all associate bedtime with nite nites. Talon also says Thirsty Bird whenever she wants a drink. My other two, love to yell at the dog when he barks, and also each other by ssying Bad Bird or GIT OFF OF THERE! The more I talk, the more they do. It took YEAR before Talon would say her own name even tho I worked really hard at getting her to say it. She just wouldn't, but now she says it all the time. AFTER I gave up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Probably knows how and doesn't want to. Ha ha They say the words they like-unfortunately. Brutus hates yogurt but he LOVES to say the word. We tried to teach him our address and he is only interested in parts of it, which will not work if he gets lost. Bummer. And, we tried to teach him, "I Left My Heart In SF" and he doesn't want to say the sis part of San Francisco, so there is nothing we can say or do to change that. He sings, "San Fran-co" with great conviction. It is a great mystery how Brutus thinks, but he is unwavering and adamant. You gotta give him credit for that. Try teaching him the telephone number using the song 867-5309/Jenny by Tommy Tutone. Just replace your telephone number with the one in the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Ah, that is a great idea, just never change your number! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Great idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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