teaching a 20 yr old to talk?

[Rustysparents]

Hi,
in your experiences (because ours are limited) do you think it's possible to teach a 20 yr old amazon parrot to talk? She knows very few words, the basic, hello and pretty bird.
Thanks!
Marie

[kali]

try saying certain words at certain times of the day EVERY DAY

'goodnight' when you cover the cage at night
'morning' in the morning when you uncover it
'yummy' at dinnertime

that kind of thing. i spose if it's at exciting times of the day then she might be able to pick those words up and say them.

just an idea :)

[TheFrantom]

I think it just depends on how much effort you put forth, how many times you repeat a "simple" phrase, and how attentive the bird is. I like to start out with: Pretty Bird, C'mere, Pretty Boy, Pretty Birdy.

Remember that a bird will pick a word and a sound to repeat that it "likes". If you want a 20 year old bird to start out with saying your "phone number" , I would guess that might be impossible. :-)

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[m_adams86]

Rosie our african gray picks up whatever she likes, including some very naughty words (which happen to be her favorite) We couldn't really get her to repeat anything unless it sounded good to her. It took her 15 years just to say her favorite person's name(my dad). Don't lose hope, just keep trying!!!

[Rustysparents]

Thank you guys for the reponses. We (especially hubby who is with her all day) constantly talks to her. She does say a few things and we try to repeat them often since she seems comfortable with them, plus we're adding a few new words. We do the "good morning, good night" and things like "uh-oh" when she drops something.
It's a whole new world! it's fun. I just wish the bird didnt want to tear MY head off lol.
But that's a whole other subject :o)
thanks again for the comments
Marie~

[TheFrantom]

My husband just told me today he heard one of our Amazons say "Fran" today. That bird is well over 20 years old and I have had him for about 13 years. That is the first time the bird has picked up anything we say in this house, although he can say a few things from the previous owners. So I guess it pays to be patient! ha-ha-ha

[Doubleyolk]

I adopted a Yellow Nape that was 25 yrs old that I had for a little over 20 years and it never talked. Some parrots never talk and others never stop and some pick up some undesirable words and we wish they never talked.