Ni Hao

Mekayla watches Ni Hao Kai Lan, an educational preschool program on Noggin from time to time. It’s a bilingual (Mandarin and English) show about a little Chinese girl who lives with her grandfather and has several little animal friends. (Think a Chinese version of Dora the Explorer) Anyway, Kai Lan starts the program each day with a friendly, “Ni hao, I’m Kai Lan.” (Translated to “Hello, I’m Kai Lan.”) Each episode, she introduces a few new Chinese words to the kids watching and it’s a nice way to expose Mekayla to some Mandarin. Well, I’ve been practicing some of these words with Mekayla as we learn them and today’s conversation went like this:

Mommy: Mekayla, what is “mao tze”?
Mekayla: “Mao tze” is for hat!
Mommy: What is “thor sie”?
Mekayla: “Thor sie” is for slipper!
Mommy: What is “ni hao”?
Mekayla: “Ni hao” is for Kai Lan! That is what Kai Lan says…

Oh boy.