children

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, an animated series to help children learn Mandarin Chinese, will begin airing on February 7th, 2008 on Nick Jr.

This is just another sign of the times: the world around, people are waking up to the importance of Mandarin Chinese in tomorrow's world. I will be documenting this phenomenon and other such interesting goodies on Mandarin Chinese Info.

From Website

Ni Hao, Kai-lan is a play-along, think-along series that weaves together Chinese language and culture, preschool-relatable stories, and interactivity, with Kai-lan as your intimate friend and playmate!

"Ni hao!" That means "hi" in Chinese--and that's how Kai-lan greets you every day! Kai-lan Chow is an exuberant Chinese-American preschooler, almost 6, who wants you to come play with her and her best friends.

Kai-lan's world is infused with Chinese culture and is brimming with magical sights and sounds, and everywhere you turn there's something amazing and beautiful to see. Along the way, she and her bilingual buddies speak in English and Chinese, but they always need kids' help to find creative solutions to the daily dilemmas that come their way!

Find out more about the show on Nick Jr.

I just read a cool article about the rapidly growing market for Mandarin Chinese-speaking nannies in the UK.

This is yet another sign of the times...

From Article

Our clients tend be high-powered international business people who are making an investment for their children's future. They have realised that Mandarin will be an essential language for the next generation and they want their children to have a head-start.

I will be documenting this and a lot more on Mandarin Chinese Info and to some degree on Freestyle Language.

More on kids and language-learning will be added to Free Language as well.

I just ran across Hello World, a great site for children learning French, Spanish, English, Indonesian, German and Russian.

They have lots of interactive stuff, and clickable audio for alphabets in all those languages. Plus more, of course.

Check out Hello World.