Ni Hao?- Making Sense of A Word in a Different Language

There was a cute anecdote at work that was worth spazzing in my blog today.

Today I was working with H.A, one of the children on his necklace threading at the table. Sitting on his side was a caucasian girl, L.C who was working on another activity.

Anyways, one of the children, a chinese,a boy K.L, came over so I greeted him 'ni hao'.

L.C heard me greeting him 'ni hao', then asked him what it meant. It means 'hello' in Mandarin. L.C repeated the word after me...

Much later, when we were together in the playground, L.C repeated 'ni hao' to me, and I smiled and greeted her back in Mandarin.

Then she said it to J.M, another chinese girl from the same class, and J.M repeated it back to L.C and smiled.

It is always interesting when we watch others, whether children, or adults make sense of a new word in a different language, and see that their eyes light up when they realize they are able to use it in their daily lives. ^^

-- Sent from my Nokia E71.