In “The mainstreaming of Chinese culture, in a new kids’ TV show,” the Associated Press writes about Nick Jr.’s (as in Nickelodeon Jr.) new children’s animated show, “Ni Hao, Kai-lan“:
“Ni Hao, Kai-lan” (nihao means hello in Mandarin) premiered Feb. 7 to coincide with Chinese New Year. The mindset behind it —- and how it seeks to do with Chinese what “Dora the Explorer” does for Spanish — offers insight into how Chinese culture is ceasing to be exotic in America and taking its place in everyday life…”Ni Hao, Kai-lan” focuses on a little girl, Kai-lan Chow, and her friends Rintoo (a tiger), Tolee (a koala), Hoho (a tiny monkey) and Lulu (a pink rhino). Together they wend their way through American childhoods and Chinese cultural adventures —- including lantern festivals, campouts and playing in the snow —- and learn lessons on how to manage anger and cooperate.…In an era when diversity is a buzzword, China remains, for many Americans, a broadly misunderstood culture. Many depictions of Chinese in American popular culture still suggest, if not overtly evoke, outdated notions of the “exotic Oriental” with the elaborate dynastic robe and even the wide-brimmed hat and slanty eyes.”
The cartoon is just too cute! I think that it’s pretty cool that there is a American animated children’s cartoon to teach Chinese and Chinese culture. I would have rather watched those cartoons than to have gone to Chinese school on Saturday or Sunday mornings while growing up! Though I really wonder how much Chinese one can learn from the cartoon. But I do still recall some of the lessons I learned from School House Rock.
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Yvespaul wrote:
My friend’s kid is a fan of the show, but frankly it feels like one of those Chinese brainwashing propaganda films. Still, my eyes are glued to the clip. Since Chinese are the big economic force in the world, the others should really get prepared for it huh? The one thing I don’t get is, “What’s a koala doing in a Chinese cartoon?” lol. They should cast the Chinese Zodiac instead.
Posted on 03-Mar-08 at 7:03 am | Permalink
Ben wrote:
I was catching up with an old friend last night who lives in NYC. Apparently her 3-year old LOVES this show. She characterized it as a Chinese-American-themed Dora the Explorer.
This would probably be a lot better for my 2-year old than sitting with her 4-year old brother and watching SuperWhy (a pre-literacy program on PBS) and ancient reruns of Scooby Doo (on Boomerang).
Posted on 03-Mar-08 at 7:09 am | Permalink
Holy crap, this IS Dora the Chinese Explorer. I will give props to the 10 year old voice address - she has her tones down. Has anyone seen the wikipedia page for this show?
“The show will familiarize the viewing audience with elements of Chinese and Chinese American cultures to promote multicultural understanding in the next generation and goes beyond featuring “culture” as only ethnic food and festivals. Instead, it celebrates growing up in an intergenerational family, having friends from diverse backgrounds, and “habits of the heart” that are Chinese American. These values include: [...] Being a good member of the group.”
Hive mentality! It’s in our DNA(tm)!
Posted on 03-Mar-08 at 3:31 pm | Permalink
DJKuulA wrote:
My almost-3-year-old watches this every day. Sure, you aren’t going to learn a lot of language from Kai-Lan, but it’s good for its preschool target age group.
Posted on 02-Jun-08 at 1:36 pm | Permalink