Bu cu Lulu

Bu cu means, I think "don't cry" in Mandarin. This is what I say to Lulu whenever she cries, which is whenever I try to make her do something she doesn't want to do . . . especially go to bed.

I don't really know what language Lulu speaks. I was told, via Matthew, who got it from the orphanage nannys, that she spoke Cantonese. But when I brought her to Libby's school, where most of the staff and students speak Cantonese as their first language, she didn't respond to questions or conversation in Cantonese. Libby's teacher Lai Chan said she seemed to respond more to Mandarin. I have heard Lulu sing a bit in Mandarin, but when I speak Mandarin to her, she doesn't seem to get it, though she finds it amusing. Of course, this was a frequent response when I attempted to speak Mandarin in China!

So I conclude that Lulu probably speaks a regional dialogue, but may have been learning Mandarin in school. At any rate, we're developing our own Lulu lexicon--"bu hao" provokes peals of laughter, and repeated shrieks of "bu hao, bu hao!" --I tried to use this as short-hand for "don't do that!" but instead it has become a huge joke. Boo-boos are also referred to as "bu haos", and Lulu herself is often addressed as Miss Bu Hao.

In English, Lulu can say Mama, Bebe (means Libby), Tigger, Daddy . . . but usually she hollers "Ayah!" whenever she needs help. This means "Nanny" or "Auntie", so I have stopped answering to it. So after a few "Ayah!"s, she will yell "Mama!" in an equally imperious tone. Her absolute mastery of one English word, "No!", is pretty age-appropriate, I guess.

Meanwhile Auntie Gail and I spend most lunch hours trying to learn Lulu's language. We were working on Cantonese, but have given it up, and are now listening to Pimsleur's Basic Mandarin series. Lulu listens along with us, repeating phrases like "Qingwen, ni hui shuo putongua ma?" (Excuse me, do you speak Chinese?) and chuckling to herself.

Goodnight, and zai jian!