MSL (Mandarin as a Second Language)

Mike's sister and her family are in town for a week on vacation. Since they are staying with us, we have the chance to spend a lot of time together. Especially with Evan, my little nephew (or is it nephew in-law?). He is 2.5 years old and starting to speak in sentences, but mainly in Mandarin. He adores both mike (his Jiu-Jiu 舅舅) and I (his Jiu-Ma 舅媽), and we both love playing with him. But due to my limited Mandarin vocabularies, everyday is like Lost in Translation. He would speak Mandarin to me. I understand most of the time, but sometimes it can be difficult with the toddler accent. In turn, i would either reply in Cantonese or English, OR sometimes in small phrases of Mandarin which i picked up from Evan himself. When i have no clue what he's saying, i would just nod Yes or acknowledge it with OK. When he has no idea what i'm saying, he would either repeat what he said to me, or repeat my reply in a question form (as in "what the hell are you talking about" in the toddler way).

The family finds it fascinating how we communicate with each other. There are a few phrases I have mastered since Evan's visit. Example: Sleep. Does it taste good? Do you want to eat? Do you want?

Maybe by the time he leaves, I will be fluent at Mandarin.....in the toddler level.