Detective Nina Reads the Clues

[miirineinnif]

Nina... a cute girl, I like to see when she talks :D Can you tell me how did you take the old film effect on vdo? thank you :)

[geofg]

@miirineinnif It's one of the effects that comes with the iMovie software with my Macintosh computer.

[nenooye]

hi geof, can nina reads for real? does she understand the book she reads? seems like she just read using her imagination.. i am working in sunday school in my church.. not in toddler class but i am in 6 grade class. but i hear many parents of the toddlers complain about their kids who dont want to learn to read,,,,hmmmmmmmm

[geofg]

No, Nina can't read yet.  She is just learning to recognize the letters in English and Japanese, but she can't read English words yet. So far, she enjoys it when we read to her, so hopefully she will continue to enjoy reading as she gets older.

[miizdestinyz]

aww she is such a cute girl~ she's smart too!

[AgentCell]

what camera do you use to make these videos? its so creative and interesting. I would like to do that.

[geofg]

I use this 5 year old Canon thing that uses tapes. It's kind of acting up lately, so I added "old movie" effects from my iMovie software to kind of cover up the low quality. LOL

[fobgurly]

@geofg Do you use a firewire to upload? I have a Canon that uses Mini DV tapes also, and the USB only uploads pictures, not video.

[geofg]

I don't think I have firewire, but both my computer and video recorder are old, so maybe they work together. My video camera is almost dead, though, so I will probably have to replace it and the computer soon.

[fobgurly]

@geofg Ah, I see. I was just wondering :) I heard that to upload video from a Mini DV tape you had to use a firewire....but who knows. Then again, My camera and computer are very new. I'll figure it out one of these days ^-^' thanks! Nina is the best by the way :)

[GardenStateLove]

She's so adorable and smart!

[apalagikecebur12]

omg omg shee is sooo cutee awwhh..i like her new hairstyle! how old is she now?

[geofg]

Thanks! She'll be four in August.

[SeNaFaL]

Skeeze!

chhh..chhh.. :D

so cute..

[UltimaReaper87]

oh no haha i dont work for the tourism company. you should go to a place called waikiki on oahu. if you loved maui, your gonna love oahu. for sure. (:

-Alika

[UltimaReaper87]

i know this is completely off subject from the video, but have you ever brought nina to hawaii? im from hawaii island of oahu, we have tons of japanese tourist here, maybe you should bring her down here and see how she reacts to things down here, i think it would be extremely cute, talking with both tourist, and locals alike.

Regards,

-Alika ^_^

[geofg]

Hi Alika,

My wife and I got married in Hawaii (on Maui), and loved it there. If we have a chance to take Nina there, we'll definitely go! You don't work for the Hawaiian tourism industry do you? Ha ha.

[caritiger]

Wow!  Her play is so complex, creating and drawing the clues then puzzling them out. How wonderful! "Skeeze!"

[marinatoad]

sooo cute! i love how you subtittled her 'chhh' noises! haha XD

[geofg]

Ha ha! Thanks! I puzzled over how to best write her noises in letters.

[billfun]

Hope you fix your camera soon. We want to see Nina often.

[geofg]

Thanks, Bill. It's looking like we would have to get a new computer if we want to get a new camera, so we'll probably just try to fix the old one. As it is, it works about half the time.

[MADQueen89]

isn't she adorable?

my sister and i are 10 years different in age. so when she was Nina's age, i always watch Blue's Clues on tv with my sister. she has this same imaginations as Nina too, with the note book and the clues.kids are just adorable!!

[Eaglegirl12]

So so, she's bilingual? That's so cool at her age! She'll have such an edge over the other students in Japan.

[geofg]

Well, her Japanese is still much better than her English at this point, but hopefully her English will keep improving too. Thanks!

[Knossoz]

Oh how adorable. :]

[GUCIGIRL]

I LOVED Blues Clues when I was about 4...my parents bought me a stamp that had my name on it and I would go around the house stamping random things (don't worry it was washable). I would force my older brother to play "Becky's Clues" with me...and the clues NEVER made sense.

She's quite a good detective...though I'd like to see lemonade with soap sometime. ^_^

[geofg]

Ha ha. I like the stamp idea. Nina would definitely get into that. I'll have to see if they have washable stamps in Japan.

I hadn't realized Blues Clues has been around that long. We only became aware of it recently, when we got satelite TV wth Nickelodeon.

Don't suppose anybody filmed you playing "Becky's Clues" did they?

[GUCIGIRL]

No...no one ever caught that on camera. My parents have many embarassing videos of me when I was really young, but no "Becky's Clues"

[venverloh]

Nina's just as cute as ever and her english is so good. I think you use the soap to wash your hands before squeezing the lemon. She is growing up so fast and learning so much. Thanks for always keeping us posted. I love them....

[geofg]

Yes, you would want to have clean hands before squeezing lemons, especially with the H1N1 flu going around Japan now.

Thanks for your comment, as always!

[Ciaela]

That's so weird, I'm having audio issues with my camera/video editing program right now, too. :'(

[geofg]

Hmm. Perhaps this is a clue...

[UltimaReaper87]

such a cute daughter!, i cant imagine how proud you must feel! hats off to you sir :]

[geofg]

Thanks, but all credit goes to Nina. We feel very lucky to have her.

[MajiePurpleOne]

thanks for Your reply about my reply! : )

No need to re-reply about my re- reply,LOL!

Since I'm back,I may as well put in my 2 cents re: the soap...

Maybe Nina included it thinking she'd wash up after drinking the sticky lemonade... : )

Happy weekend wishes to you 3!!!

( : Nina;Nina's Momma;Nina's Papa :)

[saiyouken]

you have a nice home !!

[geofg]

You mean our "mansion"? Ha ha. Yeah, it's alright. We bought it used (1994) for about half the original selling price. It's amazing how precipitous the initial drop in value for condos is in Japan. It's an 8 minute walk to the subway station, and has a nice view so we're pleased.

I love the view from your place, BTW. It's amazing that you could afford something that close to downtown Tokyo.

[saiyouken]

thanks but who said anything about being able to afford it? hahaha

[heopie]

Love the extra sound and camera effects. The first thing that popped in my mind was a scary face moment haha (especially at 2.40).

Her 'nother pronunciation is so cute. She definitely has a natural way of speaking in English.

[geofg]

Wow, you have a good memory! You're right! The "old movie" effect I used was the same effect I used in the "Scary Face Nina" video. I had forgotten that.

I'm also glad her way of speaking English sounds natural to you.

Thanks!

[BusanKevin]

Haha....I'd love some soap in my lemonade! Maybe she planned to use the soap to wash the cup before pouring the lemonade!?!

It was still a very watchable video. Hope you can get your camera fixed! What type of camera are you using to record video?

[geofg]

The camera thing is looking complicated. We can't find the warranty (and it has probably expired anyway) and are thinking of getting a new one, but the new cameras won't work with my old old version of iMovie, and I can't use a newer version of iMovie with my old OS (Mac 10.3.9), and my old OS can't be updated either, so we have no choice but to figure out how to fix the old one, or get a new camera and a new computer. So, we may be off-line for awhile. Bummer.

[BusanKevin]

I hope you are able to get the camera fixed.I'd hate to see you guys offline for too long. I'm posting a video tonight and then there won't be much activity on my end for awhile. I have a new Japanese class staring and I want to dedicate myself more to language study. I've been lazy so far. I'm also getting a little "You Tube burnout"!

I plan to keep watching, but maybe not make any new vids for a few weeks.

[geofg]

Yeah, we'll see. I think it is good to take a break from YouTube now and then. For me, when it starts feeling like pressure, like I HAVE to get another video up soon, I know it's time to lay off a bit and get some perspective.

Good luck with your nihongo studies. It definitely takes WORK. Some people seem to think we will just "naturally" learn Japanese by living here, but it doesn't work that way, eh.

[beautiifulstruggle]

this video was not poor quality! it matches the theme, "detective nina" i enjoyed it. Nina's room reminds me when I was still a little girl. I missed those toys of mines...i wonder where they are!!! hehe...Nina's haircut reminds me of Dora the explorer! ahhh nina, you are so cute. I showed nina to my parents and whole family, and they are fond of nina :) kisses for nina!

[geofg]

Thanks! I'm glad the video quality matched the theme!

We think Nina looks like Dora the Explorer too, and Nina loves Dora.

Thanks for your nice comments, as always!

[seiyaodango]

Blues Clues! Oh, the memories :D My sisters loved this show growing up. Are you watching the episodes with Steve or Joe? I always liked the original Steve a lot better.

Nina is so cute- my favorite part was when she yelled at the end after drinking the lemonade. Video quality is not that bad, you did a good job at masking it with the special effects.

[geofg]

So, Blues Clues has been around for awhile. I had no idea. We only just discovered it a couple months ago. The one we've been watching has Steve. Does that mean they are older episodes? He is quite good at what he does. I wonder if our Nickelodeon channel will switch to Joe at some point?

Anyway, I'm glad you found the quality watchable!

[alieposk]

I've seen both and I prefer Steve :D Joe is good too but I think Steve suited the role better :] They'll probably switch to Joe once Steve's episodes are done. Also, have you seen 'Stanley' I think it's a really good show ^^

[laracroftroxmysox]

I liked Steve better than Joe, but it's really just my opinion.

X3

I'm pretty sure Nina wanted the face to be clean for whatever it was gonna do with the lemon. [soap]

[geofg]

Everyone seems to prefer Steve to Joe. I'm already biased against the guy and I haven't even seen him yet. LOL

What's Stanley about?

You may be right about the clean face. The first two clues she drew were the face and the soap, so I think she was heading that direction, but then switched to the lemonade theme along the way. The face still fit, but the soap became the odd one out.

[laracroftroxmysox]

I think Stanley is a bald kid that teaches kids about animals with his two talking pets and his "Great Big Book of Everything". I don't know any other Stanley~!

XD

[FelineFantsy]

Her English is getting so much better, and she's so cute! :D The sound effects make it even sweeter! *rates 5 stars*

[geofg]

Thanks, as always!

[LoveYamachan]

haha she's getting better~

but what happened to the soap? ^0^

[geofg]

I think maybe Nina also realized the soap did not really fit into the lemonade so she just ignored it when she solved the mystery. Heh heh.

[LoveYamachan]

hehehe maybe wash the cup with soap after you drink all that lemonade~ ^-^

[janinhalima]

Very good videos of Nina and more now that she's speaking English, she's adorable ... great strategy she express what knows in English through games and fun, because incentive the interest by language...

[geofg]

Thank you. I try to make using English fun for Nina, so I'm happy you see it that way.

[MajiePurpleOne]

Nina will always be watchable/listenable/adorable!­!! : )

I just see the camera glitches as an already vintage; classic film. : )

[geofg]

Ha ha. Vintage is good. I'm glad you can put a positive spin on it. I was pretty upset when I loaded this onto my computer and realized it was messed up.

[shortnsuite3]

Her English is improving wonderfully!!!

[6663000]

Maybe the person has to wash their face with soap before they drank the lemonade. haha

[geofg]

OK. That sounds like a possibility. I'll ask Nina what she thinks of it.

[joshuarawr]

Hahah.. I love how she was trying to say squeeze.. She's too cute ^_^ Fun to watch, thanks so much for sharing :)

[laracroftroxmysox]

OMG~!

I used to have a handy-dandy notebook.

SO ADORABLE~!

At least her clues make since,

mine didn't...

:\

[geofg]

Was your handy-dandy notebook based on Blues Clues too? How long has that show been around? We just discovered it. As for her clues making sense, still not quite sure about the soap. Maybe you have some insight into that one.

[loegdberg]

Hey there. first time making a comment on one of your videos. I found the one where Nina was making a phone call to Shohei and Yuri 2 days ago, and after watching a couple more of them I just HAD to subscribe, and I'm kinda picky when it comes to subscribing! I, just like thousands of other youtubers, think you have an amazing, clever, and very cute daughter. I also want to thank you for inspiring me. I too would want my (future) kid(s) to be bilingual..... too be continued...

[loegdberg]

you see, my girlfriend lives in the states, and I live in Sweden. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but IF things work out the way we're hoping, do you have any suggestions? should I do just like you did, and just speak in Swedish with him/her, or do you think something else would be better? thank you so much for putting a smile on a tired student's face! oh, and another question: how did you learn Japanese? thanks in advance

[geofg]

Thanks for commenting! I hope things work out for you and you end up having children some day. If you do, then yeah, I think your just using Swedish with your child is a good start. Wherever you end up living (Sweden or the U.S.) will likely determine your child's dominant language, but if you both make an effort talk only in your native tongues, it will be a good start. If your child can spend time in both countries, that will help a lot, too.

[LilytheFrilly]

haha, her sound effects are great!

[geofg]

Ha ha. Yeah, I don't know where she would have heard what a lemon injector sounds like, but she seems to know.

[Luciditi]

Maybe you have to wash the cup with soap... or your face?

Ha ha Blues Clues! Playing with Nina must be so much fun :D

[geofg]

Yeah, that could be it. Or maybe the soap was a false clue she included to throw herself off track, but she was too smart to be fooled by herself. ; )

[Luciditi]

Ah the clever Nina is smarter than i thought!

[xiaoyi57]

still watchable... =) great job nina!