Chennai stories in English, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada

If you searched for a Tamil bedtime story, stop here and look elsewhere. Hey Minie does not include Tamil. Pretending a Telugu story will do for a Tamil-speaking child is unfair to the child and to Tamil.

Who in Chennai it is for

Chennai has many Telugu-speaking homes, Hindi-speaking homes, some Kannada homes, and a great many English-medium weekdays. For those languages, the app is relevant. Start with Telugu if Telugu is the language a grandparent still wants to hear. Use Hindi or Kannada on the same terms. Use English as the story, not as a tuition class.

Minie is a brown myna, voice-first, for ages 3 to 10. The child can ask questions about the story. Parents use a fingerprint-locked section. There is a TV app paired by QR code. Android is live on Google Play. The redesigned iPhone and iPad app is in TestFlight only, not on the public App Store yet. None of those facts change the Tamil gap.

An honest evening

• Tell the child which languages the myna speaks. Children notice a fake.
• Keep Tamil with people if Tamil is in the family. Do not outsource it to an app that does not have it.
• Two story nights in the home language you do have is enough.
• The company is registered in Nandigama, Andhra Pradesh, not in Chennai.