Queens Girl Becomes The New Voice Of 'Dora The Explorer'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Queens native has been chosen to voice the iconic title character in the hit television show "Dora The Explorer," which is kicking off its seventh season on Monday.

Child model Fatima Ptacek, 11, the daughter of a retired NYPD detective and an accountant from Ecuador, is fluent in both English and Spanish, just like Dora. Ptacek is also studying Mandarin Chinese.

1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon speaks with Fatima

Fatima, whose voiced debuted on the Nickelodeon hit this week, told 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon she wasn't told what she was auditioning for, but having grown up with Dora, she recognized some of the lines in the script from old episodes.

"It finally clicked that this is probably for the role of Dora and my heart definitely skipped at least three beats every time I said a line," she said.

According to her website, Ptacek began her career five years ago and has appeared in over 60 television commercials, several films and television shows, including "Saturday Night Live" and "Royal Pains."

Fatima also has some ambitious plan for the near and long-term future.

"I definitely want to have my own show," she said. "I want to go to Harvard University and be a lawyer and be the first female president of the United States."

"Dora" is the most-watched pre-school program according to Nickelodeon.