Sing along and dance! Mandarin Chinese – Zhong guo hua 中國話 by S.H.E. This video has lyrics support in pinyin and Chinese characters. This is a song that older children will enjoy with its tongue twister lyrics part and culture content. It is a chat generator with many cultural topics that you can touch on such as, language learning, tones in Chinese, tongue twister comparison in different languages.
Lyrics courtesy of tammiest@AsianFanatics
扁擔寬 板凳長
Bian dan kuan Ban deng chang
The bo staff is wide; the bench is long
扁擔想綁在板凳上
Bian dan xiang bang zai ban den shang
The bench wants to tie itself to the ends of the bo staff
扁擔寬 板凳長
Bian dan kuan Ban deng chang
The bo staff is wide; the bench is long
扁擔想綁在板凳上
Bian dan xiang bang zai ban deng shang
The bench wants to tie itself to the ends of the bo staff
倫敦瑪莉蓮 買了件旗袍送媽媽
Lun dun ma li lian Mai le jian qi pao song ma ma
In London, Marilyn bought a qipao as a gift for her mother
莫斯科的夫司基 愛上牛肉麵疙瘩
Mo si ke de fu si ji Ai shang niu rou mian ge da
In Moscow, Fuski fell in love with Chinese beef short noodles
各種顏色的皮膚
Ge zhong yan se de pi fu
People of every skin color
各種顏色的頭髮
Ge zhong yan se de tou fa
People with hair of every color
嘴裡念的說的開始流行中國話
Zui li nian de shuo de kai shi liu xing zhong guo hua
What they’re reading, what they’re saying… Chinese is becoming the new trend
多少年我們苦練英文發音和文法
Duo shao nian wo men ku lian ying wen fa yin he wen fa
How many years did we painstakingly practice English pronunciation and learn their grammar?
這幾年換他們卷著舌頭學平上去入的變化
Zhe ji nian huan ta men juan zhe she tou xue ping shang qu ru de bian hua
For a change, now it’s their turn to get their tongues all in a knot
平平仄仄平平仄 (仄仄平平仄仄平)
Ping ping ze ze ping ping ze (ze ze ping ping ze ze ping)
好聰明的中國人 好優美的中國話
Hao cong ming de zhong guo ren Hao you mei de zhong guo hua
How smart the Chinese are!– and how beautiful our language!
扁擔寬 板凳長
Bian dan kuan Ban deng chang
The bo staff is wide; the bench is long
扁擔想綁在板凳上
Bian dan xiang bang zai ban deng shang
The bench wants to tie itself to the ends of the bo staff
板凳不讓扁擔綁在板凳上
Ban deng bu rang bian dan bang zai ban deng shangThe bo staff won’t let the bench tie itself to the ends of the bo staff
扁擔偏要綁在板凳上
Bian dan pian yao bang zai ban den shang
Instead, the bo staff wants to tie itself to the bench
板凳偏偏不讓扁擔綁在那板凳上
Ban deng pian pian bu rang bian dan bang zai na ban deng shang
The bench won’t let the bo staff tie itself to the bench
到底扁擔寬還是板凳長
Dao di bian dan kuan hai shi ban deng chang
So is the bo staff wide or the bench long?
哥哥弟弟坡前坐
Ge ge di di puo qian zuo
Elder brother and younger brother sit on a hill
坡上臥著一隻鵝
Po shang wo zhe yi zhi e
On the hill, there is a swan
坡下流著一條河
Po xia liu zhe yi tiao he
At the bottom of the hill runs a river
哥哥說 寬寬的河
Ge ge shuo Kuan kuan de he
The elder brother says, “The river is wide.”
弟弟說 白白的鵝
Di di shuo Bai bai de e
The younger brother says, “The swan is white.”
鵝要過河 河要渡鵝
E yao guo he He yao du e
The swan wants to cross the river; the river wants the swan to cross
不知是那鵝過河 還是河渡鵝
Bu zhi dao na e guo he hai shi he du e
Don’t know if the swan is crossing the river or the river is crossing the swan
Chorus:
全世界都在學中國話
Quan shi jie dou zai xue zhong guo hua
The whole world is learning Chinese
孔夫子的話 越來越國際化
Kong fu zi de hua Yue lai yue guo ji hua
Confucius’ words are becoming world culture
全世界都在講中國話
Quan shi jie dou zai jiang zhong guo hua
The whole world is speaking Chinese
我們說的話 讓世界都認真聽話
Wo men shuo de hua rang shi jie dou ren zhen ting hua
Our language makes the people of the world listen up
紐約蘇珊娜
Niu yue su shan na
In New York, Susanna
開了間禪風Lounge Bar
Kai le jian chan feng Lounge Bar
Opens up a Chinese style lounge bar
柏林來的沃夫岡
Bo lin lai de wo fu gang
Wolfgang from Berlin
拿胡琴配著電吉他
Na hu qin pei zhe dian ji ta
Pairs the erhu with his electric guitar
各種顏色的皮膚
Ge zhong yan se de pi fu
People of every skin color
各種顏色的頭髮
Ge zhong yan se de tou fa
People with hair of every color
嘴裡念的說的開始流行中國話
Zui li nian de shuo de kai shi liu xing zhong guo hua
What they’re reading, what they’re saying… Chinese is becoming the new trend
多少年我們苦練英文發音和文法
Duo shao nian wo men ku lian ying wen fa yin he wen fa
How many years did we painstakingly practice English pronunciation and learn their grammar?
這幾年換他們卷著舌頭學平上去入的變化
Zhe ji nian huan ta men juan zhe she tou xue ping shang qu ru de bian hua
For a change, now it’s their turn to get their tongues all in a knot
平平仄仄平平仄 (仄仄平平仄仄平)
Ping ping ze ze ping ping ze (ze ze ping ping ze ze ping)
好聰明的中國人 好優美的中國話
Hao cong ming de zhong guo ren Hao you mei de zhong guo hua
How smart the Chinese are!– and how beautiful our language!
有個小孩叫小杜
You ge xiao hai jiao Xiao Du
There once was a child named XiaoDu
上街打醋又買布
Shang jie da cu you mai bu
Went out one day to buy some vinegar and sell cloth
買了布 打了醋
Mai le bu Da le cu
He sold his cloth, bought his vinegar
回頭看見鷹抓兔
Hui tou kan jian ying zhua tu
Turned around and saw an eagle catching a rabbit
放下布 擱下醋
Fang xia bu Ge xia cu
He put down the cloth, cut loose the vinegar
上前去追鷹和兔
Shang qian qu zhui ying han tu
Began to chase the eagle and the rabbit
飛了鷹 跑了兔
Fei le ying Pao le tu
The eagle flew away; the rabbit ran away
灑了醋 濕了布
Sa le cu Shi le bu
He spilled the vinegar, got the cloth wet
嘴說腿 腿說嘴
Zui shuo tui Tui shuo zui
His mouth blamed his legs, his legs blamed his mouth
嘴說腿 愛跑腿
Zui shuo tui Ai pao tui
His mouth blamed his legs, those legs that love to run
腿說嘴 愛賣嘴
Tui zhuo zui Ai mai zui
His legs blamed his mouth, the mouth that loves to run
光動嘴 不動腿
Guang dong zui Bu dong tui
Moving just the mouth and not the legs
光動腿 不動嘴
Guang dong tui Bu dong zui
Moving just the legs and not the mouth
不如不長腿和嘴
Bu ru bu zhang tui huo zui
Might as well not have either legs or mouth
到底是那嘴說腿
Dao di shi na zui shuo tui
Did the mouth blame the legs…
還是腿說嘴
Hai shi tui shuo zui
… or the legs blame the mouth?
Special thanks to tammiest@AsianFanatics for the Chinese, Pinyin, English translation support for Zhong Guo Hwa song lyrics.