Learning Chinese 中國話

Yesterday my Mandarin teacher taught us this new song that's apparently currently very popular. It talks about everybody learning Mandarin and includes little snippets of stories you might learn when learning Mandarin. It's somewhat of a rap and a tongue twister, but only the chorus has melody. The video is kind of cute too. Hope you enjoy it!


中國話
曲：鄭楠 詞：鄭楠 / 施人誠
(The lyrics and music are written by somebody with the last name Cheng!!!!)

倫敦瑪莉蓮 買了件旗袍送媽媽
Marilyn from London bought a qipao (Chinese dress) as a gift for her mother
莫斯科的夫司基 愛上牛肉麵疙瘩
Fuski from Mexico fell in love with Chinese beef short noodles
各種顏色的皮膚 各種顏色的頭髮
People of every skin color People with hair of every color
嘴裡唸的說的開始流行中國話
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
How many years did we painstakingly practice English pronunciation and learn their grammar?
這幾年換他們捲著舌頭學平上去入的變化
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 (non-sensical words)
好聰明的中國人 好優美的中國話
How smart the Chinese are!-- and how beautiful our language!

扁擔寬 板凳長
The bo staff is wide; the bench is long
扁擔想綁在板凳上
The bench wants to tie itself to the end of the bo staff
板凳不讓扁擔綁在板凳上
The bo staff won't let the bench tie itself to the end of the bo staff
扁擔偏要綁在板凳上
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
The bench won't let the bo staff tie itself to the bench
到底扁擔寬還是板凳長
So is the bo staff wide or the bench long?

哥哥弟弟坡前坐
Elder brother and younger brother are sitting on a hill
坡上臥著一隻鵝
On the hill, there is a swan
坡下流著一條河
At the bottom of the hill is a river
哥哥說 寬寬的河
The elder brother says, "The river is wide."
弟弟說 白白的鵝
The younger brother says, "The swan is white."
鵝要過河 河要渡鵝
The swan wants to cross the river; the river wants to let the swan cross
不知是那鵝過河
Don't know if the swan is crossing the river
還是河渡鵝
or if the river is letting the swan cross

全世界都在學中國話
The whole world is learning Chinese
孔夫子的話 越來越國際化
The words of Confucius' are becoming world culture
全世界都在講中國話
The whole world is speaking Chinese
我們說的話 讓世界都認真聽話
Our language makes the people all over the world listen up

紐約蘇珊娜 開了間禪風Lounge Bar
Susanna from New York, Opens up a Chinese style lounge bar
柏林來的沃夫岡 拿胡琴配著電吉他
Wolfgang from Berlin, Plays the erhu (chinese musical instrument) with his electric guitar
各種顏色的皮膚 各種顏色的頭髮
People of every skin color People with hair of every color
嘴裡唸的說的開始流行中國話
What they're reading, what they're saying... Chinese is becoming the new trend

有個小孩叫小杜
There once was a child named XiaoDu
上街打醋又買布
Went out one day to buy some vinegar and buy some cloth
買了布 打了醋
He bought some cloth, bought some vinegar
回頭看見鷹抓兔
When he turned around he saw an eagle catching a rabbit
放下布 擱下醋
He put down the cloth, and his vinegar
上前去追鷹和兔
And started to chase the eagle and the rabbit
飛了鷹 跑了兔
The eagle flew away; the rabbit ran away
灑了醋 濕了布
He spilled the vinegar, and got the cloth wet

嘴說腿 腿說嘴
His mouth blamed his legs, his legs blamed his mouth
嘴說腿 愛跑腿
His mouth blamed his legs, those legs that love to run
腿說嘴 愛賣嘴
His legs blamed his mouth, the mouth that loves to talk
光動嘴 不動腿
Moving just the mouth and not the legs
光動腿 不動嘴
Moving just the legs and not the mouth
不如不長腿和嘴
Might as well not have either legs or mouth
到底是那嘴說腿 還是腿說嘴
Did the mouth blame the legs... ... or the legs blame the mouth?