Tag Archives: chinese

颜色歌 – Colour Song

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This song doesn’t have much to it, but we sing it often so the kids know their colours inside out!  When I ask what colour things are in Chinese, if the children don’t know the answer straight away, they employ the strategy of singing through the colour song till they get to the colour they need!

I don’t have an official link to this song, but here is my little girl singing it for your little ones to enjoy at home!

colours

Lyrics are:

（红色红色） Hóngsè hóngsè Red Red Red

（ 绿色绿色）   Lǜsè lǜsè Green green green

（蓝色蓝色   ）Lánsè lánsè blue blue blue

（黄色黄色）  Huángsè huángsè Yellow Yellow Yellow

（黑色黑色）  Hēisè Hēisè Black black black

（白色白色）  Báisè báisè white white white

（橙色橙色）  Chéngsè chéngsè orange orange orange

（紫色紫色）  Zǐsè zǐsè purple purple purple 

YoYo Chinese

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If you are wanting to learn conversational Chinese, but not wanting to enrol in a university course, this set of online videos might be a great course for you to follow.  The host Yang Yang, has a knack of explaining Chinese for the western mind to follow easily!  The beginners conversation course eases you into how to pronounce the syllables and tones, and gets you saying lots of Chinese!  So if you don’t know how to read the pinyin words to the songs on this blog, after watching a few of Yang Yang’s videos you will be a master of pinyin syllables and tones and will be able to sing along with your little one. (Your little one will tell you if you are still not getting it right 😉

When you subscribe, as well as the beginner conversation course, there are a set of grammar videos (great for uni students who can’t quite get what their text book is on about!), Chinese learning tips videos, Chinese on the street videos, and now an Intermediate level conversational Chinese series.

I subscribe because I love to see how Yang Yang explains things, it helps me to be a better teacher for my older students.

I would recommend it as a beginner Chinese course, better than any text book series.  And if you are only after conversational skills, better than an on-line university course, you don’t get a lecturer 24/7 at your finger tips on an on-line university course!

 

穿上衣服 – Getting Dressed Song

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We learn this song when we do the story of teddy not being able to find his clothes for pre-school! When the kids help him find them, we sing the Getting Dressed Song!

getting dressed

I wrote this one myself, as popular well known tunes work well!  So don’t have any links for you…but just sing to the Adam’s Family Tune…

chuānshàng yīfu (clap clap) chuānshàng yīfu (clap clap)

穿上衣服 （拍 拍）穿上衣服 （拍 拍）

chuānshàng yīfu chuānshàng yīfu chuānshàng yīfu (clap clap)

穿上衣服 穿上衣服, 穿上衣服 （拍 拍）

wǒ chuānshàng wǒ de duǎnkù, wǒ chuānshàng wǒ de Chènshān

我穿上我的短裤, 我穿上我的衬衫

wǒ chuānshàng wǒ de wàzi, wǒ kànshàngqù hěn kù.

我穿上我的袜子, 我看上去很酷

wǒ chuānshàng wǒ de xiězì, wǒ daishàng wǒ de màozi

.我穿上我的鞋子, 我带上我的帽子。

wǒ chuānshàng wǒ de jiākè,wǒ kànshàngqù hěn kù.

我穿上我的夹克, 我看上去很酷
(repeat chorus)

 Translation: Getting Dressed (clap clap), I put on my shorts, I put on my shirt, I put on my socks, I look very cool, I put on my shoes, I put on my hat, I put on my jacket, I look very cool. Adults can click fingers, children can clap, or they might like to just imitate you clicking fingers. Replace shorts with skirt using qúnzi 裙子 if you want to.

Darwin Language Library

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There are so many online tools out there these days that we tend to forget about the good old fashioned library!

Darwin has a fantastic language school, the ‘Darwin Language Centre’ which has a language library with books, CDs, DVDs, games, props, costumes, musical instruments…for lots of different cultures and languages.  I know that the Chinese section has oodles of great resources that I have used with my students and family.

The Darwin Language Centre Library

The Darwin Language Centre Library

Parents, teachers and students can join for free!  So borrow today so that your kids can enjoy a variety of cultural media!

 

跳舞歌 – Dancing Song

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To get the kids ready to do songs like the Hokey Pokey, or sitting for an intimate mat activity, you need to get them into a circle.  So teaching them this song can be the Chinese version of ‘Make a circle’ song, to be the trigger to get the children into a neat circle!!

dancing song

We watch this song in class on a Sing to Learn DVD which you can buy from the Wink to Learn website.  Or you can listen to an audio version of the song on the Confucius for Kids website.

Here are the lyrics:

lái lái lái, dà jiā lái lā chéng gè quān

来 来 来,  大 家 来 拉 成 个 圈

yī èr sān, yī èr sān, zhěng qí hǎo kàn

一 二 三, 一 二 三, 整 齐 好 看

lái lái lái, dà jiā lái lā chéng gè quān

来 来 来,  大 家来 拉 成 个 圈

zhuàn yi zhuàn tiào yi tiào, duō me hǎo wán

转 一 转 跳 一跳,  多 么 好 玩

 English translation is: Come on Everyone in a circle ,One two three, Neat and beautiful, Come on Everyone in a circle, turn around and jump, how much fun!

唱歌跳舞 – Hokey Pokey

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Well this song is called 唱歌跳舞  which is literally  ‘sing songs and dance’ in English!

This is just full of learning opportunities, and also gets the kids up and dancing like they are at a party!

It has position/location sentence structure (inside, outside), left and right, and body parts.

But it is the repeated 把 construction that is the winner for me!   The 把 sentence pattern in Chinese is a nightmare for older students to get their heads around, yet little kids get to hear this sentence pattern in this song, and so many other songs and classroom instructions, so many times that they will never have a problem with understanding the grammar of it when they get older!

hokeypokey

I found a link to where you can hear this song, Hua Hua’s Fun Class, just scroll down to the video play button.

I also found this youtube video with a lady singing the first couple of verses for you, just substitute the other body parts!

Here are the lyrics:

把右手放里面

把右手放外面

把右手放里面

摇摇你的手

Chorus: 唱歌跳舞， 转个圆圈， 大家笑哈哈

把左手放里面

把左手放外面

把左手放里面

摇摇你的手 (Chorus)

把右脚放里面

把右脚放外面

把右脚放里面

摇摇你的脚 (Chorus)

把左脚放里面

把左脚放外面

把左脚放里面

摇摇你的脚 (Chorus)

把自己放里面

把自己放外面

把自己放里面

摇摇你自己 (Chorus)

bǎ yòu shǒu fàng lǐ miàn

bǎ yòu shǒu fàng wài miàn

bǎ yòu shǒu fàng lǐ miàn

yáo yáo nǐ de shǒu

(Chorus) chàng gē tiào wǔ zhuǎn gè yuán quān

dà jiā xiào hā hā

bǎ zuǒ shǒu fàng lǐ miàn

bǎ zuǒ shǒu fàng wài miàn

bǎ zuǒ shǒu fàng lí miàn

yáo yáo nǐ de shǒu (Chorus)

bǎ yòu jiǎo fang lǐ miàn

bǎ yòu jiǎo fàng wài miàn

bǎ yòu jiǎo fàng lǐ miàn

yáo yáo nǐ de jiǎo (Chorus)

bǎ zuǒ jiǎo fàng lǐ miàn

bǎ zuǒ jiǎo fàng wài miàn

bǎ zuǒ jiǎo fàng lǐ miàn

yáo yáo nǐ de jiǎo (Chorus)

bǎ zì jǐ fàng lǐ miàn

bǎ zì jǐ fàng wài miàn

bǎ zì jǐ fàng lǐ miàn

yáo yáo nǐ zì jǐ (Chorus)

Translation is much the same as English with a few changes: You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out, You put your right hand in, and you shake it all about, sing and dance and you turn around, everybody laugh.  Repeat with left hand, right foot, left foot and whole body.

This particular translaton was taken from ‘Sing and Learn’ by Trio Jan Jeng and Selina Yoon.  You can purchase the whole CD on iTunes.