数鸭子 (Shǔ yāzi): Counting Ducks
Lyrics:
Mén qián dàqiáo xià,
门 前 大桥 下，
Under the bridge and in front of the gate,
Yóu guò yìqún yā.
游 过 一群 鸭。
A team of ducks are swimming by.
Kuài lái kuài lái shǔyishǔ,
快 来 快 来 数一数，
Hurry, hurry, come count,
Èr sì liù qī bā.
二 四 六七八。
Two, four, six, seven, eight.
Gāga gāga,
嘎嘎 嘎嘎，
Quack quack.
Zhēn ya zhēn duō ya.
真 呀 真 多 呀。
So many ducks.
Shǔ bù qīng dàodǐ duōshao yā,
数 不 清 到底 多少 鸭，
We can’t count them all,
Shǔ bù qīng dàodǐ duōshao yā.
数 不 清 到底 多少 鸭。
We can’t tell how many ducks there are.
Gǎn yā lǎoyéye,
赶 鸭 老爷爷，
Grandpa overtakes the ducks,
Húzi báihuāhuā,
胡子 白花花，
Beard shining white,
Chàng ya chàngzhe jiāxiāngxì,
唱 呀 唱着 家乡戏，
Singing a local song,
Hái huì shuō xiàohua,
还 会 说 笑话，
And he jokes,
Xiǎoháir, xiǎoháir,
小孩儿，小孩儿，
Little ones, little ones,
Kuàikuai shàng xuéxiào,
快快 上 学校，
Go to school, quick,
Bié kǎo ge yādàn bào huí jiā,
别 考 个 鸭蛋 抱 回 家，
And don’t bring home a duck egg,
Bié kǎo ge yādàn bào huí jiā.
别 考 个 鸭蛋 抱 回 家，
And don’t bring home a duck egg.
Can you understand the story in the nursery song? It’s a very happy tale with a bright musical pace. What’s more, the lyrics rhyme well in Chinese, which makes this song more colloquial and easy to sing. In the story, the old grandpa jokes that if the kids don’t go to school quickly, they’ll get duck-egg-shaped marks (zeros) on their tests.
Looking through the lyrics, we find that there are many lines that end with the sound “a,” such as 下 (xià), 鸭 (yā), 八 (bā), 嘎 (gā), 呀 (ya), 花 (huā), 话(huà) and 家 (jiā). Let’s learn several of these words.
1. 鸭 (yā) n. duck
Examples:
Xiǎo yāzi hěn kě’ài.
小 鸭子 很 可爱。
The ducklings are cute.
Yāzi huì yóuyǒng.
鸭子 会 游泳。
The duck can swim.
2. 八 (bā) num. eight
Zhèr yǒu bāge júzi.
这儿 有 八个桔子。
There are eight oranges here.
Xiànzài shì bādiǎnzhōng.
现在 是 八点钟。
It is eight o’clock.
3. 花 (huā) n. flower
Zhè duǒ huā hěn piàoliang.
这 朵 花 很 漂亮。
The flower is very beautiful.
4. 家 (jiā) n. home\family
Wǒ jiā yǒu sān kǒu rén.
我 家 有 三 口 人。
There are three people in my family.
Wǒ yào huíjiā.
我 要 回家。
I want to go home.
How much time will it take you to learn the song and the words ending in “a”? Kids, why not have a competition with your friends to see who can remember them fastest?
Exercises:
1. Please choose the answer that has an underlined portion of different pronunciation than the other two. ____
A. 花 (huā)
B. 八 (bā)
C. 你 (nǐ)
2. Which one of following words is an animal? _____
A. 鸭 (yā)
B. 花 (huā)
C. 八 (bā)
See answers
You may be interested in more Chinese songs:
◆ 爷爷为我打月饼 (yéye wèi wŏ dă yuèbĭng) Grandpa Makes Moon Cake for Me
◆ 上学歌 On the Way to School
◆ 小白兔乖乖 Little Rabbit (Beginner)