Time to Read:
Well, it is time for my post all in Chinese. It’s actually two weeks past time…but I am only just now starting to catch up on my China posts. And, unlike my usual foreign language post, this one gets a good dose of English in it too.
If you have been following along with this blog, you know that I try to write a post at the end of each country in the target language that I have been learning. It’s been a great way to celebrate the work put in and a fantastic educational exercise each time. It usually reveals to me, when reviewing with my teacher in each country, how far I have to go before understanding how one might really express oneself naturally in the language I’m studying. It’s been challenging and really fun to do.
When I arrived in China, I really had doubts that I’d be able to pull it off. My perception of Chinese and its learnability, at least by me, loomed larger than the Great Wall itself. I’m pinching myself that I have a post to make with Chinese that I actually wrote (as always, of course, with the assistance of my teacher to keep me on track)! What?!
I must say, in 2 short weeks, I really fell in love with this language and I can’t wait to continue learning it. My only goal for my 2 weeks in China was to get past being overwhelmingly intimidated by the language and come out feeling it is POSSIBLE for me to learn it. I would have been okay if that was ALL I had and had no actual facility with the language to speak of at all. Well, that goal got blown out of the water. Thanks to my amazing teachers, the immersive experience, an environment that was so conducive to learning and all of my wonderful friends and co-learners during my time there, I have somehow soared past possible and into, I can’t WAIT to sink my teeth deeper into this beautiful language.
As I will explain in my overview post of my time in China, instead of writing about my time in Chinese in a blog post form, I ended up pouring my reflections on my two weeks there into a new set of lyrics for the song “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by John Denver that I sang as my version of the goodbye speech that all students put on at the farewell dinner that our school puts on every week for departing students (what a classy move, CLI!).
Many thanks to my amazing teacher, Annie, for being so game when I walked into our lesson with a guitar and said, “I’d like to do something a little different today.” In 2 hours, we took all the lyrics floating around in my head, turned them into better Chinese and came up with this ode to a wonderful two weeks!
A note on the translation: Annie was helping me to keep my lyrics reflecting the level of Chinese I had learned at that point…so all sentiments were expressed in words I actually knew at the time (plus a few extra that I learned along the way). That means, the language is a touch on the elementary side. I’ve included a literal translation into English. An actual English translation might need a little sprucing up :).
Without further ado – my goodbye song to my 2 weeks at CLI in China…in Chinese! Read below for the English translation and a video of me performing it at the farewell dinner!
我刚到时，
不会说中文
现在我会说一点
简直不敢相信
我的老师们
非常好
现在我的心飞得很高
我很难过说再见
我抱抱你，
祝你好
你需要我就叫我
我不想走
我要坐飞机走了
我不知道什么时候回来
我不想走
两个星期
不太多
学习的东西
太多了
很难学声调
我吃了好吃的菜
漂亮的东西
我买了
但最重要的是
我抱抱你，
祝你好
你需要我就叫我
我不想走
我要坐飞机走了
我不知道什么时候回来
我不想走
和Joan,Theo和Alberto我们游泳了
Fabienne和Cornelius我们吃了榴莲
榴莲很臭
我们打麻将
我赢了
Tugçe, Fabienne和May和我们看了风景
我们一起笑，一起学习
我爱你们很多
我抱抱你，
祝你好
你需要我就叫我
我不想走
我要坐飞机走了
我不知道什么时候回来
我会想你们很多
我不想走
Pinyin Translation:
Wǒ gāng dào shí,
bù huì shuō zhōngwén
xiànzài wǒ huì shuō yīdiǎn
jiǎnzhí bù gǎn xiāngxìn
wǒ de lǎoshīmen
fēicháng hǎo
xiànzài wǒ de xīn fēi dé hěn gāo
wǒ hěn nánguò shuō zàijiàn
wǒ bào bào nǐ,
zhù nǐ hǎo
nǐ xūyào wǒ jiù jiào wǒ
wǒ bùxiǎng zǒu
wǒ yào zuò fēijī zǒule
wǒ bù zhīdào shénme shíhòu huílái
wǒ bùxiǎng zǒu
liǎng gè xīngqí
bù tài duō
xuéxí de dōngxī
tài duōle
hěn nán xué shēngdiào
wǒ chīle hào chī de cài
piàoliang de dōngxī
wǒ mǎile
dàn zuì zhòngyào de shì
wǒ bào bào nǐ,
zhù nǐ hǎo
nǐ xūyào wǒ jiù jiào wǒ
wǒ bùxiǎng zǒu
wǒ yào zuò fēijī zǒule
wǒ bù zhīdào shénme shíhòu huílái
wǒ bùxiǎng zǒu
hé Joan, Theo , Alberto wǒmen yóuyǒngle
Fabienne hé Cornelius, wǒmen chīle liúlián
liúlián hěn chòu
wǒmen dǎ májiàng
wǒ yíngle
Tugçe, Fabienne hé May wǒmen kànle fēngjǐng
wǒmen yīqǐ xiào, yīqǐ xuéxí
wǒ ài nǐmen hěnduō
wǒ bào bào nǐ,
zhù nǐ hǎo
nǐ xūyào wǒ jiù jiào wǒ
wǒ bùxiǎng zǒu
wǒ yào zuò fēijī zǒule
wǒ bù zhīdào shénme shíhòu huílái
wǒ huì xiǎng nǐmen hěnduō
wǒ bùxiǎng zǒu
English Literal Translation:
When I first arrived,
I couldn't speak Chinese.
Now I can
speak a little.
I can hardly believe it.
My teachers are so
wonderful.
My heart is soaring now.
I'm so sad to say goodbye.
I hug you and wish you well.
Call me if you need me.
I don't want to go.
I'm taking a plane.
I don't know when I'll be back.
I don't want to go.
Two weeks.
Not too long.
So much
to learn.
It's hard to learn the tones.
I ate delicious food.
Beautiful things,
I bought them.
But most
importantly,
I hug you and wish you well.
Call me if you need me.
I don't want to go.
I'm taking a plane.
I don't know when I'll be back.
I don't want to go.
Joan, Theo, and Alberto,
we went swimming.
Fabienne, Cornelius, and I ate durian.
The durian
smelled terrible.
We played mahjong.
I won :)
Tugçe, Fabienne and May, we saw the scenery.
We laughed and studied together.
I love you all so much.
I hug you and wish you well.
Call me if you need me.
I don't want to go.
I'm taking a plane.
I don't know when I'll be back.
I'll miss you all a lot.
I don't want to go.
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