I love music. My kids love music. I can’t really sing a note, but I do love to sing. I think music is such a great way to change your mood when you need some uplifting. It’s a great way to memorize facts (like we do with our homeschool studies). I also think it’s a great way to connect with Sunshine’s Chinese heritage. We know several Chinese songs and sing them whenever we think of it – all three kids love to sing in Mandarin. We listen to the songs in the car and have a lot of fun singing along. My children’s favorite is Xiao Xing Xing (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). It sounds like it might be difficult but I actually think it’s easier to remember a different language through song versus rote memorization of vocabulary. I would also think it could be very soothing for newly adopted children to hear the words of familiar songs from their parents. During a time when everything is so confusing for them, what a sweet way to try to connect with our new children.
There are a handful of Chinese Children’s Songs that everyone in China knows. They are all in A Little Mandarin: Chinese Children’s Classics. I adore this album. Not only does it have all the well-known songs, they are all sung by Toni Wang, a woman with a beautiful voice. This makes it much easier to understand what she’s saying to try to sing along! So many children’s songs are sung by children, and they are sometimes hard to listen to and even harder to understand. You can get this collection of songs from Toni’s website, A Little Mandarin for $9.99. And you can enter the giveaway below to win a free copy for yourself!
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1. Making a Phone Call – Da Dian Hua
2. Two Tigers – Liang Zhi Lao Hu
3. Little Duckling – Xiao Ya Zi
4. Sitting In A Row – Pai Pai Zuo
5. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Xiao Xing Xing
6. Scale Song – Yin Jie Ge
7. Going To School Song – Shang Xue Ge
8. Find A Friend – Zhao Peng You
9. I Have A Pair Of Little Hands – Wo Yo Yi Shuang Xiao Xiao Shou
10. Rowing The Boat – Hua Chuan
11. Pulling The Radish – Ba Luo Bo
12. Doll & Littlebear Dancing – Yang WaWa He Xiao Xong Tiao Wu
13. One Penny – Yi Fen Qian
14. Rock-A-Bye – Yao A Yao
15. Happy Birthday – Sheng Ri Kuai Le
To help you out with the lyrics if you’d like to purchase this album (or win it in the giveaway below!), I am including the words for the songs we know. I am a visual learner and can memorize the songs much faster if I can see the words – maybe it will be helpful for you too. Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, but that isn’t quite as important when singing. Because of that, I have not included any indications of the tones, so just try to memorize what you can! Also, without an understanding of how to read pinyin, some of the words will not look phonetic to you. But hopefully reading them in conjunction with listening to the music will make it click. It really is worth the effort to learn a few of these!
Two Tigers – Liang Zhi Lao Hu (tune of Frere Jacques)
Liang zhi lao hu, liang zhi lao hu
Pao de kuai, pao de kuai
Yi zhi mei you er duo
Yi zhi mei you wei ba
Zhen qi guai, zhen qi guai
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Xiao Xing Xing
Yi shan yi shan liang jing jing
Man tian dou shi xiao xing xing
Gua zai tian kong fang guang ming
Hao xiang xu duo xiao yan jing
Yi shan yi shan liang jing jing
Man tian dou shi xiao xing xing
Going To School Song – Shang Xue Ge
Tai yang dang kong zhao
Hua er dui wo xiao
Xiao peng you zao zao zao
Bei zhe shu bao yao qu shang xue xiao
Wo qu shang xue xiao
Tian tian bu chi dao
Ai xue xi, ai lao dong
Zhang da yao wei ren min li gong lao
Find A Friend
Zhao ya zhao ya zhao peng you
Zhao dao yi ge hao peng you
Jing ge li ya wo wo shou
Ni shi wo de hao peng you
Happy Birthday
Zhu ni sheng ri kuai le
Zhu ni sheng ri kuai le
Zhu ni sheng ri kuai le
Zhu ni sheng ri kuai le
And if you are feeling especially industrious, HERE is the link for you to look up the lyrics for all the songs. HERE is another link of A Little Mandarin‘s singer performing many of these songs live 🙂
Toni Wang, the author and singer in this CD has so graciously offered to donate 3 of her CDs for a giveaway! She has even offered to send a few CDs to China with me when we leave in February! How cool is that?! She is such a sweet lady and understands the value of music for all children! Enter the giveaway below to win one of her beautiful CDs! You won’t be disappointed if you score one! Zhu ni hao yun!