Learn Chinese by poems - 1

[Philee]

I'm thinking about starting a series of topics for learners with some basic knowledge to learn Chinese in a way that natives think about the language.

Since I'm a native speaker and have been teaching foreigners Chinese for several years, I did find that English speakers try to understand this language in an English way especially in grammar and find themselves confused in the sequence of characters. But when they struggle to make some sentences it looks rather stubborn.

So I'm going to avoid grammar rules and matters like if the word is a verb or noun. Try to understand with my hints and if you can memorize it, it would surly help you understand this language.

Here is our first poem, almost every parent teaches babies this simple yet beautiful poem.

静夜思

床前明月光

疑是地上霜

举头望明月

低头思故乡

here below are my annotations

静 quiet 夜 night 思 think

床 bed 前 front 明 bright 月 moon 光 light

疑 doubt 是 be 地 ground 上 on 霜 frost

举 lift 头 head 望 look over 明 bright 月 moon

低 low 头 head 思 think 故 former 乡 land

NOTE:

Don't pay too much attention to English translations, they only help you to follow what the poet is thinking about.

EXPLANATION

First sentence:

poet find there is moon light in front of the bed

Second sentence:

poet doubt if it is frost on the ground

Third sentence:

poet lift up his head to look over to the moon

Forth sentence:

poet lower his head for he is thinking about his homeland.

I have to sleep right now.Got some work to do tomorrow. Any comments are welcome and I will add more explanation and pronunciations as soon as I can.

[LaoZhang]

Philee,

Thanks for doing this. I think we should be well rounded and learning by poems is a great way to learn.

[Philee]

I think it helps, 'cause the definiton of word in Chinese is different to English which is the key to enjoy its unique beauty.

[Guest realmayo]

Yes thanks very much Philee.