Absorbing Chinese subconciously – leisurely reading to improve your Mandarin. 胡適 Hu Shi 夢與詩 Meng yu shi Dream and poetry: lyrics, pinyin, English translation, Priscilla Ahn – Dream, Edgar Allan Poe, A dream within a dream

Are you feeling unhappy when you learn Chinese? Are you feeling pressured when you are in your Mandarin class? Or are you intimidated by your Chinese teacher? If you answered yes to all of these questions, then I am sorry.

Learning a language supposed to be fun and engaging, and it should not be a big mental or emotional burden. If you are an intermediate or advanced Chinese language learner, then you should try to find something interesting to read, in Mandarin of course.

Your reading materials can be any books or magazines, any song lyrics, any poems or even Chinese newspaper advertisement. For books, it can be classic literature, common novels, children’s picture books, Chinese version of a famous English book that you know pretty well or even comic strips. It can be songs that are dated hundred years ago or one of the hottest one in today’s music market or even simple children’s songs. For poems, it can be an easy modern children’s poem or a classic one from the Book of Odes.

When we do things we like, we tend to learn it naturally and subconsciously. Don’t pay too much attention on grammatical structure while you do leisurely reading, focus on the flow of comprehension– to understand what is going on — the plot. You don’t need to know the meaning of every word, you can guess the word’s meaning from the context. If you have problem with one particular sentence, skip that one and continue to read further. You can go back again and reread it, you might be able to figure it out by the help of some supporting sentences in the same paragraph. Rereading your reading materials more than once is also a good way to improve your reading fluency.

Find something interesting to read; find something that will capture your attention. Learning Chinese fun will make learning Chinese easy and effective too. Hope you have good time each time acquiring Chinese in a meaningful and enjoyable way as well as learn it naturally and subconsciously.

Let’s read an easy, colloquial Mandarin Chinese poem by a very famous scholar Hu Shi. Hu was the primary advocate for the literary revolution during his era. He aimed to replace classical Chinese in writing with the vernacular spoken language, and to develop new forms of literature.

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胡適
Hu Shi

夢與詩
Meng yu shi
Dream and poetry

都是平常經驗，
dōu shì píngcháng jīngyàn ,
It all was ordinary experience,

都是平常影象，
dōu shì píngcháng yǐng xiàng ,
All were common images.

偶然湧到夢中來，
ǒurán yŏng dào mèngzhōnglái ,
Incidentally surged and came into the dreams.

變幻出多少新奇花樣！
biànhuàn chū duōshao xīnqí huā yàng !
Changed fantastically into so many new and odd patterns!

都是平常情感，
dōu shì píngcháng qínggǎn ,
All were ordinary feelings,

都是平常言語，
dōu shì píngcháng yán yǔ ,
All was common language,

偶然碰著個詩人，
ǒurán pèngzháo ge shīrén ,
Incidentally encountered a poet,

變幻出多少新奇詩句！
biànhuàn chū duōshao xīnqí shījù !
Changed fantastically into so many new and unusual verses!

醉過才知酒濃，
zuì guò cái zhī jiǔ nóng ,
Once drunken then one knows the condenses of wine (the strength of wine),

愛過才知情重；
àiguòcái zhīqíng chóng ;
Once loved then one knows the weight of feelings (the power of love);

你不能做我的詩，
nǐ bù néng zuò Wǒ de shī ,
You can’t write my poem,

正如我不能做你的夢。
zhèngrú Wǒ bù néng zuò nǐ de mèng .
Just like I can’t dream your dreams.

This poem was written in Vernacular Chinese, the so called 白话 báihuà — forms of written Chinese based on the vernacular language, in contrast to Classical Chinese. That is to say, this poem was written in pretty modern Chinese during Hu Shi’s time (17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962).

Dear readers:
What this poem is all about? After you read the poem a few times. You should do some comprehension checks to see how well you understand it. You are welcome to write a comment and express your understanding and we can discuss it.

Priscilla Ahn “Dream”

A beautiful song —

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Priscilla Ahn “Dream” (Lyrics)

A Dream Within A Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Edgar Allan Poe