运用歌曲进行国际中文教学

左富强

如今，音乐和影视作品在外语学习中发挥着积极的作用。比如，有人因为电视剧《流星花园》而开始学汉语。音乐更是我们学习外语的好“帮手”，许多人在学习英语时，大多有过这方面的体会。作为一名对外汉语教师，在多年的国外教学实践中，我深深地体会到歌曲教学的“神奇”效果，在此我结合实例来谈一谈歌曲在教学中的運用。

Today， music and movies play a positive role in foreign language learning. For example， some people startlearning Chinese because of the TV series Meteor Garden. Music is also a great “helper” for learning a foreignlanguage， and many people have experienced this when learning English. As an international Chinese languageteacher， I have deeply felt the “magical” effect of using songs in teaching during my years of teaching abroad. In thisessay， I will use real life examples to discuss the use of songs in teaching.

1

“一人一句成名曲”

“Twelve Zodiac Animals in Hit Song Lines”

在汉语教学中，“十二生肖”不可不谈。每当新春将至，在学生们经历了近一学期的语言课“折磨”后，我总会抽出几个课时来给大家讲一讲中国的“年文化”，这就不能不提生肖。随着“十二生肖”的介入，大家的词汇量，尤其是动物方面的词汇量一下子就扩大了，再结合“公”“母”“肉”等词，词汇量更是成倍扩展。一堂课一下子要记住12 个生字，再加上“公（母）X”“X 肉”等结构的几十个词，难度确实很大。我首先想到的就是歌曲《十二生肖》和成龙的电影，但是这些不适于初学者，也不适于在课堂上播放。后来我发现，我们耳熟能详的歌曲中总有一两句带动物的歌词，于是我将这些歌词汇总，就成了“一人一句成名曲”：

In Chinese language teaching， we cannot ignorethe topic of the “Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animals.”Every time the Chinese New Year approaches，after “enduring” almost a semester of languageclasses， I always allocate a few class hours to talkabout Chinese “New Year culture.” This inevitably involves discussing the Chinese Zodiac. With theintroduction of the “Twelve Zodiac Animals，”students’ vocabulary， especially in terms of animalrelatedwords， instantly expands. Combining thiswith words like gong （male）， mu （female） and rou（meat）， and the vocabulary expands exponentially.Remembering 12 new words in one lesson， plusdozens of phrases formed with “gong （mu） X” and “X rou” structures， is indeed challenging. The firstthing that came to mind were the song “TwelveZodiac Animals” and Jackie Chan’s movies， but theseare not suitable for beginners or for playing in class.Later I realized that in many popular songs we knowby heart， there are always one or two lyrics thatcontain animal words. So I compiled these lyrics into“Twelve Zodiac Animals in Hit Song Lines”：

鼠：我爱你，爱着你，就像老鼠爱大米。

牛：照着我窑洞，晒着我的胳膊，还有我的牛跟着我。

虎：两只老虎，两只老虎，跑得快。

兔：小兔子乖乖，把门儿开开。

龙：永永远远是龙的传人。

蛇：你是一条婀娜的蛇，蜿蜒在银色的月河。

龙和马：白龙马，蹄儿朝西。

羊和狼：狼爱上羊啊，爱得疯狂。

猴：猴哥，猴哥，你真了不得。

鸡：我不想说我是鸡；公鸡，公鸡真美丽。

狗：我就像是一条狗，等待爱情的骨头。

猪：我是一只小小猪，活泼又美丽。

猫和鱼：大脸猫大脸猫爱吃鱼。

Rat： I love you， loving you， just like rats love rice.

Ox： Facing my cave， sunning my arms， with my ox following me.

Tiger： Two tigers， two tigers， running fast.

Rabbit： Little rabbit be good， open the door.

Dragon： Forever and ever， dragon’s descendant.

Snake： You’re a winding snake， meandering on the silver moonlit river.

Dragon and Horse： White dragon horse， hooves facing west.

Sheep and Wolf： The wolf falls in love with the sheep， loving so insanely.

Monkey： Brother Monkey， Brother Monkey， you’re really amazing.

Rooster： I don’t want to say I’m a chicken; rooster， rooster so beautiful.

Dog： I’m just like a dog， waiting for the bone of love.

Pig： I’m a little pig， lively and beautiful.

Cat and Fish： Big-face cat loves to eat fish.

剛开始，学生们或许不懂这些歌词的意思，但起码听到了他们知道的小动物。通过这一句句带小动物的歌词，在优美的旋律中他们很快记住了生肖的发音和意思。另外，我也采用“猜歌词”的方法，每唱一句，就让他们猜我唱的是什么动物，这样具有挑战性的活动，有助于提高他们的积极性和注意力，整个课堂也生动起来。

At first， students may not understand themeanings of these lyrics， but at least they hear thenames of animals they know. Through these lyricsthat feature animals in catchy melodies， they quicklylearn the pronunciations and meanings of the zodiacanimals. Additionally， I use a “guess the lyrics” game，where I sing a line and they have to guess whichanimal I’m singing about. This challenging activityhelps improve their motivation and attention，making the whole class more engaging.

2

“旧瓶装新酒”

“Old Wine in a New Bottle”

“旧瓶装新酒”奉曲填词自古有之，如宋词元曲。如今，我填的不是《念奴娇》《沁园春》这些典雅古旧的词牌，而是流行歌曲，即那些易于传唱、深入人心的歌曲，利用其背景音乐来演唱所学的内容，比如《黄土高坡 · 家》。汉语初学者的课程中，总会涉及“自我介绍”“家庭成员的姓名、年龄”等问题，让学生一个一个地去做自我介绍很枯燥，大家都提不起兴趣，很多人记不住，以至于刚说过“多大了”是问年龄的，转身问“你多大了？”，又不知道是什么意思了。后来在介绍当中，“我住在……”让我想起了“我家住在黄土高坡”这首歌，更巧的是我们学校在万由马士（Banyumas），它属普禾格多市（Purwokerto），和黄土高坡押韵。于是，结合自我介绍中所要涉及的问题，我便写出歌词，先给他们翻译了大概的意思，然后说只教三遍，以此提高他们的注意力。没想到三遍之后，本来就喜欢唱歌的他们轻而易举地就学会了。就这样，之后像“名字”“叫什么”“多大了”“住在”这些难点他们也一下子就记住且会用了。更神奇的是，现在他们每次见到我，都像走在黄土高坡上一样对我吼歌。见到如此成效，我敢说，许久之后有人或许会忘了所学的汉语，但这首歌绝不会这么容易忘记。

The concept of “old wine in a new bottle” hasbeen used in songwriting for a long time. In Song andYuan dynasties， for example， it was used in classicalChinese poetry and songs. Today， I’m not composinglyrics for such classical Chinese poems as “Nian NuJiao” or “Qin Yuan Chun”; instead， I’m using popularsongs that are easy to sing and resonate with people.I use the background music of these songs to singthe content we’re learning， such as “Huangtu Gaopo：Jia” （“Yellow Earth Plateau： Home”）. In the Chinesecourses for beginners， we often cover topics like “self-introduction” and “names and agesof family members.” Asking studentsto introduce themselves one by onecan be dull， and many students can’tremember the information. So muchso that I had just said the phrase“how old are you” is for asking age，and then I turned around and askeda student “how old are you？”， andhe didn’t know what it meant again.After teaching “I live in... ” duringintroductions， I was reminded ofthe song “Huangtu Gaopo： Jia，” andthe coincidence was that our schoolwas in Banyumas， which belongs toPurwokerto， and “Purwokerto” rhymes with “HuangtuGaopo.” So， I wrote lyrics based on the self-introductiontopics， translated its general meaning for them， and toldthem I would only teach it three times to increase theirattention. Surprisingly， after three repetitions， they， whoalready liked singing， easily learned it. From then on，difficult points like “name，” “how old，” and “live in” wereremembered and used effortlessly. What’s even moremagical is that whenever they see me nowadays， theysing to me as if they were on the Yellow Earth Plateau.Seeing such results， I can confidently say that whilesome may forget what Chinese words they learned aftera long time， they won’t easily forget this song.

下面是《黄土高坡 · 家》的歌词：

Here are the lyrics for “Huangtu Gaopo： Jia”：

A：我家住在Purwokerto。

A：爸爸、妈妈和哥哥。

A：小妹妹有一个，弟弟就是我。

A：全家人五个，有五个。

A：请问你家有多少个哦？

B：姐妹三个没有哥。

A：你家人口很多！ 名字叫什么？

A：他们多大了？多大了？

B：老大是20 岁的我；

B：老二是17 岁了；

B：老三14 岁了，名字叫多多。

B：我家人五个，有五个。

A： I live in Purwokerto.

A： Mom， dad， and an older brother.

A： Little sister， I have one， and the younger brother is me.

A： There are five in the family， there are five.

A： How many people are there in your family？

B： Three sisters， no brothers.

A： Your family has many people！ What are their names？

A： How old are they？ How old are they？

B： The eldest is me， I’m 20 years old;

B： The second is 17 years old;

B： The third is 14 years old， named Duo Duo.

B： There are five people in my family， there are five.

3

字字不同“千字文”

“The Thousand Character Classic” with Different Words

古人识字有其高明的手段，蒙學教材中的“三（字经）”“百（家姓）”“千（字文）”影响数百年而不衰。在对外汉语教学中，识字仍然是汉语学习的重中之重，词汇的多寡是衡量一个学生汉语水平高低的关键。意识到这一点，如何提高学生的词汇储备就成了我努力的方向。字字不同、句句押韵、便于吟诵的《千字文》给我带来了灵感，我何不就一些高频字来编一“曲”《千字文》呢？有了这个想法，一曲配合歌曲《青花瓷》演唱的《168字文》便应运而生了。以下就是我用《青花瓷》调填的词：

Ancient Chinese people had clever ways to learn characters， and “three” （The Three-Character Classic）， “hundred” （The Hundred Family Surnames），and “thousand” （The Thousand Character Classic） inprimers have had a lasting influence for centuries.In teaching Chinese as a foreign language， characterrecognition is still crucial， and vocabulary is a keymeasure of a student’s proficiency. Realizing this，I’ve made an effort to improve students’ vocabulary.The Thousand Character Classic， which has differentcharacters in each line that rhymes， and is easy torecite， inspired me. So， why not create a “song” withhigh-frequency characters like The Thousand CharacterClassic？ With this idea in mind， I composed the “168Character Classic” to the melody of the popular song“Qing Hua Ci” （“Blue and White Porcelain”）， a wellknownsong by Jay Chou. Here are the lyrics：

《青花瓷· 童年》

果木村里父母亲又生个男孩

不会说话先手爬笑得多可爱

老少爷们开着车送红包过来

爹娘太高兴加了双碗筷

春夏秋冬四次变五彩的童年

眉毛鼻子口耳眼六朵白云看

到谁家九妹门前

骑上竹马带她跑很远

山外都是风雨水下还有鱼

朋友好比兄弟为什么学习

听牛羊吃花草用日月画大地

辛苦爸妈每天叫自己

怕以后我和你走南北东西

小石头打桃李三七二十几

再见鸟儿找青虫千万别忘记

人要在一起

“168 Character Classic： Childhood”

In the village of fruit trees， parents gave birth to another boy.

He can’t talk yet but crawls and smiles， how adorable！

Old and young masters came over in a car to give red envelopes.

Mom and dad were so happy， they added extra bowls and chopsticks.

Spring， summer， autumn， and winter， the four seasons changed colors in my childhood.

Eyebrows， nose， mouth， ears， and eyes， gazing at six white clouds，

running to someone’s ninth sister，

Riding on a bamboo horse， I took her far away.

Beyond the mountains， there’s wind and rain， and beneath the waters，there are fish.

Friends are like brothers， why do we study？

Listening to cows and sheep eat grass， using the sun and moon to paint the land.

Parents work hard every day and call me home Afraid I might travel with you to the north， south， east， and west.

Little stones hit peaches and plums， dropping sevens， tens， and twenties.

Goodbye， birds that are catching green caterpillars， don’t forget， People should be together.

這首曲子不仅有意义而且易于传唱，它的最大特色除了字字不同，就是这168 字之中80% 的字都在最高频400 字内。另外一些虽不是高频字，却是生活中常常涉及的：父母亲、爹娘、碗筷、眉、鼻。像这样的曲子多掌握几首，1 000 字的学习目标就能轻易达到，学习汉语也就事半功倍。

This song not only is meaningful but is alsoeasy to sing. Its biggest feature， apart from the factthat every character is different， is that 80% of the168 words are among the most frequently used 400characters. Other characters， while not among thehighest frequency， are commonly encountered indaily life： fumuqin （parents）， dieniang （mom and dad），wankuai （bowls and chopsticks）， mei （eyebrows）， bi（nose）. If one can grasp several songs like this， thelearning goal of 1，000 words can be easily achieved，and learning Chinese will become twice as effective.

4

顺口溜、童谣

Tongue Twisters and Nursery Rhymes

另外，与歌曲相像的顺口溜、童谣也可以采用。

Additionally， tongue twisters and nursery rhymes， which are similar to songs， can also be used.

《上山打老虎》

一二三四五，

上山打老虎；

老虎受保护，

打着小老鼠；

老鼠有几只，

让我数一数；

数来又数去，

一二三四五。

“Going Up the Mountain to Fight the Tiger”

One， two， three， four， five，

Going up the mountain to fight the tiger;

The tiger is protected，

So we’ll fight little mice instead;

How many mice are there？

Let me count for you;

Counting and counting，

One， two， three， four， five.

这首“歌”的作用在于强调“虎”“鼠”“数（三声）”以及“数（字）”，归类识别“老虎”“老鼠”和“老师”“老几”等。

The purpose of this “song” is to emphasize hu （tiger）， shu （rat）， shu （count） （third tone） and shuzi （number） to categorize and identify laohu （tiger） and laoshu （mouse）， laoshi （teacher） and laoji （who are you） if seen.

《数量词小动物》

一只鸡两只鸭三只小鸟叫喳喳，

四头牛五匹马六根木头齐刷刷，

七條鱼八尾虾九只青蛙叫呱呱！

“Numerical Classifiers with Little Animals”

One chicken two ducks three little birds chirp chirp，

Four cows five horses six tree trunks swish swish，

Seven fish eight shrimp nine frogs croak croak！

这首“歌”绝对是识记量词及其搭配的法宝。

This “song” is definitely the magic method for memorizing measure words and their collocations.

以上就是我在对外汉语教学中运用歌词、歌曲进行教学的一些尝试和心得。俗话说“教无定法”，任何方法只要对语言学习有利，能事半功倍地帮助语言学习者学习，都可以拿来一用。总之，教学之法，多多益善。

These are some of my attempts and insights inusing lyrics and songs in teaching Chinese as a foreignlanguage. As the saying goes， “There is no one setteaching method.” Any method that benefits languagelearning and can double the efficiency in helpinglanguage learners learn can be tried. In short， the moreteaching methods， the better.