This short passage about a little bird who learns that diligence and practice trumps natural talent every time. We learn a new way to use the word 了.
一只小鸟想学唱歌。它每天早上起床，就开始唱。但是它唱得不好听，别的鸟都笑它。
小鸟很难过，想不学了。一只老鸟对它说：”不要怕！我以前也唱得不好。你要每天学，不要停。”
小鸟听了老鸟的话。它每天早上唱，晚上也唱。一个月，两个月，三个月……
现在，小鸟唱得很好听了！别的鸟都说：”你唱得太好了！” 小鸟很高兴。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| <p>小鸟 | xiǎo niǎo | little bird |
| 唱歌 | chàng gē | to sing |
| 起床 | qǐ chuáng | to get up |
| 好听 | hǎo tīng | nice to hear |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh |
| 难过 | nán guò | sad |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before |
| 停 | tíng | to stop |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy |
| 件 | jiàn | measure word for things</p> |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 小鸟 | xiǎo niǎo | small bird; young bird (hatchling, nestling, fledgling, chick); (fig.) penis (kiddie term); (golf) birdie |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 学 | xué | to learn; to study; to imitate; science; -ology |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 每天 | měi tiān | every day |
| 早上 | zǎo shang | early morning; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 唱 | chàng | to sing; to call loudly; to chant |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 听 | yǐn | smile (archaic); to listen to; to hear; to heed; to obey; a can (loanword from English "tin"); classifier for canned beverages; to let be; to allow (Taiwan pr. [ting4]); (literary) to administer; t… |
| 别的 | bié de | else; other |
| 鸟 | diǎo | variant of 屌[diao3]; penis |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 老鸟 | lǎo niǎo | (coll.) old hand; veteran |
| 对 | duì | right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to sui… |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 不要 | bù yào | don't!; must not |
| 怕 | Pà | surname Pa |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 的话 | de huà | if (coming after a conditional clause) |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 月 | yuè | moon; month; monthly; CL:個|个[ge4],輪|轮[lun2] |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 得很 | de hěn | (after an adjective) very |
| 太好了 | tài hǎo le | very good |
A little bird wanted to learn to sing. Every morning when it woke up, it would start singing. But it didn’t sing well, and other birds all laughed at it.
The little bird was very sad and wanted to stop learning. An old bird said to it: “Don’t be afraid! I also didn’t sing well before. You need to study every day, don’t stop.”
The little bird listened to the old bird’s words. It sang every morning and also sang at night. One month, two months, three months……
Now, the little bird sings very beautifully! Other birds all say: “You sing so well!” The little bird is very happy.