Can Anyone Check the Translation of a Chinese Kids Song?
March 24th, 2011

We received the song below from a Chinese friend. He was unsure of how to translate it into English.

我在马路边捡到一分钱
(一分钱)

我在马路边捡到一分钱，
交给人民警察叔叔手里边。.
叔叔拿着钱，
对我把头点，
我高兴地说了声： “叔叔，再见。

Here’s the English translation we have:

I’m in the street, I find a penny
I take the penny to the police.
The policeman takes the penny and says “very well”.
I’m happy to say,
“Good bye!”

Can anyone let us know if our translation is correct or if there are any changes that would improve it?

Thanks in advance!

Mama Lisa

This article was posted on Thursday, March 24th, 2011 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Children's Songs, China, Chinese, Chinese Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Languages, Mama Lisa, Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

7 Responses to “Can Anyone Check the Translation of a Chinese Kids Song?”

  1. Andrej Says:
    March 25th, 2011 at 2:17 am

    Please, send me this song mp3. I gather chinese songs for my childrens pupils . Thanks

  2. Lisa Says:
    March 25th, 2011 at 9:24 am

    We’ll be posting the whole songs and mp3 on Mama Lisa’s World’s Kids and Folks Songs from China pages.

  3. JaneR Says:
    June 14th, 2011 at 9:02 am

    Hi, I think this might work better:

    I found a penny by the roadside (a penny)
    I found a penny by the roadside
    I handed it over to the policeman
    He held the penny in his hand and gave me a nod
    And I happily said in reply, “Goodbye, sir!”

  4. Maggie Kuek Says:
    June 22nd, 2011 at 12:55 am

    Dear Lisa

    I think it’s is more appropriate to rephrase the last few words of this sentence 交给人民警察叔叔手里边:
    to :交给人民警察叔叔的手上

    Thank you.
    Maggie Kuek

  5. Andi Says:
    July 19th, 2011 at 8:48 am

    Hi there,

    Regarding the comment above about rephrasing “手里边” to “的手上”, all I see is that the original rhymes better and both mean the same thing. I don’t see how the suggested change is “more appropriate” – Ms Maggie Kuek, can you explain your suggestion?

    Cheers,
    Andi

  6. Lisa Yannucci Says:
    July 20th, 2011 at 11:11 am

    Jane – I like your translation. Would you know if the song is in the past tense in the original? Thanks! -Lisa

  7. Ping lu Hui Says:
    February 12th, 2012 at 5:52 am

    Hi, there,
    Very amazed about what you are doing! I am teaching chinese here privately in Denmark, as I can see that the song was all correct, except the last sentence, I believe that I am right since I am teaching the kids here to sing also, and I am chinese… So the last sentence should be : 我快乐地说了声： “叔叔，再见”。
    Regards
    Lu Lu

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