Why Listen to Chinese Songs?

At Omeida Chinese Academy, one really cool way we suggest to our students to help them learn Chinese is through the use of song.

Karaoke is incredibly popular among Chinese communities. Learning some songs in Chinese will not only help you learn faster, but also guarantees pleasure and laughs too. Learning just a handful of songs will give you confidence in your studies. Also, it will help you foster relationships with fellow Chinese learners and native Chinese speakers alike.

Don’t get us wrong – you’re not going to become a fluent Chinese speaker just by listening to a few songs. But just like watching Chinese TV, you can learn new Chinese vocabulary from the song lyrics. So, we have carefully chosen some songs for you in our suggestions below. By listening to and memorising a few specific tracks, you will improve your Chinese language fluency. You’ll be combining relaxing with a few tunes in your head with learning something at the same time!

The Moon Represents My Heart by Teresa Teng

A really easy place to start when considering the best songs for learning Chinese is charming ballad The Moon Represents my Heart (月亮代表我的心 – Yuèliàng dàibiǎo wǒ de xīn) by Teresa Teng (邓丽君 – Dèng Lìjūn). You’ll find it on YouTube with subtitles in Chinese characters, pinyin and English:

Surprisingly, legendary US rock star Jon Bon Jovi has recorded a version of this immensely popular karaoke classic:

Ambiguity by Rainie Yan

Ambiguity (暧昧 – Àimèi) by Rainie Yan (杨丞琳 – Yáng Chénglín) is a charming little ditty that will creep into your subconscious pretty much from the first time you hear it. You’ll love the song, and the lyrics in this YouTube video has subtitles in Chinese characters, pinyin and English, while the one below has pinyin and English. Take a listen and you’ll soon be harmonising along with the song. We promise that it’ll help you as you learn Chinese:

New Drunken Beauty by Li Yugang

One of the very best songs to learn Chinese is New Drunken Beauty (新贵妃醉酒 – Xīn guìfēi zuìjiǔ) by Li Yugang (李玉刚 – Lǐ Yùgāng). The Drunken Concubine was a Qing Dynasty Peking (Beijing today) opera that’s still regularly performed in the city to this day. We’ve chosen it to help you learn Chinese because it contains a lot of simple prepositions and nouns that you’ll find yourself using regularly. The song below is based on the play and blends modern with traditional Chinese music. We recommend it to you because it’s easy to memorize and the song is an easy listening delight:

Fairy Tale by Michael Wong

Our final suggestion for you of best songs to learn Chinese is this wonderful offering from Michael Wong (光良 – Guāngliáng) – Fairy Tale (童话 – Tónghuà). If you’re interested in learning Chinese, you’re probably already familiar with this song. And if not, you should be, as it’s one of the most popular Chinese songs of the last twenty years. Its popularity remains undiminished to this day. Take a listen on YouTube; this version has English, Chinese characters and pinyin subtitles:

A Fun Way to Learn Chinese

We’ve shown you that learning Chinese by listening to, and hopefully memorising, some of the best Chinese songs is a constructive and thoroughly enjoyable way of improving your fluency. Studies have proven that music has many advantages for learning a new language. Singing the lyrics will help you learn new words and cement them in your mind in a fun and engaging way.