Lesson 6: 静夜思 Jìng yè sī by Li Bai

床前明月光， Chuáng qián míng yuè guāng，
 疑是地上霜。 Yí shì dì shàng shuāng.
 举头望明月， Jŭ tóu wàng míng yuè,
 低头思故乡。 Dī tóu sī gù xiāng.

Bright moonlight before my bed,
Seems like frost upon the floor;
I raise my head and watch the moon,
Then lower it down and think of home. (Translation by Christopher Evans - taken from here.

Here's a cartoon with a child reciting the poem:
Here's a sung rendition of the poem (in Chinese and English) along with beautiful photos of China:

静 (jìng) comes from "quiet" or 安静 (ān jìng)

夜 (yè) means "night", which threw me off the track since I'm only familiar with 晩 (wǎn) as in 晚上 (wǎn shang)?

思 (sī) means "to think". Again, I couldn't relate to this word at all since I only know of 想 (xiǎng).

Thus, is the title of the poem "Quiet Night Thoughts" Or "Quiet Night Thoughts"?

Nonetheless, it's good to learn some new Chinese vocabulary and a lovely poem.

Lesson 5: A Chinese Poem

小小竹排画中游 Xiǎo xiǎo zhú pái huà zhōngyóu 

A little bamboo raft in the middle of the river

小竹排, 顺水流, xiǎo zhú pái, shùn shuǐ liú
Little bamboo raft, flowing along the river

鸟儿唱, 鱼儿游. niǎo er chàng, yú er yóu
Baby bird sings, baby fish swims

两岸树木密, liǎng'àn shù mù mì
Left and right, trees, wood and honey

禾苗 绿 油油. hé miáo lǜ yōuyōu
Grain seedlings, green and shiny

江南 鱼 米 乡 jiāng nán yú mǐ xiāng
South of the river, a fish and rice country

小小竹排画中游. Xiǎo xiǎo zhú pái huà zhōng yóu
A little bamboo raft in the middle of the river.

Isn't this a beautiful poem? Never mind the fact that I had to look up numerous Chinese characters in the dictionary, I enjoyed reading it aloud. Probably the coolest thing we've EVER done in Chinese. I LOVE IT!

P/S Please pardon the awkward English translation. I opted for a literal translation to retain the original Chinese structure as much as possible, which helps me remember the poem in Chinese. At the same time, I tried to make the English version flow. Hope it makes sense. I am not a poet. Please, please, please correct me where I am wrong.