Recently I taught Evangelina the Taiwanese folksong "Thi(n) O*-o*" (Dark Skies) as she showed interest in both singing as well as the Taiwanese language. The lyrics are as follows:
Thi(n) o*-o*, boe lo ho*
Akong gia ti-thau, boe kut o*
Kut a-kut, kut a-kut, kut-tio chit boe soan-liu-ko*.
Hi(n)-a, he(n)-a, chin-chia(n) chhu-bi!
Akong boe chu kiam, Ama boe chu chia(n),
Nng lang sio-pha long phoa tia(n), long phoa tia(n), long phoa tia(n)!
Hi(n)-a, he(n)-a, chin-chia(n) chhu-bi!
Seeing our joy in singing together, including to the delight of Akong and Ama (both sides), Jadon has surprisingly picked up on nearly the whole song. The final line, "Hi(n)-a, he(n)-a, chin-chia(n) chhu-bi!" ("Hee-hee, ha-ha, that's reeeal interestin'") is particularly funny to him, and he will sing those lyrics to himself on occasion. Most recently, I heard his own Shakespearean use of his newfound Taiwanese: "Chhu-bi... or not chhu-bi?!"
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