我的中国名字
How I got my Chinese name
Name: ________________ Date: ________
艾米在北京学中文。大家都叫她艾米，可是她想要一个中国名字。
她问同学们：“你们帮我想一个中国名字，好吗？”
一个男同学看了看她：“你很高，就叫‘高高’吧！”
一个女同学说：“不好，不好。你天天喝茶，叫‘茶茶’！”
楼下饭馆的老板也笑着说：“你天天来吃米饭，叫‘米饭’吧！”
楼上的小朋友说：“姐姐爱笑，叫‘笑笑’！”
高高、茶茶、米饭、笑笑……那天晚上，艾米一直在想。
第二天，她在本子上写了两个大字。同学们看了看：“高兴？”
“对！我很高，也很爱笑。我就叫高兴！”
老师来了。大家说：“老师，她有中国名字了，叫高兴！”
老师笑着说：“你好，高兴。认识你，我很高兴！”
艾米说：“老师，我也很高兴……不对，我是高兴！”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 学 | xué | to study; to learn |
| 中文 | zhōngwén | Chinese (language) |
| 中国 | zhōngguó | China |
| 名字 | míngzi | name |
| 问 | wèn | to ask |
| 同学 | tóngxué | classmate; fellow student |
| 男 | nán | male; man |
| 看 | kàn | to look at; to see; to watch |
| 女 | nǚ | woman; female |
| 说 | shuō | to speak; to say |
| 茶 | chá | tea |
| 来 | lái | to come |
English (for the teacher)
Amy was studying Chinese in Beijing. Everyone called her Amy, but she wanted a Chinese name.
She asked her classmates, “Can you help me think of a Chinese name?”
One boy looked her up and down. “You’re tall, so you can be ‘Gaogao’!”
One girl said, “No, no. You drink tea every day, so be ‘Chacha’!”
The owner of the restaurant downstairs laughed and said, “You come and eat rice every day, so be ‘Rice’!”
The little kid upstairs said, “Big sister laughs a lot, so call her ‘Xiaoxiao’!”
Gaogao, Chacha, Rice, Xiaoxiao… That evening, Amy kept thinking it over.
The next day, she wrote two big characters in her notebook. Her classmates looked at it. “Gaoxing?”
“Yes! I’m tall, and I love to laugh. So my name is Gaoxing, ‘Happy’!”
The teacher came in. Everyone said, “Teacher, she has a Chinese name now. It’s Gaoxing!”
The teacher smiled and said, “Hello, Gaoxing. I’m very happy to meet you!”
Amy said, “Teacher, I’m very happy too… No, wait. I am Happy!”