What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to investigate how Chinglish lyric writing serves as a bridge in cross-cultural poetic exchange.

June 9, 2026Open Access

"Green Green Campus Trees": A Chinglish Graduation Song

Key Points

The aim is to investigate how Chinglish lyric writing serves as a bridge in cross-cultural poetic exchange.
Analyzed the English adaptation of the Chinese text 《青青校樹》.
Examined stylistic choices in language, including reduplication and nature imagery.
Argued for the creative potential of bilingual expressions in conveying cultural feelings.
Demonstrated that expressions like 'green green' are intentional stylistic choices rather than errors.
Showed that the song retains Chinese poetic elements, enriching the English lyric context.
Established poetic Chinglish as a viable form of bilingual imagination and cultural expression.

Abstract

Wang, Lawrence K. (2026). "Green Green Campus Trees": A Chinglish Graduation Song; Global Humanities and Liberal Arts, Lenox Institute Press, 2026(7A), July 1, 2026. 22 pages. ...... ABSTRACT: This article presents "Green Green Campus Trees" as a playful academic experiment in Chinglish lyric writing, using a graduation song as a site of cross cultural poetic exchange. Based on the Chinese text 《青青校樹》(Wang, et al. 2025), the English version deliberately preserves features associated with Chinese lyric style, including reduplication, parallel phrasing, nature imagery, and moral aspiration. Rather than treating expressions such as "green green," "winding winding," and "farewell, farewell" as errors in idiomatic English, the article reads them as intentional stylistic choices that transfer Chinese poetic rhythm into English. In this sense, the lyric follows the logic of familiar English expressions influenced by Chinese structure, such as "long time no see," while extending that logic into a ceremonial school song context. The project argues that poetic Chinglish can function not merely as linguistic deviation, but as a creative form of bilingual imagination, allowing English words to carry Chinese patterns of memory, gratitude, farewell, and aspiration. Through this experiment, "Green Green Campus Trees" becomes both a graduation song and a case study in how hybrid language can preserve cultural feeling across translation. KEYWORDS: Chinglish; graduation song; Chinese style English; lyric translation; reduplication; parallel phrasing; school song; bilingual poetics; cross cultural writing; Chinese poetic imagery; 本文將〈Green Green Campus Trees〉視為一項帶有趣味性的學術實驗,探討以中式英語進行歌詞創作的可能性,並以畢業歌曲作為跨文化詩學交流的場域。此英文版本根據中文文本《青青校樹》而作,並有意保留中國歌詞風格中的若干特徵,包括疊字、對偶式句法、自然意象與道德志向。本文並不將 "green green," "winding winding," "farewell, farewell" 等表達視為不合英語慣用法的錯誤,而是將其解讀為有意識的風格選擇,藉此把中文詩歌的節奏轉移到英文之中。從這個意義上說,這首歌詞延續了 "long time no see" 等受中文結構影響而進入英語的表達邏輯,並將其擴展至莊重的校園畢業歌曲語境。本文主張,詩性的中式英語不僅可以被理解為語言偏離,也可以成為一種富有創造力的雙語想像形式,使英文詞語承載中文關於記憶、感恩、離別與志向的表達模式。透過這項實驗,〈Green Green Campus Trees〉既是一首畢業歌曲,也是一項關於混合語言如何在翻譯中保存文化情感的研究。關鍵詞: 中式英語;畢業歌曲;中國風英文;歌詞翻譯;疊字;對偶句法;校歌;雙語詩學;跨文化寫作;中國詩歌意象

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