笨鳥先飛 bèn niǎo xiān fēi

DEFINITIONS

  1. lit. the clumsy bird flies early (idiom); fig. to work hard to compensate for one's limited abilities

CHARACTERS

笨 bèn
HSK 4
foolish, stupid, dull; awkward
鳥 niǎo bird; KangXi radical 196
先 xiān
HSK 1
first, former, previous
飛 fēi fly; go quickly; dart; high