笨鸟先飞 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
鸟 niǎo
HSK 3
bird; KangXi radical 196
先 xiān
HSK 1
first, former, previous
飞 fēi
HSK 1
fly; go quickly; dart; high