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Mythic Mandarin

A first conversation

HSK 1 Unit 1: Meeting new people · Lesson 5 of 5 · About 20 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can hold a short first conversation: greet, give your name, country and job, ask back and introduce a friend.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Grammar

    Quick recall: how do you say my friend?

    1. 朋友我的
    2. 我朋友的
    3. 我的朋友
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 我的朋友.

    我的朋友: the owner first, then 的.

  2. Meaning

    What does 那是谁？ mean?

    1. Who is that?
    2. What is that?
    3. Where is that?
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, Who is that?.

    那是谁？: who is that?

New words

  • 同学tóngxuéclassmate

Your introduction kit

Questions and answers from this unit
QuestionAnswer
你叫什么名字？我叫…
你是哪国人？我是…人。
你是学生吗？是。 / 不是，我是…
那是谁？那是我的朋友。
…，你呢？我也是…

A good first conversation is a loop: answer, then ask back with 你呢？ Use 您 with a teacher and finish with 认识你很高兴.

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

Meeting Teacher Wang

The first class of the term: Teacher Wang meets two new students.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

  1. Listening

    Listen first. Where is David from?

    1. China
    2. the United States
    3. the United Kingdom
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, the United States.

    大卫 says 我是美国人: he is American.

  2. Listening

    Who is Li Ming to David?

    1. his teacher
    2. his classmate
    3. his doctor
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, his classmate.

    这是我的同学: Li Ming is David's classmate.

  3. Listening

    Why does Li Ming say 您好?

    1. He is speaking to his teacher.
    2. He is asking a question.
    3. He is saying goodbye.
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, He is speaking to his teacher..

    您 is polite: Li Ming uses it with 王老师.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 王老师

    你们Nǐmen好hǎo！我Wǒ是shì王老师Wáng lǎoshī。

    Hello, everyone! I'm Teacher Wang.

  2. 大卫

    王老师Wáng lǎoshī好hǎo！我Wǒ叫jiào大卫Dàwèi。

    Hello, Teacher Wang! My name is David.

  3. 王老师

    大卫Dàwèi，你nǐ是shì哪nǎ国guó人rén？

    David, where are you from?

  4. 大卫

    我Wǒ是shì美国Měiguó人rén。这Zhè是shì我wǒ的de同学tóngxué，他tā叫jiào李明Lǐ Míng。

    I'm American. This is my classmate. His name is Li Ming.

  5. 李明

    王老师Wáng lǎoshī，您好nín hǎo！认识Rènshi您nín很hěn高兴gāoxìng。

    Hello, Teacher Wang! Nice to meet you.

  6. 王老师

    认识Rènshi你们nǐmen，我wǒ也yě很hěn高兴gāoxìng。李明Lǐ Míng，你nǐ是shì中国Zhōngguó人rén吗ma？

    I'm glad to meet you both too. Li Ming, are you Chinese?

  7. 李明

    是Shì，我wǒ是shì中国Zhōngguó人rén。

    Yes, I'm Chinese.

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 我叫大卫，我是美国人。

    Wǒ jiào Dàwèi, wǒ shì Měiguó rén.

    My name is David. I am American.

  • 这是我的同学，他叫李明。

    Zhè shì wǒ de tóngxué, tā jiào Lǐ Míng.

    This is my classmate. His name is Li Ming.

  • 认识您很高兴。

    Rènshi nín hěn gāoxìng.

    Nice to meet you (polite).

Practice

  1. Word order

    Put the words in order: This is my classmate.

    • 同学
    • 这
    • 我的
    • 是
    Show the answer

    这是我的同学 Zhè shì wǒ de tóngxué.

    This is my classmate.

    这是 + 我的 + 同学.

  2. Fill the gap

    Complete the exchange: Where are you from? I am British.

    你是＿国人？我是英国人。

    1. 哪
    2. 谁
    3. 什么
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 哪.

    哪国人 asks which country: 你是哪国人？

  3. In context

    You meet your new teacher, Teacher Wang. What do you say?

    1. 你好，老师！
    2. 您好，王老师！
    3. 再见，王老师！
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 您好，王老师！.

    您好，王老师！ is polite and uses the teacher's name.

  4. Your turn

    Type classmate in pinyin.

    Show the answer

    Answer: tóngxué

    Classmate is tóngxué (同学): two second tones.

  5. Listening

    Listen. Which person is described?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    她叫安娜，她是英国人，她是老师。 Tā jiào Ānnà, tā shì Yīngguó rén, tā shì lǎoshī.

    1. A British student
    2. A British teacher
    3. An American teacher
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, A British teacher.

    You heard 她是英国人，她是老师: Anna is a British teacher.

  6. Grammar

    我是美国人，你呢？ What is the speaker asking?

    1. Where are you from?
    2. What is your name?
    3. Are you a teacher?
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, Where are you from?.

    After 我是美国人, 你呢？ asks the same thing back: where are you from?

Unit mission: introduce yourself in full

Put the whole unit together in one introduction. Say it, record it and compare it with the model sentences above.

  1. Greet: 你好, or 您好 for a teacher.
  2. Your name: 我叫…
  3. Your country: 我是…人。
  4. What you do: 我是学生, 老师 or 医生, or 我不是学生.
  5. Ask back: 你呢？
  6. Close: 认识你很高兴。

Sentence frames

  • 你好！我叫＿＿。

    Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ jiào ＿＿.

    Hello! My name is ...

  • 我是＿＿人，我是＿＿。

    Wǒ shì ＿＿ rén, wǒ shì ＿＿.

    I am from ... I am a ...

  • 你呢？认识你很高兴。

    Nǐ ne? Rènshi nǐ hěn gāoxìng.

    And you? Nice to meet you.

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I can introduce myself: my name, my country and what I do.
  • I can understand a short introduction like the one in this lesson.
  • I can ask back with 你呢？ and say me too with 也.
  • I can introduce a friend with 这是我的朋友.
  • Next: read an HSK 1 story in the story library or practise words in Hanzi Warrior.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next: HSK 1 Unit 2: Family and age, where you talk about the people in your family.