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Mythic Mandarin

Films, music and sport

HSK 1 Unit 7: Free time and getting around · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 15 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can talk about your hobbies with the right verb for each: watch films and TV, listen to music, play ball games.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 机场 mean?

    1. train
    2. behind, at the back
    3. airport
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, airport.

    机场 (jīchǎng) means airport.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “plane”?

    1. 前面
    2. 学校
    3. 飞机
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 飞机.

    “plane” is 飞机 (fēijī).

  3. Listening

    From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    住 zhù

    1. to live (somewhere), to stay
    2. in, inside
    3. to look for
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, to live (somewhere), to stay.

    You heard 住 (zhù): to live (somewhere), to stay.

New words

  • 电影diànyǐngfilm, movie
  • 电视diànshìTV
  • 听tīngto listen
  • 音乐yīnyuèmusic
  • 打dǎto hit, to play (ball games)
  • 球qiúball

Verbs that go with hobbies

Each hobby has its own verb. Learn them as pairs.

Hobby pairs
ChineseEnglish
看电影 kàn diànyǐngwatch a film
看电视 kàn diànshìwatch TV
听音乐 tīng yīnyuèlisten to music
打球 dǎ qiúplay a ball game

  • 你周末喜欢做什么？

    Nǐ zhōumò xǐhuan zuò shénme?

    What do you like doing at the weekend?

  • 我喜欢听音乐。

    Wǒ xǐhuan tīng yīnyuè.

    I like listening to music.

  • Not: 我喜欢看音乐。

    But: 我喜欢听音乐。 Wǒ xǐhuan tīng yīnyuè.

    Music is 听, listened to.

Characters

  • 听 = 口
  • 打 = 手

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

What do you like doing?

Xiaoyu and David chat after class.

Listen first

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

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What does David like doing?

    1. play ball games
    2. watch films
    3. listen to music
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, watch films.

    大卫 says 我喜欢看电影.

  2. Listening

    What does Xiaoyu do in the evening?

    1. watches TV
    2. plays ball games
    3. listens to music
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, listens to music.

    小雨 says 晚上我听音乐.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 小雨

    大卫Dàwèi，周末zhōumò你nǐ喜欢xǐhuan做zuò什么shénme？

    David, what do you like doing at the weekend?

  2. 大卫

    我Wǒ喜欢xǐhuan看kàn电影diànyǐng。你Nǐ呢ne？

    I like watching films. And you?

  3. 小雨

    我Wǒ喜欢xǐhuan听tīng音乐yīnyuè，也yě喜欢xǐhuan打dǎ球qiú。

    I like listening to music, and playing ball games too.

  4. 大卫

    你Nǐ喜欢xǐhuan看kàn电视diànshì吗ma？

    Do you like watching TV?

  5. 小雨

    不Bú太tài喜欢xǐhuan。晚上Wǎnshang我wǒ听tīng音乐yīnyuè。

    Not really. In the evening I listen to music.

  6. 大卫

    星期Xīngqī六liù我们wǒmen一起yìqǐ去qù看kàn电影diànyǐng，好hǎo吗ma？

    Shall we go to see a film together on Saturday?

  7. 小雨

    好Hǎo！

    OK!

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.

  • 我喜欢听音乐，也喜欢打球。

    Wǒ xǐhuan tīng yīnyuè, yě xǐhuan dǎ qiú.

    I like listening to music, and playing ball games too.

  • 不太喜欢。晚上我听音乐。

    Bú tài xǐhuan. Wǎnshang wǒ tīng yīnyuè.

    Not really. In the evening I listen to music.

  • 你喜欢看电视吗？

    Nǐ xǐhuan kàn diànshì ma?

    Do you like watching TV?

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 电影 mean?

    1. film, movie
    2. train
    3. small
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, film, movie.

    电影 (diànyǐng) means film, movie.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “TV”?

    1. 电视
    2. 机场
    3. 火车
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 电视.

    “TV” is 电视 (diànshì).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 听 (to listen)?

    1. tìng
    2. tǐng
    3. tīng
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, tīng.

    听 is read tīng. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    音乐 yīnyuè

    1. music
    2. to want
    3. red
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, music.

    You heard 音乐 (yīnyuè): music.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 打 (to hit, to play (ball games)). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: dǎ

    打 is dǎ in pinyin.

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence means I like listening to music?

    1. 我喜欢听音乐。
    2. 我喜欢看音乐。
    3. 我听喜欢音乐。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 我喜欢听音乐。.

    我喜欢听音乐。 Music takes 听.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: Do you like playing ball games?

    你喜欢＿＿球吗？

    1. 看
    2. 听
    3. 打
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 打.

    你喜欢打球吗？ Ball games take 打.

  8. In context

    Someone asks 你周末喜欢做什么？ What are they asking about?

    1. your job
    2. your family
    3. your free time
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, your free time.

    周末喜欢做什么: what you like doing at the weekend.

  9. Word order

    Put the words in order: I watch TV in the evening.

    • 电视
    • 晚上
    • 看
    • 我
    Show the answer

    我晚上看电视 Wǒ wǎnshang kàn diànshì.

    I watch TV in the evening.

    我晚上看电视。 Time before the verb.

Your hobbies

Tell a friend about your free time, out loud, in four sentences.

  1. Say two things you like doing.
  2. Say one thing you are not keen on: 我不太喜欢…。
  3. Ask back: 你喜欢做什么？

Sentence frames

  • 周末我喜欢＿＿。

    Zhōumò wǒ xǐhuan ＿＿.

    At the weekend I like ...

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 use 看 for films and TV, 听 for music and 打 for ball games.
  • I can ask 你喜欢做什么？

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 lesson: Are you free? Invitations and 可以