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Mythic Mandarin

What does it mean? Learning Chinese

HSK 1 Unit 8: Weather, health and celebrations · Lesson 4 of 7 · About 16 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can ask what a word means, how to read and write it, and talk about studying Chinese.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 下雨 mean?

    1. to swim
    2. to snow
    3. to rain
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to rain.

    下雨 (xiàyǔ) means to rain.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to get ill”?

    1. 可以
    2. 生病
    3. 公园
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 生病.

    “to get ill” is 生病 (shēngbìng).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    玩儿 wánr

    1. to live (somewhere), to stay
    2. to have fun, to play
    3. university
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, to have fun, to play.

    You heard 玩儿 (wánr): to have fun, to play.

New words

  • 学习xuéxíto study, to learn
  • 写xiěto write
  • 读dúto read (aloud)
  • 字zìcharacter, written word
  • 意思yìsimeaning
  • 问题wèntíquestion, problem

Asking about words

Three questions every learner needs: what does it mean, how do you read it, how do you write it.

  • 这个字是什么意思？

    Zhège zì shì shénme yìsi?

    What does this character mean?

  • 这个字怎么读？

    Zhège zì zěnme dú?

    How do you read this character?

  • 这个字怎么写？

    Zhège zì zěnme xiě?

    How do you write this character?

问题 (wèntí) is a question or a problem. 我有一个问题 is a polite way to ask in class.

  • 我有一个问题。

    Wǒ yǒu yí gè wèntí.

    I have a question.

Studying

学习 (xuéxí) is to study. 学 alone is also common: 学汉语.

  • 我每天学习汉语。

    Wǒ měitiān xuéxí Hànyǔ.

    I study Chinese every day.

  • 学习汉语很有意思。

    Xuéxí Hànyǔ hěn yǒuyìsi.

    Learning Chinese is interesting.

  • Not: 我学习在大学。

    But: 我在大学学习。 Wǒ zài dàxué xuéxí.

    The place goes before the verb.

Characters

  • 字 = 宀 + 子

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

I have a question

David asks Teacher Wang about a word after class.

Listen first

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

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What does 休息 mean, according to Teacher Wang?

    1. eating and drinking with friends
    2. not working and not having class
    3. studying hard at home
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, not working and not having class.

    意思是不工作，不上课.

  2. Listening

    What does David think about learning Chinese?

    1. It's difficult.
    2. It's interesting.
    3. It's boring.
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, It's interesting..

    大卫 says 学习汉语很有意思.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 大卫

    王老师Wáng lǎoshī，我wǒ有yǒu一yí个gè问题wèntí。

    Teacher Wang, I have a question.

  2. 王老师

    请Qǐng说shuō。

    Go ahead.

  3. 大卫

    “休息Xiūxi”是shì什么shénme意思yìsi？

    What does 休息 mean?

  4. 王老师

    意思Yìsi是shì不bù工作gōngzuò，不bú上课shàngkè。

    It means not working and not having class.

  5. 大卫

    这个Zhège字zì怎么zěnme写xiě？

    How do you write this character?

  6. 王老师

    你Nǐ看kàn，我wǒ写xiě，你nǐ也yě写xiě。

    Look, I'll write it, and you write it too.

  7. 大卫

    谢谢Xièxie老师lǎoshī！学习Xuéxí汉语Hànyǔ很hěn有意思yǒuyìsi。

    Thank you! Learning Chinese is interesting.

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.

  • 这个字怎么写？

    Zhège zì zěnme xiě?

    How do you write this character?

  • 谢谢老师！学习汉语很有意思。

    Xièxie lǎoshī! Xuéxí Hànyǔ hěn yǒuyìsi.

    Thank you! Learning Chinese is interesting.

  • “休息”是什么意思？

    “Xiūxi” shì shénme yìsi?

    What does 休息 mean?

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 学习 mean?

    1. to study, to learn
    2. tired
    3. to walk, to go
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, to study, to learn.

    学习 (xuéxí) means to study, to learn.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to write”?

    1. 球
    2. 空
    3. 写
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 写.

    “to write” is 写 (xiě).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 读 (to read (aloud))?

    1. dū
    2. dǔ
    3. dú
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, dú.

    读 is read dú. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    字 zì

    1. in, inside
    2. and ...? (asks the same question back)
    3. character, written word
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, character, written word.

    You heard 字 (zì): character, written word.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 意思 (meaning). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: yìsi

    意思 is yìsi in pinyin.

  6. Listening

    Listen. Which sentence did you hear?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    谢谢老师！学习汉语很有意思。 Xièxie lǎoshī! Xuéxí Hànyǔ hěn yǒuyìsi.

    1. What does 休息 mean?
    2. How do you write this character?
    3. Thank you! Learning Chinese is interesting.
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, Thank you! Learning Chinese is interesting..

    You heard 谢谢老师！学习汉语很有意思。 (Xièxie lǎoshī! Xuéxí Hànyǔ hěn yǒuyìsi.): Thank you! Learning Chinese is interesting.

  7. In context

    You see a character you can't read. What do you ask?

    1. 这个字是谁？
    2. 这个字在哪儿？
    3. 这个字怎么读？
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 这个字怎么读？.

    这个字怎么读？: 这个字怎么读: how do you read this character?

  8. Grammar

    Which sentence means I study at a university?

    1. 我在大学学习。
    2. 我学习在大学。
    3. 在我大学学习。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 我在大学学习。.

    我在大学学习。 在 + place before the verb.

  9. Fill the gap

    Complete: What does this character mean?

    这个字是什么＿＿？

    1. 问题
    2. 学习
    3. 意思
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 意思.

    这个字是什么意思？ 意思 is meaning.

  10. Reading

    Read: 我叫马克。我每天学习汉语。我会说一点儿，也会写很多字。我喜欢学习汉语，很有意思！ What can Mark do?

    1. speak a lot but write few characters
    2. speak a little and write many characters
    3. write a little but not speak yet
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, speak a little and write many characters.

    我会说一点儿，也会写很多字.

Ask your questions

Pick three Chinese words from this course and ask about each one out loud, then answer yourself.

  1. …是什么意思？
  2. …怎么读？
  3. …怎么写？

Sentence frames

  • ＿＿是什么意思？

    ＿＿ shì shénme yìsi?

    What does ... mean?

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 ask what a word means and how to read and write it.
  • I can say 我有一个问题 in class.

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: Welcome! Introducing yourself in full