Spring Festival
HSK 3 Unit 8: Festivals and stories · Lesson 1 of 7 · About 20 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can talk about how Spring Festival is celebrated: family reunions, dumplings, red envelopes and holidays.
Audio preview uses your device’s Chinese voice. It is not a recording.
Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 关于 mean?
That is 包括 (bāokuò).
That is 解决 (jiějué).
Show the answer
Answer: C, about, concerning.
关于 (guānyú) means about, concerning.
Characters
Which word means “boat, ship”?
航班 (hángbān) means flight (number).
讲 (jiǎng) means to tell, to explain.
Show the answer
Answer: B, 船.
“boat, ship” is 船 (chuán).
New words
Spring Festival
春节 (Chūnjié), the Spring Festival, is China's most important holiday. Families travel home for 团圆 (tuányuán), the reunion. People 放假 (have time off) for about a week.
春节的时候，大家都回家过年。
Chūnjié de shíhou, dàjiā dōu huí jiā guònián.
At Spring Festival, everyone goes home for New Year.
我们一边包饺子，一边聊天。
Wǒmen yìbiān bāo jiǎozi, yìbiān liáotiān.
We chat while we make dumplings.
孩子们都很喜欢红包。
Háizimen dōu hěn xǐhuan hóngbāo.
Children all love red envelopes.
热闹 (rènao) is lively, full of people and noise: a good thing at New Year.
过年的时候，街上很热闹。
Guònián de shíhou, jiēshang hěn rènao.
At New Year the streets are very lively.
Characters
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
Going home for New Year
Before the holiday, Zhang Wei and Liu Fang talk about their plans.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Helpful words: 除夕 Chúxī New Year's Eve; 拜年 bàinián to pay a New Year visit
Listening
Listen first. How many days off does Zhang Wei get?
Show the answer
Answer: A, seven.
我们公司放七天假.
Listening
What does his family do on New Year's Eve?
Show the answer
Answer: B, make dumplings and watch TV.
我们一家人一边包饺子，一边看电视.
Show the transcript
刘芳
张伟，春节你回家吗？
Zhang Wei, are you going home for Spring Festival?
张伟
回。我们公司放七天假，我明天就坐火车回去。
Yes. Our company gives us seven days off. I'm taking the train home tomorrow.
刘芳
你们家怎么过年？
How does your family celebrate?
张伟
除夕晚上，我们一家人一边包饺子，一边看电视。很热闹！
On New Year's Eve, the whole family makes dumplings while watching TV. It's very lively!
刘芳
你还给孩子们红包吗？
Do you still give the children red envelopes?
张伟
当然！我给每个孩子一个红包。他们最高兴了。
Of course! I give each child one. They're the happiest of all.
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.
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Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
除夕晚上，我们一家人一边包饺子，一边看电视。很热闹！
Chúxī wǎnshang, wǒmen yì jiā rén yìbiān bāo jiǎozi, yìbiān kàn diànshì. Hěn rènao!
On New Year's Eve, the whole family makes dumplings while watching TV. It's very lively!
你们家怎么过年？
Nǐmen jiā zěnme guònián?
How does your family celebrate?
张伟，春节你回家吗？
Zhāng Wěi, Chūnjié nǐ huí jiā ma?
Zhang Wei, are you going home for Spring Festival?
Practice
Meaning
What does 春节 mean?
That is 做饭 (zuòfàn).
That is 听见 (tīngjiàn).
Show the answer
Answer: A, Spring Festival, Chinese New Year.
春节 (Chūnjié) means Spring Festival, Chinese New Year.
Characters
Which word means “dumpling”?
过年 (guònián) means to celebrate the New Year.
放假 (fàngjià) means to have a holiday.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 饺子.
“dumpling” is 饺子 (jiǎozi).
Word order
Put the words in order: Do you still give the children red envelopes?
- 给
- 红包
- 你
- 还
- 吗
- 孩子们
Show the answer
你还给孩子们红包吗 Nǐ hái gěi háizimen hóngbāo ma?
Do you still give the children red envelopes?
你还给孩子们红包吗？ The sentence comes from this lesson's text.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
红包 hóngbāo
That would be 面试 (miànshì).
That would be 晚点 (wǎndiǎn).
Show the answer
Answer: C, red envelope (with money).
You heard 红包 (hóngbāo): red envelope (with money).
Pinyin
Type the pinyin of 团圆 (to be reunited (as a family)). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.
Show the answer
Answer: tuányuán
团圆 is tuányuán in pinyin.
Fill the gap
Complete: Everyone goes home for New Year.
大家都回家＿＿。
Show the answer
Answer: C, 过年.
大家都回家过年: go home for New Year.
In context
The streets are full of people and music. How do you describe them?
Show the answer
Answer: B, 很热闹。.
很热闹。: 热闹: lively, bustling.
Grammar
Which sentence means We make dumplings while chatting?
Show the answer
Answer: C, 我们一边包饺子，一边聊天。.
我们一边包饺子，一边聊天。: 一边…一边…: two actions at once.
Your turn
Type the Chinese for red envelope
Show the answer
Answer: 红包
红包: a red envelope with money in it.
Your festival
Describe the most important holiday in your family out loud, and compare it with Spring Festival.
- When it is and how long you have off.
- What your family does, with 一边…一边 and 先…然后.
- One thing that is the same as Spring Festival and one that is different.
Sentence frames
＿＿的时候，我们＿＿。
＿＿ de shíhou, wǒmen ＿＿.
At ..., we ...
跟春节一样，＿＿。
Gēn Chūnjié yíyàng, ＿＿.
Just like at Spring Festival, ...
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 talk about Spring Festival: going home, dumplings, red envelopes.
- I can compare a festival of my own with Spring Festival.
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.