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Mythic Mandarin

My first marathon

HSK 4 Unit 8: Health and lifestyle · Lesson 5 of 5 · About 24 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can follow a story about training for and running a first marathon, and tell the story of a personal challenge.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 饮食 mean?

    1. diet, food and drink
    2. news
    3. to depend on
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, diet, food and drink.

    饮食 (yǐnshí) means diet, food and drink.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “anxious, anxiety”?

    1. 焦虑
    2. 发生
    3. 新闻
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 焦虑.

    “anxious, anxiety” is 焦虑 (jiāolǜ).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    认为 rènwéi

    1. to think, to consider
    2. to depend on
    3. courage
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, to think, to consider.

    You heard 认为 (rènwéi): to think, to consider.

New words

  • 马拉松mǎlāsōngmarathon
  • 挑战tiǎozhànchallenge, to challenge
  • 终于zhōngyúfinally
  • 终点zhōngdiǎnfinishing line, end point
  • 骄傲jiāo'àoproud

A challenge story

Challenge stories use 才 and 就 for how fast or slow, 连…都 for extremes, and 下去 for keeping going. 挑战 (tiǎozhàn) is a challenge; 终点 (zhōngdiǎn) is the finish line; 骄傲 (jiāo'ào) is proud.

  • 跑马拉松对我来说是一个很大的挑战。

    Pǎo mǎlāsōng duì wǒ lái shuō shì yí gè hěn dà de tiǎozhàn.

    Running a marathon was a big challenge for me.

  • 我终于跑到了终点！

    Wǒ zhōngyú pǎo dào le zhōngdiǎn!

    I finally reached the finish line!

  • 我为自己感到骄傲。

    Wǒ wèi zìjǐ gǎndào jiāo'ào.

    I'm proud of myself.

Characters

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

Liu Fang's marathon

Liu Fang writes about her first marathon.

Listen first

Play the whole text and answer the questions before you open it.

Helpful words: 为 wèi for; 感到 gǎndào to feel; 对我来说 duì wǒ lái shuō for me

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What could Liu Fang not do a year ago?

    1. swim one length of a pool
    2. ride a bike to work
    3. run even five kilometres
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, run even five kilometres.

    我连五公里都跑不下来.

  2. Listening

    When did she want to give up?

    1. right at the start
    2. just before the finish
    3. at thirty kilometres
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, at thirty kilometres.

    跑到三十公里的时候，我累得想放弃.

  3. Listening

    How long did she take?

    1. four hours
    2. over five hours
    3. three hours
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, over five hours.

    我跑了五个多小时才到终点.

Show the text
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 一Yì年nián前qián，我wǒ连lián五wǔ公里gōnglǐ都dōu跑不下来pǎobuxiàlai。

    A year ago, I couldn't even run five kilometres.

  2. 后来Hòulái我wǒ决定juédìng挑战tiǎozhàn自己zìjǐ：跑pǎo一yí次cì马拉松mǎlāsōng。

    Then I decided to challenge myself: to run a marathon.

  3. 我Wǒ每天měitiān早上zǎoshang一yì起床qǐchuáng就jiù去qù跑步pǎobù，下雨xiàyǔ也yě不bù停tíng。

    Every morning I went running as soon as I got up, even in the rain.

  4. 比赛Bǐsài那天nàtiān，跑pǎo到dào三十sānshí公里gōnglǐ的de时候shíhou，我wǒ累lèi得de想xiǎng放弃fàngqì。

    On race day, at thirty kilometres, I was so tired I wanted to give up.

  5. 可是Kěshì我wǒ想xiǎng：都dōu跑pǎo了le这么zhème远yuǎn了le，一定yídìng要yào坚持jiānchí下去xiàqu！

    But I thought: I've come so far, I must keep going!

  6. 我Wǒ跑pǎo了le五wǔ个gè多duō小时xiǎoshí才cái到dào终点zhōngdiǎn。

    It took me over five hours to reach the finish line.

  7. 虽然Suīrán很hěn慢màn，可是kěshì我wǒ为wèi自己zìjǐ感到gǎndào骄傲jiāo'ào。

    Although I was slow, I'm proud of myself.

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.

  • 后来我决定挑战自己：跑一次马拉松。

    Hòulái wǒ juédìng tiǎozhàn zìjǐ: pǎo yí cì mǎlāsōng.

    Then I decided to challenge myself: to run a marathon.

  • 我跑了五个多小时才到终点。

    Wǒ pǎo le wǔ gè duō xiǎoshí cái dào zhōngdiǎn.

    It took me over five hours to reach the finish line.

  • 虽然很慢，可是我为自己感到骄傲。

    Suīrán hěn màn, kěshì wǒ wèi zìjǐ gǎndào jiāo'ào.

    Although I was slow, I'm proud of myself.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 马拉松 mean?

    1. to understand
    2. to welcome
    3. marathon
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, marathon.

    马拉松 (mǎlāsōng) means marathon.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “challenge, to challenge”?

    1. 挑战
    2. 效果
    3. 骄傲
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 挑战.

    “challenge, to challenge” is 挑战 (tiǎozhàn).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 终于 (finally)?

    1. zhōngyǔ
    2. zhōngyú
    3. zhōngyù
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, zhōngyú.

    终于 is read zhōngyú. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    终点 zhōngdiǎn

    1. how
    2. day of the month (spoken)
    3. finishing line, end point
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, finishing line, end point.

    You heard 终点 (zhōngdiǎn): finishing line, end point.

  5. Your turn

    Recall: type the Chinese for “proud” (characters or pinyin).

    Show the answer

    Answer: 骄傲

    “proud” is 骄傲 (jiāo'ào).

  6. Listening

    Listen. Which sentence did you hear?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    虽然很慢，可是我为自己感到骄傲。 Suīrán hěn màn, kěshì wǒ wèi zìjǐ gǎndào jiāo'ào.

    1. Then I decided to challenge myself: to run a marathon.
    2. Although I was slow, I'm proud of myself.
    3. But I thought: I've come so far, I must keep going!
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, Although I was slow, I'm proud of myself..

    You heard 虽然很慢，可是我为自己感到骄傲。 (Suīrán hěn màn, kěshì wǒ wèi zìjǐ gǎndào jiāo'ào.): Although I was slow, I'm proud of myself.

  7. Reading

    Read: 他第一次爬山的时候，爬了两个小时就累了。现在他一个人就能爬上三千米的高山。 How has he changed?

    1. He can now climb a 3,000-metre mountain alone.
    2. He stopped climbing after the first time.
    3. He climbs more slowly than before.
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, He can now climb a 3,000-metre mountain alone..

    现在他一个人就能爬上三千米的高山.

  8. Grammar

    Which sentence means It took me five hours to arrive?

    1. 我跑了五个小时就到。
    2. 我才跑了五个小时到了。
    3. 我跑了五个小时才到。
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 我跑了五个小时才到。.

    我跑了五个小时才到。: 才: later, slower than hoped.

  9. In context

    You finished something very hard. How do you feel?

    1. 我为自己感到挑战。
    2. 我为自己感到骄傲。
    3. 我为自己感到终点。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 我为自己感到骄傲。.

    我为自己感到骄傲。: 骄傲: proud.

  10. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for to reach the finish line

    Show the answer

    Answer: 到终点

    到终点: to reach the finish line.

Your challenge

Tell the story of a personal challenge out loud in eight sentences. Record it and listen back.

  1. What you couldn't do before, with 连…都.
  2. How you trained, with 一…就.
  3. The hardest moment, and how you kept going with 下去.
  4. The result, with 才 or 就, and how you felt.

Sentence frames

  • 以前我连＿＿都＿＿。

    Yǐqián wǒ lián ＿＿ dōu ＿＿.

    Before, I couldn't even ...

  • 我为自己感到骄傲。

    Wǒ wèi zìjǐ gǎndào jiāo'ào.

    I'm proud of myself.

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 follow a challenge story with this level's grammar.
  • I can tell my own challenge story.

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 4 Unit 9: Stories from history, where you meet Chinese legends and the stories behind idioms.