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Mythic Mandarin

A day in the park

HSK 1 Unit 7: Free time and getting around · Lesson 5 of 5 · About 17 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can plan a day out with friends: where to go, what to do, what is and is not allowed, and how to get there.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 打 mean?

    1. next time
    2. to hit, to play (ball games)
    3. film, movie
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, to hit, to play (ball games).

    打 (dǎ) means to hit, to play (ball games).

  2. Characters

    Which word means “time”?

    1. 时间
    2. 地铁
    3. 大学
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 时间.

    “time” is 时间 (shíjiān).

  3. Listening

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

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    大学 dàxué

    1. university
    2. to look for
    3. how
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, university.

    You heard 大学 (dàxué): university.

New words

  • 公园gōngyuánpark
  • 玩儿wánrto have fun, to play
  • 跑步pǎobùto run, to jog
  • 游泳yóuyǒngto swim

Having fun

玩儿 (wánr) is to have fun, to go out and enjoy yourself: 去公园玩儿.

  • 星期天我们去公园玩儿。

    Xīngqītiān wǒmen qù gōngyuán wánr.

    On Sunday we're going to the park.

跑步 (pǎobù) is to go running and 游泳 (yóuyǒng) to swim. 在 + place goes before them.

  • 我早上在公园跑步。

    Wǒ zǎoshang zài gōngyuán pǎobù.

    I go running in the park in the morning.

  • 这儿可以游泳吗？

    Zhèr kěyǐ yóuyǒng ma?

    Can you swim here?

Characters

  • 跑 = 足

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

Sunday in the park

Anna, Mark and Xiaoyu plan their Sunday.

Listen first

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

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What does Mark like doing in the park?

    1. running
    2. swimming
    3. playing ball
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, running.

    马克 says 我早上喜欢在公园跑步.

  2. Listening

    How will they get there?

    1. by subway
    2. by car
    3. by taxi
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, by subway.

    马克 says 我们坐地铁去.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 安娜

    星期天Xīngqītiān我们wǒmen去qù公园gōngyuán玩儿wánr，好hǎo吗ma？

    Shall we go to the park on Sunday?

  2. 马克

    好Hǎo！我Wǒ早上zǎoshang喜欢xǐhuan在zài公园gōngyuán跑步pǎobù。

    Great! I like running in the park in the morning.

  3. 小雨

    公园Gōngyuán里lǐ可以kěyǐ游泳yóuyǒng吗ma？

    Can you swim in the park?

  4. 安娜

    不Bù可以kěyǐ。我们Wǒmen可以kěyǐ在zài公园gōngyuán里lǐ打dǎ球qiú。

    No. We can play ball in the park.

  5. 小雨

    好Hǎo！我们Wǒmen几jǐ点diǎn去qù？怎么Zěnme去qù？

    OK! What time shall we go? How do we get there?

  6. 马克

    八Bā点diǎn，我们wǒmen坐zuò地铁dìtiě去qù。

    At eight. We'll take the subway.

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.

  • 公园里可以游泳吗？

    Gōngyuán lǐ kěyǐ yóuyǒng ma?

    Can you swim in the park?

  • 好！我早上喜欢在公园跑步。

    Hǎo! Wǒ zǎoshang xǐhuan zài gōngyuán pǎobù.

    Great! I like running in the park in the morning.

  • 星期天我们去公园玩儿，好吗？

    Xīngqītiān wǒmen qù gōngyuán wánr, hǎo ma?

    Shall we go to the park on Sunday?

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 公园 mean?

    1. where
    2. he, him
    3. park
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, park.

    公园 (gōngyuán) means park.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to have fun, to play”?

    1. 时间
    2. 玩儿
    3. 游泳
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 玩儿.

    “to have fun, to play” is 玩儿 (wánr).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 跑步 (to run, to jog)?

    1. pǎobù
    2. pǎobú
    3. pàobù
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, pǎobù.

    跑步 is read pǎobù. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    游泳 yóuyǒng

    1. to swim
    2. waiter, waitress
    3. behind, at the back
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, to swim.

    You heard 游泳 (yóuyǒng): to swim.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 公园 (park). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: gōngyuán

    公园 is gōngyuán in pinyin.

  6. Listening

    Listen. Which sentence did you hear?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    八点，我们坐地铁去。 Bā diǎn, wǒmen zuò dìtiě qù.

    1. OK! What time shall we go? How do we get there?
    2. No. We can play ball in the park.
    3. At eight. We'll take the subway.
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, At eight. We'll take the subway..

    You heard 八点，我们坐地铁去。 (Bā diǎn, wǒmen zuò dìtiě qù.): At eight. We'll take the subway.

  7. Grammar

    Which sentence means I run in the park?

    1. 我跑步在公园。
    2. 在我公园跑步。
    3. 我在公园跑步。
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 我在公园跑步。.

    我在公园跑步。 在 + place before the verb.

  8. In context

    A sign shows a swimmer with a red line through it. What does it mean?

    1. 这儿不可以游泳。
    2. 这儿可以游泳。
    3. 这儿有游泳。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 这儿不可以游泳。.

    这儿不可以游泳。: 不可以游泳: swimming is not allowed.

  9. Reading

    Read: 星期六早上，我和朋友去公园。我们在公园里跑步，也打球。中午我们在饭店吃饭。很有意思！ What did they do at noon?

    1. ate at a restaurant
    2. ran in the park
    3. played ball
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, ate at a restaurant.

    中午我们在饭店吃饭: they ate at a restaurant.

  10. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for to go to the park (to have fun)

    Show the answer

    Answer: 去公园玩儿

    去公园玩儿: go to the park.

Plan a day out

Plan a day out with friends, out loud, in five sentences. Record yourself and listen back.

  1. Say where and when you are going.
  2. Say how you will get there.
  3. Say two things you will do there, and one thing you can't do.

Sentence frames

  • 星期＿＿我们去＿＿玩儿。

    Xīngqī ＿＿ wǒmen qù ＿＿ wánr.

    On ... we're going to ...

  • 我们坐＿＿去。

    Wǒmen zuò ＿＿ qù.

    We'll take the ...

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 plan a day out: where, when, how and what.
  • I can say what is allowed with 可以 and 不可以.

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 8: Weather, health and celebrations, the last HSK 1 unit, which brings everything together.