Before the stories: grandma's photo album
HSK 4 Unit 10: Looking back, looking ahead · Lesson 7 of 8 · About 24 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can tell a family story from an old photo album, describe feelings such as lonely and sad, and say you can't believe something, with the family words of the HSK 4 stories.
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 一模一样 mean?
That is 遗憾 (yíhàn).
That is 理由 (lǐyóu).
Show the answer
Answer: B, exactly the same.
一模一样 (yìmú yíyàng) means exactly the same.
Characters
Which word means “box”?
回忆 (huíyì) means to recall, memory.
珍惜 (zhēnxī) means to cherish, to value.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 盒子.
“box” is 盒子 (hézi).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
营养 yíngyǎng
That would be 骆驼 (luòtuo).
That would be 调整 (tiáozhěng).
Show the answer
Answer: B, nutrition, nourishment.
You heard 营养 (yíngyǎng): nutrition, nourishment.
New words
Feelings and memories
老家 is the place your family comes from, often a village. 距离 is distance: A和B的距离, or A离B很远.
老家和城市的距离很远。
Lǎojiā hé chéngshì de jùlí hěn yuǎn.
It's a long way from the hometown to the city.
孤单 is lonely, being on your own. 伤心 is sad, deeply hurt.
一个人在家，她常常觉得很孤单。
Yí gè rén zài jiā, tā chángcháng juéde hěn gūdān.
Alone at home, she often felt lonely.
悄悄 (qiāoqiāo) + 地 + verb: to do something quietly, without others noticing.
他悄悄地走进了房间。
Tā qiāoqiāo de zǒujìn le fángjiān.
He quietly walked into the room.
相信 is to believe: 我不相信 I don't believe it.
Characters
- 姑 = 女
- 娘 = 女
- 穷 = 穴
- 距 = 足
- 孤 = 子
- 伤 = 亻
- 陌 = 阝
- 悄 = 忄
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
Grandma's photo album
Liu Fang shows Sophie an old photo album from her grandmother.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Listening
Listen first. How old was grandma in the photo?
Show the answer
Answer: A, eighteen.
是她十八岁的时候拍的.
Listening
Why did grandpa come home only once a year?
Show the answer
Answer: A, The city was too far away..
老家和城市的距离太远了.
Listening
Who was the stranger at the door?
Show the answer
Answer: B, grandpa.
原来是爷爷回来了.
Show the transcript
苏菲
这是什么？
What's this?
刘芳
这是我奶奶的相册。你看，这是我的老家，一个很小的村子。
It's my grandma's photo album. Look, this is my family's hometown, a tiny village.
苏菲
这个美丽的姑娘是谁？
Who is this beautiful young woman?
刘芳
就是我奶奶！是她十八岁的时候拍的。
That's my grandma! It was taken when she was eighteen.
苏菲
那时候你们家怎么样？
What was your family like at that time?
刘芳
很穷。爷爷去城里工作，可是老家和城市的距离太远了，他一年只能回家一次。奶奶一个人在家，常常觉得很孤单。
Very poor. Grandpa went to work in the city, but it was too far from the village, so he could only come home once a year. Grandma was alone at home and often felt lonely.
苏菲
她一定很伤心吧。
She must have been very sad.
刘芳
是啊。有一天晚上，一个陌生人来到她家门口。奶奶很害怕，可是那个人悄悄地说：“别怕，是我！”原来是爷爷回来了！
Yes. One night a stranger came to her door. Grandma was frightened, but the man said quietly, “Don't be afraid, it's me!” It was Grandpa, back home!
苏菲
真的吗？我不相信！
Really? I can't believe it!
刘芳
是真的！他走了很远的路，就是想让奶奶高兴。
It's true! He walked a long way just to make her happy.
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.
Recordings stay in this browser tab: nothing is uploaded, and they disappear when you leave the page unless you save a copy of a task recording to your device yourself. Your browser asks for the microphone first.
Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
这个美丽的姑娘是谁？
Zhège měilì de gūniang shì shéi?
Who is this beautiful young woman?
这是我奶奶的相册。你看，这是我的老家，一个很小的村子。
Zhè shì wǒ nǎinai de xiàngcè. Nǐ kàn, zhè shì wǒ de lǎojiā, yí gè hěn xiǎo de cūnzi.
It's my grandma's photo album. Look, this is my family's hometown, a tiny village.
她一定很伤心吧。
Tā yídìng hěn shāngxīn ba.
She must have been very sad.
Practice
Meaning
What does 相册 mean?
That is 结婚 (jiéhūn).
That is 三 (sān).
Show the answer
Answer: C, photo album.
相册 (xiàngcè) means photo album.
Characters
Which word means “hometown, ancestral home”?
孤单 (gūdān) means lonely.
伤心 (shāngxīn) means sad, heartbroken.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 老家.
“hometown, ancestral home” is 老家 (lǎojiā).
Word order
Put the words in order: Who is this beautiful young woman?
- 姑娘
- 这个
- 的
- 美丽
- 是
- 谁
Show the answer
这个美丽的姑娘是谁 Zhège měilì de gūniang shì shéi?
Who is this beautiful young woman?
这个美丽的姑娘是谁？ The sentence comes from this lesson's text.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
美丽 měilì
That would be 希望 (xīwàng).
That would be 预订 (yùdìng).
Show the answer
Answer: A, beautiful.
You heard 美丽 (měilì): beautiful.
Your turn
Recall: type the Chinese for “poor” (characters or pinyin).
Show the answer
Answer: 穷
“poor” is 穷 (qióng).
Listening
Listen. Which sentence did you hear?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
就是我奶奶！是她十八岁的时候拍的。 Jiù shì wǒ nǎinai! Shì tā shíbā suì de shíhou pāi de.
Show the answer
Answer: B, That's my grandma! It was taken when she was eighteen..
You heard 就是我奶奶！是她十八岁的时候拍的。 (Jiù shì wǒ nǎinai! Shì tā shíbā suì de shíhou pāi de.): That's my grandma! It was taken when she was eighteen.
In context
Your friend tells you something surprising. How do you react?
Show the answer
Answer: B, 真的吗？我不相信！.
真的吗？我不相信！: 我不相信: I don't believe it.
Grammar
Which sentence stresses when the photo was taken?
Show the answer
Answer: A, 是她十八岁的时候拍的。.
是她十八岁的时候拍的。 是…的 stresses when.
Fill the gap
Complete: alone at home, she felt lonely.
一个人在家，她觉得很＿＿。
Show the answer
Answer: B, 孤单.
她觉得很孤单。 孤单: lonely.
Reading
Read: 我的老家在一个小村子里，离北京有一千多公里。小时候家里很穷，可是我们一家人在一起，很快乐。 Was the writer's childhood happy?
Show the answer
Answer: A, Yes, the family was together..
我们一家人在一起，很快乐.
Word order
Put the words in order: He quietly walked into the room.
- 房间
- 走进了
- 悄悄地
- 他
Show the answer
他悄悄地走进了房间 Tā qiāoqiāo de zǒujìn le fángjiān.
He quietly walked into the room.
他悄悄地走进了房间。 悄悄地 + verb.
Tell a family story
Look at an old photo of your family (or imagine one) and tell its story out loud in eight to ten sentences.
- Say who is in the photo and when it was taken with 是…的.
- Describe the place and what life was like: 穷, 远, 孤单.
- End with a surprising moment and a reaction: 我不相信！
Sentence frames
这是＿＿的时候拍的。
Zhè shì ＿＿ de shíhou pāi de.
This was taken when ...
那时候我们家＿＿。
Nà shíhou wǒmen jiā ＿＿.
At that time our family ...
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 tell a family story from a photo.
- I can describe feelings with 孤单 and 伤心, and react with 我不相信.
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: Before the stories: a concert, an injury and a ghost film