Ambitions

Talking about the future 🎯

This module teaches the Chinese words for **ambitions, dreams and jobs**. Every word comes with three things: the **characters (Hanzi)**, the **pinyin** with tone marks to help you say it, and the **English meaning**. The little marks over the pinyin vowels are **tones** - they change how a word sounds and what it means, so say each word aloud. You will recognise the words here, not type them. (A native speaker should review the characters before launch.)

Dreams and plans 📖

Start with the words for the future and what you want from it:

Match each Chinese word to its English meaning 🔗

Which word? 🛠️

Which Chinese word means 'dream'?

• 梦想 (mèngxiǎng)
• 将来 (jiānglái)
• 工作 (gōngzuò)
• 职业 (zhíyè)

Jobs and professions 💼

Now some words for real jobs people might dream of doing: - 老师 (lǎoshī) = **teacher** - 医生 (yīshēng) = **doctor** - 工程师 (gōngchéngshī) = **engineer** - 记者 (jìzhě) = **journalist** Say each one aloud with its tones, and link the characters to the pinyin and the meaning.

Match each job to its English meaning 🧑‍🏫

Spot the jobs ✅

Select the TWO words that are names of jobs (professions).

• 老师 (lǎoshī)
• 医生 (yīshēng)
• 梦想 (mèngxiǎng)
• 将来 (jiānglái)

Two kinds of work ⚖️

Not all work is paid. Two words describe very different ways of working.

Which job? 🏗️

Which Chinese word means 'engineer'?

• 工程师 (gōngchéngshī)
• 老师 (lǎoshī)
• 医生 (yīshēng)
• 记者 (jìzhě)

Fill in the Chinese ✏️

In Chinese, a dream is _____, a job is _____, a teacher is _____, a doctor is _____, and a journalist is _____.

A path to a career 🪜

An interactive activity.

Choose the right word 🧭

An interactive activity.

Your turn: your ambition ✍️

An interactive activity.

The grade-9 habit 🌟

To master this vocabulary, link every word to **all three** of its forms: the **characters**, the **pinyin with its tones** so you can say it, and the **English meaning**. Keep the ideas that are easy to confuse clearly apart - a **梦想 (mèngxiǎng)**, a dream, versus a real **工作 (gōngzuò)**, a job, and unpaid **义工 (yìgōng)** volunteering versus paid work. Saying each word aloud with the correct tones, and testing yourself both ways, is what builds real recall.