Jobs, Career Choices and Ambitions

Jobs and ambitions

This module builds your Chinese for jobs: naming jobs, talking about work, and saying what you want to be. Each example is a Chinese word with its English meaning. A full sentence looks like this: 我想当医生 (wǒ xiǎng dāng yīshēng), meaning I want to be a doctor.

Four jobs

Start with four jobs.

Match each job

Two job endings

Two characters end many job words. 家 (jiā) marks an expert, so 科学家 is a scientist and 作家 is a writer. 师 (shī) marks a trained worker, so 厨师 is a chef and 工程师 is an engineer. Spot the ending and you can guess the job.

Which word is a doctor?

Which Chinese word means a doctor?

• 医生
• 护士
• 厨师
• 司机

Spot the two jobs

Select the TWO words that are jobs people do.

• 医生
• 护士
• 工资
• 理想

Match each work word

Jobs and work

Reading the whole word tells you whether it names a job or something about work. Here are more of each.

Find the two jobs

Tap the TWO words that are jobs.

• 医生, a doctor
• 工资, a wage
• 护士, a nurse
• 目标, an aim

Reading a sentence

Now read a full Chinese sentence: 我有理想 (wǒ yǒu lǐxiǎng) = "I have a dream". Parts: 我 (wǒ, "I"), 有 (yǒu, "to have"), then 理想 (lǐxiǎng, "a dream or ideal").

What does it say?

In 我有理想 (wǒ yǒu lǐxiǎng), what does the person have?

• A dream
• A wage
• A job as a doctor
• A colleague

Getting a job

Put the steps of working towards a job into a sensible order.

• Decide your ambition
• Learn the skills you need
• Read a job advert
• Apply for the job
• Start your new job

Complete the jobs facts

Someone who treats sick people is a _____. Someone who cares for patients is a _____. The money you are paid for work is a _____. Something you hope to achieve is your _____. A person you work with is a _____.

Read the notice

Use what you know to read each Chinese word on a notice. Choose each time.

• A hospital is looking for a 医生 (yīshēng). Who is wanted?
• A kitchen advert wants a 厨师 (chúshī). Who is wanted?
• A contract lists your monthly 工资 (gōngzī). What does it show?

Write about your ambitions

In English, write about the job you would like to do one day and why, using some of the Chinese words. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.

• Name the job you would like to do, with its Chinese word
• Explain why that job appeals to you
• Name one thing about work, such as the wage or a colleague
• Write one full Chinese sentence with 我, for example 我想当医生