My Studies

My studies in Chinese

This module builds your Chinese for studying: the people at school, and the words for teaching, learning and homework. Each example is a Chinese word with its English meaning. A full sentence looks like this: 我是学生 (wǒ shì xuéshēng), meaning I am a student.

People and study

Start with four words about school people and study.

Match each study word

Two useful characters

Many study words share 学 (xué, to learn) or 教 (jiāo, to teach). Spotting one of these inside a longer word tells you it is about studying. Read the whole word, then check for a character you already know.

Which word is a teacher?

Which Chinese word means a teacher?

• 老师
• 学生
• 校长
• 科目

Spot the two people

Select the TWO words that are people at school.

• 老师
• 校长
• 作业
• 课

Match each school word

Doing and being

Reading the whole word tells you whether it is something you do or someone or something at school. Here are more to read.

Find the two people

Tap the TWO words that are people at school.

• 老师, a teacher
• 作业, homework
• 学生, a student
• 科目, a subject

Reading a sentence

Now read a full Chinese sentence: 我有作业 (wǒ yǒu zuòyè) = "I have homework". Parts: 我 (wǒ, "I"), 有 (yǒu, "to have"), then 作业 (zuòyè, "homework").

What does it say?

In 我有作业 (wǒ yǒu zuòyè), what does the person have?

• Homework
• A lesson
• A teacher
• A subject

A lesson

Put the steps of a lesson into a sensible order.

• The teacher arrives
• The teacher explains the subject
• The students learn
• A student asks a question
• The teacher sets homework

Complete the study facts

A person who teaches a class is a _____. A person who learns is a _____. The head of a school is the _____. Work you do at home is _____. Someone who learns quickly is _____.

Read the notice

Use what you know to read each Chinese word around school. Choose each time.

• A door is labelled for the 老师 (lǎoshī). Who uses it?
• A planner lists your 作业 (zuòyè). What is it?
• A sign points to the office of the 校长 (xiàozhǎng). Whose office is it?

Write about your studies

In English, write about your studies and the people who help you learn, using some of the Chinese words. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.

• Name one person at school, with the Chinese word
• Say one thing you do to study, such as homework or a lesson
• Explain how the character 学 helps you read study words
• Write one full Chinese sentence with 我, for example 我是学生