School Activities
The words for what you do at school in Chinese - lessons, sport, music, clubs, trips and homework - each with its characters, how to say it, and its meaning.
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School activities in Chinese
This topic is about the activities you do at school - lessons, sport, music, clubs, trips and homework. Every word comes with its Chinese characters (Hanzi), the pinyin in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning. Chinese is read left to right, and the marks on the pinyin show the tone.
Words for school activities
Here are six to learn first. Each shows the characters, how to say it, and what it means.
What tǐyù means in Chinese
What does 体育 (tǐyù) mean?
- PE or sport
- Music
- Homework
- A library
Match each word to its English meaning
- 课 (kè)
- 作业 (zuòyè)
- 考试 (kǎoshì)
- 俱乐部 (jùlèbù)
- a lesson
- At home you do your homework (作业)
- an exam
- a club
How Chinese works
Two things to remember about the script. First, Chinese is read left to right, and each character stands for one syllable - 学校 (xuéxiào) is two characters, two syllables. Second, tones change the meaning. The same sound with different tones - mā, má, mǎ, mà - means mother, hemp, horse, scold. That is why the marks on the pinyin matter so much.
Which are activities?
Select the THREE words that are school ACTIVITIES, not objects.
- 体育 (tǐyù)
- 音乐 (yīnyuè)
- 旅行 (lǚxíng)
- 书 (shū)
- 笔 (bǐ)
More activity words
Four more, including the places where activities happen.
Match the characters to the pinyin
- 体育
- 音乐
- 图书馆
- 旅行
- tǐyù
- yīnyuè
- túshūguǎn
- lǚxíng
Where are you?
You go to the 图书馆 (túshūguǎn). What is it?
- The library
- The sports hall
- The music room
- The exam hall
How do you say it?
A lesson 课 is said _____. Homework 作业 is said _____. PE 体育 is said _____. A trip 旅行 is said _____.
Putting it together
Now you can talk about a whole school day. At school (学校) you sit in a lesson (课), you might do PE (体育) or music (音乐), and there may be an exam (考试). After lessons come clubs (俱乐部) and school trips (旅行), and at home there is always the homework (作业).
Order the school day
Put a normal school day into a sensible order. (Each step tags its Chinese word.)
- You arrive at school (学校)
- You have your first lesson (课)
- You do PE in the sports hall (体育)
- After lessons you go to a club (俱乐部)
- At home you do your homework (作业)
Pick the word
For each situation, choose the right Chinese word.
- You want to talk about your PE and sport at school.
- Lessons are over and you want to join an after-school club.
- The teacher gives you work to finish at home.
Read the script
Three questions about the Chinese script itself.
- In which direction is modern Chinese usually written and read?
- Why do the tone marks on pinyin matter?
- Which word is the Chinese for "school"?