Social Issues: Health and Friendship
Read Chinese characters for healthy living and friendship: staying healthy, seeing a doctor, and making friends.
Practise it before the paper, not after
Free, interactive practice on the words and structures the examiner keeps asking for.
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Health and friends
This module builds your Chinese for two everyday topics: looking after your health, and friendship.
Each example is a Chinese word with its English meaning. A full sentence looks like this: 我很健康 (wǒ hěn jiànkāng), meaning I am healthy.
Words for health
Start with four health words.
Match each friendship word
- 交朋友
- 男朋友
- 女朋友
- 爱
- to make friends
- a boyfriend
- a girlfriend
- to love
Characters build meaning
Chinese characters often join smaller meanings. 朋 and 友 both mean friend, so 朋友 (péngyǒu) means a friend, and 交朋友 means to make friends. Looking after your health matters too, and asking for help when you feel unwell is always fine.
Which word is a hospital?
Which Chinese word means a hospital?
- 医院
- 病
- 药
- 疼
Spot the two health words
Select the TWO words that are about health.
- 健康
- 药
- 交朋友
- 爱
Match each health word
- 疼
- 抽烟
- 烟
- 年轻
- pain
- to smoke
- a cigarette
- young
Health and friends
Reading the whole word tells you whether it is about looking after yourself or about people. Here are more of each.
Find the two health words
Tap the TWO words that are about health.
- 健康, healthy
- 交朋友, to make friends
- 药, medicine
- 爱, to love
Reading a sentence
Now read a full Chinese sentence:
我交朋友 (wǒ jiāo péngyǒu) = "I make friends". Parts: 我 (wǒ, "I"), 交 (jiāo, "to make"), then 朋友 (péngyǒu, "friends"). The two 朋友 characters both mean friend.
What does it say?
In 我交朋友 (wǒ jiāo péngyǒu), what does the person do?
- They make friends
- They feel ill
- They smoke
- They get married
Look after your health
Put the steps of looking after your health into a sensible order.
- Eat good food
- Exercise often
- Get enough sleep
- Avoid smoking
- See a doctor if you feel ill
Complete the health facts
Someone who looks after their body is _____. If you feel unwell you have an _____. You go to a _____ to see a doctor. The doctor may give you _____. Smoking a _____ is bad for your health.
Read the sign
Use what you know to read each Chinese word on a sign. Choose each time.
- A sign points to the 医院 (yīyuàn). Where does it lead?
- A notice bans 抽烟 (chōuyān) inside. What is not allowed?
- A leaflet is about staying 健康 (jiànkāng). What is it about?
Write about health and friends
In English, write about how you look after your health and what friendship means to you, using some of the Chinese words. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.
- Name two things you do to stay healthy
- Name one Chinese health word, such as 健康 or 医院, and its meaning
- Say why friends matter to you
- Write one full Chinese sentence with 我, for example 我很健康