What School Is Like
Learn the Chinese words for school: the teacher, the lesson, the book and more. Every word comes with its characters, the pinyin to help you say it, and the English meaning.
Practise it before the paper, not after
Free, interactive practice on the words and structures the examiner keeps asking for.
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School in Chinese
This topic is about school. 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.
Classroom words in Chinese
Learn these school words:
Match each Chinese word to its English meaning
- 学校 (xuéxiào)
- 老师 (lǎoshī)
- 学生 (xuéshēng)
- 书 (shū)
- Go to school (学校, xuéxiào)
- teacher
- student
- book
The Chinese word for a teacher
Which Chinese word means 'a teacher'?
- 老师 (lǎoshī)
- 学生 (xuéshēng)
- 书 (shū)
- 教室 (jiàoshì)
How the script works
Two things about written Chinese. First, it is read left to right, and each character (Hanzi) stands for a syllable or word. Second, the pinyin in brackets shows how to say it, and the marks show the tone. So 学校 (xuéxiào) means school and 书 (shū) means book. Learn the character, the pinyin and the tone together.
School words
Select the TWO words connected with school.
- 课 (kè)
- 考试 (kǎoshì)
- 大海 (dàhǎi)
- 妈妈 (māma)
Match each Chinese word to how it is said
- 教室
- 铅笔
- 作业
- 学生
- jiàoshì
- qiānbǐ
- zuòyè
- xuéshēng
How do you say it?
The school 学校 is said _____. The teacher 老师 is said _____. A book 书 is said _____. A lesson 课 is said _____.
Order the school day
Put a school day in a sensible order.
- Go to school (学校, xuéxiào)
- Sit in the classroom (教室, jiàoshì)
- Study a lesson (课, kè)
- Do your homework (作业, zuòyè)
The Chinese word for an exam
Which Chinese word means 'an exam'?
- 考试 (kǎoshì)
- 铅笔 (qiānbǐ)
- 教室 (jiàoshì)
- 学生 (xuéshēng)
Saying the school words in Chinese
At school 学校 (said _____), a student 学生 (said _____) studies a lesson 课 (said _____) with a teacher 老师 (said _____).
A school day
Choose the right Chinese word for each school situation.
- You want to say 'a book'. You choose:
- You need the word for 'a teacher'. You choose:
- To say 'homework', you choose:
Use what you know
Use what you know about Chinese to make each choice.
- Written Chinese is read in which direction?
- The marks above the pinyin letters show the...
- 'A school' in Chinese is:
Well done
You have met the key Chinese school words: 学校 (xuéxiào, school), 老师 (lǎoshī, teacher), 学生 (xuéshēng, student), 课 (kè, lesson), 书 (shū, book) and 考试 (kǎoshì, exam). Keep practising the characters, the pinyin and the tones together.