Breakthrough Mandarin Link-Global Online Learning

Breakthrough Mandarin link-global online learning

This e-book is designed for use in conjunction with the online lessons from www.link-global.com The course takes you by easy steps to gain the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing Mandarin Chinese.

Irene Leung M.Sc. (London), A.C.I.S. Lizzy Chu B.A. Hons. (Suzhou), M.Sc., Advanced Mandarin Teaching Cert. (Hanban)

Associate Editors

Theresa Munford B.A. Hons. (Durham), Ph.D. (Australian National University) Ian Morris M.A. (Oxon), formerly one of Her Majesty’s Circuit Judges

The online lessons are endorsed by OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations) for use with the Asset Languages Chinese (Mandarin) Breakthrough specification

Published by link-global limited

Published by link-global ltd 79, Friar Street, Worcester WR1 2NT

* All rights reserved. Save for use with the link-global Breakthrough online lessons no part of this book may be re-printed or re-produced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.

Visit our website at www.link-global.com to purchase our online lessons

ISBN 978-0-9567286-1-6

Section 1 - Introduction ...... 8 www.link-global.com ...... 8 The Unique link-global Lesson Screen ...... 8 Scheme of Work ...... 11

Section 2 - Pinyin Lesson ...... 13 Chapter 1 - Pinyin / Syllable ...... 13 The Syllable ...... 14 Chapter 2 - The Tones ...... 15 1st tone mā ...... 15 2nd tone má ...... 16 3rd tone mǎ ...... 16 4th tone mà ...... 16 Neutral tone ma ...... 16 Listen and Practise the Tones ...... 17 Chapter 3 - Initials ...... 18 Initials - b, p, m, f ...... 18 Initials - d, t, n, l ...... 19 Initials - g, k, h ...... 19 Initials - j, q, x ...... 19 Initials - zh, ch, sh, r ...... 19 Initials - z, c, s ...... 19 Chapter 4 - Finals ...... 20 Finals - Single Vowels a, o, e ...... 21 Finals - Single Vowels i ...... 21 Finals - Single Vowels u, ü, er ...... 21 Finals - Compound Vowels - ao, ai, ia, ua ...... 21 Finals - Compound Vowels - ou, uo, ei, ie ...... 22 Finals - Compound Vowels - iao, iou(iu), uai, uei(ui), üe ...... 22 Finals - Combined with Vowels and n / ng (1) ...... 22 Finals - Combined with Vowels and n / ng (2) ...... 22 Finals - Combined with Vowels and n / ng (3) ...... 23 Finals - Combined with Vowels and n / ng (4) ...... 23 Chapter 5 - The Changing of Tone ...... 24 The Changing of Tone (i) Consecutive 3rd tones ...... 24 The Changing of Tone (ii) 一 (yi) ...... 25 The Changing of Tone (iii) 不 (bu) ...... 25 The Changing of Tone (iv) 一 (yi) or 不 (bu) in the middle of a phrase ...... 26

Section 3 - Breakthrough – Basics of Chinese Character Writing ...... 27 What are Chinese characters? ...... 27 Why do we need to learn Chinese characters? ...... 27 Characters written with calligraphy brushes / ordinary pens ...... 27 Chapter 1 - Basic strokes ...... 28 Chapter 2 - Combined Strokes ...... 29 Chapter 3 - How are stokes put together? ...... 32 Detached ...... 32 Joined ...... 32 Crossed ...... 32

Copyright © link-global ltd 2010* 3 Chapter 4 - Rules of stroke order ...... 33 Stroke order - First horizontal, then vertical 十 (shí) ...... 33 Stroke order - First left-falling, then right-falling 人 (rén) ...... 33 Stroke order - From top to bottom 三 (sān) ...... 33 Stroke order - From left to right 川 (chuān) ...... 34 Stroke order - First outside, then inside 月 (yuè) ...... 34 Stroke order - Finish inside, then close 四 (sì) ...... 34 Stroke order - Middle, then left, then right 小 (xiǎo) ...... 34 Chapter 5 - Radicals ...... 35 亻 , 氵 , 冫, 灬 , 火 , 宀 , 钅 , 忄 , 讠 , ⺮ , 饣 , 犭 , 扌 , 女 , 口 , 日 , 月 ...... 35 Chapter 6 - The components of Chinese characters ...... 40 Pictures ...... 40 Indicators ...... 40 Phonetic + meaning ...... 41 Meaning + meaning ...... 41

Section 4 - Breakthrough – Grammar and Linguistic Structures ...... 42 Chapter 1 - Subject + Verb + Object ...... 43 Chapter 2 - Pronouns – Singular and Plural ...... 44 Chapter 3 - Pronouns – ‘这 zhè’ (this) and ‘那 nà’ (that) ...... 45 Chapter 4 - Verbs – No Change of Form for Person ...... 46 Chapter 5 - Verbs – No Tenses ...... 47 Chapter 6 - Possession – using the character ‘的 de’ ...... 48 Chapter 7 - Possession - without using the character ‘的 de’ ...... 49 Chapter 8 - Modification of Nouns ...... 50 Chapter 9 - Statements (1) – using the verb ‘是 shì’ (to be) ...... 51 Chapter 10 - Statements (2) – using the verb ‘有 yǒu’ (to have) ...... 52 Chapter 11 - Statements (3) – making statements without verbs ...... 53 Chapter 12 - Statements (4) – Stative Verbs: making statements using adjectives as verbs ...... 54 Chapter 13 - Statements (5) – Modal Verbs ...... 55 Chapter 14 - Negative Statements (1) – making a statement a negative one using ‘不 bù’ (no/not) before the verb ...... 56 Chapter 15 - Negative Statements (2) – making a statement a negative one using ‘没有 méiyǒu’ (do not have) ...... 57 Chapter 16 - Negative Statements (3) – the use of ‘不 bu’ (no/not) with Stative Verbs ...... 58 Chapter 17 - Negative Statements (4) – the use of ‘不 bu’ (no/not) with Modal Verbs ...... 59 Chapter 18 - Question Words (1) – ‘吗 ma’ ...... 60 Chapter 19 - Question Words (2) – ‘谁 shéi’ (who), ‘什么 shénme’ (what), ‘哪儿 nǎr’(where) and ‘几 jǐ’ (how many) ...... 61 Chapter 20 - Question Words (3) – ‘吧 ba’ and ‘呢 ne’ ...... 62 Chapter 21 - Adverbial phrases before the verb (1) - Time ...... 63 Chapter 22 - Adverbial phrases before the verb (2) - ‘都 dōu’ (all) and ‘也 yě’ (also) ...... 64

Section 5 - Course Lessons, each lesson with online Interactive Listening & Reading Tests ...... 67 Breakthrough 1 - Introducing Myself and My Family (Including Age, Nationality; Language; Occupation) ...... 67 Breakthrough 2 - Food and Drink (Asking Simple Questions; Likes / Dislikes; Giving Simple Opinions) ...... 70 Breakthrough 3 - Numbers / Measure Words (Using Numbers; Expressing Quantities; Ages) .... 73 Breakthrough 4 - Expressing Time (Telling the Time; Days of the Week; Months and Dates) ..... 79 Breakthrough 5 - My Home (Including Location; Size; Furnishings; Colours; Pets) ...... 84 Breakthrough 6 - At School (Greetings; Saying 'Thank You'; Saying 'Sorry') ...... 88 Breakthrough 7 - Shopping (Asking / Answering Questions; Expressing Simple Opinions) ...... 91 Breakthrough 8 - Interests and Hobbies (Abilities; Giving / Following Simple Instruction) ...... 95

Section 6 – Writing Sheets ...... 99 Nouns (Family and Friends) ...... 99 Nouns (School and Jobs) ...... 107 Nouns (Countries and Languages) ...... 111 Nouns (Food and Drink) ...... 117 Numbers ...... 122 Colours ...... 126 Time and Dates ...... 127 Stative Verbs ...... 128 Measure Words ...... 130 Question Words ...... 132 Particles ...... 135 Adverbs and Conjunctions...... 136 Verbs ...... 138 Pronouns ...... 150

Section 7 - Breakthrough - Revision Interactive Workbook ...... 155 Chapter 1 - Breakthrough Listening Grade 1 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 156 Chapter 2 - Breakthrough Listening Grade 2 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 160 Chapter 3 - Breakthrough Listening Grade 3 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 164 Chapter 4 - Breakthrough Reading Grade 1 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 168 Chapter 5 - Breakthrough Reading Grade 2 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 172 Chapter 6 - Breakthrough Reading Grade 3 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 176 Chapter 7 - Breakthrough Writing Grade 1 Task 1 ...... 180 Chapter 8 - Breakthrough Writing Grade 1 Task 2 ...... 181 Chapter 9 - Breakthrough Writing Grade 2 Task 1 ...... 182 Chapter 10 - Breakthrough Writing Grade 2 Task 2 ...... 183 Chapter 11 - Breakthrough Writing Grade 3 Task 1 ...... 184 Chapter 12 - Breakthrough Writing Grade 3 Task 2 ...... 185

Copyright © link-global ltd 2010* 5 Section 8 - Answers - Breakthrough - Revision Interactive Workbook ...... 186 Answers - Chapter 1 - Breakthrough Listening Grade 1 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 186 Answers – Chapter 2 – Breakthrough Listening Grade 2 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 186 Answers – Chapter 3 – Breakthrough Listening Grade 3 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 187 Answers – Chapter 4 – Breakthrough Reading Grade 1 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 187 Answers – Chapter 5 – Breakthrough Reading Grade 2 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 188 Answers – Chapter 6 – Breakthrough Reading Grade 3 Tasks 1 to 4 ...... 188 Possible Answers – Chapter 9 – Breakthrough Writing Grade 2 Task 1 ...... 189 Possible Answers – Chapter 10 – Breakthrough Writing Grade 2 Task 2 ...... 189 Possible Answers – Chapter 11 – Breakthrough Writing Grade 3 Task 1 ...... 189 Answers – Chapter 12 – Breakthrough Writing Grade 3 Task 2 ...... 190

Section 9 - Optional Activities ...... 191 Breakthrough 1 - Introducing Myself and My Family ...... 191 1A Draw lines to match the character to the translation ...... 191 1B Choose the correct Chinese words to fill in the blanks ...... 192 1C Make Chinese sentences (subject + verb + object) ...... 193 1D Chinese Names ...... 196 Breakthrough 2 - Food and Drink ...... 198 2A Match the sentence to the translation ...... 198 2B Make Chinese sentences ...... 199 2C Role Play ...... 200 Breakthrough 3 - Numbers / Measure Words ...... 201 3A Complete the following table ...... 201 3B Magic Square ...... 202 3C Finger Signs for Numbers ...... 202 3D Noughts and Crosses ...... 203 Breakthrough 4 - Expressing Time ...... 204 4A Draw the time on the clock ...... 204 4B Complete the following tables in Chinese ...... 205 4C Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow ...... 207 4D Chinese Zodiac ...... 208 Breakthrough 5 - My Home ...... 210 5A Complete the following table in Chinese ...... 210 5B Choose the correct Chinese words to fill in the blanks ...... 211 5C Chinese Characters ...... 213 Breakthrough 6 - At School ...... 214 6A Choose the correct Chinese words to fill in the blanks ...... 214 6B Spot the differences and discuss in Chinese ...... 215 Breakthrough 7 - Shopping ...... 216 7A Spot the differences and discuss in Chinese ...... 216 7B Choose the correct Chinese words to fill in the blanks ...... 217 7C Chinese Currency ...... 218 7D What is the total cost? ...... 220 Breakthrough 8 - Interests and Hobbies ...... 222 8A Wordsearch ...... 222 8B Tongue Twisters and Poems ...... 223

Copyright © link-global ltd 2010* 6 Section 10 - Answers – Optional Activities ...... 226 Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 1 ...... 226 Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 2 ...... 227 Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 3 ...... 228 Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 4 ...... 230 Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 5 ...... 233 Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 6 ...... 236 Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 7 ...... 238 Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 8 ...... 240

Section 1 - Introduction www.link-global.com

You should use this book ‘Breakthrough Mandarin: link-global online learning’ in conjunction with our www.link-global.com online lessons as you learn Chinese.

You will find that the course programme is very flexible; ideal for both mainstream teaching and/or extra-curricular use. It is also suitable for adult learners. The main prerequisite of learning a new language is regular practice and the link-global programme makes that easy for you whether you are a teacher or a student. It uses modern technology as a teaching aid in the classroom, backed up by home study on your own computer at home.

The Unique link-global Lesson Screen

Let’s get you started then. We suggest that you close any other programmes as they may distort the sound and/or video. Now enter www.link-global.com and if you have not already done so, register. From the registration screen you will be able to go immediately to the lessons you have purchased.

If you have already registered and paid online then simply log in entering your email address and password, and click on the lesson tab. Now from the list of lessons click on the ‘Breakthrough - Grammar and Linguistics Structures’ lesson. This is where we intend to start introducing you to the unique lesson screen. Please note in passing that this is the way all lessons can be opened. You will now see the following screen with the lesson open and showing its first Chapter:

Copyright © link-global ltd 2010* 8 You will hear a tutor introduce ‘Chapter 1 – Subject + Verb + Object’. You can repeat what he said at any time by clicking ‘Listen to this Page Again’ which appears on the left hand side of your screen.

There are two dialogue boxes below the heading ‘Breakthrough – Grammar and Linguistic Structures’.

Click on the arrow to the right of the top box where it says

The list of all the other chapters in the lesson will immediately open.

You can see how many pages each Chapter contains so that you can plan your learning time and ensure you don’t miss any out!

Now click on the arrow on the right of the box underneath where it says

A total of six other combinations can be shown on the lesson screen. Use them to test yourself as you work through the lesson. For example, you might click to change to ‘Showing: Chinese Characters only’

and ask yourself, ‘Can I read and pronounce the Chinese characters correctly?’

Copyright © link-global ltd 2010* 9 Scheme of Work This Scheme of Work is designed to take you through the Breakthrough Course in a normal length academic year. If it takes you a shorter or longer time that does not matter. Take your time and make sure you have understood the lesson you are working on before moving on, so that solid foundations are in place. If you are a teacher the Scheme of Work is particularly helpful to enable you to plan your timetabling of the lessons. As a guide, to achieve an optimum chance of success in the OCR Breakthrough level examination at the end of a single academic year we recommend that each student should have a minimum of 30 hours of formal classroom teaching led from the interactive computer screen supplemented by practice at home using their individual online access on their own computers for sufficient time between formal lessons to have learnt the material taught in the last formal lesson. The time taken to reach Breakthrough level should be regarded as flexible to meet both teachers’ availability and students’ mixed abilities. The references are given to Chapters and pages in the relevant online lessons.

Characters shown References to the References to the Optional Exercises Lesson on pdf. Writing Language Purposes ‘Grammar and Linguistic ‘Basics of Chinese See Section 9 of e-book. Number References to the Pinyin Lesson Sheets (in correct and Functions Structures’ Lesson Characters Writing’ The activities shown (Notes 1 & 2) stroke order) (Note 3) Lesson below may also be used. (Note 4) Chapter 1 Chapter 1 (page 1, lines 1 Getting Started • What is Pinyin? to 3) Introduction of • The syllable : initial + final + tone Chapter 1 • Origins of Chinese Traditional politeness, link-global Chapter 2 Subject + Verb + Object characters; courtesy methodology – • The four tones + neutral tone • Pictographs; – online tutorial (Listen & Practise the Tones: 6 pages • Calligraphy brushes / with 16 syllables on each page) ordinary pen Chapters 2 人，岁，会，说， Name order in Chinese; Breakthrough 1: Giving Simple Pronouns — Singular and Chapter 1 (page 1 lines 4 to 叫，爸，妈，哥， meaning of names, Introducing Information; People; Plural 8 & page 2) Chapter 3 : Initials (Introduction) 姐，弟，妹， traditional way of greeting; Myself and My Ages; Nationalities; Chapters 3 • The eight basic strokes Choosing a Chinese name Family Languages Pronouns – ‘这 zhè’ and ‘那 with examples 朋友，北京， from its meaning; nà’ Chinese cuisine / Chapter 4 : Finals (Introduction) Chapters 4 Giving Simple 吃，喝，米，饭， importance of tea / tea • 6 basic single vowels: a o e i u ü Verbs – No change of form Breakthrough 2: Opinions; Asking Chapter 2 (pages 1 to 3) 肉，茶，菜，多， ceremony, YouTube video • Compound vowels: for person Food and Drink Simple Questions; Combined Strokes 少，不，和， on Tea ceremony, 2 vowels or 3 vowels joined together Chapters 5 Likes and Dislikes demonstration of tea Verbs - no tenses 面条，喜欢 • Combination of vowels and n, ng ceremony. Chapter 3 (line 1) Chapters 6 • Initials: b p m f Finger counting; Chapter 4 (page 1, lines 1 to 3) Possession – with 的一，二，两，三， Breakthrough 3: Chapter 3 Number counting games; Using Numbers; Ages; • Finals: Practise: a o e i u ü er Chapters 7 四，五，六，七， Numbers and How are strokes put Tongue twisters: Expressing Quantity Possession – without 的八，九，十，了， Measure Words • Combination of Initials, Finals and together? “四是四，十是十-----” tones Chapters 8 家，猫，吗 “一去二三里 -----” (Play the sound on each example and Modification of Nouns practise) Chapter 3 (lines 2 and 3) Chapters 9 Practise dates on • Initials: d t n l g k h Statements (1) – verb ‘是 shì’ 点，天，月， calendar; Breakthrough 4: Chapter 4 (page 1, lines 4 to 6) Chapters 10 Clock, Months, Dates, Chapter 4 星期，生日，我， Practise stating the time Expressing • Finals: compound finals (vowels) Statements (2) – verb ‘有 yǒu Days in a week Rules of stoke order 你，几，在，的， on a clock; Time Chapter 2 (Refer to bullet points on page Chapters 11 Make sentences without 1) 呢 Statements (3) – without verbs; • Rules for marking tones verbs Copyright © link-global ltd 2010* 11

Chapter 3 (line 4) • Initials: j q x (pay attention to the diagram) Describing Colour, Chapter 4 (page 1, lines 7 & 8, page 2 ) Chapters 12 个，只，住，黑， Traditional Chinese family Breakthrough 5: size, location, • Finals: compound finals (vowels + n, Statements (4) – Stative Verbs Chapter 5 (pages 1) 白，狗，是， hierarchy; My Home possession, ng) Radicals Chapters 13 Statements (5) – 什么，孩子，上海 Basic Confucian concepts; appearance • Combination of Initials, Finals and Modal Verbs tones (Play the sound on each example and practise) Chapter 3 (line 5) Initials: z c s (pay attention to the Chapters 14 to 17 Greetings; diagram) Chapter 6 Negative Statements (1)-(4) Flags - countries, Responding to Chapter 4 • The components of 大，小，学，好， Breakthrough 6: • ‘不 bu’ and verb languages in Chinese; Greetings; • Finals: review all the finals Chinese characters 谁，来，工作， At School • ‘没有 méiyǒu’ Short video of school life in Expressing Thanks; • Combination of Initials, Finals and • How to form Chinese 英国，中文，老师 • ‘不 bu’ and Stative Verbs China; Apologising tones characters? (Play the sound on each example and • ‘不 bu’ and Modal Verbs practise) Chapter 3 (line 6) A set of Chinese currency • Initials: zh ch sh r – formal and colloquial (pay attention to the diagram) Expressing Opinions; Chapters 18 to 20 这，那，去，很， terms; Significance of Breakthrough 7: • Combination of Initials, Finals and Chapter 5 (page 2) Asking and Answering Questions words (1) - (3) 要，没有，牛奶， colour red – Chinese New Shopping tones Radicals Questions 吗, 谁, 什么, 哪儿, 几, 吧, 呢水果，哪儿, 吧 Year, Lucky red money • Review all the initials and finials envelopes; Weddings, 5- (Play the sound on each example and star flag; practise) Chapters 21 to 23 Adverbial phrases before the verb (1) - (3) 他，她，们， Breakthrough 8: Expressing ability; • Time What people like to do in Chapters 5 Chapter 5 (Page 3) 看书，电脑，视， Interests / Following / Giving • ‘都 dōu’ and ‘也 yě’ their spare time in England The Changing of Tones Radicals 影，做，打球， Hobbies Simple Instructions • Place and in China 跑步, 也, 都， Chapters 24 Adverbial phrases after the Verb Revision Interactive Testing of Skills (12 interactive Listening Tests, 12 interactive Reading tests and 6 Writing Tests) - “Can Do” Statements – see individual Test Workbook

Note 1: Learners can change the display options to ‘Pinyin only’ or ‘Chinese Characters only’ in the left panel to test themselves. They can check their oral pronunciation by then clicking each red line to play the video. They can check their answers in relation to recognition of the characters by then clicking on each character to start the animation display as to how it is written. Note 2: Lessons Breakthrough 1 to Breakthrough 8 each contain 16 interactive Listening Tests and 16 interactive Reading Tests. Note 3: There are 24 chapters in the Grammar and Linguistic Structure Lesson. Each chapter contains 8 examples – click the blue lines to show the Grammar Structure, click the red lines to play the video. Note 4: In Breakthrough lessons 1 to 8, the last chapter is a pdf file with lesson contents and writing sheets which may be printed off. For writing practice, we recommend five new characters each lesson. We recommend that at the following classroom lesson students should be tested on the characters learnt during the previous lesson.

Chapter 1 - Pinyin / Syllable

The Chinese officially adopted Pinyin in the late 1950s as a way of expressing the Chinese pronunciation using the Roman alphabet. Pinyin is a language tool which allows Mandarin to be pronounced by Western students more easily. This lesson shows you the rudiments of how Pinyin provides help in pronouncing Mandarin. It is a lesson that you will find helpful to work your way through now but also to come back to from time to time to check and ensure that your pronunciation is correct and developing.

For those who speak English, fortunately the sounds of Mandarin words are not that difficult to pronounce, as many of them have equivalent sounds in English pronunciation. You may, however, find that pronouncing Mandarin is challenging at times because of its use of tones to raise and lower ‘pitch’ on certain syllables. This is a challenge which we must help you to meet because in Mandarin the use of a different tone can drastically alter a word’s meaning, as you will see.

Learning some of these basics at an early stage will give you an understanding that will gradually then enhance the quality of your Mandarin when it comes to the four main elements that we will be teaching you: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Nevertheless the main early concentration in the lessons will be on listening and speaking.

In Chinese, each character corresponds to a single syllable. Each syllable has three elements: an initial (a beginning sound), a final (an ending sound) and a tone. The initial sounds are all consonants and the final sounds contain at least one vowel. Although it will not mean much to you at this stage, let us give you an example so you start to hear the tones yourself. In bā (八), ‘b’ is the initial and ‘a’ the final, and the syllable is in the 1st tone.

What are Chinese characters?

Why do we need to learn Chinese characters?

Diversion Slow Welcome your arrival Slow Turn right Foggy Road

Characters written with calligraphy brushes / ordinary pens

As you work your way through the online lessons remember to click on each of the ‘How to write’ boxes to see how to write the individual strokes and their proper order. We suggest that you print the pdf file in the last chapter of each of the Breakthrough lessons 1 to 8 and use them in conjunction with the ‘How to write’ box to practise your character writing.

Introduction

This first basic Grammar and Linguistic Structure lesson is designed to introduce you to the basics you will need to listen, speak, read and write Mandarin Chinese. If you work through the text of this introductory lesson you will gain an understanding of the basic grammar and structures you will need to learn basic Chinese.

Although the topics are divided up into Chapters for ease of reference, many of the chapters actually concentrate on similar subject matter. Thus Negative Statements take up Chapters 14 – 17 but each chapter deals with a different aspect of negation.

Actually, Chinese grammar is very simple and fortunately the linguistic structures are quite similar to English. Most importantly in Chinese, verbs have no past, present or future tenses so each verb only has one form. We will show you how the context in which the verb is used indicates whether it refers to a past, present or future action. Additionally, two other matters are worth mentioning. Firstly, no matter what noun or pronoun you use, the form of the verb remains the same. Secondly, whilst in English, the indefinite article ‘a’ and definite article ‘the’ often have to be placed before nouns, in Chinese, there are no such articles.

We shall look together at each grammar topic. We shall use examples and diagrams to help you. Each example is given in English, in Chinese characters and in Pinyin. To hear any of the examples given in this lesson click on one of the red lines of Chinese on the lesson screen. To see the grammar structure, click on the blue line.

We suggest that you print out the content of this grammar lesson. Work your way through the online lessons with the printed grammar lesson beside you so that you can refer back to it if you are uncertain about the correct grammar to use.

Let us start with one of the simplest sentence structures.

Examples

1. I drink tea. 我喝茶。 Wǒ hē chá。 2. I drink water. 我喝水。 Wǒ hē shuǐ。 3. I eat noodles. 我吃面条。 Wǒ chī miàntiáo。 4. I like apples. 我喜欢苹果。 Wǒ xǐhuan píngguǒ。 5. He likes apples. 他喜欢苹果。 Tā xǐhuan píngguǒ。 6. I learn Chinese. 我学中文。 Wǒ xué Zhōngwén。 7. He learns English. 他学英文。 Tā xué Yīngwén。 8. She learns French. 她学法文。 Tā xué Fǎwén。

Copyright © link-global ltd 2010* 43 Section 5 - Course Lessons, each lesson with online Interactive Listening & Reading Tests Breakthrough 1 - Introducing Myself and My Family (Including Age, Nationality; Language; Occupation)

The sequence of characters in the following section follow the order shown in the OCR Breakthrough specification Word List; whereas the PDF writing sheets provided for practice at the end of each of the eight Breakthrough online lessons contain characters to reflect the content of the particular lesson.

Nouns (Family and Friends) dad:爸爸 bàba

mum:妈妈 māma

Introduction

This lesson contains interactive revision exercises to test your skills to listen, read and write. Each exercise contains its own instruction before you are tested. Listen carefully to what you need to do and complete all the tests in each exercise before you look at the correct answers. If this lesson is being used in class, it may be fun to keep individual scores for each exercise so you can compete against your fellow students.

(Answers – see page 186)

1.1 Breakthrough Listening Grade 1 Task 1

The narrator will give you information about certain people. Listen and match the people listed in the grid below to the pictures by entering the correct letter, A to G, in the grid. There is one extra picture you will not need to use. When you have listened and answered all the exercises click on the answers to see if you listened correctly. This test begins with the example, ‘Dawei has three gold fish’.

Answers - Chapter 1 - Breakthrough Listening Grade 1 Tasks 1 to 4

Breakthrough Listening Grade 1 Task 1 Breakthrough Listening Grade 1 Task 2

Breakthrough Listening Grade 1 Task 3 Breakthrough Listening Grade 1 Task 4

Answers – Chapter 2 – Breakthrough Listening Grade 2 Tasks 1 to 4

Breakthrough Listening Grade 2 Task 1 Breakthrough Listening Grade 2 Task 2

Breakthrough Listening Grade 2 Task 3 Breakthrough Listening Grade 2 Task 4

Section 9 - Optional Activities

The exercises in this section are optional extra activities, supplemental to the www.link-global.com online interactive tests and workbook. Teachers can either use this material directly, or adapt it to devise their own activities.

Breakthrough 1 - Introducing Myself and My Family

(Answers – see page 226)

1A Draw lines to match the character to the translation

我，哥哥，妹妹，妈妈姐姐，弟弟，爸爸

Answers - Optional Activities - Breakthrough 1