School is a big part of our lives. We spend a lot time in school, and most of us have some deep feelings about school. When we talk to others, school is usually a major topic of conversation. When you talk to your Chinese friends, it is likely that they will be interested in talking about school. Here is the opportunity to learn how to introduce your school to other people.

Learning objectives

Demonstrate the ability to communicate feelings about school using phrases such as 最喜欢……
Describe special features of your school

Video activity

In this lesson you will listen to a conversation about school and school activities. This is a very popular and common topic when people meet. You will become familiar with expressions that will help you talk about your school with friends and other native speakers. There are many good things about your school. Make sure that you know how to talk about them in Chinese after this lesson.

After you have watched and listened to the video, you may want to review the text (Pinyin, Chinese characters, and English) before going on.

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Transcript, vocabulary, and notes

Text 课文 (Kèwén)

After you have watched the video, check your understanding by reading the transcript and the English translation.

Pinyin	Simplified	Traditional	English	Listen	Notes
Āyí Zhēnnī, fàngxué le. Jīntiān hái hǎo ma?	阿姨珍妮，放学了，今天还好吗？	阿姨珍妮，放學了，今天還好嗎？	Aunt Jenny, school is over. Was today good?	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
Zhēnnī Āyí, nǐhǎo! Jīntiān hái hǎo.	珍妮阿姨，你好！今天还好。	珍妮阿姨，你好！今天還好。	Jenny Hi, Aunt! Today was good.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
Āyí Jīntiān nǐ dōu shàngle xiē shénme kè?	阿姨今天你都上了些什么课？	阿姨今天你都上了些什麼課？	Aunt What all classes did you go to today?	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
Zhēnnī Jīntiān wǒ shàngle Hànyǔ, Zhōngguó wénhuà, shēngwù, dàishù kè. Fàngxué hòu hái cānjiāle yī gè kèwài huódòng.	珍妮今天我上了汉语、中国文化、生物、代数课。放学后还参加了一个课外活动。	珍妮今天我上了漢語、中國文化、生物、代數課。放學后還參加了一個課外活動。	Jenny Today I had Chinese, Chinese culture, biology, and algebra classes. After school, I also participated in an extracurricular activity.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.	L53
Āyí Nà hái tǐng máng de! Zài Měiguó shàngkè yě zhème máng ma?	阿姨那还挺忙的！在美国上课也这么忙吗？	阿姨那還挺忙的！在美國上課也這麼忙嗎？	Aunt That’s very busy! Are you this busy at school in the United States?	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.	L50
Zhēnnī Chàbùduō. Wǒmen měi tiān yǒu qī táng kè. Fàngxué hòu yě yǒu kè hòu huódòng.	珍妮差不多。我们每天有七堂课。放学后也有课后活动。	珍妮差不多。我們每天有七堂課。放學后也有課后活動。	Jenny Pretty much. We have seven classes every day. After school there are also extracurricular activities.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.	L51
Āyí Duì le. Zhēnnī, nǐ hái méiyǒu jièshàoguò nǐmen de xuéxiào ne. Néng bù néng gěi wǒ jiǎngjiang nǐ de xuéxiào?	阿姨对了。珍妮，你还没有介绍过你们的学校呢。能不能给我讲讲你的学校？	阿姨對了。珍妮，你還沒有介紹過你們的學校呢。能不能給我講講你的學校？	Aunt I see. Jenny, you still haven’t described your school. Can you tell me a little more about your school?	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
Zhēnnī Hǎo. Wǒmen de xuéxiào dàyuē yǒu liǎngqiān duō wèi xuésheng. Yǒu sì gè niánjí.	珍妮好。我们的学校大约有两千多位学生。有四个年级。	珍妮好。我們的學校大約有兩千多位學生。有四個年級。	Jenny Ok. Our school has approximately 2000+ students. There are four grade levels.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
Zhēnnī Měi táng kè yībān dōu yǒu èrshíwǔ wèi xuésheng, bǐ zhèlǐ shǎo yīxiē. Xuéxiào yě yǒu hěn duō de tǐyù shèshī, háiyǒu yī gè yǒuyǒngchí ne.	珍妮每堂课一般都有二十五位学生，比这里少一些。学校也有很多的体育设施，还有一个游泳池呢。	珍妮每堂課一般都有二十五位學生，比這裡少一些。學校也有很多的體育設施，還有一個游泳池呢。	Jenny Ordinarily, there are about twenty-five students in each class, a little fewer than here. Our school also has many sport facilities, there is also a swimming pool.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
Zhēnnī Wǒmen xuéxiào jīngcháng jǔbàn gè zhǒng xuésheng huódòng, bǐrú yǒu cáiyì bǐsài lā, tǐyù jìngsài, jiérì qìngdiǎn, děngdeng. Wǒ hěn xǐhuān wǒ de xuéxiào.	珍妮我们学校经常举办各种学生活动，比如有才艺比赛啦、体育竞赛、节日庆典、等等。我很喜欢我的学校。	珍妮我們學校經常舉辦各種學生活動，比如有才藝比賽啦、體育競賽、節日慶典、等等。我很喜歡我的學校。	Jenny Our school often holds various student activities, such as talent competitions, sporting competitions, holiday celebrations, et cetera. I like my school very much.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.	L53
Āyí Tīng qǐlai nǐ de xuéxiào zhēn shì bùcuò.	阿姨听起来你的学校真是不错。	阿姨聽起來你的學校真是不錯。	Aunt It sounds like your school truly is pretty good.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.	L52
Zhēnnī Āyí, yǒu jīhuì qù Měiguó lǚyóu, bié wàngle dào wǒmen xuéxiào cānguān yī xià.	珍妮阿姨，有机会去美国旅游，别忘了到我们学校参观一下。	珍妮阿姨，有機會去美國旅游，別忘了到我們學校參觀一下。	Jenny Aunt, if you have chance to travel to the United States, don’t forget to visit our school.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
Āyí Yǒu jīhuì, wǒ yīdìng qù.	阿姨有机会，我一定去。	阿姨有機會，我一定去。	Aunt I’ll definitely go if I have the opportunity.	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.

New Words 生词 (Shēngcí)

	simplified	traditional	pinyin	part of speech	meaning	listen
1	阿姨	阿姨	āyí	n	aunt	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
2	上课	上課	shàngkè	v	attend (or conduct) a class or a lecture	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
3	生物	生物	shēngwù	n	biology	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
4	代数	代數	dàishù	n	algebra	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
5	参加	參加	cānjiā	v	to participate	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
6	课外	課外	kèwài	adj	extracurricular	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
7	差不多	差不多	chàbùduō	adj	almost	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
8	大约	大約	dàyuē	adv	almost, about	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
9	体育	體育	tǐyù	n	physical education	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
10	设施	設施	shèshī	n	facilities	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
11	游泳池	游泳池	yǒuyǒngchí	n	swimming pool	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
12	才艺	才藝	cáiyì	n	artistic skill	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
13	比赛	比賽	bǐsài	n	competition, match	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
14	竞赛	競賽	jìngsài	n	race, competition	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
15	有机会	有機會	yǒu jīhuì	expr	to have an opportunity	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
16	参观	參觀	cānguān	v	to visit	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.
17	一定	一定	yīdìng	adv	must	You must have javascript and Flash Player to play this video.

Language Notes

L50. 挺

挺: quite, really

挺 is only used in oral conversations.

Examples:

那还挺忙的！
Nà hái tǐng máng de!
Still quite busy then!
挺便宜的。
Tǐng piányi de.
Quite cheap.
挺多的
tǐng duō de
quite a lot
我挺累的。
Wǒ tǐng lèi de.
I am really tired.

L51. 差不多

差不多: almost

Example:

你的作业做完了吗？-- 差不多了。
Nǐ de zuòyè zuòwánle ma? — Chàbuduō le.
Have you completed your homework? — Almost.

L52. 真不错

真不错: not bad or really good

Examples:

这个活动真不错！
Zhège huódòng zhēn bùcuò!
This activity is really good!
那个地方真不错！
Nèige dìfang zhēn bùcuò!
That place really isn’t bad!

L53. Punctuation: Pause

The 顿号 (dùn hào) or pause is a special punctuation mark in Chinese: 、 (also known as the enumeration comma). Within Chinese characters, it is used to separate items in a list.

Example:

我去过北京、上海、广州。
Wǒ qùguò Běijīng, Shànghǎi, Guǎngzhōu.
I’ve been to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.