Year 8 Mandarin Chinese: Sports, Hobbies, and Dates Study Guide

Core Sports and Activities Vocabulary

The following vocabulary includes the Chinese character, Pinyin, and English translation for common sports and hobbies covered in the Year 8 curriculum.

• Swimming: 游泳 ($yóuyǒng$)

• Bike-riding / Riding a bike: 骑车 ($qíchē$)

• Running / Jogging: 跑步 ($pǎobù$)

• Playing Soccer / Football: 踢足球 ($tī zúqiú$)

• Playing Basketball: 打篮球 ($dǎ lánqiú$)

• Playing Tennis: 打网球 ($dǎ wǎngqiú$)

• Playing Table Tennis: 打乒乓球 ($dǎ pīngpāngqiú$)

• Playing Cricket: 打板球 ($dǎ bǎnqiú$)

• Playing Australian Football: 踢澳式足球 ($tī Àoshì zúqiú$)

• Riding a Horse: 骑马 ($qímǎ$)

• Fishing: 钓鱼 ($diàoyú$)

• Skateboarding: 滑板 ($huábǎn$)

• Roller-blading: 滑旱冰 ($huàhánbīng$)

Expressions of Preference and Ability

To describe the level of interest or skill regarding sports, the following adverbs and structures are used:

• Level of Liking (Adverbs):

  • The most: 最 ($zuì$). Example: 我最喜欢游泳 ($Wǒ zuì xǐhuan yóuyǒng$ - I like swimming the most).

  • Very / Quite: 很 ($hěn$) or 非常 ($fēicháng$).

  • Not too / Not very: 不太 ($bú tài$).

  • The least / Least of all: 最不 ($zuì bù$).

  • Don't like: 不喜欢 ($bù xǐhuan$).

• Skill and Ability:

  • Can / To be able to: 会 ($huì$). Example: 我很会游泳 ($Wǒ hěn huì yóuyǒng$ - I am very good at swimming).

  • Not very good at: 不太会 ($bú tài huì$).

  • Cannot: 不会 ($bú huì$).

• Grammar Structure for Questions:

  • Using "What": 你喜欢什么运动? ($Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yùndòng?$ - What sport do you like?)

  • Using Affirmative-Negative Structure: 你喜欢不喜欢打网球? ($Nǐ xǐhuan bù xǐhuan dǎ wǎngqiú?$ - Do you like to play tennis or not?)

Character Writing and Radical Analysis

The curriculum emphasizes the stroke order and radical components for several key verbs and nouns:

• 打 ($dǎ$ - To play/hit): Contains the hand radical (扌).

• 板 ($bǎn$ - Board/Plank): Contains the wood radical (木).

• 网 ($wǎng$ - Net): Pictographic character resembling a net (冂 with interior strokes).

• 跑 ($pǎo$ - Run): Contains the foot radical (足).

• 踢 ($tī$ - Kick): Contains the foot radical (足).

• 游 ($yóu$) and 泳 ($yǒng$): Both contain the water radical (氵).

• 骑 ($qí$ - Ride): Contains the horse radical (马).

• 车 ($chē$ - Vehicle): Pictographic character for a carriage/car.

Reading Case Study: The Lin Family

A reading practice text provides biographical details for a family:

• Lin Lan (林兰): $14$ years old. A Chinese Australian family who speaks both English and Chinese.

• Father: A teacher who likes sports, specifically basketball, soccer, and swimming ($tā huì yóuyǒng$).

• Mother: Dislikes sports the most ($zuì bù xǐhuan yùndòng$). She cannot even ride a bike ($tā qíchē dōu bú huì qíchē$).

• Older Sister and Lin Lan: Both like sports very much. Lin Lan likes tennis and cricket the most. Her older sister likes running very much.

• Pets: The family has two pets: a cat (一只猫) and a fish (一条鱼).

Reading Case Study: Student Comparisons

Three individuals describe their relationship with sports:

1. Lan Lan (兰兰): $15$ years old. She likes swimming the most and is very good at it. She likes basketball but is not very good at playing it.

2. Bai Dawei (白大伟): $27$ years old. He likes sports very much. He specifically likes table tennis and is very good at it. He likes cricket, but he is not very good at playing it; however, his father is very good at cricket.

3. Teacher Ma (马老师): $43$ years old. He loves running, tennis, and riding bikes. He has a horse and likes horse riding the most. He likes watching Australian Rules football and thinks it is good to watch, but he cannot play soccer.

Correspondence: Xiao Ming's Letter to Dawei

In a letter dated May 10, 2009 ($2009\,nián\,5\,yuè\,10\,rì$), Xiao Ming discusses his family's sports habits:

• Father ($38$ years old): Likes watching English-style soccer ($Yīngshì zúqiú$).

• Older Brother: Likes basketball the most and also likes soccer.

• Mother and Older Sister: Not very fond of soccer; they like swimming the most.

• Younger Sister: Has a horse, loves riding, but dislikes running.

• Xiao Ming: Likes running with his small, cute dog.

• Cultural Note: Xiao Ming observes that many Chinese people like table tennis and asks what Australians like.

Time, Dates, and the Calendar

Structure of Dates

In Chinese, dates are written in the order: Year + Month + Day + Weekday.

• Year: 年 ($nián$). Example: $2007\,nián$ is 二00七年.

• Month: 月 ($yuè$). Formed by adding numbers $1$ through $12$ before the character (e.g., January = 一月, December = 十二月).

• Date: 日 ($rì$) used in formal writing, or 号 ($hào$) used in spoken Chinese.

• Week: 星期 ($xīngqī$).

  • Monday: 星期一 ($xīngqī yī$)

  • Tuesday: 星期二 ($xīngqī èr$)

  • Wednesday: 星期三 ($xīngqī sān$)

  • Thursday: 星期四 ($xīngqī sì$)

  • Friday: 星期五 ($xīngqī wǔ$)

  • Saturday: 星期六 ($xīngqī liù$)

  • Sunday: 星期日 ($xīngqī rì$) or 星期天 ($xīngqī tiān$)

Relative Time Vocabulary

• Today: 今天 ($jīntiān$)

• Tomorrow: 明天 ($míngtiān$)

• Yesterday: 昨天 ($zuótiān$)

• This Year: 今年 ($jīnnián$)

• Next Year: 明年 ($míngnián$)

• Last Year: 去年 ($qùnián$)

• This Month: 这个月 ($zhège yuè$)

• Last Month: 上个月 ($shàngge yuè$)

• Next Month: 下个月 ($xiàge yuè$)

• Birthday: 生日 ($shēngrì$)

Famous Birthdays for Translation Practice

• Sun Yixian (孙逸仙): $12\,Nov.\,1866$ ($一八六六年十一月十二日$)

• Jiang Jieshi (蒋介石): $31\,Oct.\,1887$ ($一八八七年十月三十一日$)

• Mao Zedong (毛泽东): $26\,Dec.\,1893$ ($一八九三年十二月二十六日$)

• Zhou Enlai (周恩来): $5\,Mar.\,1898$ ($一八九八年三月五日$)

• Deng Xiaoping (邓小平): $22\,Aug.\,1904$ ($一九0四年八月二十二日$)

Example Sentences for Revision

• Asking the date: 今天是几月几号? ($Jīntiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?$ - What is the date today?)

• Answering the date: 今天是五月二十日 ($Jīntiān shì wǔ yuè èrshí rì$ - Today is May 20th).

• Asking the day of the week: 昨天是星期几? ($Zuótiān shì xīngqī jǐ?$ - What day of the week was yesterday?)

• Answering the day: 昨天是星期四 ($Zuótiān shì xīngqī sì$ - Yesterday was Thursday).

• Wishing happy birthday: 祝你生日快乐! ($Zhù nǐ shēngrì kuàilè!$ - Wish you a happy birthday!)

• Expressing Hobbies: 我的猫喜欢跑步 ($Wǒ de māo xǐhuan pǎobù$ - My cat likes running).

• Proposal for activity: 我们去打篮球吧! ($Wǒmen qù dǎ lánqiú ba!$ - Let's go play basketball!)

• Polite Interjection: 对不起 ($Duìbuqǐ$ - Sorry!)

• Asking for Agreement: 好吗? ($Hǎo ma?$ - OK? / Is that good?)

Questions & Discussion

Question 1: What are the answers to the reading comprehension regarding Lan Lan, Bai Dawei, and Mr. Ma?

• Who is the youngest? Lan Lan ($15$ years old) is younger than Bai Dawei ($27$) and Mr. Ma ($43$).

• How does Lan Lan feel about swimming? She likes it the most ($zuì xǐhuan$) and is very good at it ($hěn huì$).

• Does she like basketball? Yes, she likes it, but she is not very good at playing it ($bú tài huì$).

• Who is very good at cricket? Bai Dawei's father is very good at it ($hěn huì dǎ bǎnqiú$).

• How many horses does Mr. Ma have? He has one horse ($yī pǐ mǎ$).

• What is Mr. Ma’s opinion of Australian football? He thinks it is very good to watch ($hěn hǎokàn$).

Question 2: Personal Profile of Lan Lan (from the second passage)

• Surname: Lin (林).

• Zodiac: Dragon (属龙).

• Age/Nationality: $19$ years old, Australian.

• Family: Her parents are Chinese. She has a $10$-year-old younger brother.

• Chinese Ability: She likes Chinese but is not very good at speaking it ($bú tài huì shuō Hànyǔ$).

• Pet Count: Lan Lan has a total of $20$ pets: $3$ horses, $2$ dogs, $1$ cat, and $14$ goldfish.

• Sports Skills: She is very good at horse riding and basketball. She likes watching the Australian Open tennis tournament, but she cannot play tennis well. Her brother is the one who is very good at playing tennis.