HSK Standard Course 1 Practice Flashcards

HSK Standard Course Series Overview

• Project Development: The HSK Standard Course is a series developed through the joint efforts of Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), Beijing Language and Culture University Press, and Chinese Testing International (CTI).

• Administrative Leadership:

  • Chief Executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters/Director-General of Hanban: Xu Lin (Foreword dated November 16, 2013).

  • Lead Author: Jiang Liping.

  • Authors: Wang Fang, Wang Feng, Liu Liping.

• Core Philosophy: The series implements the concept of "combining testing and teaching" and "promoting learning and teaching by testing."

• Target Audience: Students preparing for the New HSK test (revised in 2009), which shifted focus from general proficiency to the communicative ability to use Chinese in real-world situations.

• Pedagogical Style: The course is characterized by a natural, humorous style, familiar topics, and a scientific design that matches HSK test papers in content, form, and difficulty levels.

Curriculum Design and Level Alignment

The HSK Standard Course is designed to align systematically with the six levels of the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK). The specifics for each level are as follows:

• Volume 1 (HSK Level 1):

  • Vocabulary: $150$ words.

  • Class Hours: $30 \times 34$ hours.

• Volume 2 (HSK Level 2):

  • Vocabulary: $300$ words.

  • Class Hours: $30 \times 36$ hours.

• Volume 3 (HSK Level 3):

  • Vocabulary: $600$ words.

  • Class Hours: $35 \times 40$ hours.

• Volume 4 (HSK Level 4, Volumes 1 & 2):

  • Vocabulary: $1200$ words.

  • Class Hours: $75 \times 80$ hours.

• Volume 5 (HSK Level 5, Volumes 1 & 2):

  • Vocabulary: $2500$ words.

  • Class Hours: $170 \times 180$ hours.

• Volume 6 (HSK Level 6, Volumes 1 & 2):

  • Vocabulary: $5000$ and above.

  • Class Hours: $170 \times 180$ hours.

• Total Program Statistics: Includes $9$ volumes, covering a vocabulary of over $5000$ words and requiring between $510$ and $550$ total class hours.

Pedagogical Concepts and Features

• Post-Methodological Age: In the 21st century, second language teaching is people-oriented, emphasizing group cooperation and communicative, task-based, and theme-based approaches.

• Student-Centeredness: Focuses on the integrated development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, even at Levels 1 and 2 where the actual test only evaluates listening and reading.

• Authenticity and Context: Lessons prioritize situational dialogues and real-life scenarios rather than repetitive drills on abstract language points.

• Theme-Based Teaching: Starting from Book 4, themes serve as the lead for content, creating an organic network of interrelated knowledge to aid memory retention.

• Workbook Integration: Each textbook is supported by a workbook that matches the exact question types, structure, and order of the HSK test papers.

• Oral Proficiency: Every lesson includes independent communicative exercises (pair and group work) to prepare students for the HSK oral test (HSKK).

HSK Standard Course 1: Structural Breakdown

• Scope: $15$ lessons designed for total beginners.

• Lesson Format:

  • Lessons 1-2: Focus on the foundational phonetics of Mandarin Chinese.

  • Lessons 3-15: Theme-based instruction covering $3$ situations per lesson, each with $1 \times 2$ dialogues.

• Vocabulary: Strictly adheres to the $150$ words in the Syllabus, with only $10$ exceptions (words from Level 2 or 3 marked with "*"). Each lesson introduces $10 \times 15$ new words.

• Instructional Parts:

  1. Warm-up: Use of pictures to lead into key words.

  2. Text: Situational dialogues utilizing past HSK test sentences.

  3. Notes: Concise grammar explanations often presented in tables.

  4. Exercises: Practice for language points, matching HSKK oral test formats.

  5. Pinyin: Training in initials, finals, and tone collocation.

  6. Characters: Instruction in strokes, radicals, and structures.

  7. Application: Interactive activities.

  8. Culture: Cultural background provided every $5$ lessons.

Mandarin Chinese Phonetics (Pinyin)

Initials and Finals

• Initials (Group 1): $b$, $p$, $m$, $f$, $d$, $t$, $n$, $l$, $g$, $k$, $h$, $j$, $q$, $x$.

• Initials (Group 2): $zh$, $ch$, $sh$, $r$, $z$, $c$, $s$.

• Finals: Basic (i, u, ü, er), Compound (ai, ei, ui, ao, ou, iu, ie, üe, er, an, en, in, un, ün, ang, eng, ing, ong).

Tones and Tone Sandhi

• The Four Tones: 1st Tone ($55$), 2nd Tone ($35$), 3rd Tone ($214$), and 4th Tone ($51$).

• Neutral Tone: A short, light tone pronounced without a specific pitch mark. Its pitch is determined by the preceding syllable (lower after 1st, 2nd, 4th; higher after 3rd).

• 3rd Tone Sandhi: When two 3rd tone syllables are together ($3+3$), the first changes to a 2nd tone ($2+3$). Example: $\text{nǐ + hǎo} \rightarrow \text{ní hǎo}$.

• Tone Sandhi of "不" (bù):

  • Remains 4th tone before 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tones.

  • Changes to 2nd tone ($bú$) before a 4th tone.

• Tone Sandhi of "一" (yī):

  • Changes to 4th tone ($yì$) before 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tones.

  • Changes to 2nd tone ($yí$) before a 4th tone.

  • Remains 1st tone when used alone or in a sequence of numbers.

Pinyin Rules

• Tone Marking: Placed over the main vowel in the order $a, o, e, i, u, ü$. Exception: in "iu", the mark goes on "u".

• Abbreviations: "iou" becomes "iu", "uei" becomes "ui", and "uen" becomes "un" when following an initial.

• Y and W: When "i", "u", or "ü" act as syllables alone, they are written as "yi", "wu", and "yu".

• Ü with j, q, x: The dots above "ü" are removed (written as ju, qu, xu). They remain with "n" and "l" (nü, lü).

• Syllable-dividing mark: Used to avoid confusion when syllables starting with a, o, or e follow others (e.g., $pi'ǎo$).

Chinese Characters: Strokes and Structures

• Writing Requirements: Level 1 students are required to write $17$ basic strokes and $52$ single-component characters. They primarily learn to recognize and read rather than write complex characters.

• Basic Strokes:

  • $héng$ (horizontal)

  • $shù$ (vertical)

  • $piě$ (left-falling)

  • $nà$ (right-falling)

  • $diǎn$ (dot)

  • $héngzhé$ (horizontal-turning)

  • $shùgōu$ (vertical hook)

• Stroke Order Rules:

  • Horizontal before vertical.

  • Left-falling before right-falling.

  • Top before bottom.

  • Left before right.

  • Outside before inside.

  • Middle before two sides.

• Structure Types:

  1. Single-Component Structure (e.g., 人, 我, 中).

  2. Compound Structures: Left-right, Left-middle-right, Top-bottom, Top-middle-bottom, Half-enclosure, and Full-enclosure.

• Radicals: Introduced starting in Lesson 7. Examples include $\text{氵}$ (three drops of water), $\text{讠}$ (speech), $\text{钅}$ (metal), and $\text{口}$ (mouth).

Essential Grammar Points

Interrogative Pronouns

• 什么 (shénme): Used to ask "what."

• 谁 (shéi): Used to ask "who."

• 哪 (nǎ): Used to ask "which" ($\text{nǎ + measure word + noun}$).

• 几 (jǐ): Used to ask "how many" (usually for quantities < 10).

• 多少 (duōshao): Used for quantities > 10 and for prices.

• 怎么 (zěnme): Asks about the manner of an action (e.g., "How do you write this?").

• 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng): Asks about the condition or state of something.

Sentence Particles and Structures

• "是" (shì) Sentence: Indicates identity or belonging. Negation: $bú \, shì$.

• "吗" (ma): Turns a statement into a yes/no question when added at the end.

• "呢" (ne):

  1. Elliptical question for previously mentioned context (e.g., "What about you?").

  2. Asks for the location of something.

  3. Indicates an action in progress ($\text{在...呢}$).

• "的" (de): Structural particle indicating possession. Omitted for close kinship or personal relationships.

• "了" (le):

  1. Indicates a change of state or a new situation at the end of a sentence.

  2. Indicates the occurrence or completion of an action after a verb.

• "是…的" (shì…de): Emphasizes the time, place, or manner of a past action.

Modal Verbs

• 会 (huì): Ability acquired through learning (e.g., speaking a language).

• 想 (xiǎng): Desire or plan to do something.

• 能 (néng): Physical ability or permission.

Key Lessons and Dialogues

Lesson 1: Hello

• Dialogue 1:     A: 你好! (Hello!)     B: 你好! (Hello!)

• Dialogue 2:     A: 您好! (Hello! - polite)     B: 你们好! (Hello! - plural)

• Dialogue 3:     A: 对不起! (I'm sorry!)     B: 没关系! (That's OK!)

Lesson 3: What's your name?

• Context: A school setting.

• Dialogue:     A: 你叫什么名字? (What is your name?)     B: 我叫李月。 (My name is Li Yue.)

• Grammar: The use of "老师" (teacher) and "学生" (student).

Lesson 5: Her daughter is 20 years old this year

• Dialogue:     A: 你家有几口人? (How many people are in your family?)     B: 我家有三口人。 (There are three.)

• Grammar: Asking age using "几岁" (for children) vs "多大" (for adults).

• Numbers: Instruction on numbers below $100$.

Lesson 8: I'd like some tea

• Dialogue:     A: 你想喝什么? (What would you like to drink?)     B: 我想喝茶。 (I'd like some tea.)

• Money: Renminbi units ($\text{元/块}$). Example price inquiry: "这个杯子多少钱?" (How much is this cup?).

Lesson 11: What's the time now?

• Grammar: Time is expressed using "点" (hour) and "分" (minute).

• Dialogue:     A: 现在几点? (What time is it now?)     B: 现在十点十分。 (It is 10:10.)

Cultural Contexts

Ways of Asking Age

• Under 10: "你今年几岁了?"

• Peers/Youth: "你今年多大了?"

• Elders: "您今年多大年纪了?" to show respect.

Features of Chinese Names

• Structure: Surname (Family Name) always precedes the Given Name.

• Surnames: Most are single-character (e.g., 张, 王, 李, 赵). There are over $5000$ surnames, with about $200$ in common use. Compound surnames like 欧阳 exist but are less common.

• Addressing People: Often uses Surname + Profession (e.g., 李老师 - Teacher Li, 王医生 - Doctor Wang).

Communication Tools

• Format: Telephone numbers are read digit by digit, with "1" read as "yāo."

• Mobile Numbers: Chinese mobile numbers are always $11$ digits long, typically read with a $3-4-4$ pause pattern (e.g., $139-0107-8866$).

Questions & Discussion

• Question: What are the prerequisites for students starting HSK Standard Course 1?

  • Response: This book is designed for "zero-level" learners who have not systematically studied Chinese before.

• Question: How long does it take to complete the first book?

  • Response: The suggested teaching time is $2 \times 3$ hours per lesson. If a student has $8$ class hours per week, the book can be finished in about one month. If they have $4$ class hours per week, it takes two months.

• Question: Is the HSK oral test included in the main test?

  • Response: No, the HSK oral test is independent of the written test, but the course provides specific exercises to prepare students for it concurrently.