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Lesson 4

Lesson date: 17/02/2026

Lesson time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Lesson was held on a zoom session.

Lecture slides link

Google classroom link

YouTube link

Chinese New Year

The session's date was held on Tuesday, 17th of February 2026 which is the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Chinese Nes Year's Eve was on Monday 16th of February 2026 - Being half Chinese I had a family dinner.

This year was the year of the Horse 🐴 .

新年快乐

新 xīn 年 nián 快 kuài 乐 lè
新 xīn 年 nián = New year
快 kuài 乐 lè = Happy

Homework Feedback

  • Writing is important - do not rely on pinyin.
  • Speaking: When speaking pay extra attention to tones and maintain the tones of the words.

Workbook

F All Four Tones

screenshot

F Answers

Click to reveal

screenshot

G Comprehensive Exercise

screenshot

G Answers

Click to reveal

screenshot

Vocab 2: Where are you from?

Additional Dialogue and Vocab that was covered in the class. The vocab are the stepping stones for asking "Where are you from" type questions.

Note

In the YouTube video this is roughly referencing the 56 minute mark.

是 (shì)

  • Be verb (i.e. am, are, is, was, were)
  • [Example]
    • 你 nǐ 是 shì Tarzan, 我 wǒ 是 shì Jane。

是

Note

I believe 是 is more for adjectives rather than names.

External resource

老师 (lǎo shī)

  • Teacher
  • Example
    • 我 wǒ 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī !
  • Core Meaning
    • 老 lǎo : old
    • 师 shī : master

老师

External resource

学生 (xué shēng)

  • Student
  • Example
    • 我 wǒ 是 shì 学 xué 生 shēng !
  • Core Meaning
    • 学 xué
      : learn

学生

External resource

吗 (ma)

  • Question ending particle, usually for Yes/No questions.

  • Example

    • Q: 你 nǐ 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī 吗 ma ? (Are you a teacher?)
    • Ans (YES): 是 shì ( or 对 duì ) , 我 wǒ 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī 。
    • Ans (NO): 不 bù 是 shì , 我 wǒ 是 shì 学 xué 生 shēng

  • Example

    • 王 wáng 先 xiān 生 shēng 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī 吗 ma ? (Is Mr Wang a teacher?)

  • Example

    • Q: 你 nǐ 姓 xìng 王 wáng 吗 ma ? (Are you surnamed Wang?)
    • A: 是 shì ( or 对 duì ) , 我 wǒ 姓 xìng 王 wáng 。(Yes, my surname is Wang)
  • Review
    • 呢 ne
    • 你 nǐ 呢 ne (And you)
    • "呢" (ne) is a Follow-up or Contextual Question Marker.

吗

External resource

break

workbook exercise

dialogue continued

中国 (zhōng guó)

  • China 🇨🇳
  • Core Meaning
    • 中 zhōng : middle
    • 国 guó : country
    • 中国: Middle Kingdom

中国

External resource

北京 (běi jīng)

  • Beijing
  • Core Meaning
    • 北 běi : north
    • 京 jīng : capital of a country (old way)

北京

External resource

美国 (měi guó)

  • America 🇺🇸
  • Core Meaning
    • 美 měi : beautiful

Note

While 美 means "beautiful," 美国 specifically refers to the United States of America and literally translates to "Beautiful Country" or "Beautiful Nation." However, this is just a name and not a direct comment on the country's beauty.

美国

纽约 (niǔ yuē)

  • New York
  • Note
    • Pronunciation is hard.

纽约

External resource

人 (rén)

  • person, people
  • [Pattern] Put 人 after a country/place to form the people from that country/place. For example:
    • 中国 中国人 (China Chinese) 🇨🇳
    • 北京 北京人 (Beijing Beijing-er)
    • 美国 美国人 (America American)
    • 纽约 纽约人 (New York New Yorker)
  • Example
    • 🐨 🇦🇺 我 是 澳 ào 大 dà 利 lì 亚 yǎ 人 🇦🇺 🦘 (I am Australian)
  • [Pattern]
    • Asking someone's nationality or where s/he is from?
    • 你是 nation/place/city 人吗？

人

External resource

不 (bù)

  • no; not
  • [Pattern] Put 不 before a verb to express negation, for example:
    • 我 不 bù 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī , 我 是 shì 学 xué 生 shēng 。 (I am not a teacher, I am a student)
    • 我 不 bù 姓 xìng 李 lǐ , 我 姓 xìng 王 wáng 。 (I am not surnamed Li, I am surnamed Wang.)
  • [Note] Pronunciation
    • 不 bù is pronounced in a 2nd tone before a 4th tone character, for example: 不 bù 是 shì , 不 bù 叫 jiào , 不 bù 姓 xìng

也 (yě)

  • means "also", "too" or "as well" in a sentence.
  • [Note] 也 is normally put after a Subject and before a Verb.
    • (🙆‍♂️) 你 nǐ 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī , 我 wǒ 也 yě 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī 。
      (You are a teacher; I am also a teacher.)
    • (❌) 我是也老师
    • (❌) 我是老师也
    • (❌) 也我是老师
  • [Pattern] also + verb negation
    • 你 nǐ 不 bù 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī , 我 wǒ 也 yě 不 bù 是 shì 老 lǎo 师 shī 。
  • [Practice]

Country and place

This section is not that important it is more of a overview of other places. Memorisation is not required.

  • 英国 [Yīngguó] England; Britain 🇬🇧
  • 法国 [Fàguó] France 🇫🇷
  • 德国 [Déguó] Germany 🇩🇪
  • 意大利 [Yìdàlì] Italy 🇮🇹
  • 新西兰 [Xīnxīlán] / 纽西兰 [Niǔxīlán] New Zealand 🇳🇿
  • 日本 [Japan] 🇯🇵
  • 韩国 [Hánguó] South Korea 🇰🇷
  • 泰国 [Tàiguó] Thailand 🇹🇭
  • 上海 [Shànghǎi]


  • 澳洲 [Àozhōu] / 澳大利亚 [Àodàlìyǎ] Australia 🇦🇺
  • 悉尼 [Xīní] Sydney
  • 澳洲人 [Àozhōurén] Australian
  • 悉尼人 [Xīnírén] Sydneysider


  • 墨尔本 [Mò'ěrběn] Melbourne
  • 布里斯班 [Bù lǐsī bān] Brisbane
  • 堪培拉 [Kānpéilā] Canberra

Note

澳洲 is preferred over 澳大利亚 since it is shorter

澳洲

Dialogue

A: Are you American?

A: Are you Australian?

A: Are you Chinese?

A: Are you teacher li?

B: I am not teacher li, I am a student.