Lesson 1
Greetings and Introductions
Outcomes
Learn how to:
say ‘hello’ and ‘good-bye’ in Chinese.
Extra for experts
Learn how to:
introduce yourself in Chinese
say ‘how are you?’ in Chinese.
Activities – Greetings
Possible activities (adapt according to level of students)
Starter: How many words for hello and goodbye do you know? (different languages)
Does anyone know the word for hello in Chinese?
Watch a video of students introducing themselves in Chinese. Can the students pick out the word for hello?
Students practise saying hello to each other.
Watch the video of students saying goodbye to each other.
Watch the video again, and try to repeat after they hear the words. Video link – Saying goodbye
Students could walk round the room, saying hello and goodbye to each other.
Try to incorporate these simple greetings when calling the roll during the school day and finishing the school day.
Activities – Extra for experts
Possible activities (adapt according to level of students)
Show students the video of the New Zealand students introducing themselves in Chinese again – can the students pick out the words for “my name is”? Video link – Student introductions
Students practise introducing themselves (write sentence in Pinyin on board to help).
Using the vocabulary sheet (Appendix 2), introduce question word – "ma".
“Ni Hao ma?” is “How are you?”
“Hĕnhăo” means “I’m fine.”
“Xièxie” means “Thank you.”
Students could create a short role play: saying hello, introducing themselves, and asking how someone is.
Sentence patterns
我叫 …
Wŏ jiáo …
My name is...
你好吗?
Nĭ hăo ma?
How are you?
很好, 谢谢。
Hĕnhăo, xièxie.
I’m fine, thank you.
Did you know?
In a Chinese restaurant, to say “Thank you”, especially after someone has poured tea for you, you can tap the table twice with two (index and middle) fingers. This is symbolic of bowing to express thanks.