Day 14: Week 2 Review

everything from Days 8–13, tested · halfway · 40 min

Halfway. Compare your numbers with Day 7 — the direction they moved tells you more than any exercise here. Tests first, summary after.

1. Week 2 on one page

Numbers (Day 8)

零一二三四五六七八九十 · 十一 · 二十 · 二十五 · 一百 · 一千 · ★ 一万 ⚠️ 四 sì vs 十 shí — flat vs retroflex, and in every price ★ 二 for counting · 两 before a measure word — 两个人, 两杯咖啡, 两点 ★ Group by 万 — 1,000,000 = 一百万 · ⚠️ 零 fills internal gaps — 一百零一 Money: ★ 块 spoken, 元 written · 多少钱? · 太贵了!

Time (Day 9)

★ Big to small — 2026年8月24日 · 下午三点 ★ Months and weekdays are numbers — 一月 · 星期一 · ⚠️ 星期天, not 星期七 点 / 分 / 半 / 刻 · ⚠️ 两点, not 二点

★★ Time goes BEFORE the verb — 我明天去 · ⚠️ never 我去明天

⚠️ No preposition for time · 三点 (point) vs 三个小时 (duration)

Family and 的 (Day 10)

★ A 的 B — 我的书, 老师的车, 很好的朋友 ★ Drop 的 for family and your own institutions — 我妈妈, 我家, 我们公司 ★ 哥哥/弟弟/姐姐/妹妹 — split by age, ⚠️ not by speaker's gender 爷爷奶奶 (father's side) / 外公外婆 (mother's side) ⚠️ 有 negates with 没, never 不 — 没有

★★ Measure words (Day 11)

Number + MEASURE WORD + Noun — 三本书 · 两个人 · 一杯咖啡

★ Also after 这 / 那 / 哪 / 几 / 每 — ⚠️ 这本书, never 这书 个 · 位 · 本 · 张 · 杯 · 瓶 · 只 · 条 · 件 · 双 · 辆 · 家 · 支 · 次 · 些 ★ When in doubt use 个 and keep talking ⚠️ Their own measure word: 三天 · 三年 · 三岁 · 三块 · 三点 — but 三个月 · 三个星期 · 三个小时

Ordering (Day 12)

★ 来一个… · 这个,谢谢 · 服务员! · 买单! ★ 好吃 (eat) vs 好喝 (drink) — and 好看 / 好听 / 好玩 ★ 太…了 — the 了 is compulsory 不要辣 · 我不能吃辣 · ⚠️ no tipping · ★ QR payment is the default ★ 我请客 / 下次我请你 — one person pays, and you lose gracefully

Likes (Day 13)

★ 喜欢 takes both nouns and verbs — 喜欢咖啡 / 喜欢喝咖啡 ★★ 不太 = the polite no — 我不太喜欢 我觉得 + clause · ⚠️ no 是 after it · 你觉得怎么样? 最 = the most · A 比 B + adj — ⚠️ no 很

The four things English speakers get wrong

1. 二个人 instead of 两个人
2. Time after the verb — 我去明天 ❌
3. No measure word — 三书, 这书 ❌
4. 很 in a comparison — 中文比英文很难 ❌

2. ✍️ Dictation — 20 sentences

Pinyin with tone marks. Characters if you can.

1. 这个多少钱?
2. 三十五块。太贵了!
3. 我要两杯咖啡。
4. 现在几点? 下午三点半。
5. 今天星期几? 星期五。
6. 我的生日是五月八号。
7. 我明天去北京。
8. 我七点起床。
9. 你家有几口人?
10. 我有一个哥哥,没有妹妹。
11. 我妈妈是老师。
12. 这是我的书。
13. 这本书多少钱?
14. 服务员,买单!
15. 这个很好吃,茶也很好喝。
16. 我不能吃辣。
17. 你有什么爱好?
18. 我最喜欢看电影。
19. 我不太喜欢运动。
20. 我觉得中文比英文难。

Scoring

⚠️ ★ Score the tones separately again. A syllable with the wrong tone is wrong. Compare that number to Day 7 — it is the one that must be going up.

3. 🗣 Speaking test — two minutes

One take, no notes. Twice as long as Day 7.

The checklist

• ☐everything from Day 7 (name, nationality, job, age)
• ☐your family — with 有/没有 and ★ measure words
• ☐★ 的 used correctly — and dropped for family
• ☐a time and a day, ★ before the verb
• ☐a price — with 块
• ☐three measure words
• ☐two things you like — one noun, one verb
• ☐★ one thing with 不太
• ☐one 我觉得 sentence
• ☐a question back

Model answer (~1 min 50)

你好! 我叫Alex,我是美国人。我现在住在北京。 我是学生,今年二十五岁。 我家有四口人:爸爸、妈妈、一个姐姐和我。我没有弟弟妹妹。 我姐姐是医生,她在多伦多工作。 我每天七点起床,八点去学校。下午我在咖啡店学中文。 我喜欢看电影,也喜欢做饭。我最喜欢中国菜,特别是火锅。 但是我不太能吃辣,所以每次都要微辣。 我觉得中文比英文难,可是很有意思。 这个星期五我要去上海。票是五百块。 你呢? 你周末做什么?

★ Compare with Day 7. Measure words, times before the verb, prices, 不太, 我觉得 — that is what week 2 bought you.

4. 🎭 Role-play — the restaurant, eight turns

Scene: dinner for two in Beijing. Eight exchanges, no English.

1. Answer 几位
2. Ask for the menu, or point — 这个,谢谢
3. Order two things ★ with measure words
4. Ask what they recommend
5. Ask whether it's spicy, ask for 微辣
6. Order drinks — 来两瓶啤酒
7. Say it's delicious — ★ 好吃 for food, 好喝 for the drink
8. Ask for the bill, offer to pay, and lose gracefully

Rescue phrases: 我不懂。· 请再说一遍。· 请说慢一点儿。· 这个怎么说? · 我中文不太好。

5. Forty review questions

Numbers (1–8)

1. 25 2. 48 3. 101 4. 1,000,000 5. two people 6. two o'clock 7. 20 8. twelve

Time (9–15)

1. 3:30 10. 7:15 11. Monday 12. ⚠️ Sunday 13. 8 May 14. What day is it? 15. What time is it?

⚠️ Word order (16–18)

1. "I'm going tomorrow" 17. "I get up at seven" 18. "We eat in the evening"

的 (19–22)

1. my book 20. my mum 21. the teacher's car 22. our company

有 (23–24)

1. "I have an older brother" 24. "I don't have money"

★ Measure words (25–32)

1. 三___书 26. 两___人 27. 一___咖啡 28. 五___票 29. 一___鱼
2. 一___车 31. 这___书 32. 三___天 (trick)

Ordering (33–36)

1. "Two beers, please" 34. "This one, thanks" 35. food is delicious 36. tea is delicious

Likes (37–40)

1. "I like drinking coffee" 38. "I don't really like it" 39. "I think it's expensive"
2. "Chinese is harder than English"

Scoring: 35–40 excellent · 28–34 on track · 20–27 reread your weakest two days · under 20 repeat week 2

6. Week 2 final check

★ The halfway honest assessment

What you can do now: read pinyin correctly with tones, introduce yourself and your family, handle numbers, prices, times and dates, count things properly, order and pay a full meal, and say what you like, prefer and think. That is a functioning tourist and a functioning first conversation.

What is missing: you cannot yet say where things are (Day 15), what you can or must do (Days 19–20), or ★ mark that something has happened — the particle 了, Day 26, which is the single most misunderstood thing in Chinese grammar.

Week 3: 在 and place (15) · directions (16) · transport (17) · shopping (18) · 能/会/可以 and 想/要 (19) · 得/必须/应该 (20) · review (21).

★ Week 3 is easier than week 2. No new sound system, no measure words — mostly auxiliary verbs, which behave like English ones.

7. 📲 Upload to LangNote

Upload section 1 and section 2 → study language Chinese.

Your numbers so far

★ The tone row is the one to watch this month. Everything else improves on its own with exposure; tones only improve if you keep checking them.

langNote is a paid subscription and this course recommends it. The 30 lessons are free and complete either way.