Day 30: Final Challenge
Thirty days ago mā má mǎ mà all sounded the same.
Four parts today: speak for five minutes, re-record your Day 1 sentences, take the fifty-question exam, and decide what happens on day 31.
⚠️ Do the recording before you look at anything else. Revise first and you are measuring your revision, not your thirty days.
1. 🎤 The five-minute challenge
Rules
| Five minutes, one take | no notes, no pausing, no restarting |
|---|---|
| No English, not one word | if stuck, use the phrases below |
| ★ Tones stay on | ⚠️ especially when you get nervous |
| Mistakes do not stop you | speak through them |
How to fill five minutes — follow this order when you stall
Each block is roughly 45 seconds. When one runs out, move on.
| Block | Reach for | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Who you are — name, nationality, where you live | 我叫 · 我是…人 · 我住在… |
| 2 | Your job and age | ★ 是 for the noun, no verb for the age |
| 3 | Your family | 有/没有 · ★ measure words · 的 dropped |
| 4 | Your day — with times | ★ time before the verb |
| 5 | How you get around, and what's near you | 坐…去 · 在 vs 有 · position words |
| 6 | What you like, can and can't do | 喜欢 · 会 / 能 / 不太 |
| 7 | ★ What you did last weekend | ★ 了 and 没 |
| 8 | ★ Somewhere you have been / something you've tried | ★ 过 |
| 9 | ★ Why you're learning Chinese | ★ 因为…所以… |
| 10 | What you'll do next — and a question back | 要 / 打算 / 会 · …怎么样? |
★ Blocks 7, 8 and 9 are the ones that show thirty days of work. Anyone can memorise a self-introduction. Narrating the past with 了/过 and giving a reason with a connector pair cannot be faked.
If you stall
那个… · 怎么说呢… · 让我想想。 · 这个怎么说? · 原来如此。
Scoring — out of 100
| Points | ||
|---|---|---|
| Length | 25 | 5 min = 25 · 4 = 20 · 3 = 15 · 2 = 8 |
| ★ Tones audible and mostly correct | 20 | ★ the biggest single item |
| No English | 10 | one English word = −3 |
| ★ 了 / 没 / 过 used correctly | 15 | at least five past sentences |
| A connector pair (因为…所以 / 虽然…但是) | 10 | at least two |
| Word order: time and place before the verb | 10 | |
| Measure words present | 5 | |
| 是 vs 很 correct | 5 | |
| ★ Reactions and fillers (那个, 对对对, 原来如此) | 5 | |
| Flow — you kept going | 5 |
| Score | |
|---|---|
| 80–100 | Solid HSK 1–2, reaching into 3. You can hold a real conversation |
| 60–79 | ★ The expected result for thirty honest days. You are functional |
| 40–59 | It's in there but not automatic. See section 5 |
| under 40 | Redo weeks 3 and 4 — but finish the recording anyway |
2. 📊 The Day 1 re-recording
Read exactly these — the same ten from Day 1 §8 — and record them.
| 你好。 | Hello |
|---|---|
| 谢谢。 | Thank you |
| 不客气。 | You're welcome |
| 对不起。 | Sorry |
| 没关系。 | It's fine |
| 再见。 | Goodbye |
| 我不懂。 | I don't understand |
| 你会说英语吗? | Do you speak English? |
| 请再说一遍。 | Please say that again |
| 我是美国人。 | I'm American |
★ Now play the Day 1 file and this one back to back.Listen specifically for:★ Are there tones at all? — the Day 1 recording almost certainly has flat English pitch★ 你好 as ní hǎo (sandhi ①) and 不客气 as bú kèqi (sandhi ②)★ 是 shì — is the i a buzz, or are you still saying "she"?★ 请 / 谢 / 再 — are q, x and z in the right series?★ 你会说英语吗? — ⚠️ does your pitch rise at the end? It should not.
Your numbers, all four checkpoints
| Day 7 | Day 14 | Day 21 | Day 30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★ Tones correct | ___ % | ___ % | ___ % | ___ % |
| Dictation | ___/15 | ___/20 | ___/20 | ___/20 |
| Pronunciation | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ |
| Speaking length | 1 min | 2 min | 3 min | 5 min |
| Final challenge | ___/100 |
★ The tone row is the one that matters in Chinese specifically. Grammar improves on its own with exposure; tones only improve if you keep measuring them — which is why this course made you score them separately at every checkpoint.
3. Final exam — fifty questions
Tones and pinyin (1–8)
- mā má mǎ mà — which is 马? 2. 3rd tone before another tone = ? 3. c = ? 4. q = ?
- x = ? 6. i in 四 = ? 7. 你好 said as? 8. 不是 said as?
Characters (9–11)
- 妈 — which half is the sound? 10. 氵 means? 11. 中国 literally =?
是 / 很 (12–15)
- 我___学生 13. 我___好 14. 他___忙 15. 这___茶
Questions (16–19)
- Make 你是学生 A-not-A 17. "Where are you going?" 18. Answer 你有时间吗? (no)
- ⚠️ What's wrong with 你去哪儿吗?
Numbers (20–24)
- 48 21. 1,000,000 22. two people 23. two o'clock 24. 八折 = ?
Time and order (25–28)
- "I'm going tomorrow" 26. "I work in Beijing" 27. "I go to school by subway"
- 3:30
Measure words (29–32)
- 三___书 30. 一___咖啡 31. 一___鱼 32. 这___书
Can / want / must (33–39)
- "I can speak Chinese" 34. "I can't come today" 35. "May I come in?"
- "I'd like to go to China" 37. "Don't go!" 38. "I have to go" (casual)
- ⚠️ "You don't have to come" vs "You must not come"
不 / 没 (40–43)
- "I'm not going" 41. "I didn't go" 42. "I don't have money" 43. "He's not a student"
★ 了 / 过 (44–48)
- "I ate" 45. "It's started raining" 46. "I've been to China" 47. "I've never been"
- ⚠️ What is wrong with 我没吃了?
Connectors (49–50)
- "Because I'm busy, I can't go" 50. "Although it's expensive, it's good"
Answers
- mǎ 2. a 2nd tone 3. ts 4. ch 5. sh 6. a buzz 7. ní hǎo 8. bú shì
- 马 10. water 11. middle country
- 是 13. 很 14. 很 15. 是
- 你是不是学生? 17. 你去哪儿? 18. 没有。 19. ★ 吗 cannot go on a question-word question
- 四十八 21. 一百万 22. 两个人 23. 两点 24. ★ 20% off
- 我明天去。 26. 我在北京工作。 27. 我坐地铁去学校。 28. 三点半
- 本 30. 杯 31. 条 32. 本
- 我会说中文。 34. 我今天不能来。 35. 可以进来吗? 36. 我想去中国。 37. 不要走!/别走! 38. 我得走了。
- 你不用来 / 你不能来
- 我不去。 41. 我没去。 42. 我没有钱。 43. 他不是学生。
- 我吃了。 45. 下雨了。 46. 我去过中国。 47. 我没去过。 48. ★ 没 and 了 can never co-occur
- 因为我很忙,所以不能去。 50. 虽然很贵,但是很好。
Scoring: 45–50 excellent · 38–44 solid HSK 2 · 30–37 good with known gaps · under 30 — another pass, and you now know exactly which days
4. ★ The last ten sentences — the whole thirty days
If you keep only ten sentences from this month, keep these. Each carries a structure.
- 你好,我叫Alex,我是美国人。 — the opening, and 是 with a noun
- 我住在北京,我在这儿学中文。 — ★ 在 doing both jobs
- 我家有四口人,我有一个姐姐。 — 有 + measure word
- 我每天坐地铁去学校。 — ★ time → serial verb → place
- 我会说一点儿中文,可是说得不好。 — 会 + 得
- 我不太能吃辣。 — ★ 不太, the polite no
- ★ 你周末做了什么? — the question you'll be asked most
- ★ 我去了上海,还去过北京。 — 了 (event) and 过 (experience) in one line
- ★ 因为我很忙,所以不能去。 — the connector pair, both halves
- 我不懂,请再说一遍。 — the phrase that keeps you talking
5. Day 31 — not stopping here
Thirty days gets you to roughly HSK 1–2 — you can survive, socialise and tell a simple story. It is also the level people lose fastest if they stop.
Minimum maintenance — ten minutes a day
| 3 min | Upload something real to LangNote — a menu, a sign, a message, a song title |
|---|---|
| 3 min | One role-play turn set. Speaking, not reading |
| 3 min | Review cards. Whatever is due |
| 1 min | ★ Say what you did today, out loud, with 了 |
★ The one-minute past-tense habit is the highest-value thing on this list, and 了 is the first thing to decay.
What to learn next, in order
| Why it's next | |
|---|---|
| ★ ① Characters, seriously | you have ~150. 1,000 is the target, and it is the single biggest unlock |
| ② 把 and 被 | disposal and passive — Day 22 gave you 把 to recognise only |
| ③ Result and direction complements | 吃完, 听懂, 走进去 — ★ enormously common, and very Chinese |
| ④ 的/得/地 in writing | Day 27 gave the rule; using it accurately takes practice |
| ⑤ More 了 | it has more uses than two. Come back to it at HSK 3 |
And the honest advice
⚠️ ★ Your tones will slip when you are tired, nervous or excited. Everyone's do.The fix is not more study — it is more speaking, because tones are a motor habit, not a fact.And do not let measure words slow you down. The people who stop to search for 条 vs 只 are the ones who stop talking, and the ones who stop talking lose the language.★ Speak first, be right second. That has been the rule of this whole challenge and it stays the rule.
6. 📲 The last upload
Upload section 4 (the last ten sentences) and your five-minute recording → study language Chinese.
| Mission | What to do with it |
|---|---|
| 🗣 Shadowing | The ten sentences — ★ save this pronunciation score, it is your Day 30 number |
| 🎧 Podcast | Your own five minutes, played back. Uncomfortable and the most useful listening you'll do |
| ❓ Quiz | The fifty questions |
| 📖 Vocab | The ten sentences, as your permanent core deck |
| 🎭 Role-play | One last free conversation — no scenario, no script |
The two files
Put your Day 1 recording and your Day 30 recording side by side one more time.Thirty days ago you were learning that mā and mà are different words. Today you spoke for five minutes about your life, your family, your week and your reasons — with tones, with 了, with the verb in the right place, without stopping.That is what thirty days is worth. Keep both files.
★ 恭喜你! 你做到了。 (Congratulations — you did it.)
langNote is a paid subscription and this course recommends it. The 30 lessons are free and complete either way.