Day 7: Week 1 Review

everything from Days 1–6, tested · 40 min

Do the tests before you read the summary. A review you read is worth almost nothing; a review that catches you being wrong is worth the whole week.

1. Week 1 on one page

Tones and pinyin (Days 1–2)

mā má mǎ mà ma — 妈 麻 马 骂 吗 ★ 3rd tone = LOW, not a dip (the V only happens alone or sentence-final) ⚠️ Pitch is spelling. You cannot ask a question by raising your voice ★ Three sibilant series: z c s (teeth) · zh ch sh r (curled) · j q x (forward, smiling) ⚠️ c = ts · q = ch · x = sh · r ≠ English r · e = uh · ian = yen ⚠️ i after z/c/s/zh/ch/sh/r is a buzz, not "ee" — 四 sì, 是 shì ★ Sandhi: 3+3 → ní hǎo · 不 → bú before 4th · 一 → yí before 4th, yì elsewhere

Characters (Day 3)

★ 80%+ are meaning-half + sound-half — 妈 = 女 + 马 · 请 = 讠 + 青 Radicals: 氵亻讠口女木忄扌日饣艹辶钅 Stroke order: top→bottom, left→right, horizontal→vertical, ★ close the box last ★ ~1,000 characters = ~90% of everyday text · recognition ≫ handwriting Simplified (mainland) — this course

Greetings (Day 4)

★ 吃了吗? is a greeting → 吃了,你呢? · 好久不见 · 早! ⚠️ 你好吗? is textbook — say 最近怎么样? ★ 不好意思 for small things ≫ 对不起 for real apologies ★ 请问 opens a question to a stranger · 请 + verb, never after 慢走 is said to the one leaving, by the one staying

★★ 是 vs 很 (Day 5)

是 joins a NOUN to a noun. Adjectives are already verbs — use 很, no 是.

我是学生 ✅ · 我是好 ❌ → 我很好 ✅ ★ 很 is a filler, not "very" · negation replaces it: 我不忙 叫 / 姓 are verbs — 我叫Alex, 我姓王 · ★ 我二十五岁 has no verb at all ★ 也 and 都 go BEFORE the verb — 我也是学生 · 我们都是

Questions (Day 6)

吗 · ★ A-not-A (是不是 / 忙不忙 / 有没有) · question words stay in place · 还是 (question) vs 或者 (statement) ⚠️ Never 吗 on a question-word question ★ No word for yes/no — repeat the verb. 是。/ 不是。/ 有。/ 没有。

The four things English speakers get wrong

1. Raising pitch to ask a question — it rewrites the word
2. 是 in front of an adjective — 我是好 ❌
3. 也/都 at the end — 我是学生也 ❌
4. 吗 on top of a question word — 你去哪儿吗 ❌

2. ✍️ Dictation — 15 sentences

Write the pinyin with tone marks. Characters if you can.

1. 你好! 好久不见。
2. 你叫什么名字?
3. 我叫Alex,我姓王。
4. 我是美国人。
5. 我不是老师,我是学生。
6. 我很好,你呢?
7. 他很忙。
8. 我们都是学生。
9. 我也是。
10. 你是不是中国人?
11. 这是什么?
12. 你去哪儿?
13. 你为什么学中文?
14. 你喝茶还是咖啡?
15. 不好意思,请问,洗手间在哪儿?

Scoring

⚠️ ★ Score the TONES separately. Getting ni hao right with no tone marks is not a correct answer. Count a syllable correct only if the tone is right — that is the number that matters this week.

3. 🗣 Speaking test — one minute about yourself

Record yourself. One take, no notes, no stopping.

The eight things you must include

• ☐a greeting
• ☐your name — 我叫 / 我姓
• ☐your nationality — 我是…人
• ☐your job — 我是… (noun, so 是)
• ☐your age — …岁, ★ no verb
• ☐★ one adjective sentence — 我很… (no 是!)
• ☐one thing you are not — 我不是…
• ☐a question back — 你呢?

Model answer (~45 seconds)

你好! 我叫Alex,我姓王。 我是美国人,现在住在北京。 我是学生,我学中文。我不是老师。 我二十五岁。 中文很难,但是很有意思。我很喜欢中国。 我最近很忙,每天都学习。 我朋友也是学生,我们都学中文。 你呢? 你是哪国人?

Self-scoring (out of 8)

★ Keep this recording. You re-record the same minute on Day 30.

4. 🎭 Role-play — survive five turns

Open the Role-play mission. Scene: meeting someone at a language exchange in Beijing. Five exchanges, no English.

1. Greet — try 吃了吗? and answer it correctly when asked back
2. Names — 你叫什么名字? / 您贵姓?
3. Nationality and job — and ask theirs with 你呢?
4. Ask one question with A-not-A — 你忙不忙? / 你是不是学生?
5. Say goodbye correctly

If you get stuck, these are legal and native:

5. Thirty review questions

Tones (1–5) — which tone?

1. mā 2. má 3. mǎ 4. mà 5. ma

Pinyin (6–12) — read aloud and say the trap.

1. cài 7. qǐng 8. xiè 9. rén 10. hē 11. sì 12. tiān

Sandhi (13–16) — how is it actually said?

1. nǐ hǎo 14. bù shì 15. bù kèqi 16. yī ge

Characters (17–20)

1. 妈 — which half is the sound? 18. 请 — which half is the meaning?
2. What does 氵 mean? 20. 中国 literally means…?

Greetings (21–23)

1. Reply to 吃了吗 (you have) 22. You bump into someone 23. Opening a question to a stranger

是 / 很 (24–27)

1. 我___学生 25. 我___好 26. 他___忙 27. 这___茶

也 / 都 (28)

1. "We're all students"

Questions (29–30)

1. Make 你是学生 into A-not-A 30. Answer 你有时间吗? (no)

Scoring: 26–30 excellent · 20–25 on track · 15–19 reread your weakest two days · under 15 repeat week 1

6. Week 1 final check

What week 1 actually gave you

You can produce all four tones, read pinyin correctly, split a character into its meaning and sound halves, greet anyone the way people actually do, introduce yourself fully, and ask questions four different ways.

What is still missing: you cannot yet count anything (measure words, Day 11), say where things are (Day 15), or mark that something has happened (了, Day 26).

★ The one honest warning before week 2. ⚠️ If your tones are shaky, fix them now.Every word you add from here doubles the problem — a hundred words with vague tones is a hundred words you cannot say. Week 2 adds numbers, measure words and food, all of which are high-frequency and all of which you will say wrong forever if the tone habit does not set this week.

7. 📲 Upload to LangNote

Upload section 1 (the summary) and section 2 (the 15 sentences) → study language Chinese.

★ Two numbers to write down today

You fill the same table on Day 14, Day 21 and Day 30. Without today's numbers there is nothing to compare against — this is the only day you cannot recover later.

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