Lesson 1 Hello! (打招呼)

This text has two main purposes. The first one is to teach the interrogative sentence structure “你身体好吗？” through the repeating dialog exercises; The second is intonation.

Lesson 2 What is the weather like today? (今天天气怎么样?)

This text mainly teaches the interrogative sentence structure “今天天气怎么样”, which is used to ask the status of something and the answer usually contains some adjective, such as “累 (tired)”“冷(cold)”“高兴(happy)”“努力(endeavor)”“认真(serious)”,etc. Besides, pay more attention to the neutral tone, such as “吗”“的”“了”.

Lesson 3 What is that? (那是什么?)

This text ss mainly about the interrogative sentence structure “这是什么／那是什么”, which is answered with common nouns. The students are expected to freely use this sentence structure after completion of the text. At the same time, students must pay more attention to the right pronunciation of these initials: “b and p”、“d and t”、“g and k”.

Lesson 4 How many younger sisters do you have? (你有几个妹妹?)

This text is to teach the interrogative sentence structure “你有几个中国朋友”to question for the number of some kind of people. We usually use “numeral plus measure word” to answer it. You are expected to master this grammar after completion of the text. Besides, you will learn how to express the numbers within one hundred in Chinese.

Lesson 5 What time is it now? (几点钟了?)

This text is to teach the interrogative sentence structure about “time”, such as “现 在 几 点, and is answered with time adverbs. Besides, you must pay attention to the right spelling of “j q x﹢ü” and “j q x﹢üe üɑn ün”.

Lesson 6 Asking price (问价钱)

This lesson is to teach the interrogative sentence structure about “asking the price”, for example, “这件衬衣多少钱 ( How much does this sweater cost?)”, and the right use of “a numeral plus a measure word （块/元、毛/角、分）” in the reply. Besides, you should pay attention to the right pronunciation of “z c s＋i” in this lesson.

Lesson 7 What day is it today? (今天星期几?)

This lesson is to teach the interrogative sentence structure about “asking the date” and the right way to reply, for example, “今天星期几(What day is it today?)”. Besides, you should pay attention to the right pronunciation of “zh ch sh r＋i” in this lesson.

Lesson 8 What is your nationality? (您是哪国人?)

This lesson to teach the interrogative sentence structure about “asking someone’s identity”, for example, “您叫什么名字 (What’s your name?)”. The students are expected to know how to introduce themselves . Besides, you should pay attention to the right spelling and pronunciation of the retroflex ending -r.

Lesson 9 Who is he? (他是谁？)

This lesson to teach the interrogative sentence structure about “asking the third person’s status ”, for example, “她是谁(Who is she?)”. Besides, you should pay attention to the change tone of words or phrases with three successive syllables.

Lesson 10 Can you help me? (你能帮我一下吗?)

This lesson is to teach the interrogative sentence structure using the auxiliary verbs “能、会(can )”, for example, “你会说汉语吗(Can you swim?)”, and the right way to reply with an affirmative or negative tongue. Besides, you should pay attention to the liaison of words and phrases with polysyllable.

Lesson 11 Greetings (问候)

Wang Qiang (王强) and Lin Dan (林丹) are college classmates. They happen to meet at the street one day, and ask each other about the recent conditions. This lesson aims to review all sentence structures we have learned in the last ten lessons. You may find that most well-known sentence structures are smartly mixed in the conversation.

Lesson 12 Talking about the campus (谈论校园)

Mary is from United States and she is learning Chinese at a school in Beijing. Liu Wei is from China and he is studying English at another school in Beijing. They are talking about their schools. In this lesson we should learn the interrogative sentence structure ending with “吗”, and also the sentence structure about one’s possessions.

Lesson 13 Introduction (介绍)

Liu Wei is visiting Li Xiaoman’s （李晓曼）home. In their conversation, there are many sentences containing the interrogative sentence structure like “你爸爸妈妈呢？”, and sentences with a predicate of “是” in “可不”、“可不是”or“可不是吗” for the rhetorical questions.

Lesson 14 Talking about the academic studies (谈学习)

Lin Haitao (林海涛) and Mary are talking about their school studies. In this lesson, we should learn the predicate sentence: “subject+（adverbial modifier）verb（complement）”, and the interrogative sentences with different question nouns “谁、哪、哪儿、什么、多少 or几”.

Lesson 15 At the bus stop (车站相遇)

Liu Wei (刘伟) and Mary meet each other at a bus stop, and they are chatting while waiting for the bus. In this lesson, we should learn the sentence structure with successive verbs, overlapped verbs, and the negative tone using the phrase “一点儿也不”.

Lesson 16 School introduction (介绍学校)

Tom and Mary are at Beijing University of Languages and Cultural Studies. They are talking about the school facilities. In this lesson, we should learn the words about directions and possessions.

Lesson 17 Talking about language learning (谈语言)

Tom and Mary are talking about language learning. In this lesson, we should learn the modal verbs “能” and “会” and their negative forms.

Lesson 18 Shopping at the Farmers’ Market (在农贸市场买菜)

Liu Wei (刘伟) and Mary are discussing about what to buy in the bazaar. In this lesson, we should learn the use of “买(buy)” and “卖(sell)” , and sentences with predicate of nouns, and the measure words too.

Lesson 19 Talking about hobbies (谈爱好)

Li Xiaoman (李晓曼) and Liu Wei (刘伟) are talking about their hobbies. In this lesson, we should learn the right use of the positive and negative interrogative sentences, and some words to describe interests.

Lesson 20 Dining out in a restaurant (餐馆就餐)

In a restaurant, two friends are ordering the food, they ask the waitress about the speciality of the restaurant. Besides the right way of ordering food, you’ll learn about a phrase 有没有 (have or haven’t) and a verb 来 (come).