Directions & Position Words Flashcards

Practise 24 words with a matching picture on every card. Look at the red marker before reading each position word. Say where it is, then check the Chinese and pinyin. Sketch a contrasting position or point it out in the room around you. Use New shuffle for another recall round and save confusing words for Review. Continue to the taxi phrases or Places Around Town to connect these words with a real journey.

Twelve basic position words, four compass directions and eight wayfinding terms make this 24-card selection. For left and right, use your view of the picture. The red marker is the thing being located; blue shapes are the reference objects. Front and behind use the same blue chair facing the bottom of the picture: the front marker is by its seat, while the rear marker is partly hidden by its back. Inside and outside use the same open box; above and below use the same shelf; near and far use the same building and scale. Compass pictures always have north at the top; the fixed small triangle above the circle marks that reference, and the larger red arrow marks the word. Opposite shows two positions facing across a street. The address picture is an envelope with a location pin and blank address lines, not a sample address to memorize. Pictures show the spatial senses of dictionary words that can also have other uses. These are vocabulary cards; the existing Travel Phrases deck supplies requests and full sentences.

• Use the taxi and ride-hailing phrases
• Name places around town
• Practise transport words
• Practise complete travel phrases
• Review your saved direction words
• Choose another flashcard deck

Think you know them? The Chinese Picture Quiz says a word and shows it in characters, and you tap its picture — these cards mixed with every other picture deck.

Looking for graded vocabulary instead? The HSK flashcards run levels 1 to 6, and the HSK word lists have the full 5,000.