HSK 1 ≈ CEFR A1 95 characters 10 sentences

Learning Chinese （我学汉语）

Characters are hard, tones are harder, and the teacher says the same thing every week.

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我学汉语

我wǒ是shì美国人měiguórén，我wǒ在zài中国zhōngguó学习xuéxí汉语hànyǔ。
I'm American and I'm studying Chinese in China.
我wǒ的de(possessive)老师lǎoshī姓xìng王wáng。
My teacher's surname is Wang.
王wáng老师lǎoshī很好hěnhǎo，他tā说话shuōhuà很hěn慢màn。
Mr Wang is very good — he speaks slowly.
我们wǒmen班bān有yǒu十二shí'èr个gè学生xuésheng。
There are twelve students in our class.
我们wǒmen每天měitiān学习xuéxí二十èrshí个gè字zì。
We learn twenty characters a day.
汉字hànzì很hěn难nán，我wǒ常常chángcháng写xiě错cuò。
Chinese characters are hard and I often write them wrong.
说话shuōhuà也不yěbù容易róngyì。
Speaking isn't easy either.
王wáng老师说lǎoshīshuō：“不要bùyào怕pà，多duō说shuō，多duō听tīng / tìng。”
Mr Wang says, "Don't be afraid — speak more, listen more."
现在xiànzài我wǒ会huì说shuō一点yīdiǎn儿ér汉语hànyǔ了le / liǎo / liào。
Now I can speak a little Chinese.
我wǒ很hěn高兴gāoxìng，我wǒ想xiǎng学xué得dé / děi / de更好gènghǎo。
I'm very happy, and I want to get better.

Words to notice

汉语hànyǔ
Chinese language
学习xuéxí
Study (learn)
字zì
Character (symbol - letter - word)
老师lǎoshī
Teacher
会huì
Meeting (understand - able to - can - will - shall)
说shuō
Said (speak - say - talk - explain)
Drill this level's full word list on the HSK 1 vocabulary page or with HSK 1 flashcards.

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Check how hard a text is with the HSK Level Analyzer, annotate your own reading in the Pinyin Annotator, look up the grammar behind these sentences in the Chinese Grammar Library, or follow a whole route through the site with Guided Learning Paths.

Where to go next

Graded Chinese Readers Chinese Dictionary Text-to-Speech Reader Chinese Reading Speed Test Branching Chinese Stories Chinese Grammar Library