全文 The whole set, with pinyin and English
热身 Warm-up
横平竖直，一笔一画。
héng píng shù zhí yì bǐ yí huà
Horizontal strokes level, vertical strokes straight; write one stroke at a time.
一、朗读 Read aloud
今年三月，我开始向王老师学习书法。
jīn nián sān yuè wǒ kāi shǐ xiàng wáng lǎo shī xué xí shū fǎ
This March, I started learning calligraphy from Ms Wang.
第一堂课，老师教我写大字。
dì yī táng kè lǎo shī jiào wǒ xiě dà zì
In the first lesson, she taught me to write the character for 'big'.
我以为大字只有三笔，一定很简单。
wǒ yǐ wéi dà zì zhǐ yǒu sān bǐ yí dìng hěn jiǎn dān
I thought it had only three strokes, so it must be easy.
没想到，毛笔软软的，一点也不听话，我写的字歪歪扭扭，墨水还弄脏了衣服。
méi xiǎng dào máo bǐ ruǎn ruǎn de yì diǎn yě bù tīng huà wǒ xiě de zì wāi wāi niǔ niǔ mò shuǐ hái nòng zāng le yī fu
To my surprise, the brush was soft and wouldn't do what I wanted; my characters were crooked, and the ink even got on my clothes.
我很灰心，想放弃。
wǒ hěn huī xīn xiǎng fàng qì
I felt discouraged and wanted to give up.
王老师笑着说，每一个书法家都是从写不好开始的。
wáng lǎo shī xiào zhe shuō měi yí gè shū fǎ jiā dōu shì cóng xiě bù hǎo kāi shǐ de
Ms Wang smiled and said every calligrapher started out writing badly.
她教我坐直身体，握好毛笔，一笔一画慢慢地写。
tā jiào wǒ zuò zhí shēn tǐ wò hǎo máo bǐ yì bǐ yí huà màn màn de xiě
She taught me to sit up straight, hold the brush properly and write slowly, one stroke at a time.
我每天练习半个小时，一个月后，终于写出了一个端正的大字。
wǒ měi tiān liàn xí bàn gè xiǎo shí yí gè yuè hòu zhōng yú xiě chū le yí gè duān zhèng de dà zì
I practised for half an hour every day, and a month later I finally wrote a neat 'big'.
现在，墙上挂着我写的大、人、天三个字。
xiàn zài qiáng shàng guà zhe wǒ xiě de dà rén tiān sān gè zì
Now the three characters I wrote, 'big', 'person' and 'sky', hang on the wall.
我明白了，只要坚持，就能把难的事情做好。
wǒ míng bai le zhǐ yào jiān chí jiù néng bǎ nán de shì qing zuò hǎo
I understood that if you keep at it, you can do hard things well.
二、看图说话 Talk about the picture
老师：请你说一说图里的情景。
qǐng nǐ shuō yi shuō tú lǐ de qíng jǐng
Please describe what is happening in the picture.
范例：这是一间安静的房间。墙上挂着一幅写着静字的书法，右边的墙上还贴着大、人、天三个字。一个女孩坐在桌子前面，手里拿着毛笔，正在纸上写字。桌子上还有一个装着墨水的墨盘。女孩的旁边坐着一位戴眼镜的老师，她正在看女孩写字。
zhè shì yì jiān ān jìng de fáng jiān qiáng shàng guà zhe yì fú xiě zhe jìng zì de shū fǎ yòu biān de qiáng shàng hái tiē zhe dà rén tiān sān gè zì yí gè nǚ hái zuò zài zhuō zi qián miàn shǒu lǐ ná zhe máo bǐ zhèng zài zhǐ shàng xiě zì zhuō zi shàng hái yǒu yí gè zhuāng zhe mò shuǐ de mò pán nǚ hái de páng biān zuò zhe yí wèi dài yǎn jìng de lǎo shī tā zhèng zài kàn nǚ hái xiě zì
This is a quiet room. On the wall hangs a scroll with the character 'quiet', and on the right-hand wall are the three characters 'big', 'person' and 'sky'. A girl sits at the table holding a brush, writing on paper. On the table there is also a dish of ink. Beside the girl sits a teacher with glasses, watching her write.
老师：女孩在做什么？你怎么知道？
nǚ hái zài zuò shén me nǐ zěn me zhī dào
What is the girl doing? How do you know?
范例：女孩在练习书法。因为她手里拿着毛笔，桌子上铺着白纸，旁边还有一盘墨水。墙上也挂着很多书法作品。
nǚ hái zài liàn xí shū fǎ yīn wèi tā shǒu lǐ ná zhe máo bǐ zhuō zi shàng pù zhe bái zhǐ páng biān hái yǒu yì pán mò shuǐ qiáng shàng yě guà zhe hěn duō shū fǎ zuò pǐn
The girl is practising calligraphy, because she is holding a brush, there is white paper on the table and a dish of ink beside it. There are also lots of calligraphy pieces on the walls.
老师：你觉得墙上为什么挂着一个静字？
nǐ jué de qiáng shàng wèi shén me guà zhe yí gè jìng zì
Why do you think the character 'quiet' hangs on the wall?
范例：我想是因为写书法的时候，心要静下来，才能写好每一笔。这个静字提醒大家，在这个房间里要保持安静，专心练字。
wǒ xiǎng shì yīn wèi xiě shū fǎ de shí hou xīn yào jìng xià lái cái néng xiě hǎo měi yì bǐ zhè gè jìng zì tí xǐng dà jiā zài zhè ge fáng jiān lǐ yào bǎo chí ān jìng zhuān xīn liàn zì
I think it's because when you write calligraphy your heart must be calm before you can write each stroke well. The character 'quiet' reminds everyone to keep quiet in this room and concentrate on writing.
老师：老师和女孩的表情怎么样？你觉得女孩写得怎么样？
lǎo shī hé nǚ hái de biǎo qíng zěn me yàng nǐ jué de nǚ hái xiě de zěn me yàng
What are the teacher's and the girl's expressions like? How well do you think the girl is writing?
范例：老师和女孩都笑眯眯的，看起来很开心。我觉得女孩写得不错，因为如果她写得不好，老师可能就不会笑得这么开心了。
lǎo shī hé nǚ hái dōu xiào mī mī de kàn qǐ lai hěn kāi xīn wǒ jué de nǚ hái xiě de bú cuò yīn wèi rú guǒ tā xiě de bù hǎo lǎo shī kě néng jiù bú huì xiào de zhè me kāi xīn le
Both of them are smiling and look happy. I think the girl is writing quite well, because if she were writing badly, the teacher might not be smiling so happily.
老师：你觉得女孩写完以后会做什么？
nǐ jué de nǚ hái xiě wán yǐ hòu huì zuò shén me
What do you think the girl will do when she has finished writing?
范例：我想她写完以后，会请老师看看自己写得好不好，再按照老师的意见修改。最后，她可能会把写得最好的一张字挂在墙上，和大、人、天三个字放在一起。
wǒ xiǎng tā xiě wán yǐ hòu huì qǐng lǎo shī kàn kàn zì jǐ xiě de hǎo bu hǎo zài àn zhào lǎo shī de yì jiàn xiū gǎi zuì hòu tā kě néng huì bǎ xiě de zuì hǎo de yì zhāng zì guà zài qiáng shàng hé dà rén tiān sān gè zì fàng zài yì qǐ
I think when she finishes, she will ask the teacher to see if she wrote it well, then correct it following the teacher's advice. In the end she may hang her best sheet on the wall beside 'big', 'person' and 'sky'.
老师：你觉得学书法有什么好处？
nǐ jué de xué shū fǎ yǒu shén me hǎo chù
What do you think are the benefits of learning calligraphy?
范例：我觉得学书法有很多好处。首先，可以把字写得更漂亮。另外，写书法要很专心，可以培养我们的耐心。最重要的是，我们可以通过书法，认识更多中华文化。
wǒ jué de xué shū fǎ yǒu hěn duō hǎo chù shǒu xiān kě yǐ bǎ zì xiě de gèng piào liang lìng wài xiě shū fǎ yào hěn zhuān xīn kě yǐ péi yǎng wǒ men de nài xīn zuì zhòng yào de shì wǒ men kě yǐ tōng guò shū fǎ rèn shi gèng duō zhōng huá wén huà
I think learning calligraphy has many benefits. First, you can write more beautifully. Also, calligraphy needs a lot of concentration, which trains our patience. Most importantly, through calligraphy we can learn more about Chinese culture.
三、会话 Conversation
情景：在一段视频里，一个女孩学钢琴学了两个星期，觉得太难了，就对妈妈说不想再学了。
zài yí duàn shì pín lǐ yí gè nǚ hái xué gāng qín xué le liǎng gè xīng qī jué de tài nán le jiù duì mā ma shuō bù xiǎng zài xué le
In a video, a girl has been learning the piano for two weeks; she finds it too hard and tells her mum she doesn't want to learn any more.
老师：你对视频里女孩的做法有什么看法？
nǐ duì shì pín lǐ nǚ hái de zuò fǎ yǒu shén me kàn fǎ
What do you think of what the girl in the video did?
范例：我认为她太快放弃了。学任何新东西，刚开始都会觉得难，这是很正常的。只学了两个星期就放弃，她永远也不会知道自己能弹得多好。她应该再坚持一段时间，慢慢就会进步。
wǒ rèn wéi tā tài kuài fàng qì le xué rèn hé xīn dōng xi gāng kāi shǐ dōu huì jué de nán zhè shì hěn zhèng cháng de zhǐ xué le liǎng gè xīng qī jiù fàng qì tā yǒng yuǎn yě bú huì zhī dào zì jǐ néng tán de duō hǎo tā yīng gāi zài jiān chí yí duàn shí jiān màn màn jiù huì jìn bù
I think she gave up too quickly. When you learn anything new, it feels hard at first; that's normal. If she gives up after only two weeks, she'll never know how well she could play. She should keep at it for a while longer, and she'll slowly improve.
💡 Give your view first, then explain why with one or two reasons.
老师：说一说你坚持做一件难事的经历。
shuō yi shuō nǐ jiān chí zuò yí jiàn nán shì de jīng lì
Tell us about a time you kept at something difficult.
范例：去年，我参加了学校的游泳训练。一开始，我连在水里憋气都很害怕，常常喝了好几口水。可是我没有放弃，每个星期六都去游泳池练习。三个月后，我终于能游完五十米了。那一刻，我开心得跳了起来，也明白了坚持就是胜利。
qù nián wǒ cān jiā le xué xiào de yóu yǒng xùn liàn yì kāi shǐ wǒ lián zài shuǐ lǐ biē qì dōu hěn hài pà cháng cháng hē le hǎo jǐ kǒu shuǐ kě shì wǒ méi yǒu fàng qì měi gè xīng qī liù dōu qù yóu yǒng chí liàn xí sān gè yuè hòu wǒ zhōng yú néng yóu wán wǔ shí mǐ le nà yí kè wǒ kāi xīn de tiào le qǐ lai yě míng bai le jiān chí jiù shì shèng lì
Last year I joined the school swimming training. At first I was even scared of holding my breath underwater, and I often swallowed mouthfuls of water. But I didn't give up, and went to the pool to practise every Saturday. Three months later, I could finally swim fifty metres. At that moment I jumped for joy, and understood that keeping at it is how you win.
💡 Tell it in order: when, where, what happened, and how you felt.
老师：你认为怎样才能坚持做一件事？
nǐ rèn wéi zěn yàng cái néng jiān chí zuò yí jiàn shì
How do you think you can keep at something?
范例：我认为首先要给自己定一个小目标，每完成一个，就会更有信心。另外，可以请家人或朋友鼓励自己。最重要的是，遇到困难的时候，要记住自己为什么开始。
wǒ rèn wéi shǒu xiān yào gěi zì jǐ dìng yí gè xiǎo mù biāo měi wán chéng yí gè jiù huì gèng yǒu xìn xīn lìng wài kě yǐ qǐng jiā rén huò péng you gǔ lì zì jǐ zuì zhòng yào de shì yù dào kùn nán de shí hou yào jì zhù zì jǐ wèi shén me kāi shǐ
I think first you should set yourself small goals; each time you reach one, you'll feel more confident. Also, you can ask family or friends to encourage you. Most importantly, when you meet difficulties, remember why you started.
💡 Give your ideas in order with 首先, 另外 and 最重要的是.
老师：你认为学习华族传统文化，比如书法和舞狮，有什么意义？
nǐ rèn wéi xué xí huá zú chuán tǒng wén huà bǐ rú shū fǎ hé wǔ shī yǒu shén me yì yì
What do you think is the point of learning Chinese traditions, such as calligraphy and lion dance?
范例：我认为学习传统文化很有意义。首先，它让我们更了解自己的根。另外，在新加坡这个多元种族的社会，我们也可以把自己的文化介绍给其他种族的朋友，让大家互相了解。
wǒ rèn wéi xué xí chuán tǒng wén huà hěn yǒu yì yì shǒu xiān tā ràng wǒ men gèng liǎo jiě zì jǐ de gēn lìng wài zài xīn jiā pō zhè ge duō yuán zhǒng zú de shè huì wǒ men yě kě yǐ bǎ zì jǐ de wén huà jiè shào gěi qí tā zhǒng zú de péng you ràng dà jiā hù xiāng liǎo jiě
I think learning traditional culture is very meaningful. First, it helps us understand our roots better. Also, in a multiracial society like Singapore, we can introduce our culture to friends of other races so everyone understands each other.
💡 Give your view and back it up with two reasons.