Lesson 5
2026-06-09
9 June 2026 · Elena
Can You Cook Chinese Food?
First lesson with Elena. She ran the whole class in Mandarin — starting with a conversation: where you live (我住在香港佐敦), family size (我家有五口人), two older sisters and parents all in England, living alone (我一个人住). Food section: is Chinese food delicious (中国菜好吃吗 — 很好吃), can you cook (你会做中国菜吗 — 我不会), fried rice (炒饭), and how to ask 怎么 (炒饭怎么做). Second half covered HSK Standard Course Lesson 7: asking dates (今天几号, 星期几), yesterday/today/tomorrow (昨天/今天/明天), and going somewhere to do something (我去学校看书). Pronunciation corrections: q/qu sound (not chu), 书 shū (no ji sound). Homework: review Lessons 1–7. Next class: full Mandarin conversation only, no book.
Swipe left to start
住在 (zhù zài) means 'live in / live at'. Follow it with the place. Two essential living-situation sentences: where you are, and whether you live alone.
住在 — live in / live at
Verb phrase for giving your location. Place name follows directly. Used for long-term residence, not a temporary visit.
我住在香港。— I live in Hong Kong.
family / home
我家 = my family. 你家有几口人？= How many people in your family?
会 (huì) means you have a learned skill — you know how to do something. It's different from 能 (néng), which means you are physically able to. Use 会 for anything that requires learning.
会 — know how to / can (a learned skill)
Use 会 before any verb that requires learning: speak a language, cook, drive, play an instrument. The question form adds 吗 at the end.
你会说中文吗？— Do you know how to speak Chinese?
delicious / tasty
Literally 'good eat'. Most common word for delicious food. 很好吃 = very delicious. 不好吃 = not tasty.
怎么 (zěn me) means 'how'. It goes before the verb. You can also put the object first for a very natural-sounding question.
怎么 — how
Question word for method or process. Goes before the verb. 怎么 + verb = how to [verb].
这个怎么说？— How do you say this? (Most useful question you can learn.)
today
Two key questions for dates: 几号 (what date) asks for the day of the month, 星期几 asks for the day of the week. Both use 几 as the question word.
今天几号？— What date is today?
几号 = which date/number. Answer: number + 号. Add month + 号 for the full date. 是 is optional in the answer.
今天几号？— 今天六月九号。— What date is today? — Today is June 9th.
去 (qù) means 'to go'. Put the destination after it, then chain an action after the destination to say why you're going — no extra linking word needed.
去 — to go (to a place)
Goes before the destination. 我去+[place] = I am going to [place]. Also used before a verb: 去看书 = go and read.
我去北京。— I'm going to Beijing.
Cover the Chinese and try to produce it from the English, then reveal and check.
Translate into Mandarin
I live alone.
Word hints (scrambled)
Type the pinyin
Elena asked questions like these — no book, no pinyin. Listen to the question and respond out loud before checking the answer.
Listen — what's the answer?
Elena meets Guo Hao for the first time and asks about his life in Hong Kong. They talk about family, cooking, and what day it is — all without looking at the book.
住在 + place = live in [place]. 我住在香港佐敦。One of the first questions a new acquaintance will ask.
一个人住 = live alone. Literally 'one person live'. A complete, natural answer to 你跟谁一起住？
我家有X口人 = My family has X people. 口 is the only measure word used for family members — use nothing else.
会 means you have a learned skill. 你会做菜吗？→ 我不会。It's about knowledge, not ability.
不 (bù) becomes bú before a 4th-tone syllable: 不会 is bú huì, not bù huì. This is the most common tone sandhi you'll hear.
好吃 = delicious. The most useful food compliment. 很好吃 = very delicious.
怎么 + verb = how to [verb]. Put the object first for a natural question: 炒饭怎么做？ (not 怎么做炒饭).
Date order is big to small: year → month → day. 六月九号 = June 9th. Never reverse it.
Two questions for dates: 今天几号？(which date of the month) and 今天星期几？(which day of the week).
去 + place + verb = go to [place] to [do something]. No linking word needed: 我去学校看书。
Elena corrected the qu/qü sound — it's not 'chu'. The lips come forward as if saying 'yu'. Same sound in 学校 (xué).
Homework: review HSK Standard Course Lessons 1–7. Next class is full Mandarin conversation only — no book.
Elena observed that when you repeat and self-correct, you produce no accent — a strong signal. Most Hong Kong students at advanced levels carry a Cantonese accent that's very hard to fix. Your accent is not set yet. This lesson, you caught yourself saying 四 (four) when you meant 九 (nine) and corrected on the fly — that self-monitoring matters.
DiSSS framework
Deconstruction
Three questions unlock most of your daily life in Mandarin: 住在哪儿 (where do you live), 会不会做 (can you do), and 今天几号/星期几 (what day is it). Mastering these patterns first means you can have real conversations before you finish the HSK book.
Selection
Elena chose food as the conversational hook because it's familiar, emotionally engaging, and high-frequency for someone in Hong Kong retail. 你会做菜吗 is a question you will hear and ask dozens of times. The lesson framed grammar through something you already care about.
Sequencing
Elena's approach: conversation first, book second. She tested what you actually know before touching the textbook. The struggle to answer without pinyin is the test — it shows you the gap between recognition (reading) and production (speaking). Two or three classes a week will close that gap fast.
Vocabulary context
This lesson covered HSK Standard Course Lesson 7 content: dates, days of the week, 去 + location + action. Combined with Lessons 1–6 (greetings, numbers, nationalities, occupations, family, food), you now have the building blocks for a simple daily-life conversation.
Tomorrow's action
Review HSK Standard Course Lessons 1–7 before the next class. The next lesson will be full Mandarin conversation only — Elena will ask questions from all seven chapters and you answer without looking at the book. Focus on being able to produce sentences, not just recognise them.