Writing Practice TASK
Directions : Practice writing tasks provided below. For each question, your answer should be written entirely in Chinese and should contain a minimum of 100 words. Salutations and closings in Chinese are included in the word count. Numbers and names of people, unless written in Chinese characters, are not counted as words. You must satisfy the purpose of the task. Be sure to organize your response and to include a beginning, middle, and ending. The sentence structure and/or expressions used should be connected logically and should demonstrate a wide range of vocabulary with minimal repetition.
NOTE: The rubric (scoring criteria) for Part 4 response receiving maximum credit appears below)
1 You classmates recently went to an exchange trip to China. Write a journal about what you heard. You may wish to include:
• who went
• when did they go
• how they got there
• How long were they there
• where did they stay and why
• what sights did they visit
• what other activities did they do while they were there (shopping, visiting school, making friends……)
• how do you feel (do you want to go and why)
2 You are writing an email message to your Chinese friend discussing your family’s professions and work place. You may want to include:
• how many people are there in your family
• who are they
• what type of job do they do/used to do
• where do they work
• how far is their job location from your house
• how do they like their job and why
• what do you want to do for living when you grow up
*3. You just got to China for an exchange program. Your Chinese teacher has requested you to write a short passage to introduce your family members.
You may wish to include:
• Your name
• where you live or come from
• how many people are there in your family
• their age
• what they look like
• what hobbies they have
• what type of job they do
• what other leisure activities they do
• how well can they do sports/hobbies
4. You are writing an email message to your Chinese friend talking about your shopping experience or your shopping plans in the near future. You may want to include but not limited to:
• when did/do you go
• who did/do you go with
• where did/do you go
• what did/do you want to buy
• how did /do you like the prices
• were /are you able to do some haggle the price
• what did/do you end up buying
• how much money did you/do you want to spend in total
did/do you pay by cash or credit card
5. You are in China for an exchange program. You met a Chinese friend a few months ago. Now you have not seen each other for a while. Write an email message to him and talk about how you have been recently. You may want to include but not limited to:
• Ask your friend how he has been lately
• Tell him that you have been busy, tired… and why
• Talk about people in your family’s well being
• Talk about your school work, easy, hard……
• Talk about other activities you have been doing
• Tell him how you feel about your well being
• Tell him that you wish you could
• Ask about his family’s well being
6. You have a pen-pal in China. He asked about the town you live. Write an email message to him to describe your town.
• The name of your town
• Where is situated (northwest of NYC)
• How far is it from NYC (far, not too far; by train……)
• What stores/businesses are there in town
• Where are they situated to each other
• Is there a big shopping mall/zoo/train station……
• How do you like your town and why
• What do you wish to have in your town and why
• Ask your Chinese friend about the town he lives
7. Your Chinese friend is planning a birthday party for all exchange students. He needs you to give him some input about the party. Write to him about what you want to do/eat/drink; you may want to include but not limited to:
• What do you want to eat/drink the most at the party and why
• Where do you want the party and why
• When do you want the party and why
• Who else do you want to invite
• What sports activities do you want to do at the party
• What other activities do you want to do at the party (games, movies/ TV shows/ speaking Chinese/listening to Chinese music, do Chinese dance…
• How are the servers (good, nice……)
• Ask about if your friend think it is OK with him
8. You are writing an email message to your Chinese friend talking about your future travel plans. You may want to include but not limited to:
• when do you want go
• who do you want to go with
• where do you want to go and why
• How long you want to be there
• Where do you want to stay and why
• What do you want to see/do the most
• Ask about if your friend wants to join you
• how much money it will cost you for this trip
9. You have a few questions regarding learning Chinese. Write an email message to your Chinese teacher. You want to ask when you can meet and make an appointment. You may want to include:
• greetings
• the reasons you want to meet
• what specific questions you want to ask: grammar, reading, speaking……
• what time do you want to meet
• where do you want to meet
• if the teacher is not available, what suggestions do you make
• show your gratitude
10. Your Chinese friend is asking you about your Chinese learning experience. You write an email to him/her to express how you feel about learning Chinese. You may want to include but not limited to:
• How long have you been learning Chinese
• Why do you want to study Chinese
• What do you think is the most challenging part
• What do you think is the easier part
• How do you like your Chinese teacher’s teaching style? (too hard, too much homework……?
• Comparing Chinese with other foreign languages (Spanish or French)
• How often do you have exam/quiz?
• How well do you do in Chinese
• What area (speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, sentences……) do you want your Chinese friend to help you with?
Sample 1:
你觉得学外语重要吗？我觉得学习外语真的很重要，特别是中文。我以为中文的语法很难，其实真的很容易。我认为西班牙语的语法不那么简单。我觉得西班牙语的语法比中文的语法复杂很多。可是我们中文的每一课王老师都让我们学很多的生词。太多了！ 我每天晚上都得预习生词的中文的发音和英文的意思。因为每一课王老师都给我们一个生词的小考。所以我们今年已经学了很多的中文。我们的口语也比以前好多了。为了得到好的成绩，我每天都复习十五分钟的生词。我的朋友以为我不会说中文，其实我现在说得比较好。我觉得虽然我没有我的朋友那么聪明，可是我比他用功。因为他不用功，所以他每次考试的成绩都比较差。 我的期末考试的分数真高。我觉得学生们不但要聪明，而且得用功。 你上个星期考试考得怎么样？因为你帮我复习了，所以我考得真不错。但是我写汉字写得太慢了！我写汉字写得真糟糕。以后我跟你一起练习写汉字，好不好？希望有一天，我写汉字跟你写得一样好！
Sample 2
我觉得学中文真的很有用。以前，我以为学中文太难了。可是现在我觉得虽然写汉字比较难，但是中文的语法其实很简单。尤其是中文的语法比西班牙语的语法容易多了。西班牙语的语法真的很复杂。
王老师每天都教我们怎么说和怎么写中文。我们平常先学习生词，然后练习句子，最后从英文翻译到中文，而且得打字，有时用电子邮件发给老师，或者是用打印机打印出来。如果我们有问题的话，我们就问老师，她总是会给我们答案。
为了下个月末的期末考试，我不但每天得预习生词，而且还得练习口语，听力，和阅读。我虽然不很聪明，可是我很用功。我每天都复习生词，因为生词很重要。我觉得听力和口语最难。虽然我反复听录音，可是还是听不懂。我觉得他们说中文说得太快了。而且，因为我的发音不太好，我说中文说得马马虎虎。我非常希望能考得很好，一百分，得第一名。谢天谢地，我的好朋友每天帮我学习中文。
11. You just visited a Chinese friend's house. Write an email to your Chinese teacher (AKA Wang Laoshi) and describe how you feel about their house, and family. You may want to include but not limited to:
when was your visit
who else you went with
whom and how did you meet with
how do you like the people you met there
how was the house look like
what you did there (eat, drink, chat......)
what time did you get back
12. Write about your Daily Routine:
Write a diary recording your daily routine for a normal school day. You may follow the following format:
My Diary
November 11, Tuesday
I was very busy and tired today. I got up at seven-thirty this morning. After taking a
shower, I had breakfast. While I was eating, I listened to the sound recording. I went to
the classroom at nine o’clock. The first period was Chinese. The teacher taught us pronunciation, new vocabulary, and grammar. The teacher also taught us how to write Chinese characters, and gave us a new text. The text was very interesting. The second period was Computer Science. It was very difficult. At noon I went to the cafeteria with my classmates for lunch. While we were eating, we practiced speaking Chinese. In the afternoon I went to the library to go online. At four o’clock, my friend came looking for me to play ball. I had dinner at a quarter to six. At seven-thirty, I went to my classmate's dorm for a chat. When I got there, she was doing her homework. I got home at eight-thirty. Before I went to bed, my teacher called. He told me there’d be an exam tomorrow. I said I already knew that.
Sample:
我每天很忙，很累。我一般早上七点半起床，洗了澡以后就吃
早饭。我一边吃饭，一边听录音，练习中文的听力。七点半我
坐校车上学。我差不多八点钟左右到教室去上课。第一节课是
中文课，王老师教我们发音、生词和语法，也教我们写字，还
给了我们一篇新课文，这篇课文很有意思。第二节是电脑课，
很有意思。第三节课是艺术课。中午我和同学们通常一起到餐厅去吃午饭。我们一边吃，一边练习说中文。下午我先上物理课和化学课，很难。然后就放学了。放学以后我有的时候到图书馆去上网，有时跟朋友一起打球。五点三刻我回家吃晚饭。七点半我去白英爱的宿舍跟她一起做功课。我八点半回家。睡觉以前，我先给朋友打电话聊天，然后去睡觉。
13. The teacher asked the students to write a letter in Chinese as an assignment. Here’s what Li You wrote to Xiao Gao . You can use this as a sample
November 18
Dear Xiao Gao,
How are you? Long time no see. How are things recently?
This semester I’ve been busy. Besides the classes required for my major, I also need
to study Chinese. Our Chinese class is really interesting. Because our Chinese teacher
can only speak Chinese and does not know how to speak English, in the class we speak
only Chinese, no English. At the beginning I felt it was very difficult. Later, my Chinese friend
often helped me practice Chinese, and I don’t feel it is hard anymore.
Do you like to listen to music? Next Saturday there will be a concert at our school.
I hope you can come. I do not write well in Chinese. Please don’t make fun of me.
Best wishes,
Your friend,
Li You
There are more Writing Assignments with images. Please refer to the hard copies.