HSK 3Lesson 29
It is Annie's first Monday in the new Chinese course. You will follow her from the campus bookstore, where one textbook has a missing page, through her first class, to lunch with Xiaoxue, where a teacher's joke ends the day.
You will learn to buy textbooks, follow a first day of class, read the homework on the board and talk about school subjects.
Part 1 · 11 new words
Contains 5 words
term; semester
textbook
text (of a lesson)
blackboard
homework; assignment
Contains 3 words
mathematics
history
Contains 3 words
class period; section
page
Part 2 · 8 phrases
他们班的学生个个都爱运动，下课以后都去踢球。
Every student in their class loves sports, and they all go play soccer after class.
这个学期我每天七点起床，因为第一节课在八点。
This term I get up at seven every day because the first class is at eight.
老师说，上课以前一定要带课本和本子。
The teacher says you must bring your textbook and notebook before class.
请打开课本第二十页，我们从第三段开始读。
Please open your textbook to page twenty; we'll start reading from the third paragraph.
老师在黑板上写了很多字，我看不清楚，就拍了照。
The teacher wrote a lot of characters on the blackboard, and I couldn't see them well, so I took a photo.
课文一共有三段，我每天读一段，三天就读完了。
Part 3 · 4 conversations
On the first morning of the new term Annie goes to the campus bookstore to buy her Chinese textbooks. The assistant helps her, and she finds that one book has a page missing.
安妮Annie
你好，我是新来的学生。这个学期的汉语课本在哪儿？
Hello, I'm a new student. Where are the Chinese textbooks for this term?
老板Shop owner
在那边，汉语课本一共有三种，你慢慢看。
Over there, three kinds of Chinese textbooks in all. Take your time.
Part 4 · 1 point
个个、张张
Repeat a measure word and add 都dōu: 个个都gègè dōu means every single one of them.
Say every one is the same
个个gègè + 都dōu says the description is true of each one.
foreign language
paragraph; section
The text has three paragraphs; I read one a day and finish in three days.
写完作业，我们就去看电影，好不好？
Once the homework is done, let's go to the movies, okay?
我数学很好，可是外语不太好，每天要多学一个小时。
I'm good at maths, but not at foreign languages, so I study an hour more every day.
安妮Annie
这几本课本，本本都这么大啊！……这本怎么没有第三十一页？
These textbooks are every one so big! ...Why does this one have no page thirty-one?
老板Shop owner
我看看……真的没有。这种课本只有这几本。
Let me see... you're right, it's not there. We only have these few copies of this book.
安妮Annie
那怎么办？明天我就要上课了。
Then what do I do? I have class tomorrow.
老板Shop owner
这样吧，你先拿走，明天上午新书到了，我给你换一本。
Tell you what: take it for now, and when the new books come in tomorrow morning I'll swap it for you.
安妮Annie
行，太好了！我下课以后来拿。
Deal, great! I'll come and get it after class.
Annie walks into her first class a little late. The homework is already on the blackboard, and her book is missing page thirty-one, but Teacher Wang asks her to read.
安妮Annie
王老师，早！我还没坐下，黑板上怎么已经有作业了？
Good morning, Teacher Wang! I haven't even sat down, and there's homework on the board already?
王老师Teacher Wang
第一天就是这样。同学们个个都有作业，你先坐吧。
That's how the first day is. Every one of the students has homework. Take a seat.
安妮Annie
好的。老师，我的课本里没有第三十一页，怎么办？
Okay. Teacher, my book doesn't have page thirty-one. What should I do?
王老师Teacher Wang
我看看……真的没有。你先跟旁边的同学看吧。今天我们读第三节的课文，安妮，你来读第一段。
Let me see... it's really not there. Share your neighbor's book for now. Today we're reading the text in section three, and Annie, you read the first paragraph.
安妮Annie
我？我读得很慢！
Me? I read really slowly!
王老师Teacher Wang
读错了没关系，我再教你。你读吧。
If you get it wrong, it's fine, I'll teach you again. Go ahead.
安妮Annie
那我试试……大家别笑我啊！
Okay, I'll try... everyone, don't laugh at me!
The first lesson is over. Teacher Wang reminds the class about the homework on the board, and Annie asks how she can do it without her missing page.
王老师Teacher Wang
今天就到这儿。作业在黑板上，请把课文第一段写在本子上。
That's all for today. The homework is on the board: please copy the first paragraph of the text into your notebooks.
安妮Annie
老师，那一段就在第三十一页，我的课本里没有这一页……
Teacher, that paragraph is on page thirty-one, and my book doesn't have that page...
王老师Teacher Wang
对，我忘了。大家回家以后，都检查一下课本的每一页。
Right, I forgot. Everyone, when you get home, check every page of your textbook.
安妮Annie
那晚上呢？
And what about me tonight?
王老师Teacher Wang
你可以请一雪用手机拍照，发给你。她一定愿意帮忙。
You could ask Yixue to take a photo with her phone and send it to you. She'll surely be glad to help.
安妮Annie
对，她住得不远。太好了，我现在就给她打电话！
Yes, she doesn't live far. Great, I'll phone her right now!
At lunch in the canteen Xiaoxue wants to know what Annie studies. She shows Annie her own lessons, and Teacher Wang joins them and makes a joke about foreign languages.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
安妮，这儿！
Annie, over here!
安妮Annie
来了！我今天只有汉语，一个上午上了四节。你呢？
Coming! I only have Chinese today, four periods this morning. And you?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
我下午有课：数学、历史，还有外语。你看，手机上都写着呢。
I have classes this afternoon: maths, history and a foreign language. Look, it's all on my phone.
安妮Annie
数学？我最怕数学了！
Maths? I'm terrified of maths!
王老师Teacher Wang
你们在聊外语啊？安妮，汉语是你的外语，我天天教你！
Are you two talking about foreign languages? Annie, Chinese is your foreign language, and I teach it to you every day!
安妮Annie
对啊。我在法国就学过一种外语，所以汉语是第二种。
True. Back in France I already learned one foreign language, so Chinese is my second.
王老师Teacher Wang
那你学了两种外语，真不错！
So you've learned two foreign languages. Well done!
In the bookstore Annie lifts the textbooks and says 本本都这么大běnběn dōu zhème dà: every single one is big.
In sentences
With people
孩子们个个都爱吃甜的。
The kids all love sweet things, every one of them.
个个gègè for each person.
With books
买来的书本本都是新的。
The books I bought are all new, every one.
本本běnběn for books.
孩子们个个都爱吃甜的，一个也不想吃菜。
The kids all love sweet things, every one of them, and none want vegetables.
A：这些苹果好吃吗？ B：个个都很甜。
A: Are these apples good? B: Every single one is sweet.
这几本课本本本都很大，安妮拿得很累。
These textbooks are all big, and Annie got tired carrying them.
他买的书本本都很有意思，我想借一本看看。
Every book he bought is interesting, and I'd like to borrow one.
我的朋友个个都会做饭，周末常常请客。
My friends can all cook, and they often invite people over at weekends.
Repeating a measure word, as in 个个gègè or 本本běnběn, means every single one of a group. It stresses that the quality is true of each member, not just of the group as a whole. The pattern is group + measure word repeated + 都dōu + description: 学生个个都很高兴xuésheng gègè dōu hěn gāoxìng. You can use 个个gègè for people and things counted with 个ge, 本本běnběn for books, and 天天tiāntiān for days. The key constraint is that the group must be more than one, so the noun cannot be a single thing. Compare 每个měi ge, which just says each one: 每个学生都有课本měi ge xuésheng dōu yǒu kèběn states a rule, while 个个都很累gègè dōu hěn lèi describes how all of them are. Common mistake: using it for one item, ✗ 这本课本个个都很大zhè běn kèběn gègè dōu hěn dà; say ✓ 这些课本个个都很大zhèxiē kèběn gègè dōu hěn dà.
