中国有多少邻居？
How many countries border China?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
妮妮七岁。她家有两个邻居，她很喜欢他们。
今天，爸爸问她：“妮妮，中国有多少邻居？”
妮妮说：“中国也有吗？”
爸爸说：“有。在中国旁边的国家都是。”
爸爸开电脑。妮妮一个一个看：“俄罗斯，蒙古，越南，印度……十四个！”
爸爸说：“对，十四个！这是最多的。俄罗斯也有十四个。”
妮妮说：“中国和俄罗斯也是邻居！”
爸爸说：“对！你看，在这儿。”
妮妮想了想，说：“我家在中国。我家有两个，中国有十四个。那我有十六个邻居！”
爸爸听了，想了想，说：“你说的也对！”
你呢？你有多少邻居？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 七 | qī | seven |
| 岁 | suì | years old; year (of age) |
| 她 | tā | she; her |
| 家 | jiā | home; family |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; there are |
| 两 | liǎng | two (of something) |
| 个 | gè | the general measure word for people and things |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 喜欢 | xǐhuan | to like; to be fond of |
| 他们 | tāmen | they; them |
| 今天 | jīntiān | today |
| 爸爸 | bàba | dad; father |
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 1 · How many countries border China?. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 七 and 岁 in sentences of their own.
Warm-up 5 min
Write 中国有多少邻居？ on the board. Ask what the class thinks it is about, then give the English: “How many countries border China?”.
Key words 10 min
Teach 七 (qī, seven), 岁 (suì, years old; year (of age)), 她 (tā, she; her), 家 (jiā, home; family), 有 (yǒu, to have; there is; there are), 两 (liǎng, two (of something)). Say each one, the class says it back, then ask for its meaning with the word covered. The rest are in the handout’s table.
Listen 10 min
Play it read aloud from mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-many-countries-border-china: once with the text face down, once reading along. Students tap any word there for its meaning.
Read and check 10 min
Students read it alone, then tell a partner in two sentences of Chinese what it says.
Use it 10 min
In pairs, each student writes two sentences of their own, one with 七 and one with 岁, and reads one to the class.
Homework. Students read it again at home and Review its words. Put it in a free class (mandarinthewild.com/teachers/class) and you see who read it.
English (for the teacher)
Nini is seven. Her family has two neighbours, and she likes them a lot.
Today, Dad asks her, “Nini, how many neighbours does China have?”
Nini says, “China has neighbours too?”
Dad says, “Yes. Every country right next to China is one.”
Dad turns on the computer. Nini goes through them one by one: “Russia, Mongolia, Vietnam, India… Fourteen!”
Dad says, “That’s right, fourteen! That’s the most. Russia has fourteen too.”
Nini says, “And China and Russia are neighbours too!”
Dad says, “That’s right! Look, right here.”
Nini thinks for a moment and says, “Our home is in China. Our home has two, and China has fourteen. So I have sixteen neighbours!”
Dad hears this, thinks for a moment, and says, “What you say is right too!”
What about you? How many neighbours do you have?