Education & Knowledge: Vocabulary for school, learning, and study

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Pinyin is the standard romanisation used to show Mandarin pronunciation using the Latin alphabet. You’ll often see tone marks on the vowels to show the four tones (plus the neutral tone), for example mā / má / mǎ / mà / ma. “Numbered pinyin” shows the same tones using a number after the syllable instead of tone marks, for example ma1 / ma2 / ma3 / ma4 / ma (sometimes written as ma5 for the neutral tone). Numbered pinyin is handy when you can’t easily type tone marks, while tone-mark pinyin is usually easier to read once you’re used to it.

班

• Pinyin: bān
• Numbered pinyin: ban1
• English translation: class, shift

大学

• Pinyin: dà xué
• Numbered pinyin: da4 xue2
• English translation: university

大学生

• Pinyin: dà xué shēng
• Numbered pinyin: da4 xue2 sheng1
• English translation: university student

读

• Pinyin: dú
• Numbered pinyin: du2
• English translation: to read

读书

• Pinyin: dú shū
• Numbered pinyin: du2 shu1
• English translation: to study, to read books

放假

• Pinyin: fàng jià
• Numbered pinyin: fang4 jia4
• English translation: to have a holiday

放学

• Pinyin: fàng xué
• Numbered pinyin: fang4 xue2
• English translation: to finish school

汉语

• Pinyin: Hàn yǔ
• Numbered pinyin: Han4 yu3
• English translation: Chinese language

汉字

• Pinyin: hàn zì
• Numbered pinyin: han4 zi4
• English translation: Chinese character

记

• Pinyin: jì
• Numbered pinyin: ji4
• English translation: to remember

记得

• Pinyin: jì de
• Numbered pinyin: ji4 de5
• English translation: to remember

记住

• Pinyin: jì zhù
• Numbered pinyin: ji4 zhu4
• English translation: to remember firmly

教

• Pinyin: jiāo
• Numbered pinyin: jiao1
• English translation: to teach

教学楼

• Pinyin: jiào xué lóu
• Numbered pinyin: jiao4 xue2 lou2
• English translation: teaching building

考

• Pinyin: kǎo
• Numbered pinyin: kao3
• English translation: to take an exam

考试

• Pinyin: kǎo shì
• Numbered pinyin: kao3 shi4
• English translation: exam

课

• Pinyin: kè
• Numbered pinyin: ke4
• English translation: class, lesson

老师

• Pinyin: lǎo shī
• Numbered pinyin: lao3 shi1
• English translation: teacher

明白

• Pinyin: míng bai
• Numbered pinyin: ming2 bai5
• English translation: to understand

上课

• Pinyin: shàng kè
• Numbered pinyin: shang4 ke4
• English translation: to attend class

上学

• Pinyin: shàng xué
• Numbered pinyin: shang4 xue2
• English translation: to attend school

试

• Pinyin: shì
• Numbered pinyin: shi4
• English translation: to try, to test

听写

• Pinyin: tīng xiě
• Numbered pinyin: ting1 xie3
• English translation: dictation

同学

• Pinyin: tóng xué
• Numbered pinyin: tong2 xue2
• English translation: classmate

图书馆

• Pinyin: tú shū guǎn
• Numbered pinyin: tu2 shu1 guan3
• English translation: library

外语

• Pinyin: wài yǔ
• Numbered pinyin: wai4 yu3
• English translation: foreign language

忘

• Pinyin: wàng
• Numbered pinyin: wang4
• English translation: to forget

忘记

• Pinyin: wàng jì
• Numbered pinyin: wang4 ji4
• English translation: to forget

下课

• Pinyin: xià kè
• Numbered pinyin: xia4 ke4
• English translation: to finish class

小学

• Pinyin: xiǎo xué
• Numbered pinyin: xiao3 xue2
• English translation: primary school

小学生

• Pinyin: xiǎo xué shēng
• Numbered pinyin: xiao3 xue2 sheng1
• English translation: primary school student

写

• Pinyin: xiě
• Numbered pinyin: xie3
• English translation: to write

学

• Pinyin: xué
• Numbered pinyin: xue2
• English translation: to study

学生

• Pinyin: xué shēng
• Numbered pinyin: xue2 sheng1
• English translation: student

学习

• Pinyin: xué xí
• Numbered pinyin: xue2 xi2
• English translation: to study, to learn

学校

• Pinyin: xué xiào
• Numbered pinyin: xue2 xiao4
• English translation: school

学院

• Pinyin: xué yuàn
• Numbered pinyin: xue2 yuan4
• English translation: college, academy

知道

• Pinyin: zhī dao
• Numbered pinyin: zhi1 dao5
• English translation: to know

知识

• Pinyin: zhī shi
• Numbered pinyin: zhi1 shi5
• English translation: knowledge

中文

• Pinyin: Zhōng wén
• Numbered pinyin: Zhong1 wen2
• English translation: Chinese (language)

中学

• Pinyin: zhōng xué
• Numbered pinyin: zhong1 xue2
• English translation: middle school

中学生

• Pinyin: zhōng xué shēng
• Numbered pinyin: zhong1 xue2 sheng1
• English translation: middle school student

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