When I studied Mandarin ab initio during the IB, the hardest part wasn’t learning the strokes or the unique grammar — it was not knowing the expectations and structure of course, and thus not knowing how to prepare. I had no proper guidelines on how or what I should study, which meant that my final IB score wasn’t the best it could be. But, this article is here to make sure the same doesn’t happen to you!
Even now in university, I’m still studying Mandarin (in Shanghai!) and I’ve looked back on my days in the IB and realized what I could have done better.
Common Tips from Other Students
- Learn Radicals
A radical is a base character that often relates to the meaning of the word. For example, 火 is the radical for fire. Words with 火 in it will often be related to fire – for example 火车 (huǒchē) literally means “fire car” but it actually means train (because old trains were fueled by coal which was put in fire. Very literal, I know) or 烟花 (yānhuā) which means fireworks — 烟 itself means smoke.
- Read HSK Materials
This is the one I used, and I read HSK 2-3, but you can start off with 1 or 2 to get used to reading! Take note of how certain words are used in sentences and where different types of words (verbs, nouns, adjectives) are placed in a sentence. Chinese grammar is different from English grammar, since it’s a “left-leaning” language, meaning the most important parts of a sentence are said first.
For example “She went to the US for college” has “for college” as the main idea/most important part. So, in Chinese it would be expressed as 她上大学(shàng dàxué – attended college) 在美国 (zài měiguó – in the US). Knowing how words in Chinese are often expressed will be important for speaking, writing, and reading!
- Watch cartoons in Chinese
Watch a familiar show in an unfamiliar language to familiarize how Chinese sounds in a conversational context, and to possibly learn new words and expressions.
I don’t personally recommend popular donghua like Heaven Official’s Blessing because the words used and the sentence structures are quite deep, but if you’re up for the challenge go ahead!
- Minimize your use of translator
Do it per word instead of per sentence so that you can connect the pieces yourself and train your mind to use context clues, which you need for Paper 2 (Reading). To help you with learning unfamiliar words, you can use Pleco! It’s a dictionary app that’s useful for searching up English to Chinese or Chinese to English.
Other Things I Did Personally
- Looked up words I would commonly use myself
I found it hard to express myself when I didn’t know how to say things like “my opinion is…” (在我看法 – zài wǒ kànfǎ) or “actually…”（其实 – qíshí）so I would learn how to say these myself, and to make sure I chose the right word choice, I would use it in Chinese class and let Lao Shi correct me if I used it wrong.
Other words I used were 即使… 也… (jíshǐ… Yě… – even if… still…) and 结果 (jiéguǒ – as a result). Most of these are transitional words, since I found it smoothened the flow of my speaking skills.
- Spoke with my friends in Mandarin
As much as my other ab initio classmates did not enjoy it, I would practice with them by speaking Chinese. This made it easier and faster for me to think in Chinese when I needed to. I also practiced with more advanced Chinese speakers, and they would correct me on my grammar or word use, or offer better ways to express my ideas.
- Learned more about Chinese culture
I read some Chinese novels that were translated into English like fantasy/historical novels that referenced many Chinese sayings, festivals, and traditions. Recognizing these and learning more about them made me more inclined to study Chinese to better understand them. I also really liked Genshin Impact and their references to Chinese culture, so I was able to make connections between the Lantern Rite (in game) and the Chinese Holidays Unit we learned. I learned a lot of specific things from enjoying Chinese entertainment like “青梅竹马” (qīngméizhúmǎ – Childhood friends to lovers) or the “元宵节” (yuánxiāo jié – Lantern Festival), which made it more fun for me.
- Categorize vocabulary
The IB uses different categories for all prompts, and putting all the related words together will help you build a mind map and study for selective prompts better.
For example, you’ll be asked to talk about experiences — questions on what your daily routine is like, your hobbies, festivals and celebrations you’ve experienced among others. For these, I grouped together words that were related into one portion of a paper. So, for daily routine things like 起床 (qǐchuáng – wake up)，睡觉 (shuìjiào – go to sleep)，吃早饭 (chī zǎofàn – eat breakfast)，上学 (shàngxué – go to school) would be together, so I could associate them with each other and with the lesson. And so it was easier to find if I needed a specific word.
I also grouped conjunctions and sentence structures together, so I could easily refer to them when I needed something.
- Write all the vocabulary (hanzi, pinyin, and English translation) down in a designated notebook (easy to find, writing helps retention, good for reference when practicing).
Mandarin ab initio Assessment Tips
Paper 1
For paper 1, you will be tasked with choosing 2 prompts from a selected group provided by the IBO and creating a writing piece based on the appropriate structure. Here are some tips:
- Familiarize writing structures (email, letter, diary, etc.) by practicing past papers and doing all the prompts.
- Use sentence structures such as 第一，第二，第三 (first, second, third) to organize your points in writing. This makes discussing your different points easier, makes your transitions more fluent, and helps your arguments look more coherent.
- Elaborate simply
Some prompts will ask you to discuss (for example) the advantages and disadvantages so use conjunctions and don’t make your sentences too long, you risk getting grammatical errors. Make another sentence. No need to use hard words.
Paper 2 Reading
For paper 2 reading, you will be given three reading texts with separate comprehension questions. Some of these texts will contain topics or words you have not encountered, but with enough preparation, you will be able to comprehend the gist of each text.
- Get used to not relying on a translator when practicing so you get used to pieceing words you don’t know together. If you ever don’t understand a sentence, try to pick out the words you do know and use context clues from the rest of the paragraph.
- Chinese words are very literal, so you can take an educated guess if you don’t know the meaning sometimes but know related words. For example: 校外 (xiàowài). We know 校 from 学校 (xuéxiào – school) and 外 from 外面 (wàimiàn – outside) so we can guess it means outside school, or off-campus.
Paper 2 Listening
For paper 2 listening, you will be given three sets of questions for three separate audios. Sometimes these audios are stories or conversations, so catching keywords is very important.
- Before the audio plays, do your best to highlight/annotate keywords or translate the questions in English if you have to. The audio will only play thrice, and it’s very fast. So, you need to know what to look for immediately.
- Sometimes, it will ask questions like “Zhang Tianming went to Beijing to learn Chinese. True or false.”, and it will come out in the text as dialogue like Zhang Tianming literally saying “我去了北京为了找工作”(wǒ qùle běijīng wèile zhǎo gōngzuò – “I went to Beijing to find work”). Since he didn’t say 学中文 (xué zhōngwén – learn Chinese), then it’s false.
Mandarin IA
The Mandarin IA is actually an IO (Individual Oral) where you will be given a picture and have to talk about it in relation to the themes of the course for 1-2 minutes. After that, the teacher will ask questions for 3-4 minutes, and you will have a conversation for 4-5 minutes.
- Do not over complicate your ideas (you are graded on fluency and relevance).
From personal experience, if you are given a prompt that you know a lot about in English (let’s say employment), but don’t know the relevant terms in Chinese, don’t try to explain deep issues. In ab initio, you won’t know words like “同工同酬” (tónggōngtóngchóu – equal work, equal pay). So, if you get a prompt about work, stick to the basics. For example: 大学以后，人们一般找工作。有的当医生，有的当律师，有的当商人，什么的 (dàxué yǐhòu, rénmen yībān zhǎo gōngzuò. Yǒu dí dàng yīshēng, yǒu dí dàng lǜshī, yǒu dí dàng shāngrén, shénme de – “After college, people normally look for work. Some become doctors, some lawyers, some businessmen, etcetera.”)
As long as you are able to use as many words as you know and are able to elaborate your point clearly and simply, you will do well. You can use simple words to relate your ideas back to the picture.
- Some sentence structures to know!
- “对 [subject] 来说” (duì [subject] lái shuō) → “in (subject’s) point of view” → to talk about different aspects of a topic
“对我来说…” duì wǒ lái shuō – “In my opinion…”
- “在。。。上” (Zài… Shàng) – in terms of… (talk about different perspectives, aspects of a thing)
“在学习上…” zài xuéxí shàng – “In terms of studying…”
- Study the criteria sheet (or the curriculum) to help you think of points during your preparation for the topic.
For example, if your photo is about a Chinese festival, you will know that they want you to talk about when it is, what it’s called, what their traditions are on the day, what the symbolism is, etc. So, just list those things as points first and try to elaborate on them.
The questions asked in the curriculum serve as guides for how you are meant to respond to prompts.
Conclusion
Mandarin may seem daunting, especially at the start. But as long as you’re aware of what to do and what’s demanded of you, things will feel easier!