Checkpoint: a five-minute exchange

Start with the guided teaching

Move from a memorized introduction to recognizing the question that comes next.

A question word replaces the missing information. 你是美国人 is “you are American.” 你是哪里人 asks “you are a person from where?” Keep the word 哪里 in that slot.

Introduce yourself and catch a question — complete guided explanation

Do the work in five passes

1. Listen and pronounce — 25 min · shadow 6 phrases; compare a recording.
2. Read and recognize — 25 min · complete the guided teaching, then read today’s words.
3. Build and speak — 25 min · build a guided request; then make 10 variations.
4. Solve a situation — 25 min · practice both sides, then hide the hints.
5. Retrieve and review — 20–80 min · due review, quizzes, and a spoken recap.

Completion records effort; quiz results measure recognition. Neither proves conversational fluency. Use the interactive trainer for review scheduling and saved progress.

Today’s sentence machinery

了: completion or a new situation

了 is not a past-tense ending. After a verb it can mark a completed action; at the end it can mark an updated situation. Learn whole examples first.

The situation has changed: there is no power now.

Your language for today

Practice the situation

Taxi ride

Give the destination, ask the time, then stop.

Outside the trainer: spend 10–20 minutes repeating these exchanges with a Mandarin speaker when available. Ask them to change one reply so you must listen. Fixed audio and scenarios cannot reproduce every real conversation.