Conversation Topics Flashcards
You meet a Chinese person on campus. Try to ask politely in Chinese whether he or she is a teacher.
a
You’re meeting for the first time. Exchange greetings with each other. Ask each other’s last name and first name.
A
You just made a foreign student who can speak Chinese. Ask her whether she is Chinese. Tell her that you are American.
a
Introduce yourself in Chinese. Say what your Chinese name is and whether you are a student.
a
Introduce your parents using a family picture. Then ask your partner if he or she has any older sisters or younger brothers.
a
Show your family picture to your partner and ask questions about each other’s pictures, such as who each person is, whether your partner has any brothers or sisters, and what each of his or her family member does.
a
Today is your partner’s birthday. Find out how old he or she is and offer to take him or her out to dinner. Ask him or her if he or she prefers Chinese or American food and decide the time for the dinner.
a
Ask your partner today’s date, the day of the week, and the current time.
a
Find out your partners age and birthday, and set up a dinner appointment to celebrate his or her birthday.
a
Your partner would like to take you out to dinner tomorrow, but you will be busy. Suggest another date for the dinner and decide on a time.
a
Invite your friend to have dinner with you tomorrow because tomorrow is your birthday.
a
Discuss your interests and hobbies with your friends, and then set up a date with them based on your common interests.
a
Your partner is inviting you to do something. Keep rejecting his or her suggestions and give reasons why you do not like those activities.
a
You’re talking to a person whom you are meeting for the first time. Exchange basic greetings, ask each other’s name, and find out if he or she is a student, where here she works, and what his or her hobbies are.
a
You are visiting a friend home. Complement your friend on his or her house. Your friend offers you something to drink, but you just want a glass of water.
a
Suppose you’re running an etiquette school, and you’re teaching your students how to be a nice host and a good guest. List some must learn sentences as part of your training manual, so your students know what to say to their host or guests when they are in China.
a
Ask each other what you drink last night, how much, and what else you did last night. Then report in the narrative based on the information gathered.
a
Describe a recent visit to your friends house. Make sure that you mention what you did and what you drank.
a
You would like to make an appointment with your teacher. Your teacher happens to be busy at the time you suggest. Ask your teacher when he or she will be available. Decide on a time and place to meet.
a
Ask your partner what his or her typical day is like.
a
You call your partner for a favor and promise a treat in return. He would like to meet him or her tonight, but he or she is going to see a movie. He or she promises that he or she will give you a call when he or she comes back.
a
Ask your Chinese friend if he or she can practice Chinese with you tomorrow evening. Promise him or her that you will buy him or her a cup of coffee afterwards.
a
Plan a perfect date. Indicate where and when you wish to meet with your date, and list what you would like to do by using the sentence pattern “A 跟 B plus VO”.
a
Comment on how you feel about the grammar, vocabulary, and characters of the last lesson you studied.
a
Discuss the results of your recent Chinese test with your partner. Comment on how you did in learning the grammar, reviewing the vocabulary, and writing the characters.
a
List the name of your idols and describe why you think they are so cool.
a
Describe your daily routine.
a
Describe your Chinese class to your friend in great detail. Make sure to comment on how you feel about pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and Chinese characters.
a
Write your friend a letter in Chinese. Tell him or her about your experience of learning Chinese. Please include information on your study habits, in-class situation, after-class work, your strengths and weaknesses, and your likes and dislikes. Please also comment on how your instructor teaches or how your classmates study. Don’t forget to ask your friend about his or her studies, and wish him or her the best.
a
Ask each other what size shirt or pants you wear, what color you prefer, and the price of the top you are wearing.
a
Describe what you’re wearing. Don’t forget to mention the colors, sizes, and prices.
a
You and your partner do a role-play. One of you as a sales person in a clothing store, and the other is a customer trying to exchange a shirt that is too large. Make sure the customer it’s the right size, color, and price.
a
Ask each other’s plans for the winter break, and which means of transportation you plan to take.
a
Ask your partner the best way to get to the airport from his or her home and if there are any other alternatives.
a
Call your friend and thank him or her for the ride to the airport. Tell him or her what you been doing since you returned home, and wish your friend a happy new year.
a
Explain how to get to the airport from your friends house.
a
Comment on how you drive, and how you drive on the highway. If you don’t drive, comment on how people drive in your city or the public transportation in your city.
a
The holiday season is approaching. Email or text message your friends in Chinese. Ask them how they are doing and wish them a happy new year.
a
Find out among your classmates whose birthday is coming up. Everyone should take a turn to ask that person but he or she likes to eat, drink, and do. Then work as a class to plan a birthday party together, and decide who will bring what to the party.
a
Survey your classmates to find out their aspirations for the future.
a
As an experienced traveler, what questions would you ask when you make a flight reservation?
a
As an experienced travel agent, what questions would you ask your customer when he or she books a flight?
a
Make a list of questions and responses that may come in handy when you check in at a Chinese airline counter.
a
Ask your partner about his or her summer plans, and how long the activities he or she has planned will last. Remind him or her to keep in touch, and give appropriate good wishes before moving on.
a
Brainstorm a list of things that people say to each other when saying goodbye at the airport or train station.
a
Brainstorm a list of things that people say to each other when greeting guests at the airport or train station.
a
Ask your partner what he or she usually does when the weather is not good.
a
Check the weekends weather forecast. Find out if the weather will be nice or not and describe what you plan to do according to the predicted weather conditions.
a
Compare two of your favorite or least favorite celebrities in the same field or profession. Based on your previous knowledge and information you can find online, describe who is younger, taller , richer, who is more beautiful or handsome, and who is better at singing, dancing, playing sports, etc.
a
Ask your partner what his or her favorite city is and to describe what the weather is like there in each season.
a
Are you a fan of Harry Potter or any other books, or are you enthusiastic about a particular movie, TV show, sports team, or musician? Write a recollection describing your repeated reading, viewing, or listening.
a
Write a weather forecast for tomorrow. Focus your report on the possible changes in temperature and precipitation in the morning, afternoon, and late at night.
a
Check your local weather forecast for tomorrow, and report whether it’s predicted to rain, snow, and be warmer or colder than today.
a
Pick any two countries. Find out which country is bigger, which has a larger population, which country’s summer is hotter, which country’s winter is colder, which country’s spring or fall is more pleasant, etc. Compare the two countries.
a
Ask your partner what kinds of drinks he or she usually orders in a restaurant.
a
Participate in the simulated conversation in a restaurant. One of you will be a customer and the other the waiter. The customer will order a main dish, a soup, and a drink and give special requests about the dish or the drink. The waiter recommends a dish, politely takes the order, and repeats what the customer wants at the end.
a
Ask your friend how much he or she usually spends on lunch.
a
Participate in a simulated conversation. You ask your partner, a waiter in the restaurant, the total cost of your order. He or she tells you the price and you pay with an approximate amount of cash. He or she gives you the wrong amount of change, either more or less then what should be given. Politely explain to him or her how the amount of change is wrong.
a
Pretend that you’re a restaurant manager. Make an advertisement to promote your specials of the day. The advertisement has to include one spicy dish, one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and one soup. Make sure to include wording that promotes your dishes on the advertisement, and don’t forget to mention that you don’t put any MSG in your dishes.
a
Draw a simple map of your schools campus and indicate the locations of the library, student activity Center, your Chinese classroom, the computer center, and the athletic field in relation to each other. With a partner, pretend you are a new student and ask your partner where the school library in the school activity center are.
a
List the activities that students can do at the student activity Center.
a
Imagine that you are a campus planner. Draw a map of an ideal school. Where would you situate the library, classrooms, dorms, teachers office building, computer center, and athletic facilities in relation to one another? Explain why in Chinese.
a
Ask your partner if he or she has ever been to a Chinatown. If so, ask what he or she did there. If not, ask how he or she would like to spend a day in Chinatown.
a
Tell your classmates how to get to your place from school. Draw a map to illustrate the route.
a
Do a role-play with a partner. Invite your partner to your birthday party. Tell him or her when and where the party is, what people will do, what to bring, and how to get there. Ask your friend if he or she needs a ride.
a
Tell your classmates about your favorite birthday party, including when and where the party was, what people did, and the reasons why it was your favorite.
a
Work with a partner and ask each other how long you normally eat dinner, do homework, and sleep every day.
a
Work with a partner and ask each other what year you were born in, where you were born, and your Chinese zodiac sign.
a
Show a photo of someone famous, a family member, or a friend, and described your classmates what the person looks like.
a
Describe what you hope your ideal boyfriend or girlfriend would look like.
a
You are planning a birthday party for your best friend. Please write up a plan for the guest of honor to review. The plan needs to include information such as whom you are inviting, where the party takes place, what people can bring to the party, what activities there will be, how long each activity will last, and what gives your friend might wish to receive. Some of the party guests may need a ride to the party; Include suggestions for their travel plans.
a
With a partner, do a role-play as a doctor and a patient. The patient describes his or her symptoms and asked the doctor about the treatment. The doctor responds and gives instructions.
a
With a partner, discuss with each of you guys when you have a cold, such as seeing a doctor, taking medicine, resting and staying home from school or work, or other ways of recuperating.
a
With a partner, do a role-play. You were feeling ill, but you don’t feel like seeing a doctor. Describe your symptoms and explain why you don’t want to go to the doctor. Your partner tries his or her best to persuade you to see a doctor.
a
With a partner do a role-play. Invite your partner to go to the movies with you this weekend. Decide together which movie you should see, and discuss what you could do before and after the movie.
a
My best friend: tell your classmates how you met your best friend, how long you have known each other, why you like him or her, and what you usually do together.
a
Provide a brief history of your friendship with someone, including who your friend is, when and where you met, how long you have known each other, when you became friends, what your friend does well, what attributes your friend has, what he or she looks like, what you have in common, what you often do together, etc.
a
With a partner, do a role-play. One person should invite the other person to do something with him or her. The second person should come up with different reasons to turn down the invitation. Both parties should be persistent but polite.
a
List three lines that you could use if you need to end a phone conversation without hurting the other person’s feelings.
a
List three ways to decline a date indirectly and politely.
a
Describe your perfect date, including the time, the location, and the activity.
a
Ask your partner where he or she lives, how far it is away, whether he or she likes his or her current place, and why or why not.
a
With a partner, talk about the rooms in your apartment and the furniture in each room.
a
You call your partner, a landlord, and ask about an apartment he or she has for rent. Make sure you get all the details about the apartment, such as its distance from school, the number of rooms, furniture, rent, utilities, deposit, policy on pets, etc. Set up an appointment to see the apartment in person.
a
Describe your room, apartment, or your parents house based on a photo or drawing. You can mention the number of rooms, it’s location and environment, it’s distance from school, furniture, etc.
a
List the things that you like and dislike about the place you currently live in.
a
Describe your ideal living quarters.
a
Ask your partner if he or she exercises, how often, what kind of exercise he or she does, and why he or she likes that kind of exercise.
a
Ask your partner how often he or she watches TV and whether he or she watches sports on TV. If so, which sports does he or she watch?
a
Say whether you like to watch American football and explain the reasons why you like or dislike watching it.
a
Design your own ideal weekly workout schedule, including types of exercise, locations, frequency, and duration of each workout.
a
Ask your partner whether he or she plans to travel, work, study, or do something else during his or her summer vacation.
a
Search online to find out how long it takes and how much it costs to obtain a tourist visa to China. Compare notes with your partner.
a
Write an essay about which cities you have visited, and which of those cities gives you the best impression. Explain why you like that city. You may include information such as the weather, the people, the shopping, the tourist sites, whether the city is a political or cultural center, etc. Alternatively, pick a city you would like to visit in the future and write about why you have a good impression of that city as a travel destination.
a
Do your will play with a partner. One of you was a traveler, and the other is a travel agent. The traveler calls the travel agent to inquire about ticket prices from where he or she lives to Beijing, Hong Kong, or Taipei. As the traveler, you should tell the agent about your departure and return dates, the airlines you’re interested in, and your preferences for seating and meals. As the agent, you should give The passenger a few different options and try to come to an agreement about his or her travel plans.
a
Tell your classmates about a recent trip, your favorite trip, or a trip you would like to take in the future. Remember to mention the purpose of the trip, the dates, your transportation arrangements, your travel companions, the length of the trip, and any enjoyable or frustrating aspects of the trip.
a
Imagine that you are a travel agent who just helped a customer plan her trip and book her airline tickets. Now you were going to go over the itinerary with the customer in Chinese, since she does not understand English. BE as detailed as possible, and include information such as when and where she is departing and returning, the route she is taking, how long each flight will take, the airlines she is taking, the flight numbers, whether the tickets are one-way or round-trip, whether the flights are nonstop, etc.
a
In Chinese, what do people usually say when they see their friends off?
a
Work on a role-play. Imagine you are at the local airport seeing your friend off. Have a small talk right before the departure of your friend.
a
Let’s plan a trip to China. Choose to cities in China that you would like to visit. First explain why you’re interested in these two cities, and then arrange your route from your current location. Search online for information about the cities, airfare, and hotel accommodations, and put together a travel itinerary. Your travel itinerary needs to include all the information on the flights, the airlines, the airfares,The time it will take to get to each destination and the time you plan to spend there, things you need to take care of before you depart, things you need to take with you on the trip, and your transportation to and from the airport. Don’t forget to keep an eye on your budget.
a
Your friend from China is planning to travel within the United States and need your help to understand the airlines rule. Use the information to explain to your friend all the rules about luggage on this airline.
a
What would you say to someone who complements you on your Chinese?
a
You were traveling with the Chinese friend and meeting his or her parents for the first time at an airport in China or Taiwan. Make up a conversation for the meeting. Address your host parent appropriately, and express your feelings about your flight. The Chinese friend should make sure to introduce everyone. The parent should ask you about the trip, what you would like to do on your visit, etc.
a
Pick a tourist or historical site in Beijing or another major Chinese speaking city that you would like to visit. Search online for information on the site. Write a simple tourist pamphlet, including information on where it is located, how far it is from the airport, what transportation people can use to get there, why its famous, etc. Don’t forget to provide the pinyin and the characters for the name of the site.
a
Draw your family tree and list your family members and close relatives in Chinese.
a
Beijing and New York: check the weather forecast for tomorrow for the two cities. Compare which city will be warmer or colder and whether it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.
a
Beijing and New York: list the population of the two cities. Then compare which city has more people.
a
Beijing and New York: this today’s currency exchange rate for US dollars and RMB. Find out how much a watermelon, refrigerator, and a basketball would cost in a local store in each city. Compare the prices between the two cities.
A
Beijing and New York: find out what means of public transportation are available in each city and compare which public transportation system is more convenient. Figure out where the international airports are located in relation to the downtown area, and how to get to them.
a
Beijing and New York: list today’s currency exchange rate for US dollars and RMB. Find out how much it would cost to rent an apartment with two bedrooms and one bathroom in each city.
A
Beijing and New York: find one US airline and one Chinese airline that provide flight service between the two cities. Describe the route they take, the times the flights depart, the flight time, the airfares, how many meals they serve on board, etc. compare the two options, and figure out which airline has better ticket prices, a shorter flight time, and better service.
A
Find out what courses your partner is taking using 除了… 以外，还….
A
Ask and answer questions about your trip back to school by using the 是…的 construction. What day of the week? How? With whom?
A
Find out what other languages your partner can speak using 除了…以外，还…
a
Brainstorm a list of things you can do to help a first year student feel more at ease when he or she first arrives on campus.
A
List the pros and cons of living on campus in a dorm.
A
List the pros and cons of living off campus in an apartment or a house.
A
Where do you live, on campus or off campus?
A
When did you move in?
A
What can you say to support your choice of living on/off campus?
A
Do all of your friends live on campus or off campus?
A
What would you say to those who have made a different choice in living on campus or off campus?
P
Explain your choice of living on or off-campus in a short but coherent paragraph.
P
Interview your partner. What’s his or her name? Where is he or she from? Where was he or she born? Where did he or she grow up? Is he or she a college freshman? Does he or she live on or off campus? Does he or she like where he or she live? Why or why not? How long has he or she been studying Chinese? How does he or she write her or his Chinese name if he or she has one?
P
