This module covers how to put your own Chinese on the page or into speech.
It teaches a paragraph that stays on purpose, a tone that fits the reader, links that say what you mean, a paraphrase that keeps the writer’s stance, and a way to review yourself. It sits inside IGCSE Chinese and Mandarin pathways.
Chinese examples stay in Simplified Chinese with pinyin. Check which qualification you are entered for (0509, 0523 or 0547) on the Cambridge subject page.
What should you know before you start?
You should be able to write simple, correct sentences with common verbs and measure words, and read short passages. You do not need advanced vocabulary. The lessons reuse the same small set of patterns in new situations.
One worked example to orient you
An invented student, Meilin, answers the question “Should the school have a quiet reading corner?”
我认为学校应该设立一个安静阅读角。首先，教室里常常很吵，所以很难专心看书。因此，阅读角对学习有好处。
Three skills appear.
The first sentence states a point. The links 首先, 所以 and 因此 show relationships.
The tone is neutral enough for a school council. Missing is a concrete example, which the first lesson adds.
In what order should you study the lessons?
- Develop a paragraph with a clear purpose. One point, one support, one closing: the frame everything else sits on.
- Adjust formality for a task audience. Same ideas, different words for a principal and a friend.
- Use a cohesive link that matches the relationship. Choose the link from the meaning, not from habit.
- Paraphrase without changing stance. Restate a writer’s idea in your words and keep the opinion and strength.
- Self-review a spoken explanation against an explicit checklist. Learn to see your own slips.
Then work through the module practice set, which has ten questions that rise in difficulty.
What are the common traps?
- Adding a true but unrelated sentence. It breaks the purpose of the paragraph.
- Mixing 你 and 您, or formal and casual words. The reader notices the mismatch.
- Choosing 而且 when you mean 但是. The link says the opposite of the meaning.
- Turning 可能 into 一定. A soft claim becomes an absolute one.
- Reviewing with “it was fine”. Without a checklist you cannot see what to change.
How should you use the practice set?
Write or say each answer before you open the explanation, and compare the idea, not the exact words. Log each slip in the mistake log and retest queue. The summary selection and paraphrase studio and the writing revision compare view support paraphrase and redrafting.
If you want a teacher to read or listen to your Chinese and tell you which sentence to fix first, see our online one-to-one Chinese tuition.