In Chinese, the word for "week" is 星期 (xīngqī). The days of the week are formed by adding a number to 星期:

Note: Both 星期天 (xīngqī tiān) and 星期日 (xīngqī rì) mean Sunday. You can use either one.

To ask "What day is it?" you use:

今天星期几？ (jīntiān xīngqī jǐ?) = "Today is what day?"

To answer, say the day after 今天星期三:

今天星期三。 (jīntiān xīngqī sān) = "Today is Wednesday."

You can also ask about yesterday and tomorrow:

Examples:

• 昨天星期几？ (What day was yesterday?)
• 明天星期几？ (What day is tomorrow?)

Look at this dialogue from your textbook:

A: 哥哥！今天星期几？ (Gēge! Jīntiān xīngqī jǐ?) "Brother! What day is today?"

B: 今天星期三。 (Jīntiān xīngqī sān.) "Today is Wednesday."

A: 你今天做什么？ (Nǐ jīntiān zuò shénme?) "What do you do today?"

B: 我今天学习汉字。 (Wǒ jīntiān xuéxí hànzì.) "I study Chinese characters today."

You can say what you do on certain days using this pattern:

我 + 星期 + number + activity = "I + [day] + [activity]"

Examples:

• 我星期一学习中文。 — I study Chinese on Monday.
• 我星期五踢足球。 — I play football on Friday.
• 他星期六在家休息。 — He rests at home on Saturday.

1. Listen and repeat — Listen to your teacher or audio and repeat each day clearly. Pay attention to the tone marks.

2. Use the song — The textbook has a song about the days of the week. Singing helps you remember!

3. Ask a friend — Practice asking "今天星期几？" with a classmate and answer using the correct day.

4. Make sentences — Try to say what you do on at least three different days of the week.

In Tanzania, you can use these phrases when planning activities with friends or family. For example, if you want to arrange to meet a friend at Mwenge market on Saturday, you can say: "我们星期六去 Mwenge 市场。" (We go to Mwenge market on Saturday.) This helps you make plans and discuss schedules using the days of the week in Chinese.