Transportation (How to get around)

Places at School and Home

Useful Words

Pattern 1: How I go to school

Structure: Subject + 坐/骑 + transportation + 去 + place

• 我骑自行车去学校。 (Wǒ qí zìxíngchē qù xuéxiào.) — I ride a bicycle to school.
• 我坐公共汽车去学校。 (Wǒ zuò gōnggòngqìchē qù xuéxiào.) — I take a bus to school.
• 我走路去学校。 (Wǒ zǒulù qù xuéxiào.) — I walk to school.

Pattern 2: Describing home location

Structure: 我家离 + place + 很 + adjective

• 我家离学校很近。 (Wǒ jiā lí xuéxiào hěn jìn.) — My home is near the school.
• 我家离市场很远。 (Wǒ jiā lí shìchǎng hěn yuǎn.) — My home is far from the market.

Pattern 3: Family activities

Structure: Subject + 动词 + object

• 我爸爸开车去上班。 (Wǒ bàba kāichē qù shàngbān.) — My father drives to work.
• 我妈妈骑自行车去学校。 (Wǒ māma qí zìxíngchē qù xuéxiào.) — My mother rides a bicycle to school.
• 我哥哥每天走路回家。 (Wǒ gēge měitiān zǒulù huíjiā.) — My older brother walks home every day.

Here is a short text about school and home, similar to the textbook passage:

My Day

我的一天 (Wǒ de yì tiān)

我叫快乐，我是小学五年级的学生。我家离学校很近，我每天走路去学校。我爸爸是老师，他开车去学校。我妈妈是老师，她骑自行车去学校。我哥哥是店员，他每天骑自行车去商店工作。

Translation: My name is Kuàilè. I am a Primary Five student. My home is near the school. I walk to school every day. My father is a teacher. He drives to school. My mother is a teacher. She rides a bicycle to school. My older brother is a shop assistant. He rides a bicycle to the shop every day to work.

Key elements in this text:

• Introduction (name and grade)
• Description of how to get to school
• Family members and their activities
• Transportation they use

To write your own short text about school and home, follow these steps:

1. Introduce yourself — Start with your name and grade

   • 我叫_____. 我是小学五年级的学生。

2. Describe your home — Say where your home is

   • 我家离____很____。

3. Describe how you go to school — Use the pattern 坐/骑/走路 + 去 + 学校

   • 我_____去学校。

4. Describe family activities — Say what your family members do

   • 我_____是_____. 他/她_____.

Try writing about your own school and home. Use these questions to help you:

• 你叫什么名字？你几年级？
• 你家离学校近吗？
• 你怎么去学校？（骑自行车？坐公共汽车？走路？）
• 你爸爸/妈妈怎么去上班？
• 你家里有谁？他们做什么？

我的家 (Wǒ de jiā)

我叫玛丽，我是小学五年级的学生。我家离学校很近，我每天走路去学校。我爸爸是司机，他开车去公司。我妈妈是老师，她骑自行车去学校。我家对面有一个蛋糕店，我很喜欢吃蛋糕。

Translation: My name is Mary. I am a Primary Five student. My home is near the school. I walk to school every day. My father is a driver. He drives to work. My mother is a teacher. She rides a bicycle to school. There is a cake shop opposite my home. I really like eating cake.

In Tanzania, you can use these Chinese phrases when visiting Chinese shops, markets, or businesses in your area. For example, if you go to a Chinese supermarket in Dar es Salaam, you can ask for directions by saying "学校离这里近吗？" (Is the school near here?) or describe how you travel by saying "我骑自行车去市场" (I ride a bicycle to the market). These skills help you communicate with Chinese traders and visitors in everyday situations.