HSK 3 · Lesson 18越学越有意思 The more I learn, the more interesting it gets

Learning a language: 想起来 “remember”, 想不出来 “can’t think of”, 写下来 “write down”, 坚持下去 “keep going”; 越学越… “the more I learn, the more…”; 在老师的帮助下 “with the teacher’s help”, 在学习上 “in one’s studies”.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

How did you learn so fast?

你的汉语水平提高得真快！

Nǐ de Hànyǔ shuǐpíng tígāo de zhēn kuài!

Your Chinese is improving so fast!

谢谢！在老师的帮助下，我每天坚持学习。

Xièxie! Zài lǎoshī de bāngzhù xià, wǒ měi tiān jiānchí xuéxí.

Thanks! With my teacher’s help I study every day.

汉语难不难？

Hànyǔ nán bu nán?

Is Chinese hard?

开始觉得很难，可是越学越有意思。常用的汉字我差不多都认得了。

Kāishǐ juéde hěn nán, kěshì yuè xué yuè yǒu yìsi. Chángyòng de Hànzì wǒ chàbuduō dōu rènde le.

At first it felt hard, but the more I learn the more interesting it gets. I recognise almost all the common characters now.

你有什么好方法？

Nǐ yǒu shénme hǎo fāngfǎ?

Do you have a good method?

把新词写下来，每天读一遍。忘记了就再看。坚持下去就会越来越好。

Bǎ xīn cí xiě xialai, měi tiān dú yí biàn. Wàngjì le jiù zài kàn. Jiānchí xiaqu jiù huì yuè lái yuè hǎo.

Write new words down and read them through every day. If you forget, look again. Keep it up and it’ll get better and better.

A hard problem

这个难题我想不出来。

Zhège nántí wǒ xiǎng bu chūlai.

I can’t work out this hard problem.

让我看看……啊，我想起来了，老师讲过。其实很简单。

Ràng wǒ kànkan…… À, wǒ xiǎng qilai le, lǎoshī jiǎngguo. Qíshí hěn jiǎndān.

Let me see… Ah, I remember — the teacher explained it. It’s actually simple.

你说清楚一点儿，我没明白。

Nǐ shuō qīngchu yìdiǎnr, wǒ méi míngbai.

Explain it more clearly — I didn’t understand.

好，我再说一遍，你记下来吧。

Hǎo, wǒ zài shuō yí biàn, nǐ jì xialai ba.

OK, I’ll say it again — write it down.

New words

语言yǔyánlanguage
外语wàiyǔforeign language
水平shuǐpínghorizontal; level; a standard; a level (of ability, development etc)
提高tígāoto raise; to increase; to improve
坚持jiānchíto persevere with; to persist in; to insist on
努力nǔlìto make an effort; to try hard; to strive
简单jiǎndānsimple; not complicated
容易róngyìeasy; straightforward; likely; liable to; apt to
难nándifficult (to...); problem; difficulty
难题nántídifficult problem
清楚qīngchuclear; distinct; to understand thoroughly
明白míngbaiclear; obvious; unequivocal
懂得dǒngdeto understand; to know; to comprehend
了解liǎojiěunderstand, know well
回答huídáto reply; to answer; reply; answer
认得rènderecognise
记jìto record; to note; to memorize
忘记wàngjìto forget
有用yǒuyònguseful
方便fāngbiànconvenient; suitable; to facilitate; to make things easy
常用cháng yòngin common usage
常见cháng jiàncommonly seen; common; to see sth frequently

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. 想起来, 想出来, 写下来: figurative directions

Direction words often mean a result: 出(来) “brought out”: 想出来 “think up”, 说出来 “say out loud”, 看出来 “make out”; 起(来) “come to mind”: 想起来 “remember”; 下(来) “fixed”: 写下来 “write down”, 记下来 “note down”. With 得 / 不: 想不出来 “can’t think of it”, 想不起来 “can’t remember”.

我想起来了！

Wǒ xiǎng qilai le!

I remember now!

他的名字我想不起来了。

Tā de míngzi wǒ xiǎng bu qǐlái le.

I can’t remember his name.

2. 起来 “start”, 下去 “keep on”

起来 marks the start of an action or state: 他笑起来了 “he started laughing”, 天冷起来了 “it’s getting cold”. 下去 means continuing: 坚持下去 “keep going”, 学下去 “keep learning”, 说下去 “go on (speaking)”. 下来 is continuing from the past up to now: 坚持下来 “hold out to the end”.

你说下去，我在听。

Nǐ shuō xiaqu, wǒ zài tīng.

Go on, I’m listening.

天冷起来了。

Tiān lěng qilai le.

It’s getting cold.

3. 越学越… — “the more…, the more…”

As in lesson 1: 越 + action + 越 + result. 越学越有意思 “the more I learn, the more interesting it gets”, 越说越好 “the more you speak, the better you get”. With different subjects: 你越说，我越不明白 “the more you talk, the less I understand”.

汉语越学越有意思。

Hànyǔ yuè xué yuè yǒu yìsi.

The more you learn Chinese, the more interesting it gets.

4. 在…上 / 下 / 中

Set phrases: 在学习上 “in one’s studies”, 在生活上 “in daily life”; 在…的帮助下 “with someone’s help”; 在…中 “in the course of, among”: 在学习中遇到问题 “run into problems while studying”.

在老师的帮助下，我的汉语提高了很多。

Zài lǎoshī de bāngzhù xià, wǒ de Hànyǔ tígāole hěn duō.

With my teacher’s help my Chinese has improved a lot.

他在学习上很努力。

Tā zài xuéxí shang hěn nǔlì.

He works very hard at his studies.

Exercises

1. Listen and choose the translation

Answer
我想起来了！ Wǒ xiǎng qilai le! — I remember now!
Answer
汉语越学越有意思。 Hànyǔ yuè xué yuè yǒu yìsi. — The more you learn Chinese, the more interesting it gets.
Answer
你说下去，我在听。 Nǐ shuō xiaqu, wǒ zài tīng. — Go on, I’m listening.
Answer
这个难题我想不出来。 Zhège nántí wǒ xiǎng bu chūlai. — I can’t work out this problem.

2. Choose the correct option

“I can’t remember his name”: 他的名字我想不___了。
Answer
起来
“Write this down”: 你把这个写___。
Answer
下来
“Keep going!”: 坚持___！
Answer
下去
“With the teacher’s help”: 在老师的帮助___
Answer
下

3. Build the sentence

The more you learn Chinese, the more interesting it gets.
Answer
汉语越学越有意思。 Hànyǔ yuè xué yuè yǒu yìsi.
Write the new words down.
Answer
把新词写下来。 Bǎ xīn cí xiě xialai.
I can’t remember his name.
Answer
他的名字我想不起来了。 Tā de míngzi wǒ xiǎng bu qǐlái le.
He works very hard at his studies.
Answer
他在学习上很努力。 Tā zài xuéxí shang hěn nǔlì.

4. Dialogue: answer as the speaker

You are speaker B. Pick the right reply and the conversation goes on.

你学汉语学了多长时间了？

Nǐ xué Hànyǔ xuéle duō cháng shíjiān le?

How long have you been learning Chinese?

两年了。

Liǎng nián le.

Two years.

你觉得汉语难吗？

Nǐ juéde Hànyǔ nán ma?

Do you find Chinese hard?

不太难，越学越有意思。

Bú tài nán, yuè xué yuè yǒu yìsi.

Not very — the more I learn, the more interesting it gets.

我学了三个月，有时候不想学了。

Wǒ xuéle sān ge yuè, yǒu shíhou bù xiǎng xué le.

I’ve been learning for three months, and sometimes I don’t feel like going on.

对，坚持下去就会越来越好！

Duì, jiānchí xiaqu jiù huì yuè lái yuè hǎo!

Right — keep it up and it’ll get better and better!

5. Translate into Chinese

I remember! His name is Wang Ming.
Answer
我想起来了！他叫王明。
The more I read, the more I like it.
Answer
我越看越喜欢。
Please write down my phone number.
Answer
请把我的电话号码写下来。/ 请记下来我的电话号码。

💡 Did you know?: How many characters do you need?

The 1,000 most frequent characters cover roughly 90% of ordinary text, and about 2,500 cover almost 98%. That is why 常用字, “common characters”, matter most. By the end of HSK level 3 the syllabus expects you to read around 900 characters.

Phrase audio — Microsoft speech synthesis (voices Xiaoxiao, Yunyang, Yunxi); syllables and some words — native recordings (audio-cmn, CC BY-SA).