我几岁？
Wǒ jǐ suì? — Age & Birthdays
The first genuinely useful thing students can do with their numbers. Saying how old you are is the second question anyone asks a child in any language — and this unit also brings the birthday song, which no six-year-old objects to.
Unit objectives
- Ask 你几岁？ and answer with their own age
- Say which month their birthday is in
- Read and write four new characters
- Sing happy birthday in Mandarin
Key vocabulary
几岁 岁 生日 月 日 快乐 蛋糕
Months are numbered, not named
Another place where Chinese refuses to invent new words. January is simply “one month”:
一月 January · 六月 June · 十二月 December
Twelve months, zero new vocabulary. Dates work the same way: 六月十日 is the tenth of June.
Numbers doing a real job
How old are you?
Asking and answering around the whole class, then lining up in age order using only Chinese.
Twelve numbered months
Building the months from numbers, then making a class birthday calendar in characters.
The birthday song
生日快乐 — same tune, Chinese words. Learned once, used for years.
Longevity noodles
Cake is common at Chinese birthdays now, but the older tradition is a bowl of long noodles — 长寿面, “long-life noodles” — served in a single unbroken strand. The length stands for a long life, so you slurp it whole and try not to bite through it. It’s a rule children find delightful, and one of the easiest traditions for a family to actually try at home.
Unit 6 progress check
A light, no-pressure way to see what’s sticking:
- Can your child say their age in Chinese?
- Can they name the month of their birthday?
- Do they know the birthday song?
Saying their own age unprompted is the goal — it’s the first fact about themselves a child can give a stranger in Chinese.