桥梁
Qiáoliáng — Bridges
The last elementary year, and a deliberate consolidation. Six years of vocabulary get pulled together, stretched across the whole Chinese-speaking world, and handed to the student in a portfolio they built themselves — ready for middle school.
By the end of Grade 5…
- Speaking: sustain a 2–3 minute conversation on a familiar topic
- Listening: understand a short authentic clip with visual support
- Reading: recognise 400 characters and read a one-page story
- Writing: write 240 characters and produce a structured multi-paragraph text
- Structure: compare things with 比 and talk about the near future
Comparison, the Chinese way
No “-er” endings, no “more than.” One little word does the whole job:
我比你高。
Wǒ bǐ nǐ gāo. — “I compared-to you tall.” A 比 B + adjective, every time. Unit 5 drills it until it’s automatic, because it appears constantly from here on.
8 units
旅行 — Travel
Lǧxíng. Packing, itineraries, and talking about a trip you took.
华语地理 — The Chinese-Speaking World
Huáyǔ dìlǐ. Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia — and Chinatowns.
我的健康 — My Health
Wǒ de jiànkāng. Symptoms, body parts revisited, and a visit to the doctor.
我的责任 — My Responsibilities
Wǒ de zérèn. Chores, duties, and saying what you have to do.
比一比 — Comparisons
Bǐ yi bǐ. The 比 pattern, plus 最 for superlatives.
不久的将来 — The Near Future
Bùjiǔ de jiānglái. 要 and 会 — what you’re going to do and what will happen.
桥梁复习 — Bridge Review
Qiáoliáng fùxí. Six years consolidated into one honest, low-pressure check.
我的作品集 — The Portfolio
Wǒ de zuòpǐnjí. The elementary capstone: a curated collection the student presents aloud.
What the portfolio contains
- A written self-introduction, revised from the Grade 3 version so growth is visible
- Three pieces of the student’s own writing, chosen by them
- A recorded 2-minute spoken presentation
- A character log of everything they can read
- One page on a place in the Chinese-speaking world they’d like to visit, and why
Heading into middle school
A student finishing Grade 5 here is roughly where a strong first-year high-school Mandarin student lands — but with six years of listening behind them, which is the part that can’t be crammed. Grade 6 picks up assuming all 400 characters are solid, so Unit 7 is worth taking seriously rather than skipping.