你好和再见
Nǐ hǎo hé zàijiàn — Hello and Goodbye
📐 Standards alignment
ACTFL World-Readiness: Communication (interpersonal, interpretive) · Cultures (greeting practices in Chinese-speaking communities) · Comparisons (greeting customs vs. English)
Can-Do targets (NCSSFL-ACTFL, Novice Low):
- I can greet someone and say goodbye in Chinese.
- I can say thank you and please.
- I can copy a new word and try to match the teacher’s tone.
Learning objectives
- Recognise and repeat six Chinese greeting words
- Use 你好 and 再见 at the right moment, with a wave
- Greet a partner out loud without being prompted
Materials
None required. Optional: a soft ball or stuffed animal to pass during the greeting game.
Prior knowledge
None — this is the very first lesson of the year.
Key vocabulary
你好 再见 早上好 晚安 请 谢谢
Where have you heard Chinese before?
Ask your child: have they ever heard someone speaking Chinese — in a shop, a song, a film, or from a friend’s family? There is no wrong answer. This is just a friendly way to notice that Chinese is already somewhere in their world.
Meet six new words
Tap each card to flip it over. Look at the characters, say the word out loud, then check the back for the meaning — and press 🔊 to hear it.
Say it three times
Go back through the cards. For each word the grown-up (or the 🔊 button) says it once, then your child repeats it three times, nice and loud. Big goofy voices are encouraged — a shouted 你好 is far easier to remember than a shy one.
Words with gestures
Add a movement to each word — it gives young learners a second way to remember. Try: a wave for 你好 and 再见, arms stretched up like the sun for 早上好, head on folded hands for 晚安, palms pressed together for 请, and a pat on the heart for 谢谢.
Memory game — find the pairs
Every Chinese word has its English meaning hiding somewhere in the grid. Tap two cards to see if they match.
Find the matching pairs!
Listen and choose
Press each play button and pick what you heard.
1. Press play. What did you hear?
2. Press play. What did you hear?
3. Press play. What did you hear?
The greeting circle
Stand up! Walk around the room and greet three different people — family members, stuffed animals and the family pet all count. For each one, wave and say 你好; when it is time to move on, wave again and say 再见. With a group, pass a soft ball: whoever holds it greets the room before passing it on.
Show what you know
1. How do you say “thank you” in Chinese?
2. What do you say when you meet a new friend?
Great work!
Today your child learned six ways to greet people in Chinese: 你好, 再见, 早上好, 晚安, 请 and 谢谢. These come back in every single unit this year, so there is no need for them to be perfect yet.
Take it home
Teach someone at home
Teach a family member how to say 你好 and 再见. Then draw a picture of you greeting them in the box below and write their name underneath.
Name: Date:
Morning and night
For the next three days, say 早上好 to someone at breakfast and 晚安 at bedtime. Colour in a star each time you remember.
Note for teachers & parents
Pacing: if 20 minutes feels long, split this into two 10-minute sessions — vocabulary and pronunciation on day one, the games and homework on day two.
Watch for: mixing up 你好 and 再见 is completely normal at this stage, and so are wobbly tones. The gestures in step 4 help far more than correction does.