Welcome to the second edition of our Cambridge IGCSE™ Mandarin Chinese series We have developed this series to support the updated Cambridge IGCSE Mandarin Chinese syllabus (0547) for examination from 2028. This series has been designed to flexibly meet your teaching needs, including extra support to help prepare for assessment. This preview will help you understand how the coursebook, workbook and teacher’s resource work together to best meet the needs of your classroom, timetable and students.
This Executive Preview contains sample content from the series, including:
• a guide explaining how to use the series
• a guide explaining how to use each resource
• a table of contents for each resource.
In developing this new edition, we carried out extensive global research with teachers - through interviews and work on the Cambridge Panel, our online teacher research community. Teachers just like you have helped our experienced authors shape these new resources, ensuring that they meet the real teaching needs of your Mandarin Chinese classroom.
The coursebook has been specifically written to support learners with key vocabulary, grammar and accessible language throughout. We have also provided new features, such as a welcome unit, topicbased videos, and more support to encourage active learning, assessment for learning and student reflection. Numerous practice opportunities within the coursebook and workbook help put students’ learning into practice and can be used in class or at home.
Core to the series is the fully updated digital teacher’s resource. It will help you support your learners and give you the tools to teach the updated syllabuses with confidence, whether you are new to teaching the subject or more experienced. For each unit there are lesson ideas and activities, common misconceptions to look out for, worksheets, answers to the coursebook and workbook, extra wrap-up activities and more.
Please take some time to find out how our resources will support you and your learners. To view the full series, you can visit our website or speak to your local consultant You can find their contact details here:
Sarah Baetens Commissioning Editor Cambridge University Press & Assessment
How to use this series
This suite of resources supports students and teachers following the Cambridge IGCSE™ Mandarin Chinese syllabus (0547) for examination from 2028. All of the components in the series are designed to work together and help students develop the necessary knowledge and skills for this subject.
Mandarin Chinese for
The coursebook is designed for students to use in class with guidance from the teacher. It includes a welcome unit and 25 further units that cover a variety of topics to provide a comprehensive understanding of Chinese language and culture. Each unit includes sections on vocabulary and grammar with activities to develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills to allow learners to apply these skills to a particular topic. Features such as top tips, culture boxes and languages boxes provide additional information throughout, allowing learners to build their understanding further.
A digital version of the coursebook is included with the print version and is available separately.
The write-in workbook consolidates the learning in the coursebook by providing opportunities for more focused practice. It can be used flexibly, as an additional resource to support learning in the classroom or at home for individual work. The workbook fully reflects the structure of the coursebook, making it easy to navigate. It provides activities at three different levels to help teachers provide differentiation, as well as allowing students to build their confidence by providing them with activities that are right for their level. The workbook also includes practice opportunities, allowing learners to apply their understanding and test their key skills.
A digital version of the workbook is included with the print version.
Mandarin Chinese for Cambridge IGCSETM
The digital teacher’s resource provides everything teachers need to deliver this course. It is packed full of useful teaching notes and lesson ideas, with suggestions for differentiation to support and challenge students, ideas for assessment and homework guidance. A range of additional resources such as worksheets, audio scripts and answers to the coursebook and workbook questions are also available to help teachers save time and enrich their practice.
Throughout this coursebook, you will see these features, which are designed to help your learning. Here is a summary of what you will find.
Each unit begins with a set of learning intentions to explain what you will learn.
Each unit opens with a video (indicated by a video icon) and provides a list of questions to answer. The video covers the themes in a unit and provides any key context you need.
This feature gives you further information about
This gives you guidance on structures of the Chinese language as well as useful expressions and phrases.
Key vocabulary is highlighted in vocabulary boxes throughout the unit. The full list of vocabulary is also available in the vocabulary section at the end of the coursebook.
This is to challenge yourself with creative tasks, like detailed writing or presentations. These activities deepen your understanding and boost confidence in real-world language use.
This feature focuses on a key grammar topic in a unit. It will deepen your understanding and knowledge of key grammar skills.
This will help you learn key phrases to make your writing and speaking more natural. Examples show how to use them effectively in different contexts.
This will guide you on how best to apply the skills or topic explored in a unit, or how best to apply your knowledge to key skills, such as listening, reading, writing or speaking.
Practice questions can be found at the end of each unit and help you prepare for assessment. They are denoted by the number of marks per question.
Each unit ends with a checklist that matches the learning intentions at the start of units so you can reflect on your learning.
Throughout the unit you will also see this audio icon. This indicates that this activity has an audio track to help you develop your listening skills.
Part A
Everyday activities
SAMPLE
问候与自我介绍 wèn hòu yǔ zì wǒ jiè shào
1 Greetings and self-introductions
学 xué 习 xí 目 mù 标 biāo LEARNING INTENTIONS
通过第1单元的学习，你将能够：
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
• 使用问候语并介绍自己，询问名字、国籍等 个人信息。
• 理解中英文名字的不同特点。
• 掌握基本数字和人称代词（我、你、他/她） 及复数标记“们”。
• 使用基本结构介绍自己和讨论自己的感觉， 例如：“我叫李明”“我很好”。
Use greetings and introduce yourself, asking for names, nationalities and other personal information.
Understand the differences between Chinese and English names.
Master basic numbers and personal pronouns (‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he/she’), including the plural marker 们.
Form basic sentences to introduce yourself and describe your feelings, such as ‘My name is Li Ming’ or ‘I am fine’. 看 kàn 视 shì 频 pín ，学 xué 中 Zhōnɡ 文 wén Watch this!
一、 看 kàn 图 tú 片 piàn ： Look at the picture:
• 他 tā 们 men 在 zài 哪 nǎ 里 lǐ ？Where are they?
• 上 shànɡ 午 wǔ 看 kàn 见 jiàn 同 tónɡ 学 xué 的 de 时 shí 候 hòu ，你 nǐ 会 huì 跟 ɡēn 他 tā 们 men 说 shuō 什 shén 么 me ？
When you see your classmates in the morning, what can you say to them?
二、 看 kàn 视 shì 频 pín ，说 shuō yi 说 shuō ： Watch the video and talk about:
• 怎 zěn 么 me 打 dǎ 招 zhāo 呼 hu how you greet each other
• 怎 zěn 么 me 说 shuō 自 zì 己 jǐ 是 shì 哪 nǎ 国 ɡuó 人 rén how to say which country you are from
• 怎 zěn 么 me 说 shuō 自 zì 己 jǐ 住 zhù 在 zài 哪 nǎ 里 lǐ how to say where you live.
三、 说 shuō yi 说 shuō ： Talk about:
• 你 nǐ 叫 jiào 什 shén 么 me 名 mínɡ 字 zì ？What’s your name?
• 你 nǐ 是 shì 哪 nǎ 国 ɡuó 人 rén ？Where are you from?
词 cí 语 yǔ Vocabulary
小 xiǎo 贴 tiē 士 shì TOP TIP
If you have just started learning Mandarin, you can refer to the Welcome unit to learn the basic numbers from 1 to 99.
For numbers over 100, 1000 and 10,000, we use 百 (hundred), 千 (thousand) and 万 (ten thousand), respectively, as shown in the table. Breakdown
Match the characters with the numbers.
4
6
7 一万七千
词 cí 语 yǔ VOCABULARY
词 cí 语 yǔ VOCABULARY
中国 Zhōng guó China
英国 Yīng guó UK
美国 Měi guó USA
德国 Dé guó Germany
日本 Rì běn Japan
印度 Yìn dù India
新加坡 Xīn jiā pō Singapore
马来西亚 Mǎ lái xī yà Malaysia
法国 Fǎ guó France
印尼 Yìn ní Indonesia
Choose one of the following tasks to complete:
1 Write down the names of some countries that you’ve been to.
2 Write down the names of some countries that you would like to travel to in the future.
Choose the appropriate phrases to fill the gaps and complete the dialogues.
According to the form above, fill in the gaps and complete the self-introduction for 王小云。
词
cí 语 yǔ
VOCABULARY
问 wèn to ask
(回)答 (huí) dá to answer, respond
姓 xìng surname
叫 jiào to be called
什么 shén me what
名字 míng zì name
多大 duō dà how old?
岁 suì years old
是 shì to be (am, is, are)
哪 nǎ which
国 guó country
人 rén person, people
住 zhù to live
在 zài at, in, on; to be located, exist
年龄 nián líng age
国籍 guó jí nationality
城市 chéng shì city
在 zài be located at
哪儿/哪里 nǎr/nǎ li where
北京 Běi jīng Beijing
你好，我姓 1 ，我叫 2 。
我 3 岁。
我是 4 人。
我住在 5 。
Zhōnɡ 国 ɡuó 人 rén 的 de 姓 xìnɡ 名 mínɡ Chinese names
• When Chinese people introduce themselves, they give their family name first, followed by their given name. For example, 王小云 ’s family name is 王 and her given name is 小云 . In English, however, she would be called ‘Xiaoyun Wang’.
• The most commonly used family names are 王 Wáng , 李 Lǐ , 张 Zhāng , 刘 Liú and 陈 Chén , and most are only one character. There are usually 1–2 characters in given names, often with positive meanings. For example, 伟 Wěi (Great/Heroic), 芳 Fāng (Fragrant), 丽 Lì (Beautiful), 明 Míng (Bright).
• Use of 小 / 大 in names: 小 Xiǎo (little) is used affectionately or in childhood names. For example, 小 Xiǎo 云 yún (Little Cloud).
大 Dà (big) adds emphasis. For example, ( 大 Dà 伟 wěi Big Hero).
• Some general rules:
1 Never split a two-character given name.
2 Avoid using someone’s given name on its own. Use their full name, 王小云 , or family name + title, 王 wánɡ 老 lǎo 师 shī (Teacher Wang). Calling a senior by their full name is considered disrespectful in Chinese.
文 wén 化 huà CULTURE
Listen to the audio track and, based on the information, fill in the table using Chinese characters or pinyin.
姓名 xìnɡ mínɡ full name
介绍 jiè shào to introduce
自己 zì jǐ self
早上好 zǎo shàng hǎo good morning
上海 Shàng hǎi Shanghai
香港 Xiāng gǎng Hong Kong
东京 Dōng jīng Tokyo
第一章：日常活动 第一单元：问候与自我介绍
You will hear five sentences in Chinese.
You will hear each sentence twice. Choose the correct answer.
1A Room 402 B Room 906 C Room 609 D Room 204
2A 上海 B 香港 C 东京 D 北京
3A 五岁 B 十五岁 C 五十一岁 D 二十五岁
4A 中国人 B 英国人 C 日本人 D 印尼人
5A 6323 4566 B 2363 4556 C 6233 5564 D 2532 5456
语 yǔ 法 fǎ Grammar
men
一、Use of 们
As well as being used to make plural pronouns, 们 can sometimes be used as a plural marker for a few personal nouns:
SingularPlural
二、Describing identities, jobs and feelings
There are two basic sentence structures for us to use in daily life.
音 yīn ，你 nǐ 将 jiānɡ 听 tīnɡ 到 dào 两 liǎnɡ 遍 biàn 。选 xuǎn 择 zé 正 zhènɡ 确 què 答 dá 案 àn 回 huí 答 dá 问 wèn 题 tí 。
A teacher and students are meeting for the first time in an online class. Listen to the following audio track. You will hear it twice. Select the correct answer to each question.
1 老师姓什么？
A 李
B 陈 C 王
SAMPLE
3 李文是哪国人？ A 日本人 B 印度人
4 田中住在哪儿？ A 北京 B 香港
5 谁是日本人？
A 王老师
自
zì 我 wǒ 评 pínɡ 估 ɡū SELF-ASSESSMENT
I can use greeting phrases when meeting friends in Chinese.
I can talk about countries and continents in Chinese.
I can understand and use the basic numbers in Chinese.
I can ask questions using the question words 吗 , 什么 , 哪 and 哪儿 .
I know how to use pronouns in Chinese.
I can understand the use of 们
I can form basic sentences to introduce myself and describe my feelings in Chinese, for example 我很好
Mandarin Chinese for Cambridge IGCSETM
WORKBOOK
Second edition with Digital access
Martin Mak, Xixia Wang & Ivy So Ling Liu
1 问候与自我介绍 wèn hòu yǔ zì wǒ
C 周游世界 zhōu yóu shì jiè
The world around us 13 天气与气候 tiān qì yǔ qì hòu
and climate
14 交通工具 jiāo tōng gōng jù
lǚ yóu jīng lì
公共服务与海关 gōng gòng fú wù yǔ hǎi guān
D 工作与职业规划
shēn qǐng gōng zuò
Applying for a job 164
20 未来学业和职业规划 wèi lái xué yè hé zhí yè guī huà
Future education and career plans 172
E 国际视野 ɡuó jì shì yě
International world
采访名人 cǎi fǎng míng rén
Interviewing Chinese celebrities 182 22 科技与社交媒体 kē jì yǔ shè jiāo méi tǐ
Follow the example and fill in the numbers. 例：十 + 二十三 = 1 十五+二十一= .............................................................................................
2 二十+一=
3 四十+六十=
4 十一+二=
5 三十+九=
挑
战 zhàn Challenge
fǎ
语 yǔ 法
Grammar
zhònɡ 点 diǎn Focus
重
四
sì 、 按 àn 照 zhào 例 lì 子 zi ，重 chónɡ 组 zǔ 句 jù 子 zi 。
Follow the example and rearrange the words to form correct sentences.
2 The students are very happy. ( 们，高兴 ) .......................................................
3 How are you? ( 吗 ) .........................................................................................
你是哪国人？
4 Are you Chinese? ( 你，吗 ) ............................................................................ 5 Where do you live? ( 你们，哪儿 ) .................................................................
tīnɡ 说 shuō 读 dú 写 xiě 练 liàn 习 xí Skills
Practice
Find
Fill in the blanks with the given phrases to complete the sentences. Each phrase can only be used once.
Follow the example and write a paragraph for each of the students below to help them introduce themselves.
Practice writing short self-introductions using a template (for example, 你好 , 我叫 .......... , 我 是 人 , 我 岁 , 我住 在 ). Include all details (name, nationality, age, city) to avoid missing any information. Check the accuracy of your Chinese characters to ensure clear, errorfree responses.
The following items are available on Cambridge GO. For more information on how to access and use your digital resource, please see the inside front cover.
This section outlines the key goals of each unit, helping students focus on essential skills such as vocabulary, sentence structures and grammatical rules.
学习成果
Success criteria
Clear benchmarks for listening, speaking, reading and writing are provided to help students measure their progress and achieve mastery of the unit objectives.
学习难点
Common misconceptions
This section addresses frequent misunderstandings, offering strategies to identify and correct errors.
温故知新
Starter ideas
Engage students by connecting prior knowledge with interactive activities such as discussions, quick questions or the video in ‘Watch This!’ to introduce the theme of the unit.
教学设计
Main teaching ideas
This section includes a variety of activities – reading, listening, speaking, writing and grammar exercises – to build language proficiency and ensure active learning.
因材施教 Differentiation ideas:
Tailored support and challenges are provided to meet the diverse needs of all students, ensuring engagement and progress for every learner.
巩固与反思
Plenary ideas
Summarise, review and reflect on key learning points through interactive tasks and worksheets, solidifying students’ understanding of the unit.
作业建议
Homework ideas
Practical homework suggestions reinforce classroom learning, encourage independent practice or prepare students for the next lesson.
评估建议 Assessment ideas:
Formative or summative assessment tasks, such as role plays and written exercises, help evaluate students’ understanding and application of the unit content.
句型 LANGUAGE
Help your students to master the highlighted sentence structures by using these tips and activities.
录音稿 Audio transcripts
The transcripts provide a detailed reference to support listening activities and comprehension tasks.
课堂练习题
Downloadable worksheets
Interactive worksheets complement the unit by providing structured activities for practice.
