Free sample · HSK 5 · Daily affairs

A real lesson, not a brochure.

This is one topic from the HSK 5 course — clearing customs on arrival — laid out in the order a class actually runs. Nothing has been simplified for the website. Work through it and you'll know exactly what an hour with us is like.

Level: HSK 5
Topic area: Daily affairs · customs
Grammar point: 把 + object + verb + complement
Takes about: 8 minutes

Clear the words that would stop you

Eighteen words, grouped by the job they do rather than alphabetically. We pre-teach only the words that would derail the listening — everything else you meet in context.

In class: hide characters and pinyin, then say each word within three seconds.

Getting something processed

证件

zhèngjiàn

documents, ID

手续

shǒuxù

procedures

登记

dēngjì

to register

材料

cáiliào

paperwork

药品

yàopǐn

medicine

Describing your trip

行程

xíngchéng

itinerary

安排

ānpái

arrangement

出差

chūchāi

business trip

参观

cānguān

to visit, tour

工厂

gōngchǎng

factory

Being precise

数量

shùliàng

quantity

Answer before you read

Two questions on a customs conversation: one detail, one about the officer's attitude. Pick an answer and the teacher's explanation appears — including why the wrong options are there.

B 为什么改过行程中间的日子？

Why did the traveller change the middle dates of his itinerary?

海关人员的态度是怎么样的？

What is the customs officer's attitude like?

Now check the transcript

Eleven lines. The solid underline marks 把 sentences — the grammar point of this lesson — and the dotted one marks the other patterns you're expected to notice.

In class the teacher reads this twice with the text hidden — that is the whole point of the exercise. Answer the two questions above first, then open it.

Take the pattern with you

Every lesson ends with sentences you can use unchanged. This is what a student walks away holding.

The grammar point

把+the thing+verb+something after it

A 把 sentence cannot end on the bare verb. 请把证件给我看一下 works; 请把证件给 does not. That single constraint is what most learners get wrong, and it is drilled here five times in five different situations.

01
请把证件给我看一下。
Qǐng bǎ zhèngjiàn gěi wǒ kàn yíxià.
Please let me see your documents.
02
我这次是来出差的，行程比较满。
Wǒ zhè cì shì lái chūchāi de, xíngchéng bǐjiào mǎn.
I'm here on business — it's a packed schedule.
03
我先在北京开会，然后去上海参观工厂。
Wǒ xiān zài Běijīng kāihuì, ránhòu qù Shànghǎi cānguān gōngchǎng.
First meetings in Beijing, then factories in Shanghai.
04
中间的日子我改过一次。
Zhōngjiān de rìzi wǒ gǎi guo yí cì.
I changed the middle dates once.
05
相关的材料我都带来了。
Xiāngguān de cáiliào wǒ dōu dài lái le.
I've brought all the relevant paperwork.
06
这些药品是给同事带的，数量不多。
Zhèxiē yàopǐn shì gěi tóngshì dài de, shùliàng bù duō.
This medicine is for a colleague — not a large amount.
07
需要办什么手续吗？
Xūyào bàn shénme shǒuxù ma?
Are there any procedures I need to complete?
08
以后遇到类似的情况，提前在网上询问就行。
Yǐhòu yùdào lèisì de qíngkuàng, tíqián zài wǎngshang xúnwèn jiù xíng.
Next time, just ask online in advance.

What this page can't show you

Everything above is the material. The other half of the lesson is the part that only happens live:

You say the sentences out loud
The 把 pattern gets drilled in five situations, out loud, with your tones corrected as you go. Reading it silently is not the same exercise.
The teacher plays the customs officer
And asks follow-up questions you didn't prepare for — which is the only way to find out whether you can actually use what you just learned.
Your specific mistakes get written down
The three that matter most get repeated back to you at the end, and the ones that keep recurring open the next lesson.
The listening is genuinely blind
The teacher reads the dialogue twice with the transcript hidden, at full speed then slightly slower. Here you could just scroll down.

Two ways to do this with a teacher.

Both follow the same syllabus and the same lesson structure you just worked through. Sitting the HSK exam is optional in either.

Small group

Max 3students · Tue & Thu

$10per session

16 sessions over 8 weeks, $160 total. Your group starts as soon as 2 students pick the same slot.

See the group course

One-on-one

Booked whenever suits you

$30per hour

The whole hour is yours, built around your goal — the syllabus, speaking, reading a novel, or work Chinese. Packs from $26/hour.

See one-on-one