Oral Communication: Listening and Speaking
What you must understand
Oral communication in this course is assessed through listening tasks (short exchanges, announcements, interviews, dialogues) and spoken tasks (a conversation or a short presentation). You need to recognise the communicative purpose of an utterance, not just its literal words: is the speaker apologising, complaining, suggesting, refusing politely, or negotiating? You also need control of register - the difference between 你 and 您, casual and formal invitations, and the softened refusals Chinese speakers habitually use.
Core listening skills
Train yourself to catch numbers, times, prices, and names first, because these are the details most often tested. Listen for discourse markers that signal what comes next: 但是, 不过, 其实, 所以, 因为, 首先, 另外, 最后. A very common trap is the correction pattern: a speaker states a fact then revises it ("三点……不对，三点半"). The answer is the second version. Another trap is implied negation - 不一定, 也许, 恐怕, 我觉得不太… - where the surface looks positive but the meaning is not.
Speaking
Answer in complete, connected sentences, not single words. Extend every answer with a reason or detail (因为…, 而且…, 我觉得…). Prepare flexible patterns for apologising, giving opinions, comparing, and narrating a past event (用 了, 过, 的时候). Pronunciation traps include tones (mā/má/mǎ/mà), retroflex vs. flat initials (zh/z, ch/c, sh/s), and neutral tone in particles like 的, 了, 吗.
Worked example
Question: What time will they meet? Audio says: "我们本来想两点见，后来她说两点半更方便。" The word 本来 (originally) is the flag that the first time will be replaced. Answer: 两点半 - not 两点.
Rule of thumb
When you hear a time, price, or plan, keep listening for 但是, 后来, 其实, or a repeated number: the last stated detail is usually the answer.