IB Mandarin B SL study plan
IB Mandarin B SL · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Paper 1: Productive writing
Map the Paper 1 text types (文章类型) to their conventions - salutation, sign-off, headline, byline, bullet points - and build a one-page checklist for the six types you will actually attempt.
Write three timed 250–400 character texts in 25 minutes each: one formal letter to a principal, one blog post, one informal message to a friend, deliberately switching between 您 and 你 register.
Build a 120-item personal lexicon across Identities (身份) and Experiences (经历) as collocations and full sentences, not isolated words.
Self-mark every timed text against the three Paper 1 criteria (message, format and register, language) and rewrite the weakest paragraph of each.
Your checkpoint
Three timed texts in one document, each with a rewritten paragraph and a scored self-assessment table showing at least one criterion moving up a band.
Paper 1: Productive writing & Individual oral assessment
Draft an opener-and-closer bank of five sentences per text type for six types, then slot them into two new timed pieces without repeating the same wording twice.
Record a 90-second self-introduction and a 90-second answer on 'my school and my plans' (Identities theme), then transcribe both and mark every grammar slip.
Write one 250–400 character speech (演讲) on a Sharing the Planet topic that uses three different cohesive devices (首先, 另一方面, 因此).
Answer ten general-conversation questions aloud from a teacher question list, timing each answer at 45–60 seconds and noting where you stall.
Your checkpoint
One two-minute edited audio file of your best oral answers plus one timed speech, both annotated with a corrections list of at least ten items.
Individual oral assessment
Describe ten different visual stimuli aloud for two minutes each, using a fixed frame: describe - speculate - link to the theme - give a personal view.
Assemble a 60-phrase oral bank for hedging (据说, 可能), justifying (因为…所以), comparing (与…相比) and making cultural comparisons.
Rehearse the full oral twice (stimulus presentation, teacher-led discussion, general conversation) with a partner or recorder, and log every hesitation and filler.
Predict and answer fifteen follow-up questions your teacher is likely to ask, giving three sentences per answer.
Your checkpoint
Two complete recorded mock orals with a timestamped list of filler words and a written plan for cutting them by half.
Paper 1: Productive writing & Paper 2: Reading comprehension
Complete two full Paper 1 tasks under exam conditions: 75 minutes, 250–400 characters, one prompt chosen from three.
Read six authentic short texts (news brief, poster, email, review, notice, interview) and answer four questions on each, underlining where in the text the answer sits.
Time yourself on unseen 300–400 character texts and push comprehension speed toward six minutes per text at 80% accuracy.
Harvest thirty connectives and discourse markers from the texts you read and reuse ten of them in your next written piece.
Your checkpoint
Two exam-condition Paper 1 scripts plus a reading log of six texts with per-text accuracy percentages and underlined evidence.
Paper 2: Listening comprehension & Paper 2: Reading comprehension
Shadow twenty minutes of Mandarin audio daily (news, podcast, IB-style dialogue), first at reduced speed then at full speed.
Transcribe five short audio texts of one to two minutes verbatim, then compare against the transcript and list every missed sound or word.
Drill numbers, dates, times, prices and proper names in three dictation sessions of fifteen items each.
Complete four timed Paper 2 reading sections covering mixed text types and log every distractor type that caught you out.
Your checkpoint
A dictation error log showing fewer than three errors per fifteen items, plus one full listening section scored and reviewed.
Paper 2: Listening comprehension & Paper 2: Reading comprehension
Answer eight IB-style listening question sets (multiple choice, matching, short answer), then re-listen to each audio twice to catch what you missed the first time.
Infer tone and opinion from ten short clips, marking the speaker's attitude and the cue words (不过, 说实话, 我觉得) that revealed it.
Skim eight longer reading texts for gist in ninety seconds each, writing a one-sentence summary before answering detail questions.
Recycle fifteen new items per session into your own spoken and written sentences to lock in meaning and pronunciation.
Your checkpoint
A two-column error table (question type / reason I missed it) with a concrete fix written for the five most frequent error types.
Paper 1: Productive writing & Individual oral assessment
Sit one full timed Paper 1 and one full timed Paper 2 on separate days to rehearse exam stamina and section pacing.
Write four timed 250–400 character texts in 22 minutes each, targeting the text types you scored lowest on in weeks 1–4.
Record a complete mock oral and score it against the criteria with a partner, focusing on message and interaction descriptors.
Eliminate the three recurring grammar errors you logged across weeks 1–6 (for example 的/得/地, measure words, aspect markers 了 and 过).
Your checkpoint
A full-exam score sheet with all four components marked, plus a one-page list of the last five fixes ranked by marks at stake.
Paper 2: Reading comprehension & Individual oral assessment
Re-read the text types that cost you most marks and complete three timed reading sets at 85% accuracy or better.
Run two final mock orals in exam conditions, each with a different visual stimulus and no preparation notes.
Rehearse twenty high-frequency conversation openers spanning all five themes and record them cold, without script.
Compress Paper 1 planning to five minutes using a fixed outline template, then produce one last fully timed piece.
Your checkpoint
A one-page exam-day plan with per-section timings, plus final mock scores recorded for all four domains.
Milestones
Week 2: Recorded oral answers run 45–60 seconds with no long pauses, and two written texts are produced in under 30 minutes each with all required format features present.
Week 4: Two full Paper 1 scripts score band 4 or above on message and format, and unseen short-text reading accuracy is at 75% or better.
Week 6: A full Paper 2 mock (listening plus reading) scores 70% or above overall, with neither section below 60%.
Week 8: All four mock components sit at or above your target grade boundary, and every Paper 1 text type has been attempted at least once under timing.