The Virtual Picture Album -- China

The grid below is an annotated index to part of the Virtual Picture Album compiled and distributed by the Less Commonly Taught Languages Project at the University of Minnesota. The pictures in this section of the VPA are of people, places and objects in the People's Republic of China. Each of the pictures is represented by a thumbnail-sized image in the grid, and is accompanied by:

  • a list of vocabulary items corresponding to elements in the picture
  • some suggested lesson topics and grammar points for which the picture might be useful. (These categories are summarized at the bottom of the page.)

There are also suggestions for ways to use certain pairs or groups of pictures.

Due to the number of pictures in this section, the VPA index for China is divided into three parts.

Part 1 in English in Chinese
Part 2 in English in Chinese
Part 3 in English (this page) in Chinese

To view or download a full-sized picture from the VPA, click on its thumbnail representation below. You may also view the table with the list of vocabulary items in Chinese.

Photo (Thumbnail) Vocabulary Items Topics Grammar Points
buses buses, bus station, parking lot travel directions; motion verbs
old_women old women, bench, bricks family; history conjunctions; subordinate clause
riverbank river, river bank pollution; buildings near/far
drinks_vendor soft-drinks; vendor food, drink, markets transitive/intransitive; measure words
rabbits rabbit, basket, kill food; drink; markets ordering of process/event
tofu dried tofu food; drink; markets ordering of process/event
flowers flower, intersection, tree, street clothes; ceremonies; celebrations measure words; directions; locatives/spatial relations
truck truck, field rural life comparatives; motion verbs
bridge bridge, river geography; landscape locatives/spatial relations
whitewater river, clouds, sky, hills geography; landscape locatives/spatial relations
1_wooden_house wooden house buildings prepositions; locative/spatial relations
moxi_main main street, village buildings; everyday life directions; near/far
shop_moxi small shop, village buildings; everyday life directions; transitive/intransitive
cinema cinema buildings; everyday life conditional; conjunctions
church church historical/ religious elements conditional; comparatives
ricepaddy rice paddy rural life; agriculture locatives/spatial relations
2_wooden_house wooden house buildings; rural life locatives/spatial relations
group group, hikers, log pastimes, landscape progressive; comparatives
toilet outdoor toilet rural life directions; conditional
kids_in_truck school children, truck children plural; progressive
tibetans Tibetan, glasses minorities; clothing comparative; progressive
parrot cap, cane, parrot clothing; everyday life comparative; progressive
cherries vendor, cherries food; agriculture locative/spatial relations; progressive



TOPICS   GRAMMAR POINTS
advertising   "ba" construction
animals   comparatives
buildings   conditional
celebrations/ceremonies   contrast
children   directions
clothing   following a map
colors   locatives/spatial relations
construction/economic development   measure words
culture   near/far
direction signs   numbers (cardinal)
everyday life   ordering of process/event
family   particles
food   progressive
geography   reflexive
greetings   subordinate clause
historical/religious elements  
housing  
how-many?  
kitchen appliances/utensils  
landscape  
materials  
nature  
numbers  
occupations/professions  
pastimes  
politics  
school  
school activities  
seasons  
shapes  
shopping  
store interior  
traffic signs  
transportation  
travel  
unemployment/employment  
urban/rural  
weather  

Grouping Suggestions



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