SPEAKING IN CONTEXT
Reschedule in Chinese: propose a time and confirm the place
A useful rescheduling message explains the change briefly, proposes a specific new time and confirms the final time and place. Distinguish a suggestion from an accepted arrangement: the plan is not settled until the other person agrees.
Listen firstListen, understand and shadow
Playable synthesized Mandarin audio, created from our original scripts. Not a human recording or an official exam. Listen before opening the transcript; repeat using the player’s speed controls when available.
改约与确认
Listen once without the transcript, then repeat at 0.75× and shadow the sentence. Return to 1× to check natural timing.
Audio file (MP3)Chinese transcript
不好意思，我周五下午临时有事。我们能改到周六上午十点吗？可以，还是在地铁站东门见。好的，周六十点，东门见。
Pinyin support
Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ zhōuwǔ xiàwǔ línshí yǒu shì. Wǒmen néng gǎi dào zhōuliù shàngwǔ shí diǎn ma? Kěyǐ, háishi zài dìtiězhàn dōngmén jiàn. Hǎo de, zhōuliù shí diǎn, dōngmén jiàn.
English meaning
Sorry, something has come up on Friday afternoon. Could we move it to ten on Saturday morning? Yes, let us still meet at the east entrance of the metro station. Great, Saturday at ten, east entrance.
Shadow this sentence
不好意思，我们能改到周六上午十点吗？
Listening cues and practice method
Give the reason for changing the appointment, propose a specific new time, then repeat the final time and place. Distinguish the old arrangement from the confirmed replacement.
Read the dialogue by role
- Person A
不好意思，我周五下午临时有事。我们能改到周六上午十点吗？
- Person B
可以，还是在地铁站东门见。
- Person A
好的，周六十点，东门见。
Follow the timeline
The original appointment was Friday afternoon. The speaker proposes Saturday at ten in the morning. The other speaker accepts and keeps the meeting place at the east entrance of the metro station. The last turn repeats both the new time and the unchanged place.
Listen for 临时有事, 能改到……吗, 可以 and 还是在……. These phrases perform different jobs: giving a reason, requesting a change, accepting it and preserving a detail. Do not treat every time mentioned as a current appointment.
Make the request specific but flexible
不好意思 softens the request. 我们能改到周六上午十点吗？ supplies a proposed day and time, but its question form leaves room for a refusal or another suggestion. Saying 我们改到周六十点 states the change more directly; without prior agreement, it can sound as if you have decided for both people.
If the other person says Saturday is inconvenient, offer one alternative and ask again: 那周日上午十一点方便吗？ After agreement, confirm the place too. A correct time with the wrong exit can still cause a missed meeting.
Shadow, then switch roles
Repeat the request as three chunks: 不好意思／我们能改到／周六上午十点吗？ Then say the acceptance turn and the final confirmation. On the next pass, reverse roles. Keep old and new times on separate lines of a note so you can check whether your spoken summary uses the accepted plan.
This clip is synthesized, and one voice reads the dialogue. The text identifies the turns; your practice can use a partner or a self-directed role switch. These tasks check information and appropriateness, not microphone pronunciation accuracy.
Swap a phrase and change one condition
Change one condition at a time and keep the remaining facts consistent. These alternatives are not synonyms.
- 周六上午十点 → 周六上午十一点
- 地铁站东门 → 图书馆门口
- 能改到……吗？ → ……方便吗？
Common pitfalls: wording, context and information
我们就改到周六十点。
A response for this context
我们能改到周六十点吗？
Before agreement, the first sounds like a decision for both people. The question presents a proposal.
好的，西门见。
A response for this context
好的，还是东门见。
If the agreed entrance is east, changing it to west changes the arrangement. Repeat the accepted location.
Answer first, then check the reasoning
1. What changes, and what stays the same?
Answer and explanation
The time changes from Friday afternoon to Saturday at ten. The meeting place stays at the metro station’s east entrance, signaled by 还是.
2. At “能改到周六上午十点吗”, is the new appointment already accepted?
Answer and explanation
Not yet. It is a proposal. 可以 in the next turn accepts it; the final repetition confirms the shared understanding.
3. Why would “周六十点，西门见” be a wrong summary?
Answer and explanation
The time is right but the exit has changed from 东门 to 西门 without support. Confirm every important detail, not just the day.
Answer three prompts in your own words
Speak first, then draft if helpful. Drafts stay on this page, are not uploaded and are not automatically graded. The references are possible answers, not the only answers.
1. You agreed to meet Monday at two in the afternoon at the library entrance. Ask to move it to Tuesday at three, keep the place, then play the other person’s acceptance and your final confirmation.
Reference and self-check
不好意思，我们能改到周二下午三点吗？——可以，还是在图书馆门口见。——好的，周二下午三点，图书馆门口见。
Include a request rather than an assumption, Tuesday at three in the afternoon, the unchanged library entrance and an explicit acceptance. Do not accidentally repeat the old Monday time.
2. Your partner cannot meet Saturday. Offer Sunday at eleven in the morning and ask whether it works.
Reference and self-check
那周日上午十一点方便吗？
Offer one specific alternative as a question; do not assume acceptance.
3. You have both accepted Thursday at six in the evening outside the museum. Confirm the final plan without mentioning the old time.
Reference and self-check
好的，周四晚上六点，博物馆门口见。
Keep day, time of day, hour and entrance. Thursday morning would change the agreement.
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- Listening evidence lab (PDF) 中文 / English
Three original HSK 4–6 study clips, nine questions, transcripts and explained alternatives. Bilingual PDF; audio links need internet.