IB Chinese B and Mandarin ab initio: how the exams work and how to get a 7 (video)
IB Chinese B (SL, HL) and Mandarin ab initio: the individual oral, Paper 1 text types, Paper 2, the IB's grade data, what a 7 takes and a 12-week plan.
Chapters
- 0:00Start
- 0:21The short answer
- 0:44Which course: SL or HL
- 1:07Four parts, a quarter each
- 1:40Who gets a 7
- 2:06What a 7 takes
- 2:47The individual oral
- 3:47Model answers
- 4:46Paper 1 and Paper 2
- 5:30A 12-week plan
- 5:55What to do next
Transcript
Start
About a third of I B Chinese B students get a 7. A quarter of that grade rides on one 15-minute conversation with your own teacher. And it's the part you can rehearse the most. From SayMei Guides, by Mei Lin: I B Chinese B and Mandarin ab initio. How the exams work, and how to get a 7.
The short answer
The short answer: Chinese B is the Diploma's Mandarin course for students who already know some Chinese, at S L or H L. Mandarin ab initio is the beginners' course, at S L only. Both grade four equal parts: a writing paper, listening, reading and a recorded individual oral. And nothing changes before 2029.
Which course: SL or HL
Which one is yours? Your school decides. If you can already chat about everyday topics, expect Chinese B. H L adds two literary works first written in Chinese. In May 2025, 77.7% of H L students got a 6 or a 7, against 60.8% at S L. But the share of 7s was almost the same.
Four parts, a quarter each
Paper 1 is writing. Paper 2 is listening and reading. The individual oral is a recorded conversation with your teacher, who marks it, and the I B checks a sample. Each of the four parts is scaled to a quarter of your grade, whatever its raw marks. Now set each part's time against its weight. At Chinese B S L, Paper 1 takes 30 minutes for each tenth of your grade. The oral takes 6. Minute for minute, the oral is worth five times Paper 1, and you can practise its exact shape at home.
Who gets a 7
So who gets a 7? In May 2025, 34.7% of Chinese B students did at S L, and 35% at H L. Heard that half the class gets a 7? Nearly half did at S L in 2021 and 2022, both adapted sessions. Since 2023, the realistic odds are about one in three at Chinese B, and one in four at ab initio.
What a 7 takes
What does a 7 take? The I B sends grade boundaries to schools and doesn't post them publicly. One school posted part of the May 2024 boundaries, for 21 Language B and ab initio courses, with no Chinese among them. On the oral, a 7 took 27 out of 30 in every one. The papers' lines moved by language. The middle values for a 7 at S L were 26 of 30 for writing, 21 of 25 for listening and 33 of 40 for reading. Treat them as likely bars: none is a Chinese figure. Your coordinator has last year's exact Chinese B lines. Ask for them.
The individual oral
Now the oral. Your teacher shows you two pictures, each on a different theme, and you pick one. At H L, it's two extracts from your literary works. You prepare for 15 minutes, or 20 at H L. Then you present for 3–4 minutes, discuss it for 4–5, and talk about at least one other theme for 5–6. How should you prepare? You may write up to ten bullet points. Take the picture you can say most about, then note what you see, what it suggests, a link to a Chinese-speaking place, a comparison with home and one example from your life. Keep the last few minutes for your first and last sentences. Four criteria mark the oral. Language is worth 12 of the 30 marks. Your message on the stimulus, your message in the conversation and your interactive skills get 6 each. So two of the four are earned after your presentation ends. Answer, give a reason, then add an example.
Model answers
Here's a model start, for a picture of a crowded railway station before the Spring Festival. Describe it: 图片上是一个很大的火车站，里面有很多人。 Interpret it: 我觉得这是春节前的春运。 Then link it to culture, and close. In part 2, give two reasons. Start with 我觉得主要有两个原因, I think there are two main reasons. In part 3, one sentence can answer and show range: 虽然一个人的力量很小，但是大家一起做就不一样了。 And keep talking. Grammar slips cost less than silence. At H L, the trap is retelling the story. Spend your prep on three points: what happens in the extract, how the writer shows it and why it matters in the work. At ab initio, your talk runs a minute or two, so most of your marks come from answering. Prepare a few sentences on each of the 20 topics.
Paper 1 and Paper 2
Paper 1 at Chinese B gives you three tasks, and you answer one. Ab initio students answer two. Tutors who quote the I B guide report 12 marks for language, 12 for message and 6 for conceptual understanding: whether your text fits its reader, purpose and type. So a blog that reads like an essay gives marks away. Paper 2 is three recordings and three texts. Listening is marked out of 25 and reading out of 40, but each is a quarter of your grade. So a listening mark is worth more. Read the questions before each recording, and listen after 但是 and 其实: answers often hide after a change of mind.
A 12-week plan
Plan backwards from your oral date and your May or November papers. Here's a 12-week plan, at about 30 minutes a day. Weeks 1–4: two practice pictures and one theme's word bank a week. Weeks 5–8: the full oral on a timer twice a week, recorded. Weeks 9–12: a mock oral with your teacher, and full Paper 2 under exam timing.
What to do next
So, what to do next? Ask your teacher whether you're in ab initio, S L or H L, and when your oral is. Run the guide's oral timer this week: all three parts, out loud, and record one run. And write one Paper 1 task a week, rotating the text types. SayMei isn't affiliated with the I B. Where it helps is speaking out loud. You can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's teacher, in a short spoken lesson at your level. SayMei's three I B practice books, in the exam's format, are free with a SayMei account. The full guide, with every source, is on the page at saymei dot app.