Singapore 2026 PSLE Chinese Oral Reading – Xiao Hua Joins Camping Trip
This is a PSLE Chinese oral reading practice passage for 2026 in Singapore. It tells the story of Xiaohua, who is initially resistant to a camping trip but later accepts his father’s advice and prepares actively. When reading aloud, follow the three emotional stages: “worry – persuasion – action”. The complaint part should be slow and low, showing frustration. The father’s speech should be steady and reassuring, with emphasis on “本领” and “独立”. The ending should be lighter and more upbeat, with stress on “有道理”, “认真”, and “欣慰”. Use different pacing for narration and dialogue so the emotional changes are clear.
《小华参加野外露营》
学校假期到了，妈妈帮小华报名去参加野外露营探险的活动。这件事情让小华很烦恼。他向爸爸诉苦说:“我讨厌露营，因为不能好好睡觉。”爸爸安慰他说：“露营活动能让你学习户外生活的本领,也能让你学会独立!”
小华觉得爸爸的话有道理，就开始认真地为露营做准备，爸爸看到后，感到很欣慰！
High-Scoring Reading Aloud Techniques
- Emotional Layering and Transitions (core scoring point)
The passage has a clear emotional shift: frustration → being persuaded → positive action. When reading aloud, you must use your voice to “draw” this emotional curve.
When reading Xiaohua’s complaint, slow down your pace and lower your volume to show a tired, dragging feeling. For example, in “我讨厌露营，因为不能好好睡觉” the word “讨厌” should be slightly stressed, and “不能好好睡觉” should sound like a sigh.
When reading the father’s words, your voice should be steady, firm, and slightly raised. In particular, “学习户外生活的本领” and “学会独立” should be read word by word, showing encouragement and certainty from an elder, not flat lecturing.
When reading the final part where Xiaohua “认真准备” and the father feels “欣慰”, the pace should become lighter and more upbeat, with a bright, conclusive tone at the end.
- Punctuation as hidden instructions
At question marks (though none in this passage, but if encountered), there must be a real rising interrogative tone. For full stops here, distinguish them: for complaints, use falling tone + fading volume; for the father’s statements, use falling tone + firm closure.
At commas, you must not pause too obviously. For example, in “露营活动能让你学习户外生活的本领，也能让你学会独立”, slightly hold your breath before the comma so that “也能” connects naturally, showing you understand the parallel and progressive relationship.
- Keyword stress and light reading contrast
Stress should fall on transition words and core quality words: “有道理”, “认真”, “欣慰” should be read clearly and with full tone.
Function words and repeated information should be lightly read. For example, the second occurrence of “露营” can be softer to avoid mechanical repetition.
Contrastive words must be highlighted: “讨厌” vs “学习”, “不能” vs “学会” — use differences in volume and tone to show the psychological shift of the characters.
- Rhythm variation to create imagery
The first half (frustration) should be slower with pauses, simulating Xiaohua’s hesitant and conflicted emotions.
The father’s speech should be even and slightly faster (but not rushed), showing smooth reasoning.
The final sentence “爸爸看到后，感到很欣慰” should slow down at the end, giving the examiner a satisfying closing “resolution” sound.
- Ultimate technique: use “sense of presence” instead of memorisation
Imagine the father is sitting in front of you and Xiaohua is beside you. When reading dialogue, subtle head or eye direction shifts (natural and allowed in oral exams) can help differentiate characters through voice orientation.
Narration parts (such as “他向爸爸诉苦说”, “爸爸安慰他说”) should be read in a neutral, slightly faster narrative tone, creating contrast with dialogue so the examiner can clearly hear your layered delivery.
