4:52
三十年，每个月一封信
Thirty Years, One Letter Every Month
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 5 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 12 key vocabulary words such as 电影、朋友、写 and walks through 4 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
今天我想跟你说一个电影。
Today I want to tell you about a movie.
这个电影现在很多人看。
A lot of people are watching this movie now.
电影叫《给阿嬷的情书》。
The movie is called Letters to Grandma.
阿嬷是什么？
What is Amma?
阿嬷就是奶奶。
Amma is grandma.
是爸爸的妈妈，
It's dad's mom,
或者妈妈的妈妈。
or mom's mom.
这个电影，
This movie
是一个奶奶的故事。
is a grandma's story.
是一个朋友的故事。
It's a friend's story.
也是一个写信的故事。
It's also a story about writing letters.
电影里的奶奶叫淑柔。
The grandma in the movie is called Shurou.
她住在中国南方。
She lives in southern China.
是一个小地方。
It's a small place.
她已经很大了。
She's already very old.
她一个人在家。
She lives alone at home.
她的丈夫呢？
What about her husband?
她的丈夫不在家。
Her husband isn't home.
她的丈夫去了泰国。
Her husband went to Thailand.
泰国是一个国家。
Thailand is a country.
是一个在中国下面的国家。
It's a country below China.
他为什么去泰国？
Why did he go to Thailand?
他去那边工作。
He went there to work.
他去那边找钱。
He went there to earn money.
他给家里寄钱。
He sent money home.
他写信给奶奶。
He wrote letters to grandma.
他写：
He wrote:
"我有钱了。
"I have money now.
"我给你钱。
"I'll send you money.
"我爱你。
"I love you.
"我想你。
"I miss you.
奶奶也写信。
Grandma wrote letters too.
奶奶写：
Grandma wrote:
"我也爱你。
"I love you too.
"我也想你。
"I miss you too.
"你什么时候回家？
"When are you coming home?
他们一直写。
They kept writing.
一年，两年，
One year, two years,
十年，三十年。
ten years, thirty years.
可是，
But,
他们之间有一个问题。
there was a problem between them.
什么问题？
What problem?
奶奶的丈夫，不在了。
Grandma's husband was gone.
他到了泰国不久，
Soon after he got to Thailand,
就不在了。
he was gone.
已经很多年了。
It had been many years.
那是谁写的信？
Then who was writing the letters?
是他的一个朋友。
It was a friend of his.
朋友是一个女的。
The friend was a woman.
她叫南枝。
Her name was Nanzhi.
南枝是华人。
Nanzhi was Chinese.
她和奶奶的丈夫，
She and grandma's husband
是好朋友。
were good friends.
她知道：他不在了。
She knew: he was gone.
但是她想：
But she thought:
"奶奶不知道。
"Grandma doesn't know.
"奶奶不要不高兴。
"I don't want grandma to be sad.
"我替他写吧。
"Let me write for him.
南枝就开始写。
So Nanzhi started writing.
她用奶奶的丈夫的名字。
She used grandma's husband's name.
她写：
She wrote:
"我有钱了。
"I have money now.
"我给你钱。
"I'll send you money.
"我爱你。
"I love you.
"我想你。
"I miss you.
她写了多少年？
How many years did she write?
她写了三十年。
She wrote for thirty years.
三十年里，
For thirty years,
每个月一封信。
one letter every month.
每个月一些钱。
Some money every month.
奶奶以为：
Grandma thought:
"是我的丈夫写的。
"My husband wrote these.
她不知道：
She didn't know:
其实是南枝写的。
it was actually Nanzhi.
奶奶用南枝寄的钱，
With the money Nanzhi sent,
让孩子上学。
grandma sent her child to school.
孩子上了大学。
The child went to college.
孩子有了工作。
The child got a job.
家里慢慢好了。
Things slowly got better at home.
现在电影里，
Now in the movie,
奶奶老了。
grandma is old.
南枝也老了。
Nanzhi is old too.
奶奶的孩子的孩子，
Grandma's grandchild
叫晓伟。
is called Xiaowei.
晓伟自己没有钱。
Xiaowei doesn't have money.
晓伟到了泰国，
Xiaowei went to Thailand
想找他的爷爷。
to find his grandpa.
他想：
He thought:
"爷爷在泰国有钱。
"Grandpa has money in Thailand.
"我去找爷爷帮我。
"I'll ask grandpa to help me.
可是他没有找到爷爷。
But he didn't find grandpa.
他找到了南枝。
He found Nanzhi.
南枝告诉他：
Nanzhi told him:
"你的爷爷不在了。
"Your grandpa is gone.
"是我替他写的字。
"I'm the one who wrote those words.
"是我替他寄的钱。
"I'm the one who sent that money.
晓伟听完，
After hearing this,
哭了很久。
Xiaowei cried for a long time.
他回到了中国。
He went back to China.
他告诉了奶奶。
He told grandma.
奶奶哭了吗？
Did grandma cry?
奶奶没有哭。
Grandma didn't cry.
她做了什么？
What did she do?
她去看了她做的菜。
She went to check the food she'd made.
她说：
She said:
"菜冷了，
"If the food gets cold,
"就不好吃了。
"it won't taste good.
就这一句话。
Just that one line.
我看到这里，
When I saw this part,
也哭了。
I cried too.
因为我懂了：
Because I understood:
奶奶其实早就知道。
grandma actually knew long ago.
或者，
Or,
她已经不要再问是谁了。
she just didn't need to ask who anymore.
她在乎的是：
What she cared about was:
有人，
that someone,
在那三十年，
in those thirty years,
没有让她一个人。
hadn't let her be alone.
她说：
She said:
"南枝是我的好朋友。
"Nanzhi is my good friend.
"南枝也是我的家人。
"Nanzhi is also my family.
她说：
She said:
"我这三十年，
"These thirty years of mine
"不是一个人过的。
"weren't lived by one person.
"是两个人一起过的。
"They were lived by two people together.
这个电影，
This movie
没有什么大事。
has no big events.
没有打架。
No fights.
没有比赛。
No competitions.
只有写信，
Just writing letters,
寄钱，
sending money,
做菜。
making food.
可是就是这些小事，
But it's these small things
是真的爱。
that are real love.
是真的朋友。
Real friendship.
是真的家人。
Real family.
所以如果你最近想找一个电影看，
So if you're looking for a movie to watch lately,
请看《给阿嬷的情书》。
please watch Letters to Grandma.
看的时候，
While you watch,
请多带几张纸。
bring extra tissues.
你一定会哭。
You will definitely cry.
但是哭完，
But after crying,
你会觉得：
you'll feel:
真的家人，
real family
不一定是一家人。
isn't always blood family.
真的家人，
Real family
是三十年里，
is the person in those thirty years
没有让你一个人的人。
who didn't let you be alone.
好。
Okay.
今天就到这里。
That's all for today.
明天再聊。
Talk tomorrow.
Film. Used to describe the recently popular Chinese movie 《给阿嬷的情书》.
Friend. The story turns on the question: can a 朋友 of thirty years actually be 家人 (family)?
To write. The whole story is about 写信 — writing letters that travel between China and Thailand for thirty years.
Money. The husband supposedly sends 钱 home from Thailand; in reality, Nanzhi is the one funding the family.
Husband. The story centers on grandma's 丈夫 — who, unbeknownst to her, has been dead for thirty years.
To tell (someone something). Construction: 告诉 + person + content. Nanzhi 告诉 Xiaowei the truth.
A letter (written correspondence). In the film, hundreds of 信 cross the ocean over thirty years.
Standard Mandarin for paternal grandmother. The film uses the Teochew word 阿嬷 throughout, but the narrator uses 奶奶 to help learners.
To decide. Nanzhi 决定 — she makes a quiet, life-changing decision to write in the dead man's name for thirty years.
To send through the mail. 寄信 = send a letter; 寄钱 = send money. Different from 送 (to deliver in person).
To do something in someone else's place. 我替他写 = 'I'll write in his place.' This is the structural heart of the story.
Family member. Grandma's final line — '南枝也是我的家人' (Nanzhi is also my family) — is what makes the film land.
* beyond level超纲词
替 + X + Verb
替 marks doing something for someone else, often when that person can't do it themselves. In the film, Nanzhi 替木生写信 — writes letters on Musheng's behalf, because Musheng is dead.
我替他写。
南枝替木生寄钱。
以为 + clause
以为 is 'to think' — but with the implication that the thought turned out to be wrong. Grandma 以为 her husband was still writing. She was wrong. Use 觉得 for neutral 'I think'; 以为 for 'I thought (but I was wrong).'
奶奶以为是丈夫写的。
我以为他会来。
S + 不在了
Literally 'no longer here.' The standard polite, indirect way to say someone has died in Chinese. The episode uses 不在了 (and not the blunter 死) — matching how families really speak.
他不在了。
他到了泰国不久就不在了。
不一定 + clause
不一定 softens an absolute statement: 'not necessarily true.' The closing line — '真的家人，不一定是一家人' — uses it to make the film's whole thesis: real family isn't always blood family.
真的家人，不一定是一家人。
他不一定会来。