A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
等了 22 年：阿森纳赢了
22 Years of Waiting: Arsenal Won
About this story
22 Years of Waiting: Arsenal Won. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 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 朋友、喜欢、看 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.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Today I'll tell you a news story.
It's a football news story.
Do you watch football?
I have a friend.
His name is Xiao Wang.
Xiao Wang loves football a lot.
He doesn't support the Chinese team.
He supports an English team.
The English team is called Arsenal.
Have you heard of them?
Arsenal is a very old club.
It's 140 years old.
Xiao Wang has loved Arsenal since he was small.
But Arsenal hasn't won in many years.
22 years.
What is 22 years?
22 years is a long time.
When my friend was 5,
Arsenal were number one.
Now he's already 27.
In all the years in between,
Arsenal kept not winning.
Every year, Arsenal were good.
But every year,
in the end, another team was first.
My friend would say:
"I waited and waited.
"I watched and watched.
"Many times, I was very sad.
But today,
he is different.
Last night,
Xiao Wang called me.
He said:
"Arsenal won!
I said:
"What?
He said:
"We won!
"We're number one!
"Twenty-two years!
His voice was very high.
I couldn't even hear clearly.
I said:
"Okay, okay.
"Slow down a little.
He said:
"I cried.
"I watched it with my dad.
"We both cried.
I said:
"That's wonderful.
He said:
"I waited for 22 years.
He added:
"On May 30 we still have a big match.
"There's still one more trophy to win.
I said:
"Go to sleep tonight.
He said:
"I can't sleep.
"I'm too happy.
"I want to go outside and run.
And that's how the call ended.
I checked the news.
The news said:
Arsenal are now number one in England.
First time in 22 years.
All of England is talking about it.
I thought:
What is football, really?
Isn't it just 22 people kicking a ball?
But for many people,
football is their home.
It's their dad.
It's their child.
Xiao Wang waited 22 years.
Now he's happy.
Maybe,
next year he'll be sad again.
Maybe,
he'll have to wait many more years to win one.
But today,
he won.
He and his dad,
together.
That's enough.
Finally I'll ask you:
Do you have a team like this?
How many years have you waited?
Think about it.
Okay.
That's all for today.
Talk tomorrow.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Friend. The narrator's friend Xiao Wang is the emotional anchor of the episode — his 22-year wait, finally ended.
To like (something). The whole episode lives on this verb: Xiao Wang 喜欢 Arsenal — and has, since he was small.
To watch. 看球 (watch a match), 看新闻, 看电视 — the most-reused HSK 1 verb in any news episode.
Happy. The whole second half of the episode is about being 高兴 — and what it means that Xiao Wang gets to feel it now after waiting 22 years.
To think (about), to want to. The narrator 想 about what football really is to people.
To listen, to hear (of). 你听过吗？ — Have you heard of it? — the narrator's recurring rhetorical hook.
Football (i.e. soccer). 踢足球 = to play football. The whole world's most popular sport.
First. 第一 is exactly what Arsenal just became after 22 years — number one in England.
To wait. The structural verb of the episode: 等了 22 年 — waited 22 years.
To cry. Xiao Wang and his dad both 哭了 watching the match — happy tears after a 22-year wait.
A match, a contest, a game. A football 比赛, the upcoming Champions League final 比赛.
Champion. Headline of the entire episode: 阿森纳是冠军了 — Arsenal are the champions. Build from 冠 (crown) + 军 (army/force).
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法S + 没有 + Verb (negative past)
没有 + verb = the negative of a past or completed action. 阿森纳已经很多年没有赢了 — Arsenal hasn't won in many years. Contrasts with 不 (general negation).
阿森纳已经很多年没有赢了。
曼城没有赢。
V₁ 啊 V₁ / V₂ 啊 V₂
Verb + 啊 + same verb = ongoing/repeating action with a sigh. 我等啊等 — I waited and waited. The 啊 adds emotional weight — boredom, patience, exhaustion.
我等啊等。
我看啊看。
对 X 来说
Frames a fact from a specific person's point of view. The episode pivots on it: 对很多人来说，足球就是他们的家 — for many people, football is their home.
对很多人来说，足球就是他们的家。
对他来说，22 年很长。
也许 + clause
也许 = perhaps. The narrator's gentle hedge at the end: 也许明年他又会很难过 — maybe next year he'll be sad again. Softens absolute claims about the future.
也许明年他又会很难过。
也许他要再等很多年。
Proper nouns
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