A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
巴厘岛"安宁日"全岛停摆，一个瑞士游客照样出门，拍了视频发上网。他被判了一年。
Swiss Tourist Jailed for Breaking Bali's Silence Day
About this story
Swiss Tourist Jailed for Breaking Bali's Silence Day. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 2 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 6 key vocabulary words such as 关、一样、告诉 and walks through 2 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
One day a year, the whole of Bali stops.
That day is called the Day of Silence.
What is the Day of Silence like?
No going out. No lights on. No noise.
Nobody on the roads, and the airport closes too.
For a whole day, an entire island is simply quiet.
There is only this one day in the year.
Local or tourist, it is the same for everyone.
On the Day of Silence this March, a tourist from Switzerland did not listen.
He walked out of the villa he was staying in and went a long way.
He also filmed a video and put it online.
In the video he laughed and said: this rule is no good.
People in Bali saw it, and a lot of them were angry.
They said: this day is a big thing to us.
You are allowed not to understand it, but you are not allowed to talk about it like that.
On the twentieth of August, the court ruled: one year.
One year — not a fine, prison.
The tourist said: that day I did not understand the rule.
But the court knew one thing.
Before he filmed the video, the people at the villa had already told him: today you cannot go out.
He knew the rule, and he went out anyway.
After he went out, he filmed it as well.
A whole island went quiet for one day.
One person walked out, and put that day online.
Think about it:
When you arrive somewhere new, do you ask about the rules first?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇The airport 关了; the lights are not 开.
本地人也好，游客也好，都一样 — the same for everyone.
The detail that decided the case: the villa staff had 告诉过他.
Not written law — the way things are done in a place.
游 to travel, 客 guest.
Literally "to sit in jail". Not a fine — 坐牢.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法A 也好，B 也好，都……
Whether A or B, in either case … — insists a rule applies to everyone.
本地人也好，游客也好，都一样。 — Local or tourist, it is the same.
可以……，可是不能……
Grants one thing while refusing another.
你可以不懂，可是你不能这样说。 — You are allowed not to understand, but you cannot talk like that.
Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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