A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
字节跳动的新 AI 让做视频变得很简单
ByteDance's New AI Makes Video Easy — Douyin's Push Against Kuaishou in China
About this story
ByteDance's new AI lets anyone make videos without cameras, lifting Douyin's race against Kuaishou in China. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 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 公司、问题、历史 and walks through 5 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
Phones today are very smart.
We can watch lots of videos.
Everyone watches every day.
Who makes these videos?
Before, people made them.
Now computers can make them too.
I want to tell you some news.
This is a big deal.
There is a big company.
Its name is ByteDance.
It is the owner of Douyin.
Does everyone know Douyin?
It's a very famous app.
ByteDance has something new.
Its name is Seedance.
This is an AI tool.
What can it do?
It can make movies.
This is truly amazing.
Do you want to make a video?
Before, this was very hard.
You needed to buy a camera.
You needed to find actors.
You needed to spend a lot of money.
Now it's different.
You use Seedance.
You just need to type words.
For example, you write a sentence.
"A cat is dancing." [needs translation: ”]
The computer starts working.
Very soon the video is ready.
You'll see a cat.
It's really dancing.
This is very simple.
Many people have tried this.
There's a person named Wang Lei.
He made a video.
About the history of humanity.
The video was only ten seconds long.
But it was very good.
He said the video looks very real.
You can't tell it's fake.
This surprised everyone.
The visuals are very beautiful.
The movements are also very smooth.
Just like a real movie.
Because this tool is so good.
Many people are very happy.
Everyone is optimistic about this company.
There are other companies too.
Companies that make movies.
Companies that make games.
Their stock prices went up.
Stocks are a company's value.
Everyone thinks they can make big money.
Because making videos got cheaper.
Many people want to buy stocks.
There's a person who makes games.
His name is Feng Ji.
He's very famous.
He said this tool is the best.
He said it's the best in the world.
This will change many things.
In the future, everyone can make movies.
You can also be a director.
As long as you have a good story.
The computer draws it for you.
But there are also problems.
The videos look too real.
What if someone does bad things?
If we can't tell what's real and what's fake.
That would be troublesome.
We need to be careful.
The competition is very fierce now.
Other companies are also doing this.
For example, Kuaishou.
They also have an AI tool.
Its name is Kling.
They also want to be number one.
Everyone is competing.
To see whose computer is smarter.
This is good for us.
We can use better tools.
This is the progress of technology.
Our lives are changing.
Every day there's something new.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Noun. Moving visual images. Measure word: 个 (gè) or 段 (duàn).
Proper Noun. The name of a Chinese technology company, famous for TikTok/Douyin.
Adjective. Used to describe people or advanced technology (like smartphones/AI).
Noun. A machine used to record videos. Measure word: 台 (tái).
Noun. A person who performs in plays, movies, or television shows. Measure word: 个 (gè) or 位 (wèi).
Adjective/Adverb. Opposite of fake. Often used as 'really' (e.g., 真的很好 - really good).
HSK 1-2. company.
HSK 1-2. problem / question.
HSK 1-2. history.
HSK 1-2. news.
HSK 1-2. mobile phone.
HSK 1-2. game; video game.
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Present continuous tense marker '在' indicating an action is currently happening.
一只猫在跳舞。
大家都在比赛。
Time word '以前' (before/in the past) placed before the verb to indicate past habits or states.
以前是人做的。
以前这很难。
Potential complement indicating inability to achieve a result through the action.
你看不出是假的。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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