A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
Coachella：沙漠里的大音乐会
Coachella: A Giant Music Festival in the Desert
About this story
Coachella is a big music festival in California. Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber are singing in the desert. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 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 音乐、我们、什么 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.
Read at your level
原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Speaking of music and dancing, let me tell you about something big.
America has a music concert.
This concert is very big.
Very very big.
It happens every year.
In April.
In the desert.
What is a desert?
A desert is a very hot and dry place.
No water.
No trees.
All sand.
But every April.
Many people go to this desert.
Not to find water.
But to listen to music.
This concert is called Coachella.
Coachella is a name.
It's the name of a place in California.
East of Los Angeles.
Hundreds of thousands of people go every year.
From all over the world.
Everyone wears very nice clothes.
Wears very nice hats.
Takes many photos.
Then posts them online.
This year's Coachella was three days.
From Friday to Sunday.
Every day many people sang.
The biggest stars sang at night.
Who came this year?
The first night was Sabrina Carpenter.
Have you heard her songs?
She is very young.
She sings pop songs.
Many young people like her.
Her performance was very beautiful.
She changed many outfits.
One outfit per song.
She also invited a movie actor to come.
This person is called Will Ferrell.
He is very funny.
Everyone laughed.
The second night was Justin Bieber.
You must have heard of Justin Bieber.
He is very famous.
He started singing at twelve years old.
Now he is already in his thirties.
He sang many old songs.
For example Baby.
Baby is a song he sang when he was twelve.
The whole audience sang together.
Tens of thousands of people singing together.
The sound was very loud.
He also did something very interesting.
He put a computer on stage.
Opened YouTube.
Played videos of himself when he was young.
Then sang along with them.
Everyone thought it was both funny and touching.
Because he went from a little boy to a big star.
The third night was Karol G.
Who is Karol G?
She is a singer from Colombia.
Colombia is in South America.
She sings songs in Spanish.
She is the first Latina to headline at Coachella.
The first one.
This is very important.
Because it had never happened before.
She invited a group of women to play violin.
These women wore traditional Mexican clothes.
They are called Mariachi.
Mariachi are people who play music and sing in beautiful costumes.
This scene was very beautiful.
Everyone was very moved.
There was also something very special.
A girl group from the Philippines came.
They are called BINI.
BINI has eight members.
They are the first Filipinos to sing at Coachella.
The first ones.
Many Filipino people are very proud.
They sang very well.
They danced very well too.
There were so many people in the audience.
Coachella is not just about listening to music.
It is also a kind of culture.
People make friends there.
See nice clothes.
Eat delicious food.
Take photos.
Post on WeChat Moments.
Post on Instagram.
Young people think going to Coachella is very cool.
It's an experience.
A memory.
You may not have been there.
I haven't been there either.
But we can watch online.
Watch those videos.
Listen to those songs.
Feel the music in the desert.
Very hot.
Very loud.
Very crowded.
But very happy.
This is Coachella.
Every April.
In the California desert.
Hundreds of thousands of people together.
Listening to music.
Dancing.
Laughing.
This is the power of music.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Sounds organized into melody and rhythm.
HSK 1. we; us.
HSK 1. what.
HSK 1. time / moment.
HSK 1. now.
HSK 1. friend.
A dry area with sand and very little water.
A famous person in entertainment.
A show or act performed for an audience.
Popular music that many people enjoy.
The main or most important performer.
Feeling emotional because of something meaningful.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
Keep learning from this story
Create a free account to keep saved words and your preferred level together.
- Keep words with their story context
- Remember your preferred level
- Build your vocabulary over time