A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
钉钉：一封信，让大老板走了
DingTalk: One Letter Made the Big Boss Leave
About this story
The story of how one DingTalk worker's honest resignation letter led China's giant Alibaba to replace the company's top boss — told one slow step at a time using only beginner-level Chinese. 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 累、上班、为什么 and walks through 7 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 we'll talk about a thing.
This thing is about an object.
This object is in China.
Very, very many people have it.
Many people use it every single day.
Do you have it too?
Maybe yes.
Maybe no.
Either way, it's okay.
We'll go slowly.
So what is this object for?
Let's think about grown-ups.
Grown-ups all have to do work.
Doing work is for money.
When grown-ups work, they have to talk to many people.
When they talk, sometimes they don't meet face to face.
If they don't meet, how do they talk?
They use this object.
Using it, they can talk to many people.
You don't have to go anywhere, and neither does he.
You can still talk.
This object is called 'DingTalk'.
In China, many grown-ups use DingTalk.
They use DingTalk to talk to other people.
Some people like DingTalk.
Some people don't really like it.
Why don't they like it?
We'll say in a moment.
Okay.
Now you know DingTalk.
DingTalk is an object.
Grown-ups use it to talk to other people.
So who makes DingTalk?
DingTalk is made by a company.
What is a company?
A company is: a place where many people do work together.
The company that makes DingTalk has many people.
Every day, they all work on DingTalk.
The person we're talking about today is one of them.
He's also at this company.
He worked on DingTalk for a few years.
But, a few days ago, he left.
He's not at this company anymore.
He stopped.
Why did he stop?
When he left, he did one thing.
He wrote a letter.
What is a letter?
A letter is: you take the words you want to say and write them down.
Write them on paper, or write them on a computer.
Then you show them to others.
The letter he wrote was long.
Very, very long.
Why so long?
Because he had a lot he wanted to say.
What did he say in the letter?
He said:
'I work here.
I'm very tired.
Everyone is very tired.
Every day we do a lot of things.
But some of those things are useless.
Even when done, they're useless.
Our boss only wants to look good himself.
He doesn't want good for us.
I'm unhappy inside.
So I'm going to leave.'
This letter was finished.
Many people at the company read it.
They read it, and inside they thought too:
'What he said is true.
We're like this too.
We're very tired too.'
There was another person who also left.
This person used to be a boss.
He also wrote a letter.
In his letter he said:
'What he said is all true.
I think the same way too.'
These two letters spread farther and farther.
More and more people read them.
Later, the big company found out too.
Above DingTalk, there's an even bigger company.
This big company said:
'This is not right.
Making everyone this tired is not right.
This is not the way we want things to be.'
A few more days passed.
DingTalk's biggest boss left.
He was DingTalk's biggest boss.
Now he's not doing it anymore.
Who will do it?
A new person came.
This new person is very young.
He is thirty-four years old this year.
Not old.
He used to make things himself.
He made them very well.
Now, he comes to be DingTalk's biggest boss.
Finally, let's think.
One person wrote a letter.
He just said a few true words.
Later, the biggest boss at the company left.
Can a letter really have such a big effect?
Maybe it can.
Maybe true words are simply useful.
Finally, I want to ask you.
Is there a true word in your heart you want to say?
But you've never said it?
Maybe at your company.
Maybe at home.
What is that true word?
You can think about it.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 2 adjective. Emotional center: 我很累。大家都很累 = I'm tired, everyone is tired.
HSK 2. 我在这里上班 = I work here. Doing work for money.
HSK 2 question word. 为什么不喜欢呢？ = why don't they like it?
HSK 2 connector. 因为他想说的话，很多 = because he had a lot he wanted to say.
HSK 1. it doesn't matter.
HSK 1. we; us.
Glossed inline: 大人用它，跟别人说话 = grown-ups use it to talk to others. China's main work-communication app.
Glossed inline: 公司就是很多人在一起做事的地方 = a company is a place where many people work together.
Glossed inline: 信就是你把想说的话写下来，然后给别人看 = a letter is writing down what you want to say, then showing others. HSK 3 noun.
HSK 4 noun. 钉钉最大的老板 = DingTalk's biggest boss. Also 头 (tóu, 'head') used colloquially.
真 (true) + 话 (words). 他说了几句真话 = he said a few true words. The moral center.
HSK 3. 做事，是为了钱 = doing work is for money.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Subject + 是 / 不是 + Noun
Basic identity sentence: 'X is/is not Y'.
这个东西，在中国。
钉钉是一个东西。
这不是我们想要的样子。
什么是 X 呢? + complete answer
Rhetorical question used to gloss a new word, then answered fully.
什么是公司呢？
什么是信呢？
为什么不喜欢呢？
Subject + 用 + Object + Verb
'use X to do Y'. 用它跟别人说话 = use it to talk to others.
大人用它，跟别人说话。
他们用钉钉，跟别人说话。
用它，就能跟很多人说话。
为了 + Noun / 因为 + Clause
为了 = 'in order to / for'; 因为 = 'because'. Cause and purpose.
做事，是为了钱。
因为他想说的话，很多。
都 + Adjective / Verb (all)
都 = all, before the verb. Used for collective statements.
大家都很累。
很多人都看了。
我们也都很累。
越 + Verb + 越 + Adjective
'the more X, the more Y'. Marks escalation.
这两封信，越传越远。
看的人越来越多。
也许 + Clause (maybe)
也许 = maybe. Marks uncertainty / speculation.
也许有。
也许，真话就是有用的。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Free account
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