A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
高迪知道自己看不到圣家堂完工。他去世一百年后的今年，它封顶了，成为全世界最高的教堂。
Gaudí Knew He Would Never See the Sagrada Família Finished. It Was Topped Out This Year, 100 Years After He Died.
About this story
Gaudí Knew He Would Never See the Sagrada Família Finished. It Was Topped Out This Year, 100 Years After He Died. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 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 13 key vocabulary words such as 大、看、做 and walks through 3 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
In Barcelona there is a very big church.
This church is very big, and very beautiful.
Every day a great many people go to look at this church.
Who made this church?
It was one man. His name was Gaudí.
In 1883, Gaudí began making this church.
That year, he was thirty-one.
How many years did he work on it?
Forty-three years.
For forty-three years, he was making this church.
For the last twelve years, he only made this church.
He lived inside the church, working every day.
But Gaudí knew one thing.
He knew: this church, he would not see it.
This church was too big.
One person cannot finish it.
And Gaudí was not fast either.
People said: too slow, too slow.
Gaudí said: he is not in a hurry.
In 1926, Gaudí went out for a walk.
A vehicle came.
Gaudí could not walk any more.
His clothes looked very poor.
People did not know who he was.
People thought: this man has no home.
Later, somebody finally realised: this is Gaudí.
Three days, and Gaudí died.
That year was 1926.
And the church?
The church was not finished.
Later, other people made this church.
One year, one year, one year.
This year, 2026, the church was finished.
Gaudí had been dead a hundred years.
A hundred years later, the church was finished.
A hundred years.
Gaudí never saw this church.
But this church is here.
Think about it: a thing you cannot finish.
But you still have to do it.
Would you do it?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇有一个很大的教堂 = there is a very big church.
很多人，去看这个教堂 = a lot of people go to look at it.
他做了多少年？ = how many years did he work on it?
高迪知道一个事 = Gaudí knew one thing.
这个教堂，他看不见 = this church, he would not see.
他住在教堂里 = he lived inside the church.
有人说：太慢了 = people said: too slow.
他的衣服很不好看 = his clothes looked very poor.
在巴塞罗那，有一个很大的教堂 = in Barcelona there is a very big church.
三天，高迪死了 = three days, and Gaudí died.
一个人，做不完 = one person cannot finish it.
后来，别人做这个教堂 = later, other people made this church.
高迪开始做这个教堂 = Gaudí began making this church.
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法V 不 + 补语
"cannot manage to V". Not unwillingness — the thing is simply beyond one person.
他看不见。
一个人，做不完。
可是
"but". Both turns of the whole episode sit on this word.
可是，高迪知道一个事。
可是你还要做。
一年，一年，一年
Repeating a time word is how spoken Chinese conveys a long, patient stretch.
一年，一年，一年。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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