A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
《Once》里那首歌的主人：爱尔兰歌手 Glen Hansard 车祸去世
The Man Behind That Song in Once: Irish Singer Glen Hansard Dies in a Crash
About this story
An easy Chinese listening story: Glen Hansard, the Irish singer who won an Oscar for "Falling Slowly" from the film Once, has died in a motorcycle crash at 56, and the music world mourns. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 1 minute. 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 10 key vocabulary words such as 电影、听、爱 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.
Read at your level
原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Glen Hansard was a very famous Irish singer.
He wrote songs and sang them, and when he was young, he even busked in the streets.
Later, he acted in a small film called Once.
In that film, he sang a song called "Falling Slowly."
This song made so many people cry as they listened.
Because it was so good, he won the biggest prize in film, the Oscar.
Everyone says Glen sang beautifully and was a very good, warm-hearted man.
But on July 29th, some very sad news came.
In Ireland, while riding a motorcycle, he had a crash and passed away.
That year, he was only fifty-six.
Many people were heartbroken; even the big star Bruce Springsteen said his heart was breaking.
Glen Hansard is gone, but his songs will always stay in people's hearts.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇演了一部小电影 = acted in a small film.
听着听着就哭了 = cried as they listened.
—
—
人也非常好 = a very good man.
很有名的爱尔兰歌手 = a famous Irish singer.
他唱了一首歌 = he sang a song.
会写歌，也会唱歌 = could write and sing songs.
他骑摩托车 = he rode a motorcycle.
出了车祸 = had a crash.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法因为……太……
因为 X 太 Y = "because X is so Y".
因为这首歌太好，他还得了一个奖。
V 着 V 着就……
V 着 V 着就 … = "as one keeps V-ing, then …".
让很多人，听着听着就哭了。
Proper Nouns
专有名词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