A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
日本有很大的地震，很多人不能回家
A Big Earthquake Hits Japan, and Many People Cannot Go Home
About this story
A simple beginner Chinese listening story about a big earthquake in Japan: houses shook, a mall was damaged, some people died, and many had to leave home. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 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 东西、家、大 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 Japan, there was a very big earthquake.
When the earthquake came, many houses shook.
Many things fell down.
Everyone was scared.
In one place, there was a very big shopping mall.
During the earthquake, this mall was wrecked.
Some people were stuck inside the mall and couldn't get out.
In this earthquake, some people died.
A great many people could no longer stay home.
They all had to leave.
Many people are afraid there will be another big earthquake.
Right now, everyone is scared, and exhausted.
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Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇很多东西都下来了 = many things fell.
都不能在家了 = could no longer stay home.
一个很大的地震 = a very big earthquake.
他们都要走 = they all had to leave.
地震来的时候 = when the earthquake came.
现在，大家都很怕 = now, everyone is scared.
有一个很大的地震 = there was a big earthquake.
很多房子都在动 = many houses shook.
一个很大的商场 = a very big mall.
有人死了 = some people died.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法……的时候
X 的时候 = "when X / at the time of X".
地震来的时候，很多房子都在动。
都不能……了
都不能 + verb + 了 = "can no longer …".
很多很多人，都不能在家了。
会有……
会有 X = "there will be X".
很多人都怕，会有大地震。
Proper Nouns
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