A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
Johnny Depp 回来了：他演一个没有朋友的坏老头
Johnny Depp Is Back, Playing a Mean Old Man With No Friends
About this story
Johnny Depp Is Back, Playing a Mean Old Man With No Friends. 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 8 key vocabulary words such as 电影、喜欢、知道 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
There's a person many, many people know.
His name is Johnny Depp.
Johnny Depp is a very famous person.
Long ago, he made many, many movies.
Many people loved watching his movies.
For many years, he stopped making movies.
Many people asked: Johnny Depp, where did you go?
Now, he's back.
He made a new movie, and many people want to see it.
In this new movie, Johnny Depp is a very bad man.
This man doesn't have a single friend.
He has a lot, a lot of money.
To everyone, he is unkind.
He doesn't like many people, and he doesn't like Christmas.
Christmas is the time of year when many people are happy.
Many people together, so happy.
This man isn't happy, and doesn't want to be with people.
At night, some things you can't see come to see him.
These things speak to him.
These things say: the way you are is very bad.
You should be a good person, and be good to people.
Later, will this man get a little better?
Go see this movie, and you'll find out.
And you?
Do you like Johnny Depp?
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Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇他做了很多电影 = he made many movies.
很多人喜欢看他的电影 = many love his movies.
很多人都知道他 = many people know him.
现在，他回来了 = now he's back.
很多人都很高兴 = many are happy.
他有很多很多钱 = he has a lot of money.
一个很有名的人 = a very famous person.
到了晚上 = when night comes.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法很多人都……
'Many people (all) …' — 都 stresses the whole group does it.
很多人都知道他。
对……不好
'is not good/unkind to (someone)'.
对谁，他都不好。
会不会……？
'Will (he) … or not?' — a yes/no question about the future.
后来，这个人，会不会好一点？
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