A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
女孩和男孩的夏天
A Girl and a Boy's Summer
About this story
The C-drama Never-Ending Summer told in the simplest Chinese: a girl sells study books to help her sick grandma, and teaches English to a rich boy nobody loves. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 7 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 16 key vocabulary words such as 学习、钱、买 and walks through 5 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 let's talk about a TV drama.
This TV drama is a story.
In the story there is a student.
Her name is Zhou Wan.
Zhou Wan loves studying.
She studies in the morning.
She studies in the afternoon too.
She does very well in school.
She does very, very well.
Zhou Wan's family has no money.
Her home is small.
She has no father.
Her mother left.
Her mother didn't want her anymore.
Zhou Wan lives with her grandma.
Grandma loves Zhou Wan very much.
Zhou Wan loves her grandma too.
Grandma cooks.
Zhou Wan eats the food grandma makes.
She loves eating it.
Then, grandma got sick.
Grandma is not well.
Grandma needs to see a doctor.
Seeing a doctor costs money.
It costs a lot, a lot of money.
Zhou Wan doesn't have much money.
She thinks: I need money.
I want grandma to get well.
Zhou Wan thought about it.
She knows how to write books.
She writes study books.
The books she writes are very good.
Classmates who read her books do well in school.
She sells these books at school.
Classmates all buy her books.
Classmates give her money.
So she has a little money.
Zhou Wan writes books every day.
She really wants to sleep.
But she thinks of grandma.
So she keeps writing.
There is another student at the school.
His name is Lu Xixiao.
Lu Xixiao's family is very rich.
His house is big.
But he doesn't like studying.
He doesn't read books.
He watches TV every day.
His mom and dad don't look at him.
They don't ask about him.
Nobody loves him.
One day, the school held a meeting.
There were many people at school.
Lu Xixiao didn't want to go to the meeting.
He ran off.
He ran all around the school.
He ran into something.
Water burst out!
So much water.
The water looked beautiful.
The classmates all watched the water.
Everyone laughed.
The teacher saw Lu Xixiao.
The teacher was very angry.
The teacher said: You are wrong!
Lu Xixiao wasn't afraid.
He said to everyone: I'm sorry.
He was still smiling.
The teacher got very, very angry.
The teacher took away his keys.
Those were his bike keys.
The teacher said: Go study.
Study well, and I'll give you the keys back.
Lu Xixiao wanted the keys.
So he went to study.
But he couldn't study well.
He thought: I need good books.
Who has good books?
Zhou Wan does.
Lu Xixiao knew Zhou Wan sold books.
The school says: students may not sell things.
Lu Xixiao said to Zhou Wan: Give me your books.
If you don't, I'll tell the teacher.
Zhou Wan didn't want the teacher to know.
So she gave him the books.
Lu Xixiao read these books.
He studied every day.
He really did well.
The teacher was happy.
That is day one of the story.
Now for day two.
Zhou Wan still has no money.
Grandma is still sick.
One day, Zhou Wan saw someone.
It was her mother!
Her mother came back.
But her mother didn't look at Zhou Wan.
Her mother was talking with Lu Xixiao.
Her mother was very, very nice to Lu Xixiao.
What was her mother doing?
Zhou Wan thought about it.
Then she knew.
Lu Xixiao's family has money.
Her mother wants his family's money.
Zhou Wan was very upset.
Her mother doesn't want her.
Her mother wants money.
Zhou Wan thought: Fine.
You want money — I want money too.
I need to take grandma to the doctor.
She thought again.
Lu Xixiao wants to study in a foreign country.
People in foreign countries speak English.
He needs to know English.
But his English is bad.
Zhou Wan's English is very good.
Zhou Wan went to talk to Lu Xixiao.
She said: I'll teach you English.
You give me money.
Lu Xixiao said: No.
Zhou Wan didn't leave.
She said: Let's play a game.
If you lose, you study.
So they played a game.
Lu Xixiao lost.
He said: Fine, you teach me.
They study English every day.
They study behind the school.
Nobody goes there.
The weather is very hot.
Zhou Wan teaches him.
She teaches very well.
When he doesn't get it, she says it again.
She watches him write.
Lu Xixiao thinks: she is so good to me.
Nobody had ever been good to him.
He feels happy inside.
Now he loves studying.
One day, they saw someone selling goldfish.
Goldfish are tiny fish.
Goldfish are beautiful.
The goldfish were in a bag.
There was water in the bag.
Lu Xixiao loves goldfish.
He looked at the goldfish every day.
But he had never bought one.
This day, Zhou Wan bought the goldfish.
She gave the goldfish to Lu Xixiao.
The bag had a small hole.
Water dripped out little by little.
Neither of them spoke.
They watched the goldfish.
The day was hot.
This summer is long.
The girl needs money.
The boy needs love.
Their story starts now.
Do you want to watch this drama?
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Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Core HSK 1 verb — 她很爱学习 = she loves studying.
看医生要钱 = seeing a doctor costs money. The engine of this whole story.
同学都买她的书 = classmates all buy her books. Rising tone mǎi = buy; falling mài = sell.
周挽看见了一个人 = Zhou Wan saw someone. 看 = look; 看见 = the looking succeeded.
他心里很高兴 = he felt happy inside. Negative: 不高兴 = upset.
陆西骁很喜欢金鱼 = Lu Xixiao really likes goldfish.
HSK 1. I'm sorry.
HSK 1. we; us.
The teacher takes his bike keys — the reason he starts studying. Second syllable is toneless.
奶奶生病了 = grandma got sick. 生 (develop) + 病 (illness).
她在学校里卖书 = she sells books at school. The mirror of 买 (buy).
我教你英语 = I'll teach you English. The deal at the heart of the story.
外国人说英语 = people abroad speak English. Same pattern as 汉语 (Chinese).
我们玩一个游戏 = let's play a game. He loses the game, so he must study.
陆西骁输了 = Lu Xixiao lost. Opposite of 赢 (win).
金 (gold) + 鱼 (fish). The story's most famous image: goldfish in a leaking bag.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法很 + adjective
Adjectives in simple sentences take 很 before them.
她学习很好。
金鱼很好看。
天气很热。
要 + verb / 要 + noun
要 means 'to want / to need' — with verbs or nouns.
看医生要钱。
我要有钱。
陆西骁想要钥匙。
Subject + 给 + person + thing
给 = to give (someone something).
同学给她钱。
她把金鱼给了陆西骁。
verb + 了 (completed action)
了 after a verb marks the action as done.
奶奶生病了。
陆西骁输了。
妈妈回来了。
可是 (but)
Joins two sentences with a contrast.
可是他不爱学习。
可是他没有买过。
Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
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