A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
3:04
Nims 爬遍世界最高的 14 座山，最后倒在一场雪崩里
Nims Purja Climbed the World's 14 Highest Peaks. An Avalanche Just Killed Him.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 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 喜欢、冷、去 and walks through 2 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 the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
Today, we're going to talk about a person.
This person is called Nims.
Nims is a person; you are a person; I'm a person too.
Nims really loves one thing.
That thing is mountains.
Look — mountains are very, very tall.
People are down below; the mountain is up above.
The mountain is tall, very, very tall.
On a tall mountain, it's very cold up top.
Up top it's too cold, and it's all snow.
Snow is very, very cold.
The mountain is so tall that up top it's all snow.
Very tall mountains — many people don't go.
Up top it's too cold, and too high.
Many people say: I'm not going, it's too high, too cold.
Many people don't go.
Nims loves to go.
Nims doesn't climb just one mountain, or two mountains.
He went up many, many very tall mountains.
One, two, ten...
Fourteen very tall mountains — Nims climbed them all.
These fourteen mountains are all very, very tall.
Most people need many, many years.
Nims, very fast, climbed these fourteen mountains.
Many people said: this can't be done!
Too high, too cold!
But Nims did them all, did it all.
Everyone loved Nims.
They said: Nims, you're wonderful!
Nims loves the mountains.
Now, Nims goes to a very, very tall mountain.
This mountain is also very tall, and up top it's all snow too.
Nims is high up on the mountain.
Right then, the snow up on the mountain came down.
So much snow, very fast, came down.
There was too much snow, and it was too fast.
Nims was underneath the snow.
Many people went up the mountain to see where Nims was.
They looked and looked, for a long time.
Nims did not come back.
Nims did not come back.
The mountain he loved, the tall mountain, the cold snow...
Nims was gone.
Nims loves the mountains.
Now, Nims is in the mountains, and he won't come back.
And you?
Very tall mountains — cold up top, all snow.
Would you want to go up a mountain and take a look?
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
A core HSK1 verb. Nims 很喜欢山 — Nims really loves the mountains.
HSK1 adjective. 上面太冷了 — it is too cold up top.
HSK1 verb. Nims 喜欢去 — Nims loves to go up the mountains.
HSK1 verb. 看一看 — take a look.
回 (return) + 来 (come). Nims 没有回来 — Nims did not come back.
The subject word. Taught in-story: 人在下面，山在上面 — people below, the mountain above.
Taught in-story: 雪，很冷很冷 — snow is very, very cold; it covers the high mountains.
Grounded by the up/down contrast: 山很高，人在下面，山在上面.
* beyond level超纲词
太……了
"too / excessively ...". Adds an emotional "too much".
上面太冷了。
太高了，太冷了！
很X很X (reduplication)
Repeating the adjective intensifies it, common in warm speech.
山很高很高。
雪，很冷很冷。
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