A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
《牛来》：网上的嘲笑，把一部做得很差的动画电影送上了两千多万票房
Niu Lai: Online Mockery Turned a Badly Made Film Into a 20-Million-Yuan Hit
About this story
People first laughed at Niu Lai online, then bought cinema tickets to see how bad the Chinese animated film was. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
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 12 key vocabulary words such as 电影、买、看 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 is a film in China called Niu Lai.
The film was made badly, but many people still went to see it.
In its first ten days, fewer than three hundred people saw Niu Lai.
At first, very few people bought tickets, and very few people were in the cinemas.
Later, many people went because they wanted to know how bad it was.
Before that, few people knew Niu Lai, and few people bought tickets.
The film was badly made, so people did not want to see it.
Later, people online were all talking about Niu Lai.
Then a clip of Niu Lai walking appeared online.
Niu Lai did not walk normally; it walked badly.
People online watched it and laughed.
People said Niu Lai was badly made.
They also said Niu Lai's walk was very funny.
One friend saw Niu Lai online and sent it to a friend.
That friend watched it and sent it on too.
Then that friend sent it to another friend.
More people watched Niu Lai, and more people laughed at it.
There was Niu Lai everywhere online, and people kept talking about it.
People watched Niu Lai on their phones and wanted to see more.
They wanted to know how bad Niu Lai was.
They went to the cinema to watch Niu Lai and hear it speak Chinese.
Then they started buying tickets.
In the cinema, people watched Niu Lai walk and laughed together.
Niu Lai walked badly, and everyone laughed.
Niu Lai spoke Chinese badly, and everyone laughed again.
When one person laughed, everyone laughed too.
Many people watched together and laughed together. It was fun.
Someone put clips and the laughter from the cinema online.
People online watched and wanted to go to the cinema.
Online laughter brought people to buy tickets, and cinema laughter went back online.
More and more people came online and to the cinemas.
At first, cinemas did not want to show many screenings.
Later, more people bought tickets, so cinemas showed more Niu Lai.
More people watched Niu Lai, and more money came in.
People did not think Niu Lai had become a good film.
They still said it was badly made.
They bought tickets to see how bad it was and laugh with other people.
A badly made film became something many people watched online and later in cinemas.
People watched Niu Lai and laughed at Niu Lai.
Niu Lai was online, and Niu Lai was in the cinemas too.
People watched together and laughed together.
They laughed when Niu Lai walked.
They laughed when Niu Lai spoke Chinese.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 1. 中国有一个电影，叫《牛来》。
HSK 1. 开始买票的人很少。
HSK 1. 电影做得不好，但是很多人也去看。
HSK 1. 一个朋友在网上看见牛来，就发给朋友。
HSK 1. 一个朋友在网上看见牛来。
HSK 1. 大家看牛来走路，也听牛来说中文。
HSK 1. 看《牛来》的人多了，钱也多了。
HSK 1. 大家想知道：它有多不好？
The clip people shared: 牛来走路不对，牛来走得不好。
People left their phones and went here to watch Niu Lai together.
HSK 2. 网上的人看了都笑。
HSK 2. 很多人一起看，很多人一起笑。
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Says what exists in a place. Here it introduces the film, then the clips, then the cinema.
中国有一个电影
网上有很多牛来
电影院也有牛来
Verb + 得 + Adj
The 得 complement judges how an action is done. In this episode, “badly made” and “badly walked” are the joke.
电影做得不好
牛来走得不好
More and more. Tracks the loop: first more people online, then more people in the cinema.
网上的人越来越多
电影院里的人也越来越多
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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