A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
诺兰把三千年前的希腊故事拍成了电影，这部电影今年最火。
Nolan turned a 3,000-year-old Greek story into a movie, and it's the hottest movie this year.
About this story
Nolan turned a 3,000-year-old Greek story into a movie, and it's the hottest movie this year. 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 7 key vocabulary words such as 家、想、看 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.
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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, we're going to talk about a movie.
This movie is a story from many, many years ago.
In the story, there's a man.
This man wants to go home.
He wants very, very much to go home.
But he can't get home.
Why can't he get home?
Look — he's out on the sea.
The sea is a vast, vast body of water.
The sea is so big you can't see home across it.
The sea is too big; he can't get home.
One year, two years, three years...
Ten years!
For ten years, he still wants to go home.
The sea is too big; he's still out on it.
On the way home, there are many bad things.
Look — out on the sea there's a huge, huge man.
This huge man is very bad.
He wants to eat the man who wants to go home!
This huge man has one eye, not two eyes.
Look — just one eye!
The man who wants to go home sees him and is very unhappy.
He doesn't want to be here; he wants to go home.
He won't leave; he wants to go home.
Now, people have used this very old story to make a big movie.
This movie is huge; so many people go to see it.
Everyone wants to know: did this man get home?
This story has existed for many, many years.
And today, people still love this story.
And you?
You want badly to go home but can't — what would you do?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK1. 他想回家 — he wants to go home. The whole story is about getting 家.
HSK1. 他很想很想回家 — he longs and longs to go home.
HSK1. 很多人都去看 — many people go to watch (the movie).
HSK1. 做了一个大电影 — they made a big movie.
一个很多很多年以前的故事 — a story from long, long ago.
Grounded in-story: 海，是很大很大的水 — the sea is a vast, vast body of water.
这个大大的人，一个眼睛，没有两个眼睛 — the giant has one eye, not two.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法太……了
"too ...". 海太大了 — the sea is too big.
海太大了，他回不了家。
V + 不了
"cannot V (achieve it)". 回不了家 = cannot get home.
他回不了家。
Proper Nouns
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