A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
医生说他活不到十三岁。这个患早衰症的比利时博主，活到了二十八岁。
Doctors Said He Would Not Reach 13. The Belgian Creator With Progeria Lived to 28.
About this story
Doctors Said He Would Not Reach 13. The Belgian Creator With Progeria Lived to 28. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 1 minute. 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 医生、岁、说 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
In Belgium there is a man.
His name is Michiel.
Michiel has an illness.
This illness makes a person’s body grow old very fast.
A small child’s body grows old fast too.
When Michiel was very small, a doctor looked at him.
The doctor said: he will not reach thirteen.
But Michiel reached thirteen.
Later, he reached twenty.
Later, he reached twenty-five.
Later, he reached twenty-eight.
Twenty-eight.
The doctor said twelve. He reached twenty-eight.
These past few years, Michiel talked about his life online every day.
He did not say: I am unhappy.
He said: today, this is what I did.
Where I went today, what I ate today.
A great many people watched him.
This week, Michiel died.
Twenty-eight.
Think about it: when someone tells you that you cannot, what do you do?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇医生说：他不能到十三岁 = the doctor said he would not reach thirteen.
他到了二十八岁 = he reached twenty-eight.
医生说十二 = the doctor said twelve.
很多很多人看他 = a great many people watched him.
今天，我做了什么 = today, this is what I did.
他不说：我不高兴 = he did not say "I am unhappy".
让人的身体很快就老 = makes a person’s body grow old fast.
Michiel 有一个病 = Michiel has an illness.
身体很快就老 = the body grows old fast.
Michiel 走了 = Michiel died (lit. "left"). A gentle way to say it.
后来，他到了二十岁 = later, he reached twenty.
别人说你不可以的时候 = when someone tells you that you cannot.
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法到 + age
"reach an age". The whole episode is built on this one verb.
他不能到十三岁。
后来，他到了二十八岁。
可是……
"but". Marks the point where the prediction fails.
可是，Michiel 到了十三岁。
很快就……
"soon / quickly becomes X". 就 makes it feel immediate.
这个病，让人的身体很快就老。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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