3:40
育碧的创始人，走了
Ubisoft's Co-Founder Has Passed Away
HSK 1 Chinese listening practice. The story of Claude, a Frenchman who, with his brothers, started the game company Ubisoft — and who just died in a small-plane crash — told slowly in beginner Chinese, with a gentle look at the unseen people behind the games we play.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 4 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 电脑、手机、公司 and walks through 7 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.
今天，我们说一个人。
Today, we'll talk about a person.
这个人，
This person —
你可能不认识。
you probably don't know him.
但是，
But
他做的东西，
the things he made,
很多人都知道。
many people know.
他做的，是游戏。
What he made were games.
就是那种，
The kind
在电脑上，
you play on the computer,
在手机上，
on the phone —
玩的游戏。
those games.
你玩过游戏吗？
Have you ever played games?
很多人，
Many people
都玩过。
have.
有的游戏，很大。
Some games are huge.
很多很多人，都在玩。
Many, many people play them.
全世界，都在玩。
The whole world plays them.
这些大游戏，
These big games —
是从哪里来的？
where do they come from?
是人，做出来的。
People make them.
做游戏，
Making a game
要很多人。
takes many people.
要很长很长的时间。
It takes a very, very long time.
今天，
Today,
我们说的这个人，
the person we're talking about
就是一个，
is one
做游戏的人。
of these game-makers.
而且，
And
他很重要。
he was very important.
这个人，是法国人。
This person was French.
他的名字，
His name
叫克劳德。
was Claude.
很多年以前，
Many years ago,
大概四十年前，
about forty years ago,
他和他的几个兄弟，
he and several of his brothers,
一起，
together,
开了一个公司。
started a company.
这个公司，
This company
就是做游戏的。
made games.
公司的名字，
The company's name
叫育碧。
was Ubisoft.
你可能没听过，
You may never have heard
这个名字。
this name.
但是育碧的游戏，
But Ubisoft's games —
你也许玩过。
you may well have played them.
慢慢地，
Slowly,
这个小公司，
this little company
越做越大。
grew bigger and bigger.
后来，
Later,
它成了世界上，
it became, in the world,
最大的游戏公司，
one of the biggest game companies.
之一。
One of them.
很多有名的游戏，
Many famous games
都是它做的。
were made by it.
克劳德，
Claude
就是开公司的人，
was one of the people who started the company.
之一。
One of them.
他不太上电视。
He rarely appeared on TV.
他也不爱说话。
He didn't like to talk much, either.
但是公司里很多事，
But many things in the company
都是他在管。
were managed by him.
可以说，
You could say
他是公司后面，
he was, behind the company,
很重要的一个人。
a very important person.
就在这个星期，
Just this week,
出事了。
something happened.
那天傍晚，
That evening,
克劳德，
Claude
坐上了一架小飞机。
got on a small plane.
飞机不大。
The plane was small.
上面，
On board,
只有两个人。
there were only two people.
一个是他，
One was him,
一个是开飞机的人。
one was the person flying the plane.
飞机，
The plane,
在法国的西边，
in the west of France,
快要落地的时候，
just as it was about to land,
出了事。
had an accident.
它掉了下来，
It fell,
掉在了一片地上。
fell onto a field.
然后，
And then
还着了火。
it caught fire.
两个人，
Both people
都没能活下来。
did not survive.
克劳德，
Claude
今年六十九岁。
was sixty-nine this year.
听到这个消息，
Hearing this news,
很多人，都很难过。
many people were very sad.
因为，
Because
他们小的时候，
when they were little,
玩过他做的游戏。
they had played the games he made.
你看，
You see,
我们玩的每一个游戏，
every game we play,
后面，
behind it,
都有很多人。
there are many people.
有的人，
Some of them,
我们看得到。
we can see.
有的人，
Some of them,
像克劳德，
like Claude,
我们看不到。
we cannot see.
但是，
But
没有他们，
without them,
就没有这些游戏。
these games wouldn't exist.
最后，
Finally,
我想问你。
I want to ask you.
你最喜欢的游戏，
Your favorite game —
是哪一个？
which one is it?
你知道，
Do you know
它是谁做的吗？
who made it?
HSK 1 考纲词. 在电脑上，玩的游戏 = games you play on the computer.
HSK 2 考纲词. 在手机上 = on the phone.
HSK 2 考纲词. 开了一个公司 = started a company.
HSK 1. we; us.
HSK 1. they; them.
HSK 1. today.
HSK 3. 他做的，是游戏 = what he made were games. The whole episode is about who makes the games we play.
这个人，是法国人 = this person was French. Where Ubisoft was founded.
Proper noun. 公司的名字，叫育碧 = the company's name was Ubisoft.
HSK 3. 很多有名的游戏 = many famous games.
HSK 3. 他很重要 / 很重要的一个人 = he was very important; a very important person.
公司里很多事，都是他在管 = many things in the company were managed by him.
* beyond level超纲词
Verb + 过 (experiential aspect)
Marks that an action has been experienced before.
你玩过游戏吗？
但是育碧的游戏，你也许玩过。
越 + Verb + 越 + Adj (the more... the more...)
Expresses change in step.
这个小公司，越做越大。
...之一 (one of...)
Marks membership in a group.
最大的游戏公司，之一。
就是开公司的人，之一。
都是 + Subject + 在 + Verb (it is X who does it)
Focuses on who performs the action.
公司里很多事，都是他在管。
快要 ... 的时候 (just as / about to...)
Marks an action on the verge of happening.
快要落地的时候，出了事。
没能 + Verb (was unable to / failed to)
Negates an achieved result.
两个人，都没能活下来。
没有 X，就没有 Y (without X, there is no Y)
States dependence — used in the reflective close.
没有他们，就没有这些游戏。