Chinese Short Dialogue | 听中文会话 | 中国語リスニング

David realizes that his Chinese is better than before, and Liu Na explains that it is the result of gradual progress over time.

突然进步了 - I Suddenly Improved [HSK 2]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

大卫: Teacher, today speaking Chinese felt really easy!
刘娜: What happened?
大卫: Today I talked with a friend. I said a lot and didn't have to think too much.
刘娜: Before, you had to think for a long time before speaking, right?
大卫: Yes! But today I suddenly spoke very quickly.
刘娜: This isn't sudden. It's the result of your daily study.
大卫: Really? I didn't feel like I was making progress.
刘娜: Progress happens slowly, but one day you'll suddenly notice it.
大卫: Like what happened today?
刘娜: Exactly, just like today!
大卫: That's great! I'm going to keep studying hard.
刘娜: You'll definitely keep getting better and better!

A suspected unlicensed internet addiction treatment center in Chongqing has been accused of detaining and beating trainees. A 31-year-old woman was held there for 159 days.

学生家长想送孩子去戒网瘾学校 - A Student’s Parent Wants to Send Her Child to an Internet Addiction Treatment School [HSK 4]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

陈花: A mother of one of my students came to see me today. She said she wanted to send her child to an internet addiction treatment school in Chongqing and asked what I thought.
黄刚: Chongqing? Could it be the one in the news? How did she hear about it?
陈花: She said she saw it in a livestream. The teachers there claim they can solve any problem—even staying in bed all day or not eating on time. Tuition costs over 40,000 yuan.
黄刚: That sounds exactly like what the news reported. There was a woman at that institution who was already 31. At two in the morning, four men pried open her window and took her away. She was held there for 159 days.
陈花: Thirty-one? Adults can just be taken away like that?
黄刚: Her father was the one who paid them. When she refused to eat and wanted to leave, the instructors pried open her mouth and forced glucose water down her throat. When she refused to eat because the food had gone cold, they beat her and injured her. Her father could only look at the photos posted in the group chat, and said his daughter always looked dazed in them.
陈花: That’s terrifying. But this student really does play video games until midnight every day. Her mother has tried both gentle persuasion and harsh words—she truly feels she has no other option.
黄刚: Even if she feels helpless, she can’t hand her child over to a place like that. Later, an investigation found that the institution didn’t even have a school operating license. It has now been ordered to send all its students home. The woman also sued them in court.
陈花: I thought at worst they would just be strict. No, I’m going to call her tonight. I’ll send her this news report first—she absolutely must not pay them anything yet.

An eight-year-old girl in Shanghai called the police after being pushed down and threatened in a park. The police took the matter seriously and encouraged her to continue seeking help bravely.

孩子遇到威胁也能报警 - Children Can Call the Police When Threatened [HSK 4]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

优子: Ms. Liu, yesterday I saw an eight-year-old girl call the police in the park. It turned out that a boy had pushed her and said some very frightening things to her.
刘娜: Did she call the police herself? She’s so young, yet she already knows to seek protection from the police. That’s very brave.
优子: Yes. When the police arrived, they first asked her where she was hurt and carefully checked whether she had any injuries. But someone nearby said that calling the police over such a small matter was a waste of police resources.
刘娜: What did the police say?
优子: He said, “This isn’t a waste of police resources.” He also told the girl that if anyone threatened or hit her again, she could call the police and ask them for help.
刘娜: That’s good. Adults may see it as nothing more than children arguing, but when a child is pushed down or threatened, it can really be frightening.
优子: I realized then that we shouldn’t always tell children, “It’s nothing. Just put up with it.” When they’re in danger, they have the right to ask for help too.
刘娜: Exactly. When we see a child being bullied in the future, we should also listen carefully to what they have to say and protect them first.

“Shadowing” is a practice method in which learners speak along with a recording in real time. Choosing material at the right level of difficulty has a direct impact on how effective the practice is.

学生跟读两周就想放弃 - Students Want to Give Up After Just Two Weeks of Shadowing [HSK 3]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

陈花: I have my students do shadowing with a recording every day, and after only two weeks, several of them are already saying they want to give up.
刘娜: There’s nothing wrong with the method—I use it all the time when teaching international students, too. What have you been having them listen to?
陈花: TED Talks. The content is pretty interesting, and the speaking speed is just normal conversational speed.
刘娜: Then it’s no wonder. If they can’t understand half the words, they’re reciting along with their mouths while their minds are blank. Doesn’t that just become “a little monk chanting scriptures—his mouth is moving, but his heart isn’t in it”?
陈花: That’s exactly what’s happening. One student told me that after shadowing for a week, he still had no idea what the speaker was talking about.
刘娜: The material should be something they can understand 80 or 90 percent of. Have them figure out the meaning first, then shadow it sentence by sentence. That way, they can tell where their speech differs from the recording.
陈花: Then should I switch to the textbook recordings? They’ve all studied those texts.
刘娜: That’s precisely why they’re good for shadowing. Once they can keep up and imitate the pronunciation well, you can gradually increase the difficulty.
陈花: All right, I’ll switch tomorrow. But first I need to think about how to explain it to them. Otherwise, they’ll feel like they’re just going back to reciting the textbook, which will be even more boring.

“Don’t buy into pressure” has become a popular phrase among young people. They are willing to take on meaningful pressure, but reject the pointless drain caused by going through the motions.

年轻人“不吃压力”：加班改PPT值不值 - Young People “Don’t Buy into Pressure”: Is It Worth Staying Late to Revise a PowerPoint? [HSK 4]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

赵强: I’m furious. Before we left work on Friday, I asked Xiao Li to revise the presentation PowerPoint over the weekend, but she flatly told me, “Sorry, I don’t buy into that kind of pressure.”
黄刚: “Don’t buy into pressure”? That phrase has been pretty popular lately. The young people who recently joined our organization say it all the time too. Was the PowerPoint really urgent?
赵强: It’s not exactly urgent—the client won’t look at it until next Wednesday. It’s mainly that the boss wants to see what it looks like. We’ve already revised it four times.
黄刚: You’ve revised it four times? Has the content changed at all?
赵强: …Actually, not much. We’ve just changed the colors and rearranged the order.
黄刚: No wonder she didn’t want to do it. Xiao Wang in our department is the same way. He’s not very enthusiastic about attending meetings that serve little purpose, but last month, during flood-control duty, he volunteered to stay until midnight without a single complaint.
赵强: So you’re saying they’re not afraid of hard work—they just don’t think it’s worth it?
黄刚: More or less. They’re becoming increasingly clear about which pressures are meaningful and which are merely formalities. Young people today don’t really believe sayings like “You have to stay up late to get promoted” anymore.
赵强: When I first started working, my supervisor could order revisions at will, and I wouldn’t have dared say no. All right, on Monday I’ll explain to the boss that we’re not revising this version and have Xiao Li spend her time on the client proposal instead.

The two inspect the information at a historical site, identify problems, and discuss how to improve it for foreign visitors.

景点说明的问题 - Problems with the Tourist Site Information [HSK 3]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

黄刚: Xiao Pan, we're here today to inspect this historical site. First, take a look at this information board. Do you notice any problems?
小潘: Okay. I took a look. There's a typo here, and some of the sentences are a little difficult to understand.
黄刚: Right, I noticed that typo too. We must always be careful in our work. Even small problems like this shouldn't be overlooked.
小潘: Also, the information is only in Chinese. Foreign visitors might not be able to understand it.
黄刚: That's a good point. How do you think we should improve it?
小潘: I think we could add an English explanation and also use simpler Chinese, such as shorter sentences, to make it easier to understand.
黄刚: Good. That's exactly what it means to consider things from the visitor's perspective.
小潘: If it were my first time here, I'd want to see clear information about the time and place, as well as a simple story. That would make it more interesting.
黄刚: Very good. We'll revise it in that direction. I'll record these issues and also submit our suggestions to the management.

The cookies are missing, so Xiaobao and Xiaomei suspect each other. In the end, they discover that the dog ate them.

谁偷吃了饼干？ - Who Ate the Cookies? [HSK 2]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

小美: Xiaomei, did you eat my cookies?
小宝: No! I didn't eat them!
小美: But the cookies are gone…
小宝: I really didn't eat them. Where did you put them?
小美: I put them on the table. They were still there just now.
小宝: Let's look for them. Are they under the table?
小美: No… Oh, look!
小宝: What?
小美: There are cookie crumbs around the dog's mouth!
小宝: Haha! The dog ate them!
小美: Hey, that's my cookie!
小宝: It's still wagging its tail…
小美: There's really nothing we can do. Next time, we need to put the cookies away properly.

The game Delta Force has become popular among elementary and middle school students. Some children have become addicted and even secretly used their parents’ money to make in-game purchases.

学生都在玩的“三角洲”游戏 - The “Delta” Game All the Students Are Playing [HSK 5]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

陈花: A boy in my class fell asleep during class today. I woke him up, and he said he had played games until two in the morning last night.
黄刚: PUBG again?
陈花: Not anymore. These days they’re all playing “Delta.” They talk about it during breaks, and even their profile pictures are little mice from the game. Students who don’t play can’t join in the conversation.
黄刚: What’s so special about this game?
陈花: You go in and search for things, and whatever you find, you can bring out. You can keep it or exchange it for in-game currency. Every time you open a case, you don’t know what you’ll get. It’s like opening a mystery box, so you always want to play one more round.
黄刚: Isn’t that basically like gambling? No wonder it’s so hard to stop. Just have the parents take away their phones.
陈花: It’s not that easy. A lot of children use their parents’ phones and accounts. The game assumes an adult is playing, so it doesn’t stop them from spending money. One ten-year-old secretly spent tens of thousands of yuan on in-game purchases. It’s hard to get a refund, too—the platform says there’s no way to prove that the child made the purchases.
黄刚: Then parents should take action first. Remind everyone in the parents’ group to at least change their payment passwords and make sure the children don’t know them.
陈花: Okay, I’ll post a reminder tonight. I’m just worried that some parents still don’t know what their children are playing every day.

David's first attempt at cooking Chinese food didn't go well. Liu Na comforts him by saying everyone's first attempt is like that.

我做的饭不好吃 - The Food I Made Doesn't Taste Good [HSK 2]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

大卫: Teacher, yesterday I cooked Chinese food by myself for the first time.
刘娜: Really? What did you make?
大卫: I made eggs and rice, but... they didn't taste good.
刘娜: What was wrong with them?
大卫: The eggs got burnt, and the rice was too hard. Even I didn't want to eat them.
刘娜: Don't be sad. Everyone's first time is like that. My cooking wasn't good the first time either.
大卫: Really? Even you had a first time, Teacher?
刘娜: Of course! The first time I made noodles, my mom laughed for a long time.
大卫: Then I feel better. I can ask my mom how to cook.
刘娜: Good idea! Practice a few more times, and next time you can cook for me, okay?
大卫: Okay! But Teacher, you'd better eat slowly and be careful!
刘娜: No problem. I'm looking forward to trying your cooking!

Liu Na and Junxi discuss how buzzwords spread quickly, but also quickly become overused and get replaced by new memes.

流行语为什么很快过气？ - Why Do Buzzwords Go Out of Style So Quickly? [HSK 5]Download the app here:

• Chinese Short Dialogue | App Store
• Chinese Short Dialogue | Google Play

Available in 8 languages on the app:

Chinese Listening | 중국어 리스닝 | 中国語リスニング | Аудирование по китайскому языку | Nghe tiếng Trung | Mendengarkan bahasa Mandarin | Escucha en chino | การฟังภาษาจีน | Chinesisches Hören | Écoute du chinois | Ascolto cinese | Audição em chinês | चीनी सुनना | الاستماع إلى اللغة الصينية

《English Translation》

刘娜: Junxi, have you noticed? Some internet buzzwords are popular for a few months and then no one uses them anymore.
俊熙: Yes! It feels like they have a 'shelf life.' Once they expire, using them feels a bit awkward.
刘娜: Why does that happen?
俊熙: They spread too fast. Everyone jumps on the trend, and people get tired of them quickly.
刘娜: Right, and new memes keep appearing, so the old ones get replaced.
俊熙: Also, when words are used too much in ads and marketing, they become boring.
刘娜: As a blogger, how do you use buzzwords naturally?
俊熙: I use them sparingly and put them where they fit best, instead of using them in every sentence.
刘娜: Well said. Language is like the tide: it comes quickly and goes quickly too.
俊熙: Then let me sum it up: no matter how popular a meme is, don't force it. Using it just right is what makes it classy!