America's hottest ZIP codes: scarcity, not cheapness

America's 10 Most Sought-After Places Have Expensive Houses Because There Are Almost No Houses to Sell

HSK 1 level · 1:27

• 贵 (guì) — expensive
• 便宜 (piányi) — cheap
• 卖 (mài) — to sell
• 买 (mǎi) — to buy
• 想 (xiǎng) — to want; to think
• 多 (duō) — many; more
• 少 (shǎo) — few; less
• 钱 (qián) — money

• 越来越 + adj — "more and more …". Change over time, no comparison word needed.
• 比……更…… — "more … than …". 比 marks what is compared against.
• 一个……，十个…… — Setting two numbers against each other to show the imbalance.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Jake Whisenant, El Capitan speed record holder, dies at 30

Jake Climbed El Capitan in 2 Hours 55 Minutes. He Fell While Climbing and Died at 30.

HSK 1 level · 2:55

• 爬 (pá) — to climb
• 山 (shān) — mountain
• 石头 (shítou) — rock, stone
• 快 (kuài) — fast
• 时间 (shíjiān) — time
• 朋友 (péngyou) — friend
• 知道 (zhīdào) — to know
• 想 (xiǎng) — to think of; to want

• 太……了 — "too …" — more than is workable.
• 不是……，也不是…… — Ruling out options one by one before giving the real answer.
• 一点一点 — "bit by bit". Reduplication that makes the action feel slow and steady.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

US heat wave: dry heat vs humid heat

Las Vegas Hits 111°F, New York Only 93°F, but Doctors Say New York Is More Dangerous

HSK 1 level · 1:40

• 热 (rè) — hot
• 水 (shuǐ) — water
• 医生 (yīshēng) — doctor
• 喝 (hē) — to drink
• 为什么 (wèishénme) — why
• 汗 (hàn) — sweat
• 干 (gān) — dry
• 湿 (shī) — wet, humid

• A 比 B + adj — The comparison pattern. What you compare to goes after 比.
• X，是…… — The plainest definition frame. Used here to teach 干 and 湿.
• ……的时候 — "when …". The clause goes before it.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Star Wars: Visions Presents — The Ninth Jedi

Star Wars Has a New Cartoon, "The Ninth Jedi," Redrawn by a Japanese Studio

HSK 1 level · 1:32

• 画 (huà) — to draw; drawn
• 东西 (dōngxi) — thing
• 长 (cháng) — long
• 远 (yuǎn) — far
• 回来 (huílái) — to come back
• 剑 (jiàn) — sword
• 光 (guāng) — light
• 女孩 (nǚhái) — girl

• 不是 A，是 B — "not A, it is B" — the plainest correction pattern.
• 和……不一样 — "different from …". The thing compared goes after 和.
• 有了……，可以…… — "once you have …, you can …".

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Colombia presidential inauguration in Cali

Colombia held the new president's inauguration in Cali instead of the capital Bogotá. The outgoing president locked the barracks and didn't come to watch.

HSK 1 level · 2:57

• 国家 (guójiā) — country
• 听 (tīng) — to listen; to obey
• 地方 (dìfang) — place
• 知道 (zhīdào) — to know
• 大学 (dàxué) — university
• 高兴 (gāoxìng) — happy
• 总统 (zǒngtǒng) — president
• 兵 (bīng) — soldier

• ……的时候 — "when …". The clause goes before it.
• 不……，也不…… — "neither … nor …". Two negatives in a row.
• V 完 — A resultative ending meaning the action is finished.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Florida Python Challenge 2026

Florida Pays People to Find Snakes. One Person Found 96 in 10 Days.

HSK 1 level · 1:42

• 多 (duō) — many, much
• 知道 (zhīdào) — to know
• 钱 (qián) — money
• 高兴 (gāoxìng) — happy, glad
• 说 (shuō) — to say
• 蛇 (shé) — snake
• 找 (zhǎo) — to look for, to search
• 条 (tiáo) — measure word for long thin things

• 太……了 — "too …" — a complaint, not just a description. 蛇太多了 = there are too many snakes.
• 谁……，这个人…… — "whoever …, that person …". A way to state a rule without an if-clause.
• 有多少……？ — "how many …?" for countable things. Pair it with a measure word.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Matthew McConaughey meets Pope Leo XIV

Matthew McConaughey Met the Pope, Who Is the First American Pope.

HSK 1 level · 3:05

• 电影 (diànyǐng) — film, movie
• 有名 (yǒumíng) — famous
• 住 (zhù) — to live (somewhere)
• 看见 (kànjiàn) — to see
• 书 (shū) — book
• 国家 (guójiā) — country
• 演员 (yǎnyuán) — actor
• 教皇 (jiàohuáng) — the Pope

• X，是…… — The plainest way to define something. Used here to teach 演员 and 教皇.
• ……的时候 — "when …". The clause goes before 的时候.
• 也 — "also, too". It goes before the verb, never at the end like English.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Tens of thousands cross from Morocco into Spain's Ceuta; dozens die

At Ceuta, 60,000 People Tried to Cross the Sea into Europe and at Least 70 Never Returned

HSK 1 level · 2:11

• 钱 (qián) — money
• 想 (xiǎng) — to want, to think
• 学校 (xuéxiào) — school
• 米饭 (mǐfàn) — (cooked) rice
• 海 (hǎi) — the sea
• 兵 (bīng) — soldier
• 地方 (dìfang) — place

• 也…… — "also / too". 我们也会很好 — we'll be well off too.
• 太……了 — "too ...". 海太大了 — the sea is too big.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Oba Femi beats Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam

Young Nigerian Oba Femi Beat WWE's "Beast" Brock Lesnar in a Steel Cage

HSK 1 level · 2:10

• 看 (kàn) — to watch
• 想 (xiǎng) — to think, to wonder
• 高兴 (gāoxìng) — happy, glad
• 喜欢 (xǐhuan) — to like
• 打 (dǎ) — to fight, to hit
• 赢 (yíng) — to win
• 输 (shū) — to lose
• 年轻 (niánqīng) — young

• 太……了 — "too ...". 太大了 = too big.
• 能……吗？ — "is (someone) able to ...?"

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

The Devil Wears Prada 2 arrives 20 years later as print magazines die

The movie The Devil Wears Prada has a sequel 20 years later: now, fewer and fewer people read magazines.

HSK 1 level · 2:02

• 电影 (diànyǐng) — movie
• 看 (kàn) — to look, to read, to watch
• 漂亮 (piàoliang) — beautiful, pretty
• 衣服 (yīfu) — clothes
• 买 (mǎi) — to buy
• 手机 (shǒujī) — mobile phone

• 越来越…… — "more and more ...". 越来越少 = fewer and fewer.
• A，还是 B？ — "A, or B?" — offering a choice.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →