Don’t Start with a Chinese Book: Chinese Reading Tips丨Chinese Podcast #206

YouTube · Dashu Mandarin · Learner content · 2026/06/19
2026/06/19
Speech duration
35min 35s
Unique characters · 208 once
724
Word count
7,034
Average sentence length
8.0
Length
37:55
Unique words · 448 once
957
Syllables per minute
288
Script
Simplified 简
Sentences
1,274
Difficulty
Advanceddifficulty

Difficulty is estimated from vocabulary: knowing common words through Level 92 covers about 95% of the words in this content — roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20, the coverage research links to comfortable listening. Level 92 sits in the Advanced range.

How difficulty works
Advanced · 92

Difficulty is estimated from vocabulary: knowing common words through Level 92 covers about 95% of the words in this content — roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20, the coverage research links to comfortable listening. Level 92 sits in the Advanced range.

TAGSLearner contentVlogLanguage lesson

Vocab coverage

The Level you need to know each share of this video’s words. The dark 95% step is its difficulty.

HSK 3.0 coverage

Which HSK 3.0 list each of this video’s words comes from.

  • HSK 1 52%
  • HSK 2 10%
  • HSK 3 10%
  • HSK 4 10%
  • HSK 5 4%
  • HSK 6 2%
  • HSK 7–9 1%
  • Not on HSK 11%

Cumulative: HSK 1–4 covers 82% of the words, HSK 1–6 covers 88%, HSK 1–9 covers 89%.

Words to learn first

Pick a level to see the words a learner there needs to understand 95% of this video’s words.

Starting from zero (Beginner), learn 602 words to reach 95% of this video’s words.

The 20 most-used of these 602 words.

WordPinyinMeaning (CC-CEDICT)In videoLevel
的deof; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的[pi2 ge2 de5] "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的|跑堂儿的[pao3 tang2 r5 de5] "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的[xin1 de5] "new one"); also pr. [di4] or [di5] in poetry and songs; really and truly; a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士[di1 shi4]); (bound form) bull's-eye; target442Lv 1
我wǒI; me; my253Lv 1
是shìto be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4]193Lv 1
你nǐyou (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.)189Lv 1
就是jiù shìexactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if163Lv 2
啊ainterjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh!; interjection expressing doubt or requiring answer; Eh?; what?; interjection of surprise or doubt; Eh?; My!; what's up?; interjection or grunt of agreement; uhm; Ah, OK; expression of recognition; Oh, it's you!; modal particle ending sentence, showing affirmation, approval, or consent144Lv 1
对duìright; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to suit; to answer; to reply; to add; to pour in (a fluid); to check; to compare; classifier: couple; pair; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching138Lv 1
不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-121Lv 1
很hěnvery; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element)118Lv 1
这个zhè gè(pronoun) this; (adjective) this111Lv 1

Is this video right for my Chinese?

A 38-minute video from Dashu Mandarin with 36 minutes of speech at 288 syllables per minute. It's 7,034 words long, using 957 different words. Difficulty: Advanced, Level 92 — it suits Advanced learners: knowing the common words through Level 92 covers about 95% of its words, roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20. Words to learn first include 的, 我, 是.