Why Did China’s Worst Animated Movie Make Millions? | The "Niu Lai" Phenomenon| Chinese Podcast #216

YouTube · Dashu Mandarin · Learner content · 2026/08/28
2026/08/28
Speech duration
25min 22s
Unique characters · 230 once
741
Word count
5,102
Average sentence length
8.0
Length
27:10
Unique words · 410 once
867
Syllables per minute
294
Script
Simplified 简
Sentences
936
Difficulty
Advanceddifficulty

Difficulty is estimated from vocabulary: knowing common words through Level 97 covers about 95% of the words in this content — roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20, the coverage research links to comfortable listening. Level 97 sits in the Advanced range.

How difficulty works
Advanced · 97

Difficulty is estimated from vocabulary: knowing common words through Level 97 covers about 95% of the words in this content — roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20, the coverage research links to comfortable listening. Level 97 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 50%
  • HSK 2 11%
  • HSK 3 9%
  • HSK 4 9%
  • HSK 5 4%
  • HSK 6 2%
  • HSK 7–9 2%
  • Not on HSK 12%

Cumulative: HSK 1–4 covers 79% of the words, HSK 1–6 covers 85%, HSK 1–9 covers 88%.

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 596 words to reach 95% of this video’s words.

The 20 most-used of these 596 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; target247Lv 1
我wǒI; me; my160Lv 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]147Lv 1
了le(completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); to finish; (used with 得[de2] or 不[bu4] after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了[wang4 bu5 liao3] "cannot forget"); (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 無|无[wu2] or 不[bu4]) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least; (of eyes) bright; clear-sighted; to understand clearly; to understand clearly (variant of 瞭|了[liao3]); unofficial variant of 瞭[liao4]105Lv 1
就是jiù shìexactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if100Lv 2
这个zhè gè(pronoun) this; (adjective) this100Lv 1
来láito come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3 yi3 lai2]); for the past (amount of time); (prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 來世|来世[lai2 shi4]); (between two verbs) in order to; (after a round number) approximately; (used after 得[de2] to indicate possibility, as in 談得來|谈得来[tan2 de5 lai2], or after 不[bu4] to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不來|吃不来[chi1 bu5 lai2])95Lv 1
牛niúox; cow; bull; (slang) awesome; CL:條|条[tiao2],頭|头[tou2]; newton (abbr. for 牛頓|牛顿[niu2 dun4]); surname Niu90Lv 18
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; matching87Lv 1
看kànto look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard; to see; to look at; to read; to watch; to visit; to call on; to consider; to regard as; to look after; to treat (a patient or illness); to depend on; to feel (that); (after a verb) to give it a try; to watch out for82Lv 1

Is this video right for my Chinese?

A 27-minute video from Dashu Mandarin with 25 minutes of speech at 294 syllables per minute. It's 5,102 words long, using 867 different words. Difficulty: Advanced, Level 97 — it suits Advanced learners: knowing the common words through Level 97 covers about 95% of its words, roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20. Words to learn first include 的, 我, 是.