Are We Failing? The Brutal Truth About Our Declining Views | Chinese Podcast #185

YouTube · Dashu Mandarin · Learner content · 2026/01/23
2026/01/23
Speech duration
33min 20s
Unique characters · 261 once
795
Word count
6,550
Average sentence length
6.7
Length
36:11
Unique words · 493 once
992
Syllables per minute
284
Script
Simplified 简
Sentences
1,418
Difficulty
Advanceddifficulty

Difficulty is estimated from vocabulary: knowing common words through Level 108 covers about 95% of the words in this content — roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20, the coverage research links to comfortable listening. Level 108 sits in the Advanced range.

How difficulty works
Advanced · 108

Difficulty is estimated from vocabulary: knowing common words through Level 108 covers about 95% of the words in this content — roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20, the coverage research links to comfortable listening. Level 108 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 51%
  • HSK 2 10%
  • HSK 3 8%
  • HSK 4 8%
  • HSK 5 5%
  • HSK 6 3%
  • HSK 7–9 1%
  • Not on HSK 14%

Cumulative: HSK 1–4 covers 77% of the words, HSK 1–6 covers 85%, HSK 1–9 covers 86%.

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

The 20 most-used of these 661 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; target371Lv 1
我wǒI; me; my271Lv 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]166Lv 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; matching154Lv 1
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 consent134Lv 1
我们wǒ menwe; us; ourselves; our126Lv 1
这个zhè gè(pronoun) this; (adjective) this114Lv 1
就是jiù shìexactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if109Lv 2
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]108Lv 1
不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-101Lv 1

Is this video right for my Chinese?

A 36-minute video from Dashu Mandarin with 33 minutes of speech at 284 syllables per minute. It's 6,550 words long, using 992 different words. Difficulty: Advanced, Level 108 — it suits Advanced learners: knowing the common words through Level 108 covers about 95% of its words, roughly 1 unfamiliar word in 20. Words to learn first include 的, 我, 是.