HSK 4 ≈ CEFR B2 194 characters 14 sentences

Going Back Home (回老家)

Ten years away. The road is wider, the school is gone, and the dog still knows him.

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回老家

离开líkāi老家lǎojiā已经yǐjīng十年shíniánle / liǎo / liào
It's been ten years since I left my home town.
今年jīnnián春天chūntiān终于zhōngyú回去huíqule / liǎo / liàotàng
This spring I finally went back.
xiàchēde / dì时候shíhou几乎jīhūrèn不出bùchū那个nèigè地方dìfang
Getting off the coach, I could hardly recognise the place.
以前yǐqiánde / dìxiǎo变成biànchéngle / liǎo / liàohěnkuānde / dì马路mǎlù
The little lane had become a wide road.
两边liǎngbiangài起了qǐle很多hěnduō新房xīnfáng
New buildings had gone up on both sides.
小时候xiǎoshíhoushàngde / dìnà / nèisuǒ小学xiǎoxué已经yǐjīng不在bùzàile / liǎo / liào
The primary school I went to as a child was gone.
原来yuánláide / dì位置wèizhishàng现在xiànzàishì一个yīgèchāoshì
In its place there was now a supermarket.
zhànzài那里nàli觉得juédeyòu熟悉shúxīyòu陌生mòshēng
I stood there feeling that it was both familiar and strange.
走到zǒudào村子cūnzizuì里面lǐmiànde / dì时候shíhou看见了kànjiànle我们wǒmenjiāde / dìlǎo房子fángzi
When I got to the far end of the village I saw our old house.
门前ménqiánde / dìnà / nèishù记得jìdede / dìle / liǎo / liào很多hěnduō
The tree in front of the door was much bigger than I remembered.
zhīlǎogǒucóng院子yuànzi慢慢mànmànzǒu出来chūlai看了kànlehěnjiǔ
An old dog came slowly out of the yard and looked at me for a long time.
然后ránhòuyáo起了qǐle尾巴wěiba
Then it began to wag its tail.
nà / nèi一刻yīkède(possessive)眼睛yǎnjīng忽然hūrán湿shīle / liǎo / liào
In that moment my eyes suddenly stung.
原来yuánláizài这个zhège什么shénmedōubiànle / liǎo / liàode / dì地方dìfang还有háiyǒurén记得jìde
So in this place where everything had changed, someone still remembered me.

Words to notice

老家lǎojiā
Home (place of origin)
变化biànhuà
Change
熟悉shúxī
Familiar with (to know well)
陌生mòshēng
Unfamiliar (strange)
记忆jìyì
Remember (memory)
回来huílai
Return (come back)
Drill this level's full word list on the HSK 4 vocabulary page or with HSK 4 flashcards.

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