HSK 3 ≈ CEFR B1 174 characters 12 sentences

Learning to Ride a Bike (学骑自行车)

She fell eleven times. Her father counted every one, and never once let go early.

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学骑自行车

suìnà / nèinián爸爸bàba买了mǎileliàngxiǎo自行车zìxíngchēgěi
The year I was eight, my dad bought me a small bicycle.
特别tèbié高兴gāoxìng可是kěshì特别tèbié害怕hàipà
I was thrilled, and also terrified.
第一dìyītiānliánzuò上去shàngqùdōuzuò不到bùdào
On the first day I couldn't even get on it.
爸爸bàbazài后面hòumian扶着fúzhechēràng慢慢mànmàndì / de
Dad held the back of the bike and let me ride slowly.
shuō:“biékàn / kān地上dìshàngkàn / kān前面qiánmian。”
He said, "Don't look at the ground — look ahead."
低头dītóujiù摔倒shuāidǎole / liǎo / liào
Every time I looked down, I fell.
nà / nèi天下tiānxià一共yīgòngshuāile / liǎo / liào十一shíyī
That afternoon I fell eleven times in all.
de(possessive)shǒubèi地上dìshàngde / dìxiǎo石头shítouhuà / huále / liǎo / liàohěnténg
My hands were scraped by the small stones on the ground and it hurt.
xiǎng放弃fàngqì可是kěshì爸爸bàbashuō:“zàishì一次yīcì。”
I wanted to give up, but dad said, "One more go."
最后zuìhòu一次yīcìle / liǎo / liàohěnyuǎncái发现fāxiàn——zǎojiù把手bǎshǒu松开sōngkāile / liǎo / liào
On the last attempt I'd ridden a long way before I realised he'd let go ages ago.
huíguòtóu看见kànjiànzhànzàihěnyuǎnde / dì地方dìfangxiàozhāo / zhaó / zhe / zhù / zhuóxiàngzhāoshǒu
I looked back and saw him standing far away, smiling and waving.
nà / nèi一刻yīkè明白了míngbaile其实qíshí一直yìzhídōu可以kěyǐ只是zhǐshì相信xiāngxìn自己zìjǐ
In that moment I understood that I'd always been able to — I just hadn't believed it.

Words to notice

自行车zìxíngchē
Bicycle (bike - bikes - cycling)
shuāi
Fall (break - throw - ruin)
害怕hàipà
Afraid (scared - fear)
坚持jiānchí
Continue (insist on)
松手sōngshǒu
Loosen one’s grip
学会xuéhuì
To learn (to master)
Drill this level's full word list on the HSK 3 vocabulary page or with HSK 3 flashcards.

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