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Chinese shadowing practice: four HSK 1 lines to say

Chinese shadowing means speaking along with a Mandarin recording while following its words, tones, rhythm and pauses. Begin with a captioned line you understand; repeat after the speaker before trying to speak along. Sada opens the checked lines below with “After the speaker” chosen, free and without an account.

Try this line first

你叫什么名字？

Pinyin: Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

Listen and record

0:59–1:03 · Opens on “After the speaker” · Free, no account

Meaning: “What’s your name?”

Three more lines, from short to long

Try the first line twice, then choose a longer line below. Return to this guide to choose the next exercise.

Next line

你是哪国人？

Pinyin: Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?

Listen and record

1:04–1:07 · Opens on “After the speaker” · Free, no account

Meaning: “Which country are you from?”

Next line

我喜欢喝咖啡

Pinyin: Wǒ xǐhuan hē kāfēi.

Listen and record

6:31–6:35 · Opens on “After the speaker” · Free, no account

Meaning: “I like drinking coffee”

Next line

我是一个中文老师

Pinyin: Wǒ shì yí ge Zhōngwén lǎoshī.

Listen and record

0:37–0:41 · Opens on “After the speaker” · Free, no account

Meaning: “I’m a Chinese teacher”

Chinese shadowing by HSK level: HSK 1, 2, 3 and 4 or above

Start from your level, not from the hardest video. The levels below are the channel’s own labels and our estimate, not an official HSK rating, and Sada does not test you for the HSK or the HSKK speaking test.

  • HSK 1: the four lines above, after the speaker, not with them, from 你叫什么名字？ to 我是一个中文老师. Read the pinyin first, choose 0.75× under “More options” if you need it, and say each line three times before moving on.
  • HSK 2: the whole “Only HSK 1 Vocabulary” vlog, line by line, after the speaker. Every word in it is an HSK 1 word, so you can work on speed and tones rather than new words.
  • HSK 3: the breakfast and supermarket vlogs (HSK 1–3), first after the speaker, then “With the speaker” at normal speed.
  • HSK 4 or above: no video here is above HSK 3, so make it harder with speed: the same vlogs “With the speaker”, without pausing between lines. For harder material, paste any YouTube video with Chinese captions on the start page.

At every level: record, then open Compare and play your take against the original. Sada shows which words it heard and your timing; it does not grade tones or individual sounds.

Video and caption sources

Exercise text and ranges checked against the captions Sada uses on 2026-10-26. Captions may change; automatic captions can contain errors.

Chinese sounds to listen for

  • Tones: Mandarin has four tones and a light neutral one, and a tone can change the word: 买 (mǎi, buy) and 卖 (mài, sell). Copy the speaker’s melody and judge it by ear: Sada does not grade tones.
  • Tone changes: Two third tones in a row: the first rises, so 你好 is said ní hǎo. 一 and 不 rise before a fourth tone: 一个 yí ge, 不是 bú shì.
  • zh, ch, sh and r: Curl the tip of the tongue back for zh, ch, sh and r (中文 Zhōngwén), and keep it flat behind the teeth for z, c and s.
  • Words without spaces: Chinese has no spaces between words. Sada splits each line into words to match them, and its split may differ from a textbook’s.

How to practise

  1. Open an exercise from this guide. The link selects the exact line, with “After the speaker” chosen. Read it once and check that you understand it.
  2. Press Record. Listen first, then say the line after the 3, 2, 1 count; recording stops automatically. Press Stop if you need to end early.
  3. Keep the speaker’s pauses and rhythm. Use a comfortable voice; headphones help keep the original out of your recording.
  4. Record a take, then open Compare and play your recording and the original. Review words and timing; Sada does not grade individual sounds.
  5. Record the same line again, changing one thing you heard. Return here for a longer line; choose “With the speaker” when you are ready to speak along.

How well does Sada hear this language?

In a test on 26 October 2026, mainland and Taiwan Mandarin voices read 14 HSK 1 lines from these videos: Sada recognised 100% of the words on a computer and 96% on a phone, where it twice heard a similar-sounding word. Sada matches words, not tones. If a tone is far off, the recognizer may hear another word and mark it missed, but a green word does not prove every tone was right: replay your take next to Jiajia’s and check the tones by ear. Captions in simplified or traditional characters both work, and a number said as a word matches the digit.

Compare shows recognised and missed words against the captions, plus timing feedback when usable word timings are available. It does not grade individual sounds or certify your accent. Automatic captions and recognition can be wrong, including around accents, apostrophes and numbers: replay the original and your take before deciding what to change. Earlier synthetic-voice tests (2026-10-26) are not evidence of accuracy for learner recordings.

Other languages

All languages →

Questions people ask

Does Sada work for Chinese?

Yes. These checked Chinese lines open with “After the speaker” selected: you hear the line, then record it and compare. Feedback depends on the captions and speech recognition; it is not a grade of individual sounds.

Are videos with automatic captions OK?

Yes, Sada works with YouTube’s automatic captions. Hand-written captions are more accurate, so start with those when a video has them.

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