变脸Face-Changing

New words

• 变biàn — to change, become
• 脸liǎn — face
• 精彩jīngcǎi — wonderful, brilliant
• 功夫gōngfu — kung fu; skill
• 传统chuántǒng — tradition(al)
• 动作dòngzuò — movement, move

The story

小雨：今天带你们看四川的传统表演：变脸！Today I'm taking you to see a traditional Sichuan show: face-changing!

爸爸：变脸？脸怎么变？Face-changing? How does a face change?

小雨：你看着。他的脸一会儿红，一会儿黑……Watch. One moment his face is red, the next it's black...

大卫：哇！他一动，脸就变了！Whoa! The moment he moves, his face changes!

妈妈：太精彩了！他是怎么变的？Brilliant! How does he do it?

小雨：这是秘密。变脸的人不会告诉别人的。It's a secret. Face-changers won't tell anyone.

爸爸：他过来了！他就在我前面！He's coming over! He's right in front of me!

爸爸：我一看，他的脸就变了。再看，又变了！I look, and his face changes. I look again — it's changed again!

Opening the lesson…