爸爸教我游泳
Learning to swim: an easy Chinese story
Name: ________________ Date: ________
今年夏天，我八岁了，我想学游泳。爸爸说：“我教你！游泳很容易。”
星期六，我们去了家旁边的游泳池。爸爸站在水里，那儿的水不深。他说：“先把脸放进水里。不要怕！”
我把脸放进水里，喝了很多水。
“手往前！脚动一动！”爸爸大声说。我的手和脚都动了，可是我没有往前，我往下去了。
一个小时以后，我还是不会。我看见别的爸爸都在很远的那边游泳，可是我爸爸一直站在这边。
“爸爸，你为什么不去那边？”
“那边……人太多了。”
下一个星期六，爸爸有工作，一个教练教我。她很好，也很认真。两个星期以后，我学会游泳了！
那天，爸爸也来了。我去了水很深的那边，大声叫他：“爸爸，你来啊！”
爸爸站在水里，没有动。过了一会儿，他小声说：“其实……爸爸不会游泳。我小时候，你爷爷也说他教我。”
我笑了：“没关系，我教你！游泳很容易。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 游泳 | yóuyǒng | to swim; swimming |
| 教 | jiāo | to teach |
| 旁边 | pángbiān | beside; next to; nearby |
| 站 | zhàn | station; stop |
| 手 | shǒu | hand |
| 动 | dòng | to move |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant |
| 一会儿 | yíhuìr | a moment; a while |
| 小时候 | xiǎoshíhou | in one's childhood; when one was little |
| 爷爷 | yéye | grandpa; paternal grandfather |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh; to smile |
| 夏天 | xiàtiān | summer |
English (for the teacher)
This summer I turned eight, and I wanted to learn to swim. Dad said, “I’ll teach you! Swimming’s easy.”
On Saturday we went to the pool near our home. Dad stood in the water, where it wasn’t deep. He said, “First put your face in the water. Don’t be scared!”
I put my face in the water and swallowed a lot of it.
“Arms forward! Kick your feet!” Dad shouted. My arms and legs both moved, but I didn’t go forward. I went down.
An hour later, I still couldn’t do it. I could see the other dads swimming over on the far side, but my dad stayed on this side the whole time.
“Dad, why don’t you go over there?”
“Over there… there are too many people.”
The next Saturday, Dad had work, and a coach taught me. She was nice, and she took it seriously. Two weeks later, I could swim!
That day, Dad came too. I went over to the deep side and shouted to him, “Dad, come on!”
Dad stood in the water and didn’t move. After a moment, he said quietly, “Actually… Dad can’t swim. When I was little, your grandpa said he’d teach me too.”
I laughed: “That’s OK, I’ll teach you! Swimming’s easy.”