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Shadowing practice: Entering the North Korea / China Border Town

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  1. North Korea is the most isolated and closed off country in the world and I'm one of the last Americans to visit.0:00
  2. If you guys can hear that behind me, all the people are dancing and practicing in Kim Il Sung Square.0:05
  3. Right after my three -day trip in Pyongyang in 2017, all US passport holders were banned and we are still banned to this day.0:10
  4. But I am obsessed with North Korea and I've been determined to find a way back.0:17
  5. So I tried sneaking in via Russia and found myself detained at the border for three hours.0:21
  6. It was the scariest moment of my life.0:26
  7. Oh my god, what is going on?0:28
  8. But now, two years later, and I'm hopping on a bullet train to a Chinese city called Dandong, a highly militarized urban area on the border of China and North0:30
  9. Korea.0:38
  10. This is my first time taking a train of any sort in China.0:38
  11. My mission is to try to meet a North Korean refugee, see how close I can get to the actual border itself, and literally spy on North Korea from here,0:41
  12. and gain insight on life in this mysterious city that might just be the strangest place on Earth.0:49
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  1. Beautiful day in Dandong, China.0:57
  2. The adventure begins now.0:59
  3. My guide in Dandong prefers to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of this video.1:01
  4. Most of the foreigners here may be considered spies.1:05
  5. Yeah, that's what I'm scared of.1:11
  6. They think I'm a spy, exactly.1:13
  7. For her safety and privacy, and for any North Koreans that open up to my camera, we've decided to blur their identity throughout this journey.1:14
  8. First impressions are kind of a modern big city.1:21
  9. I was expecting it to be really small and more village -like, but it's a proper town here.1:24
  10. It's crazy.1:29
  11. Everybody just walking on this big boardwalk, taking pictures, taking selfies with North Korea in the background.1:30
  12. I've never seen a scene like this in my life.1:35
  13. In my view right now, as I sit in traffic, I can see about 20 different cameras, and then each of these poles has a camera on it.1:37
  14. I wonder who's looking at all the CCTV.1:43
  15. Somebody just sitting in a room smoking a cigarette.1:45
  16. And where are we going?1:48
  17. The Broken Bridge.1:49
  18. Why is it called the Broken Bridge?1:50
  19. It was broken by an American army.1:52
  20. Really?1:55
  21. Yeah.1:56
  22. When?1:56
  23. During the Korean War.1:57
  24. My grandfather was in the Korean War.1:59
  25. My grandfather too.2:01
  26. Really?2:02
  27. Our grandfather was anemone.2:03
  28. For the very first time from the taxi, I'm seeing across the river, which is North Korea.2:07
  29. That's North Korea, right?2:11
  30. That is North Korea.2:13
  31. We've made it to the Broken Bridge, which connects Dandong to the North Korean town of Shinjushi.2:15
  32. It's kind of bizarre how touristy it is out here, packed with Chinese travelers who are just as curious as I am about this place.2:19
  33. There's a police soldier right behind me on the street.2:26
  34. I don't really know if we're able to shoot or not, but we'll find out.2:29
  35. This is weird.2:33
  36. I was like touristy.2:33
  37. It's like Disneyland.2:35
  38. So before we walk on the bridge, the first thing I see here is this statue.2:36
  39. This looks straight out of Pyongyang.2:39
  40. There's a lot of tourists here, but I haven't seen a single other foreigner.2:46
  41. They're all Chinese.2:50
  42. This is so bizarre.2:51
  43. We're like walking towards North Korea.2:52
  44. It's crazy to think that tens of thousands of North Koreans have escaped and swam across this very river.2:54
  45. I actually know people that have escaped and swam over this river.2:59
  46. It gives me the heebie -jeebies.3:02
  47. Like this truck right here is going to North Korea.3:03
  48. This is one of the only land borders that connects North Korea to anywhere in the world, because the Russia borders closed, the South Korea borders closed, and the China3:06
  49. border only has a few entrance points.3:13
  50. This being the biggest one.3:14
  51. And this border was closed for four years due to COVID and the time after.3:16
  52. So it just recently opened up again, and it's like really crazy to stand here and think about that this is like the way that North Koreans are getting access3:19
  53. to any goods, services.3:26
  54. Hey Mate, if I jump, would you film it?3:29
  55. Yeah.3:31
  56. It's crazy that like the actual border on Google Maps is halfway between this river.3:31
  57. So technically right now, like if I jump, I'm entering North Korean waters, and it's only about 30 feet.3:36
  58. Easy jump.3:41
  59. I'll just jump and swim as fast as I can, and you'll never see me again.3:42
  60. I'm so overwhelmed by all these people here at the edge of the bridge.3:45
  61. They're all holding the China Five with the communist symbol on it.3:49
  62. The music gives me the creeps.3:52
  63. There is a lot of CCTV here.4:02
  64. You can see there, there, right above me.4:04
  65. Is it security guard?4:09
  66. So security guard is everywhere here.4:11
  67. We're at the edge of the bridge right now, and above me is like a propaganda film playing anti -American, I think.4:13
  68. As I sit here at the farthest point on the river, on the bridge, I can see North Koreans in this strange like abandoned amusement park.4:23
  69. It's like a little roller coaster thing in a Ferris wheel, and they're just like walking around in circles.4:30
  70. They're wearing uniform, gray uniform, like prison.4:35
  71. It might actually be a prison.4:38
  72. And also I see this really weird circular building in the distance.4:39
  73. It's like an orange building, and it looks really abandoned.4:43
  74. Gives me the creepiest vibe.4:45
  75. Having a reflection moment right here for my time in Pyongyang.4:49
  76. Three nights, four days, exploring the most isolated city and country in the world.4:53
  77. I've been to the DMZ several times from the South Korean border, and here we are approaching North Korea from a different angle.4:57
  78. I can't get enough of this country.5:02
  79. It's just super, super interesting, super fascinating, and very different.5:03
  80. After living in South Korea for two years and knowing the Korean language and understanding the culture a bit, it's something a little more deeper meaning for me, you know?5:07
  81. Walking across the bridge is a surreal experience, but what I really want is another point of view of this crazy border.5:14
  82. This brings us down to the water where my guide was able to get us on a boat.5:20
  83. This is China, and this is North Korea.5:23
  84. Right now I'm stuck somewhere in the middle.5:27
  85. On top of that boat in the river, there's a North Korean flag.5:29
  86. Let's be a fisherman boat or something.5:32
  87. I'm buying North Korean money here on the boat.5:34
  88. Thank you.5:36
  89. This is really, really cool.5:38
  90. I'm learning Korean.5:41
  91. I learned English.5:43
  92. Oh, really?5:46
  93. I learned English.5:47
  94. What do you think about North Korea?5:48
  95. I really want to go there, but we cannot.5:50
  96. I just want to go there just sightseeing.5:53
  97. So if you can go, you would go to North Korea.5:55
  98. Yeah.5:57
  99. It's so crazy that we are standing right here, and right behind us is North Korea.5:58
  100. And I'm with a South Korean friend.6:03
  101. Yeah, I agree.6:04
  102. He's also on a mission to find North Korean people.6:06
  103. And so we just happened to meet up at the same place, and we're going to go find some North Koreans.6:08
  104. Let's go.6:13
  105. We stumbled upon a cool market along the river, which is mostly selling items that have been smuggled in from North Korea.6:14
  106. Look, these are North Koreans.6:20
  107. I want to buy this as a souvenir.6:22
  108. This one, Arirang.6:24
  109. Let's try it.6:28
  110. Latin fruit.6:28
  111. Really sour?6:30
  112. Very sour.6:31
  113. It's like a sour grape.6:32
  114. It tastes like a green apple.6:34
  115. Yeah, it does taste like green apple.6:36
  116. Yeah.6:37
  117. These ladies are wearing traditional hanbok, which is like a Korean outfit.6:38
  118. China, North Korea, the border between the two countries.6:42
  119. So, so bizarre, man.6:46
  120. So you came here from Seoul just to try to meet North Koreans?6:47
  121. Yeah, to meet North Korean people and the views of the North Korean buildings.6:51
  122. Because from South Korea, you cannot really see North Korea.6:56
  123. Yeah, right.6:59
  124. Going down to the water.7:02
  125. It's cool you can actually sit on the riverbank here.7:03
  126. So I guess it's kind of like entering North Korea if I put my finger in the river, right?7:05
  127. As we're walking through the streets, we just see all the signs in Korean.7:10
  128. So interesting, right?7:14
  129. Yeah, so interesting.7:15
  130. So it's like Korea, but the word is a little bit different.7:16
  131. Words are a little different.7:21
  132. It's just giving away right like there's no bombs going off in the background.7:32
  133. Why?7:36
  134. It's for good fortune.7:37
  135. The restaurants here, they have a China flag and a North Korea flag saying that they have both cuisines.7:46
  136. We're in a North Korean shop here and all the things are imported from across the border.7:50
  137. It's really cool.7:55
  138. We have an American and a South Korean in China walking through a North Korean neighborhood.7:56
  139. As I walk freely around the streets of Dandong, it is shocking to see how Chinese and North Korean cultures mix together.8:00
  140. This area feels like super rugged, like run down, no polished buildings, wires everywhere.8:07
  141. What do you think about this street?8:13
  142. For me, it's like a little bit weird, scary a little bit.8:14
  143. We don't have friendship with North Korea, so kind of scary.8:19
  144. A little scary?8:23
  145. Yeah.8:24
  146. We're all on the same mission to find Nengmyeon, which is the most famous dish in North Korea.8:24
  147. It's cold noodle soup.8:29
  148. Right.8:31
  149. And it's really hot outside.8:31
  150. Right.8:32
  151. So we need to find some cold noodles.8:33
  152. It's hot.8:34
  153. Okay, so we found a group of North Koreans behind us, but they're eating, so I don't know if we can meet them.8:34
  154. I have no idea how to talk to them.8:38
  155. I can try.8:41
  156. They have Nengmyeon.8:42
  157. Take a seat.8:49
  158. Take a seat.8:49
  159. In the shade.8:51
  160. Excuse me.8:55
  161. Is this a Nengmyeon?8:56
  162. Nengmyeon?8:58
  163. I don't understand.8:59
  164. Huh?9:00
  165. I don't know this.9:00
  166. Oh.9:01
  167. Man, they're cold.9:01
  168. They don't want to talk.9:03
  169. We try to talk to everybody around us, and they just like literally ignore us, like not even as if we don't exist.9:04
  170. Beer.9:11
  171. Yeah, North Korean beer.9:12
  172. Cheers.9:14
  173. Cheers.9:15
  174. Cheers.9:16
  175. Cheers.9:17
  176. It tastes like it's...9:19
  177. Tastes like I'm back in Pyongyang.9:21
  178. Younger brother, what's your name?9:23
  179. Drew.9:25
  180. Drew.9:26
  181. And your name?9:27
  182. I'm Gyeonghye.9:28
  183. Gyeonghye.9:29
  184. Chae Chae.9:29
  185. Chae Chae.9:30
  186. Chae Chae.9:30
  187. Chae Chae.9:31
  188. Ask him how long he's been doing here.9:32
  189. Yesterday?9:36
  190. Just now.9:38
  191. You came yesterday?9:39
  192. You crossed the border?9:40
  193. I'm not here.9:41
  194. I'm not here.9:43
  195. I'm not here.9:44
  196. No, I'm here.9:44
  197. No, I'm here.9:45
  198. Yeah, yeah, it's not.9:45
  199. Okay.9:46
  200. Just then, an undercover cop approaches me and demands that I immediately delete all my footage.9:47
  201. My legs are literally shaking with fear.9:52
  202. They want you to delete it.9:54
  203. I have old footage on here.10:04
  204. I can't delete stuff.10:06
  205. I told him, he said, if you don't delete it now, he will call the police.10:07
  206. Thankfully, my guide convinces him that I am not a spy.10:12
  207. And after some heated conversation, he walks away, but still lingers down the block.10:15
  208. The scariest part of being a tourist in Dandong is not knowing who's who.10:19
  209. I'm a little shaken up by what just happened.10:23
  210. That guy aggressively came over and asked me to delete the footage.10:24
  211. I'm pretty sure it was a secret service or something.10:28
  212. So then he left and I'm 100 % sure we're being watched from all angles right now.10:30
  213. Weird feeling.10:35
  214. Who was that guy?10:36
  215. He was calling to his clothes.10:37
  216. I think they are the rich people of the government office.10:40
  217. You think he's a government official?10:46
  218. Yeah, they're just like undercover.10:47
  219. You don't know who's who here.10:49
  220. It's really sketchy.10:50
  221. I don't know.10:51
  222. Best dish in North Korea.10:55
  223. How's it bro?10:58
  224. Is it good?10:59
  225. You like it?11:00
  226. Much so.11:01
  227. It's a very strange feeling right now to know that I'm being watched from a lot of angles.11:03
  228. The situation here is no joke with security and people watching you.11:07
  229. It's crazy because the government or the security people just look like everyday people.11:11
  230. They dress normal, they look normal, you can't really tell who they are.11:15
  231. So if just someone's sitting on the street and you don't think twice about them, they're actually watching you.11:18
  232. So what did you think after talking to that North Korean guy?11:21
  233. It's super scary.11:26
  234. I was like shaking when the guy came and grabbed my phone.11:27
  235. She left.11:31
  236. Hahaha.11:32
  237. I said f***ing Korean and it made them laugh.11:37
  238. Yeah, that's why I don't know how to meet North Koreans.11:40
  239. Fair fair point, yeah.11:42
  240. But I like the challenge of trying to meet them.11:44
  241. It's difficult.11:46
  242. So difficult.11:47
  243. Few places in the world you can meet North Koreans.11:48
  244. Very few.11:50
  245. So this is one of them.11:51
  246. It's been really cool hanging out with my new South Korean friends, but they ironically had to catch a flight back to Seoul.11:53
  247. Alright man, bye bye.11:58
  248. Safe travels, okay?11:59
  249. Safe travels.12:00
  250. Nice to meet you.12:01
  251. Bye guys, see ya.12:02
  252. But if one thing's for sure, I am not done exploring the city.12:04
  253. We're about to enter a second hand market here in Dandong.12:07
  254. See what we can discover.12:10
  255. It certainly feels like North Korea in here.12:11
  256. It's like dark and quiet.12:12
  257. I just bought all this North Korean won, like vintage old money.12:21
  258. This is one won.12:26
  259. This is so cool.12:27
  260. I have a currency collection and this is going to go perfectly in there.12:28
  261. Can you ask him if many North Koreans shop here?12:30
  262. Korean people can't come here to buy stuff.12:33
  263. It's not allowed maybe.12:37
  264. These are like really cool paintings.12:42
  265. All of those paintings are from North Korea.12:44
  266. These?12:48
  267. Yeah.12:48
  268. Like the painters themselves?12:49
  269. Yeah, he said yes.12:51
  270. I want to buy one that resembles North Korea, that looks like North Korea.12:53
  271. The paintings themselves have a certificate from painters from North Korea.12:56
  272. But this is actually pretty cool.13:00
  273. I never thought I was going to be buying a North Korean painting, but this is going to look good in my collection.13:02
  274. I'm overwhelmed by paintings.13:07
  275. I'm a sucker for art.13:09
  276. Can we bargain?13:12
  277. I think we can.13:14
  278. Go for it.13:15
  279. This one's a bit smaller.13:23
  280. Maybe how about you for this one?13:25
  281. 800.13:28
  282. Ni hao.13:30
  283. Ni hao.13:31
  284. It's a certificate that it was made by North Korean.13:32
  285. Oh, there's even a North Korean badge of approval there.13:35
  286. Kamsamida.13:38
  287. The lady who sold it to me was actually from North Korea.13:43
  288. That was cool.13:46
  289. This is going to be a nice one for the collection.13:47
  290. After shopping for some unique collectibles to display in my house, we make our way to the other side of the city to a place they call New Dandong that13:49
  291. gives me serious Pyongyang vibes.13:56
  292. I'm standing in Dandong, New District, which is just a 20 minute drive south of the main city center.13:57
  293. You can see this massive three kilometer bridge that was built.14:02
  294. This whole area costs 350 million US dollars because they were anticipating a big economic trade boom between North Korea and China.14:05
  295. However, it's abandoned and empty.14:12
  296. They were going to move the government here and I'm told that it starts here from the China side and it goes over.14:14
  297. But then when you get to North Korea, there's nothing.14:19
  298. You can't, there's no trade happening between the two countries.14:22
  299. It's so weird just walking in the street with these big highways but nobody's around.14:24
  300. No cars, no people.14:28
  301. This feels more like North Korea than anywhere else I've been in Dandong.14:29
  302. I can already tell that there is no city on earth quite like Dandong, but I really want to get the local scoop of what's going on behind closed doors.14:32
  303. I'm on my way to meet up with a friend of a friend named Daniel.14:39
  304. How are you?14:41
  305. Hi.14:42
  306. Good to see you man.14:42
  307. I'm told that he and his wife own a really cool bar in town and they're willing to tell me about life here from a resident's point of view.14:43
  308. So are you from here?14:49
  309. Yeah, I'm from here.14:50
  310. I live here.14:52
  311. Have you ever crossed the bridge into North Korea?14:52
  312. No, no, no, never.14:54
  313. My wife, she has been there.14:55
  314. I have been there seven times.14:58
  315. Seven times?15:02
  316. Yeah.15:02
  317. When you cross over and you walk, there's a little town there.15:02
  318. What do you see there?15:05
  319. Like what's happening?15:06
  320. A lot of people around the street.15:07
  321. Doing what?15:09
  322. Just like us go to work, take subways and take bus.15:10
  323. Nothing special.15:14
  324. Why did you go there so many times?15:15
  325. For tourists.15:17
  326. Oh really?15:19
  327. Yeah, for tourists.15:19
  328. Because my father owned a tour business.15:20
  329. Were you scared to go there?15:25
  330. Did you feel like everybody's watching you?15:26
  331. Did you feel like no, everything's chill?15:28
  332. No.15:30
  333. Because in North Korea, tourism is a big business.15:31
  334. It's such a mysterious place.15:38
  335. It just lives in their own world.15:40
  336. What I find really strange is that every viewpoint in Dandong is looking over the river and everybody's there taking selfies.15:43
  337. But do they even understand what's happening over there?15:49
  338. No.15:52
  339. It's so strange.15:53
  340. It's so different.15:56
  341. Do you have North Korean friends?15:58
  342. The people I mostly meet come to Dandong and they want some private.15:59
  343. So they keep to themselves.16:06
  344. Like the Chinese and the North Koreans, they don't really mix.16:07
  345. It seems like...16:10
  346. The language, I can't understand their language.16:11
  347. So we can be friends because we can talk.16:15
  348. Do you get any North Korean customers in your bar?16:18
  349. Yeah, we got a lot of them.16:21
  350. Are they nice?16:23
  351. Not bad.16:24
  352. Just we keep distance.16:25
  353. We're just a neighbor.16:28
  354. So there are a lot of North Korean guys in Dandong.16:29
  355. So it's a special point.16:34
  356. How do most of the Chinese people living here, how do they feel about North Koreans here?16:38
  357. Do they think it's no big deal?16:44
  358. Do they think it's cool?16:45
  359. No big deal.16:46
  360. They don't care.16:47
  361. Nothing special.16:47
  362. Nothing special.16:48
  363. No big deal.16:49
  364. For me, it's like the most interesting place in the world.16:50
  365. North Korea is like so isolated and extreme.16:53
  366. I don't know because I never been there.16:56
  367. Yeah, of course.16:58
  368. If you take the plane, when the plane take off, you should shut down the window.16:59
  369. Wait, you mean when you take off, like the pilot says put the window down for you?17:06
  370. Yeah.17:09
  371. Really?17:10
  372. Yeah.17:11
  373. Do you think you'll ever go to North Korea someday?17:11
  374. I don't know.17:14
  375. Maybe.17:14
  376. What if your wife wants to take you there?17:15
  377. Would you go?17:16
  378. Maybe I'll try.17:17
  379. I don't want to go.17:18
  380. It's so boring because you don't have Wi -Fi.17:19
  381. You don't have Internet.17:23
  382. You just have a limited space to walk around.17:25
  383. So you just go there and get further understanding of your cultures, your presidents.17:31
  384. What North Korea really is, we don't understand.17:42
  385. We never know.17:45
  386. Daniel and his wife go on to inform me that the Great Wall of China actually begins near Dandong.17:47
  387. They say there's a spot where you can walk right up to a massive barbed wire fence marking the border with North Korea and I have to check it out17:52
  388. for myself.17:58
  389. Looking out the window.17:59
  390. The other side is North Korea, but look at this like weird misty fog.18:00
  391. You could sense all the suffering and misery in the air when you see that.18:04
  392. We are just now entering the Great Wall of China where it actually starts.18:10
  393. It goes a very long way.18:14
  394. The Great Wall of China stretches over 13 ,000 miles across mountains, deserts and plains, but I had no idea how close it comes to the border with North Korea.18:16
  395. My last time at the wall was in 2012 when I had a 24 -hour layover in Beijing.18:25
  396. Long time ago.18:30
  397. I just remembered it being absolutely epic and being here again, I am confirming that it is absolutely epic.18:32
  398. If you want to get the wall to yourself without tours, go to Dandong.18:38
  399. Don't go to Beijing.18:41
  400. We are chilling in the wall here and these guys just came, started smoking sticks and playing card games.18:49
  401. Trying to figure out where is North Korea, like where is the border line?18:57
  402. Oh right here.19:05
  403. Oh like right there.19:06
  404. This river is a lot skinnier than the river by Dandong.19:08
  405. Have you been to North Korea?19:11
  406. You can go to China.19:14
  407. You can go to China.19:16
  408. You can go to China.19:17
  409. You can go to China.19:17
  410. What do you think about North Korea in general?19:18
  411. That's a good line.19:26
  412. It's the 1980s of China.19:27
  413. I like that.19:29
  414. So it's like similar culturally but just old school.19:29
  415. I'm sitting here in the Great Wall of China.19:36
  416. Right there over that small fence is North Korea.19:39
  417. Like right there.19:42
  418. From Dandong the river is really big and wide and like it's too hard to swim in.19:43
  419. But here it just looks like you can take a step over and you're in North Korea.19:47
  420. The fascination with North Korea continues to grow as I encroach the land.19:51
  421. Right below the wall there's a little settlement here.19:55
  422. They have little street food and shops and in front of the settlement is the actual fence that separates China and North Korea.19:57
  423. Yeah there's no way you're going to get over this thing.20:03
  424. There's multiple layers of barbed wire.20:05
  425. I feel like if I put my finger on it it's going to like shock me.20:07
  426. I'm waiting any second for a security guard to come out.20:11
  427. There's like a lot of cameras.20:14
  428. Do you see that mountain of cameras right behind that?20:16
  429. Yeah you can see those butterflies, those birds.20:19
  430. They can go across the border very easily.20:22
  431. I mean Tweed has no border.20:25
  432. Goose has no border but man has border.20:27
  433. She makes a really interesting point.20:30
  434. Like at one point in time this was just open land and the culture was all kind of together.20:32
  435. And then all of a sudden one day there was a border that was set and now there's like a drastic difference between the land I'm standing on right now20:37
  436. and one foot over this fence.20:44
  437. Some places you visit will leave you with more questions and answers and Dandong is one of them.20:46
  438. This city with its mix of Chinese and Korean influences brings me into a world that feels both familiar and foreign.20:50
  439. I really enjoyed walking around town, eating the food and feeling the lively spirit of East Asia.20:56
  440. A region that I spent eight years of my life living in.21:01
  441. But I'm still scratching my head by some of the things I encounter here.21:03
  442. Just seven years after my journey into North Korea, walking around Dandong gives me flashbacks to Pyongyang.21:06
  443. In the end my takeaway is that Dandong isn't just another busy Chinese city or a random border town.21:11
  444. It's a mirror reflecting the complexity of life at the edges of two closed off worlds.21:17
  445. As I leave town and force to put my window shade down on the airplane, I'm still feeling intimidated by all the people secretly watching me.21:21
  446. But that is just the reality of Dandong.21:28
  447. I hope you enjoyed this video and stay tuned for my next episode as I take you into the world's most populated city of 35 million.21:30
  448. I'll see you there.21:37

American accent training on a North Korea border narration, B2 level

Drew Binsky narrates a trip to Dandong, the Chinese city facing North Korea across the river, at 233 words per minute, faster than 87 percent of the catalogue. That speed is exactly what makes this clip useful for english listening practice: the sentences come fast enough that you cannot coast on context, you have to track what is actually said. It is a B2 clip carried almost entirely by one American voice, which makes it a clean recording for american accent training and a solid way to improve your english accent against real, unscripted delivery.

The setting gives the narration weight. He is on a bullet train into a highly militarized border town, then walking a boardwalk crowded with people taking selfies with North Korea in the background, then noticing cameras on every pole and wondering who is watching the feed. He also mentions being detained for three hours on an earlier trip, so the pace is not a performance, it is someone talking quickly because he is genuinely uneasy.

The lines worth practising english speaking on from this opening

A few lines from the opening stand out for speaking practice, each for a different reason.

  • "It was the scariest moment of my life." The stress falls hard on scariest, then the rest of the sentence trails off flatter. Say it slowly first to find that stress, then match his full speed.
  • "Most of the foreigners here may be considered spies." The modal chain "may be considered" is said as one smooth run, not three separate words. Shadow this line a few times until the chain stops sounding like a list.
  • "I wonder who's looking at all the CCTV." This is a question aimed at himself, not at the camera, so the pitch rises less than a real question would. CCTV is also said letter by letter at speed, which is worth isolating on its own.
  • "Why is it called the Broken Bridge?" followed by "It was broken by an American army." A real question and answer pair, with the passive "was broken" landing on stress in the reply. Practising the two together gets you the natural back and forth rhythm, not just isolated sentences.

How to work through the Dandong opening for english speaking practice

Work the first 31 lines in this order rather than jumping straight to full speed.

  • Start on line 6, "It was the scariest moment of my life." Repeat it slow, then at his pace, until the stress on scariest is automatic.
  • Move to line 16, "Most of the foreigners here may be considered spies," and shadow this line specifically for the modal chain rather than the individual words.
  • Take line 26, "I wonder who's looking at all the CCTV," and practise the flatter, self directed question intonation against a real question.
  • Pair lines 30 and 31, the Broken Bridge question and its passive voice answer, back to back, to build question and answer rhythm.
  • Run the whole 31 line stretch once at full speed with no pausing, then once more shadowing every line to see how close you land to 233 words per minute.
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