Pronunciation ChallengeHow Kim Jong-un Travels

Hello, VoiceTubers! How’s it going? This’s Steve coming up to another pronunciation challenge. This’s actually going to be my first pronunciation challenge so I’m really excited to be here with all of you. So I hope you guys can just relax and can really have some fun while trying to learn some English.
Now, I’m a bit political nerve myself. I probably watch way too many political videos. I always watch the stuff what’s going on in the US, in Taiwan, and East Asia in general. That said, I did live in Korea for two years before I moved to Taiwan. And anything that relates to North Korea tends to interest me. And usually, I’ve been coming up North Korea, it’s bound to be wacky([ˋwækɪ]古怪的), that’s quite fascinating. Finding out that Kim Jong-un takes trains instead of planes wherever possible, it’s just another crazy anecdote([ˋænɪk͵dot] 軼事，趣聞) about the North Korea dictator(獨裁者).
Now, do they have planes in North Korea? Let’s checkout the pronunciation challenge sentence then you’ll find out. Alright, today’s pronunciation challenge sentence says: “ They do have a few old and unreliable Soviet and Russian planes laying around but Kim’s not about having a broken plane while on the world stage.”

So yes, they do have some planes in North Korea, they’re just a bit old. So it looks like North Korea can use some PR(public relation公關) help when it comes up updating their equipments.

Let’s talk about a lot bit of the pronunciation of this sentence. Now, the first half of the sentence is pretty straightforward, it gives us some information, it tells us that there are some old Soviet and Russian planes. However, the second half of the sentence is really kinda interesting. So the two phrase: “not about having” and “world stage” are both a little bit sarcastic, and very informal, you would never see these phrases in a formal setting. And it’s also pretty obvious to make it as spoken English, not written English. So it’s about letting the listeners know the speaker is having fun and playing around with fun language while describing the North Korea dictator.

1. unreliable (adj.)
It means not reliable and something or someone that can not be depending upon.
* My friend is completely unreliable. She never calls you back and always arrives really late when we meet.

So this friend is not reliable because they always show up late and they’re not prioritizing your time. So they’re not really reliable ,and you don’t know what time they’re going to meet you. And you don’t know if you can depend on them ,or trust them to keep their promises or schedules. So they are unreliable.

2. Soviet (n.)
This is referring to the Soviet Union, which is a group of countries that was basically connected to Russia in their communist(共產主義的)period. So the definition says a formal federal union of fifteen constituent([kənˋstɪtʃʊənt] 組成的) republics in Eastern Europe and western-north Asia comprising the largest part of formal Russian Empire dissolving in December, 1991. That’s mouthful(n.滿嘴) right there. So basically the Soviet Union was Russia Empire when they had their communist former(先前的) government under Joseph Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev, for all the people who enjoy history out there.
* Moscow, Russia was the capital of the entire Soviet Union.
So the center of the Union was Russia.

3. while (conj.)
While is a conjunction. It means during or in the time that, throughout the time that, or as long as.
* I won’t use my smartphone while I’m on a date.
= While I’m on a date, I won’t use my smartphone.

4. not about having…
It is an informal phrase about not liking something ,or finding something unacceptable.
* I’m not about having breakfast for dinner.
That means I find a idea having breakfast for dinner to be a terrible idea. I would not ever wanna eat breakfast for dinner. And you can see maybe the way I said I’m saying kinda funny or a little bit conversational tone. That’s because this is usually spoken ,not written. And something that you wouldn’t say to your boss. It’s something that you might say to your friend ,or something to accentuate(v.強調[ækˋsɛntʃu͵et]) the fact that you really don’t like something.

* She is not about having a dirty bathroom.
That means she’s finding the idea having dirty bathroom absolutely repulsive(令人厭惡的)She would probably get angry if her bathroom were dirty.

5. world stage
World stage is idiomatic([͵ɪdɪəˋmætɪk]慣用語的). It means that something or someone can be seen by the entire world.
* Donald Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong-un was on the world stage.
That meant the whole world paid attention to what would happen within meeting between Donald Trump and North Korea President Kim Jong-un.
Can you think another famous event that was seen on the world stage?

Alright, thanks for listening guys. Before I say goodbye, I just wanna say that South Korea is a wonderful country to visit. After living there for two years, I really like the food, especially kimchi, Dakgalbi, which is spicy chicken with the rice cakes, sometimes come with rice. Plus, a lot of other dishes just really amazing there. On the DMZ (The Korean Demilitarized Zone 韓半島非武裝地帶) is a really awesome trip to take. For anyone who is interested in politics and culture, if you go to the DMZ you can actually step foot in North Korea. And you can see North Korea guards as well as a giant zone between the two countries, that’s supposedly cover with landmines(地雷)and it’s also an area where nobody lives.

Well, that’s all for today. I hope you enjoy the episode, and I love to read your feedback questions in your example for what can be seen on the world stage. See you next time!

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