A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

金智秀的新电视剧《定制男友》
Kim Jisoo's New Netflix Drama Boyfriend on Demand with Seo In-guk
About this story
Blackpink's Kim Jisoo and Seo In-guk star in Netflix's new Korean drama Boyfriend on Demand — virtual love story. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 9 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 14 key vocabulary words such as 电视剧、总是、累 and walks through 5 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Speaking of TV shows that everyone has been watching recently, there are many very interesting new stories.
Korean TV shows in particular have always been very popular here.
Do you know Kim Jisoo?
She is a very famous Korean female celebrity.
She is a member of a singing group — she sings beautifully and dances wonderfully.
She is very pretty, and many people like her.
But today, we're not going to talk about her singing.
We're going to talk about a new TV show she's in.
This is a story about love and technology.
In this story, Kim Jisoo is an ordinary girl working at a company.
Her job is extremely busy.
Every morning, she gets up very early to go to the office.
Once at the office, she has to sit in front of the computer and work.
She has to write a lot of things and also read a lot of things.
At lunchtime, because there's too much work, she can only eat a quick bite.
By evening, everyone else has gone home, but she's still at the office.
She often works until very late before she can go home.
Because work is so busy, she feels extremely tired.
Her body is tired, and her heart is tired too.
She has no time to go out and have fun, and no time to meet new friends.
So, she doesn't have a boyfriend.
Sometimes, when she sees that everyone else has a boyfriend, she feels very lonely.
She also wants someone to love her, someone to listen to her.
But her life is nothing but work.
What can she do about it?
In this TV show, there's a really interesting solution.
Nowadays our phones are very powerful, with lots of fun games inside.
The main character discovers a special game.
This game has a very interesting name — it means you can buy a boyfriend.
You might ask, how can you buy a boyfriend?
Actually, this boyfriend isn't a real person.
He's made by a computer.
He's inside the phone and looks just like a real person.
In this game, you can choose the boyfriend you like.
You can choose what his face looks like.
You can choose whether his eyes are big or not.
You can choose whether he's tall or not.
You can even choose his personality.
If you like a gentle man, he can be very gentle.
If you like a man who loves to smile, he can smile at you every day.
As long as you pay, you can have a perfect boyfriend in your phone.
Kim Jisoo starts playing this game in the show.
She finds an absolutely perfect boyfriend in her phone.
This boyfriend is especially good to her.
Every day he says sweet things to her.
He tells her, you look beautiful today.
He tells her, don't wear yourself out.
In the game, they can do many things together.
They can go to a beautiful restaurant to eat together.
They can go for walks in the park together.
They can watch movies together.
Everything seems just too perfect.
Because he's made by a computer, he never gets angry.
He never argues with the main character.
He always makes the main character feel happy.
For someone who is exhausted from work every day, this is like a beautiful dream.
Every day when the main character comes home, the thing she wants to do most is open her phone.
As soon as she sees that perfect boyfriend, she doesn't feel tired anymore.
She feels this is the love she's been wanting.
But the story isn't that simple.
We all know that games are fake, but life is real.
Although the boyfriend in the phone is perfect, he's not real.
He can't actually be by her side.
When the main character gets sick, he can't bring her medicine.
When the main character is hungry, he can't cook for her.
When it rains outside, he can't bring her an umbrella.
This is the difference between real and fake.
In this TV show, there's also another man.
This man is the main character's colleague.
He works at the same company, right next to the main character.
This man is played by Seo In-guk.
He is a real person, a flesh-and-blood person.
He and Kim Jisoo work together every day.
Because work is so busy, they often work overtime together.
What is overtime?
It means working at the office even when it's very late at night.
On those late nights, there are only the two of them in the office.
They talk together and drink coffee together.
Although this man isn't perfect.
Sometimes he might say things that don't sound nice.
Sometimes he might make mistakes.
Sometimes he also gets angry and unhappy.
But he is real.
If you're tired, a real friend can pour you a glass of water.
A real friend can see your face and know you're unhappy.
A real friend can hear your voice and give you real help.
Gradually, the main character starts having different feelings.
She begins thinking about a very important question.
Is the perfect fake boyfriend in the phone better?
Or is the imperfect real man by her side better?
This is a very difficult choice.
On one hand, there's a fake world that's as happy as a dream.
On the other hand, there's a real world with difficulties but also truth.
This TV show wants to tell us this lesson.
Nowadays, many young people can't live without their phones.
Everyone thinks the world inside phones is exciting.
But we can't forget about real life.
In real life, there are relationships between people.
There are real feelings and real warmth.
This is more important than games on a phone.
The director of this TV show also shared his thoughts.
He wants us to see different kinds of love.
In the show, Kim Jisoo will encounter many different fake boyfriends.
Because in the game, you can switch between different boyfriends.
So we get to see many handsome male actors.
For viewers, this is a very exciting thing.
We can see many interesting stories.
Some stories are very funny and make you want to laugh.
Some stories are very touching and make you want to cry.
But in the end, the main character still has to face reality.
She needs to understand what real love is.
Real love isn't something you can just buy.
Real love takes time.
Real love requires two people to work together and go through many things together.
This is the most important part of this story.
I think this story is very interesting.
Because it's talking about our lives right now.
Many people are just like the main character — too busy with work, no time to love.
So everyone wishes for a perfect boyfriend.
But the perfect boyfriend only exists inside phones.
We need to learn to look at the people around us.
Perhaps the right person is right next to you.
Perhaps the person who works with you every day is the right one.
Don't just look at your phone — look at the real world.
What we've been talking about is actually a new Netflix TV show.
The Chinese name of this show is "Custom Boyfriend."
This is Kim Jisoo's latest work.
In this show, she plays that busy main character.
If you like watching romantic love stories, you should check it out.
If you like thinking about questions of what's real and what's fake, you should also check it out.
This TV show starts airing on March 6th.
You can go watch Kim Jisoo's performance.
And see how she chooses between the real and the fake.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇A very common word for television shows with multiple episodes.
Adverb indicating something happens all the time.
Adjective describing physical or mental fatigue.
Verb object structure meaning to go for a leisurely walk.
Noun for people you work with.
Verb meaning to inform or tell someone something.
HSK 1-2. interesting.
Adjective describing the feeling of being alone and sad.
Noun referring to someone's disposition or nature.
Adjective meaning flawless.
Verb meaning to have a verbal disagreement.
Verb object structure meaning to work extra hours.
Verb/Adjective referring to making something according to specific requirements.
Noun referring to the real world as opposed to fantasy or games.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Conjunction pair meaning 'Although..., (but)...'. It introduces a concession followed by a contrast.
虽然手机里的男朋友很完美,但他不是真的。
虽然这个男人不完美,但是,他是真的。
Conditional pattern meaning 'As long as..., then...'. It indicates that the first part is the necessary condition for the second part.
只要你花钱,你就可以在手机里有一个完美的男朋友。
只要看到那个完美的男朋友,她就不觉得累了。
Directional complement indicating the result of an action, often 'coming out' or bringing something into existence/recognition.
他是电脑做出来的。
Prepositional phrase meaning 'For [someone], ...' or 'From the perspective of [someone]'.
对于一个每天工作很累的人来说,这就像一个美梦一样。
这对看电视的人来说,是一件很高兴的事情。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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