Learn English with a News Story about North Korea

North Korean State TV


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Published: 8.20.2024
Level 4   |   Time: 2:48
Accent: American
Source: CNN

A Canadian man found and uploaded videos from North Korean State TV.

This lesson only contains content from 0:00 to 2:48.


triangle Directions 목표 Direcciones Instruções


  1. READ the VOCABULARY

    It is important to read the vocabulary before you watch the video. This will improve your ability to understand the video. It will also help you understand how the new vocabulary is used naturally.

  2. WATCH the VIDEO

    The first time you watch the video, just try to understand the overall situation.

  3. ANSWER the QUESTIONS

    First try to answer all the questions from memory. Then rewatch the video and try to answer the questions that you missed.

  4. WATCH and READ the SCRIPT

    Watch the video again while you read the script. Reading and listening at the same time will help you hear each individual word and improve your listening accuracy.

  5. DO the ACTIVITIES

    There are several different activities that focus on test preparation, vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure.

  1. LEA el VOCABULARIO

    Es importante leer el vocabulario antes de ver el video. Esto mejorará su capacidad para comprender el video. También le ayudará a comprender cómo se usa el nuevo vocabulario de forma natural.

  2. VER el VIDEO

    La primera vez que vea el video, intente comprender la situación general.

  3. RESPONDE a las PREGUNTAS

    Primero intente responder todas las preguntas de memoria. Luego, vuelva a ver el video e intente responder las preguntas que se perdió.

  4. MIRAR Y LEER

    Mire el video nuevamente mientras lee el guión. Leer y escuchar al mismo tiempo lo ayudará a escuchar cada palabra individual y mejorará su precisión auditiva.

  5. HACER LAS ACTIVIDADES

    Hay una serie de actividades diferentes que se centran en la preparación de la examen, el vocabulario, la gramática y la estructura de las oraciones.

  1. 어휘 읽기

    비디오를 보기 전에 어휘와 배경을 읽는 것이 중요합니다. 이렇게 하면 비디오를 이해하는 능력이 향상됩니다. 또한 새로운 어휘가 어떻게 자연스럽게 사용되는지 이해하는데 도움이됩니다.

  2. 비디오 보기

    비디오를 처음 볼 때 전체 상황을 이해하려고 노력하세요.

  3. 문제에 답하기

    먼저 모든 질문에 답을 해보세요. 그런 다음 비디오를 다시보고 놓친 질문에 답해보세요.

  4. 비디오 보면서 대본 읽기

    대본을 읽는 동안 비디오를 다시 보세요. 읽기와 듣기를 동시에 하면 각각의 단어를 듣고, 듣기 정확도를 향상시킬 수 있습니다.

  5. 액티비티 하기

    듣기 정확도, 발음, 어휘, 문법 및 문장 구조에 초점을 맞춘 다양한 액티비티가 있습니다.

  1. LER o VOCABULÁRIO

    É importante ler o vocabulário antes de assistir ao vídeo. Isso melhorará sua capacidade de entender o vídeo. Também ajudará você a entender como o novo vocabulário é usado naturalmente.

  2. ASSISTA ao VÍDEO

    Na primeira vez que assistir ao vídeo, tente entender a situação geral.

  3. RESPONDA às PERGUNTAS

    Primeiro, tente responder a todas as perguntas de memória. Em seguida, assista novamente ao vídeo e tente responder às perguntas que você errou.

  4. ASSISTA e LEIA o SCRIPT

    Assista ao vídeo novamente enquanto lê o roteiro. Ler e ouvir ao mesmo tempo ajudará você a ouvir cada palavra individualmente e a melhorar sua precisão auditiva.

  5. FAÇA as ATIVIDADES

    Existem várias atividades diferentes que se concentram na preparação para o teste, vocabulário, gramática e estrutura de frases.

triangle Vocabulary 어휘 Vocabulário Vocabulario


  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a backyard [n] - the area behind a house [image] ESL Vocab - Backyard
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a satellite dish [n] - a large, round device used to receive TV or internet signals [image] ESL Vocab - A satellite dish
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ scan [v] - search for
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a signal [n] - a sound, image, or message that is sent electronically
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ stumble upon [phv] - find something accidently
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a test card [n] - a special picture shown on a TV when there is no program being broadcast [image] ESL Vocab - A test card
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ trigger my curiosity [exp] - make me interested in finding out more about something
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a feed [n] - a continuous stream of information (like a live broadcast on TV)
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ patriotic [adj] - showing love and support for your country
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ propaganda [n] - information, often biased or misleading, used to promote a political cause or point of view
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ MTV [n] - an American music television channel that became popular in the 1980s [image] ESL Vocab - MTV
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ mass games [n] - large sporting events (like the Olympics)
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ parades [n] - public celebrations where people walk or march in groups
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ in a row [exp] - happening consecutively without any interruptions
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ bizarre [adj] - strange, unusual, weird
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ go viral [exp] - become very popular very quickly, especially on the internet
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ rack up [exp] - collect or accumulate a large amount
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ all over the spectrum [exp] - referring to a wide range of opinions or things
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ terrified [adj] - very scared
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ surreal [adj] - strange, like a dream
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ hot springs [n] - natural pools of warm water that come from the ground [image] ESL Vocab - Hot Springs
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a cult following [n] - a small but very passionate group of fans of something
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ quirky [adj] - strange or unusual in a fun way

[n] - noun,  [v] - verb,  [phv] - phrasal verb,  [adj] - adjective,  [exp] - expression



triangle Questions 문제 Questões Preguntas


  1. Peter Fairley was searching for ______.
    MTV
    sports channels
    North Korean television

  2. Peter lives near ______.
    Seoul
    Toronto
    Pyongyang

  3. The video feed showed ______, ______, and ______.
    K-pop videos
    long speeches
    exercise videos
    American movies
    sporting events
    military parades
    music videos from MTV

  4. Peter compared the videos to TV from ______.
    the 1960s
    the 1970s
    the 1980s
    the 1990s

  5. Peter beleives that the videos ______ the power to influence people.
    have
    don't have

  6. Peter started ______ after watching the content.
    learning Korean
    feeling more patriotic
    having strange dreams
    having trouble sleeping

  7. Peter’s videos gained almost ______ views in less than two months.
    200 000
    1 200 000
    2 000 000
    12 000 000

  8. Videos featuring ______ were among the most popular vidoes on his YouTube channel.
    food
    dinosaurs
    Kim Jungun
    international news



triangle Vocabulary Review 어휘 검토 Revisão de vocabulário Vocabulario revisión


Directions: What expressions from the video have the same meaning as the highlighted expressions in the sentences below?

  1. Using his backyard satellite dish, Peter Fairley was just [ searching ] for sports channels.

    [ scanning ]



  2. But the Canadian engineer from outside Toronto [ accidentally discovered ] something he never expected.

    [ stumbled upon ]



  3. From daily dance exercises to cooking programs to [ loving your country ] [ manipulative persuasive communication ].

    [ patriotic ] [ propaganda ]



  4. After watching North Korean content for two nights [ without a break, consecutively ], I just had a lot of very bizarre dreams.

    [ in a row ]



  5. Peter's videos [ got, accumulated ] almost 2 million views in less than two months.

    [ racked up ]



  6. People were basically giving comments that were [ from many different perspectives ].

    [ all over the spectrum ]



  7. Viewers called the content [ unusual, like a dream ], almost like going back in time.

    [ surreal ]



  8. That's the funny part. That's probably the [ most unusual & silliest ] part.

    [ quirkiest ]



triangle Sentence Building 문장 만들기 Construção de sentença Construcción de oraciones


Directions: Write sentences about the video clip using the words given. You can change the word form or add words, but you cannot change the word order.

Instrucciones: Escriba oraciones sobre el videoclip usando las palabras dadas. Puede cambiar la forma de la palabra o agregar palabras, pero no puede cambiar el orden de las palabras.

Instrucciones: Escreva orações sobre o videoclipe usando as palavras-chave. Você pode alterar a forma da palavra ou adicionar palavras, mas não pode alterar a ordem das palavras.

지시 : 주어진 단어를 사용하여 비디오 클립에 대한 문장을 씁니다. 어형을 변경하거나 단어를 추가할 수 있지만 어순은 변경할 수 없습니다.



Sentence 1

Peter / Fairlie / stumble / live / satellite / feed / North / Korea / state / television / while / scan / sport / channel


Peter Fairlie stumbled upon a live satellite feed of North Korean state television while (he was) scanning for sports channels.



Sentence 2

feed / include / variety / content / exercise / videos / patriot / propaganda


The feed included a variety of content, from exercise videos to patriotic propaganda.



Sentence 3

Peter / start / have / bizarre / dream / after / watch / feed / two / night / row


Peter started [having/to have] bizarre dreams after watching the feed for two nights in a row.
Peter started [having/to have] bizarre dreams after he watched the feed for two nights in a row.



Sentence 4

Peter / record / broadcast / and / then / post / edit / version / YouTube / channel


Peter recorded the broadcast and then posted an edited version on his YouTube channel.
Peter recorded the broadcasts and then posted edited versions on his YouTube channel.



Sentence 5

video / quick / go / viral / rack / near / two / million / view / less / two / month


The videos quickly went viral, racking up nearly two million views in less than two months.
The videos quickly went viral and racked up nearly two million views in less than two months.



Sentence 6

some / viewer / find / video / surreal / while / other / find / them / terrify


Some viewers found the videos surreal, while others found them terrifying.



Sentence 7

channel / since / develop / kind / cult / following


The channel has since developed a kind of cult following.
The channel has since developed kind of a cult following.



triangle Discussion 논의 Questões de discussão Discusión


  1. What content from Peter's YouTube channel was the most popular? What content would you be most interested in?
  2. What impact do you think North Korean propaganda has on its citizens?
  3. Later in the video, they mention that almost every North Korean household has a TV. Is this surprising? Why?
  4. What other countries or governments do you think use a lot of propaganda? How about your own country or government?
  5. Would you describe yourself as patriotic? Do you think being patriotic is important? Why? What are the pros and cons?
  6. In your opinion, which countries are the most patriotic? Which ones are the least patriotic?
  7. Peter mentions that some people were terrified. Others were fascinated. What's your initial reaction? Do you want to see more?

    You can see Peter's channel [ here ].

triangle Script 대본 Roteiro Texto


Will Ripley is out front.

Using his backyard satellite dish. Peter Fairlie was just scanning for sports channels.

There we go, we have a signal.

But the Canadian engineer from outside Toronto stumbled upon something he never expected.

That's when I saw the color bars and the test card and the Pyongyang written on it. That triggered my curiosity—was this really coming from North Korea?

Sure enough, it was. A live satellite feed of North Korean state television.

From daily dance exercises to cooking programs to patriotic propaganda.

It’s very kind of 1980s too. It's very MTV, their videos.

Broadcasting mass games, military parades, and yes, missile launches to some 26 million people who call Kim Jong-un's secret state home.

The videos are all about Kim, how great he is, and everybody crying and loving him.

Peter began recording.

Do you feel like these programs do have power to influence people's minds?

Absolutely. After watching, yeah, one full day of North Korean content, for two nights in a row I just had a lot of very bizarre dreams, as if I was there.

He posted an edited version on his YouTube channel.

Did you think this was going to go viral?

No, absolutely not.

But go viral it did. Peter's videos racked up almost 2 million views in less than two months.

People were basically giving comments that were all over the spectrum, from they loved it to they were terrified by it.

Viewers called the content surreal, almost like going back in time.

Some of the most popular clips: Kim Jong-un visiting hot springs, opening a dinosaur park.

Because of Kim, it's become kind of a cult following. Whenever Kim comes on, everybody goes crazy. That's the funny part. That's probably the quirkiest part.

People kept saying, "Give me more. Give me more, I want to see more."

Peter’s pirated Pyongyang propaganda. A window into what the North Korean state wants its people to see and believe.