The Octo-Blu project releases farmed octopuses to control invasive blue crabs in Emilia-Romagna

Blue Crabs Rode Ballast Water to Italy and Ate the Clams. So They Released 80,000 Baby Octopuses — Which May Not Go Where the Crabs Are.

HSK 3-4 level · 3:51

• 海 (hǎi) — sea
• 船 (chuán) — ship
• 住 (zhù) — to live, to dwell
• 动物 (dòngwù) — animal
• 蓝蟹 (lánxiè) — blue crab
• 压舱水 (yācāngshuǐ) — ballast water
• 撬 (qiào) — to pry open, to lever
• 潟湖 (xìhú) — lagoon

• 不是……，是…… — Corrects the assumed agent: not X, but Y.
• 也就是说 — Which is to say — restates a conclusion plainly.
• 恰恰 — Precisely, exactly — often with an ironic edge.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

LinkedIn's AI-slop report button passed a million clicks; AI-slop views fell 40%

LinkedIn Added a "Seems Like AI Slop" Button. It Was Clicked a Million Times in Three Weeks.

HSK 3-4 level · 2:04

• 读 (dú) — to read
• 句 (jù) — measure word for sentences
• 条 (tiáo) — measure word for posts and messages
• 觉得 (juéde) — to feel, to reckon
• 按钮 (ànniǔ) — a button
• 举报 (jǔbào) — to report
• 生成 (shēngchéng) — to generate
• 味道 (wèidào) — flavour

• 各自……，各自……，各自…… — Each one separately did X, Y, Z — stresses that it happened independently.
• 读着读着 — Reduplicated verb + 着: while going on doing something, gradually something happens.
• 等于 — Amounts to, is equivalent to.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

The Daily Mail covertly photographed and published images of a woman it wrongly identified as Meg White

The Daily Mail Said It Found Meg White After 17 Years and Ran a Dozen Photos. The Woman in Them Wasn’t Her.

HSK 3-4 level · 3:20

• 记者 (jìzhě) — a reporter
• 问题 (wèntí) — a question; a problem
• 篇 (piān) — measure word for articles
• 认识 (rènshi) — to know (a person)
• 道歉 (dàoqiàn) — to apologise
• 隐居 (yǐnjū) — to live in seclusion
• 偷拍 (tōupāi) — to photograph covertly
• 更正 (gēngzhèng) — a correction (in a publication)

• 让……变成……的，是…… — Names the thing that changed something into something else.
• 不在于……，在于…… — The point is not X, it is Y — used to relocate the real issue.
• 当面 — To someone’s face, in person.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

A wave of objects thrown onto WNBA courts, claimed by a crypto company, injured children; Angel Reese identified a thrower

People Threw Sex Toys Onto WNBA Courts for a Crypto Stunt. The Ones Who Got Hit Were Children.

HSK 3-4 level · 2:09

• 手 (shǒu) — hand
• 岁 (suì) — years of age
• 场 (chǎng) — a court, a venue
• 扔 (rēng) — to throw
• 观众 (guānzhòng) — spectators, audience
• 笑话 (xiàohuà) — a joke
• 虚拟币 (xūnǐbì) — crypto-currency
• 侄女 (zhínǚ) — niece (brother’s daughter)

• 当……，当……，当…… — Stacks three conditions to build to a conclusion.
• ……的时候，是…… — States what something is while a condition holds, implying it stops being that later.
• 用……结束了 — Ended something by means of X.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Radio-Canada found grocery-shelf maple syrup was at least 50% cane sugar; four grocery chains added to the class action

Quebec Maple Syrup Was Cut With Cane Sugar. The Agriculture Ministry Tested It Once and Found Nothing.

HSK 3-4 level · 4:23

• 超市 (chāoshì) — supermarket
• 骄傲 (jiāo'ào) — pride; proud
• 一样 (yíyàng) — the same
• 东西 (dōngxi) — thing, stuff
• 掺 (chān) — to mix in, to adulterate
• 举报 (jǔbào) — to report (wrongdoing to authorities)
• 同位素 (tóngwèisù) — isotope
• 门槛 (ménkǎn) — a threshold

• 不是……，是…… — Redirects from the expected point to the real one.
• 也就是说 — Which is to say — restates the point in plainer terms.
• 一……，就…… — As soon as X, then Y.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Shenzhen court sentences Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan to life imprisonment for financial fraud

Evergrande’s Founder Got Life. The Company Left 1.62 Million Unfinished Apartments — 700,000 Are Still Empty.

HSK 3-4 level · 2:05

• 楼 (lóu) — a building, a storey
• 相信 (xiāngxìn) — to believe, to trust
• 办法 (bànfǎ) — a method, a way of doing things
• 家 (jiā) — family; a measure word for firms
• 期房 (qīfáng) — an off-plan property
• 虚增 (xūzēng) — to inflate (figures) falsely
• 隐瞒 (yǐnmán) — to conceal
• 房贷 (fángdài) — a mortgage

• 只靠一件事：…… — Reduces something to its single load-bearing condition.
• 一……就…… — As soon as X, then Y.
• 能……，判不出…… — Contrasts what a power can and cannot do.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

A Swiss tourist was sentenced to a year in prison for defying and mocking Bali's Nyepi Day of Silence

Bali Shuts Down Completely for Its Day of Silence. A Swiss Tourist Walked Out, Filmed It, and Got a Year in Prison.

HSK 3-4 level · 4:27

• 安静 (ānjìng) — quiet
• 世界 (shìjiè) — the world
• 一边 (yìbiān) — one side; while doing
• 飞机 (fēijī) — aeroplane
• 道歉 (dàoqiàn) — to apologise
• 照做 (zhàozuò) — to comply, to do as told
• 要紧 (yàojǐn) — important, what matters
• 理解 (lǐjiě) — to understand

• 不分 A 和 B — Makes no distinction between A and B.
• 一边……一边…… — Doing two things at the same time.
• 到底……？ — Adds pressure to a question: "so, in the end …?"

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Ancient DNA analysis of leaf-wrapped grain packages in two Chu tombs pushes zongzi back 2,300 years

Archaeologists Pulled 2,300-Year-Old Zongzi Out of Two Chu Tombs. One Batch Vegetarian, One With Meat.

HSK 3-4 level · 4:14

• 研究 (yánjiū) — research; to study
• 一样 (yíyàng) — the same
• 第一 (dì-yī) — first
• 整齐 (zhěngqí) — neat, in orderly rows
• 直接 (zhíjiē) — directly
• 完全 (wánquán) — completely, entirely
• 说明 (shuōmíng) — to show, to indicate
• 考古 (kǎogǔ) — archaeology

• 第一步是……，第二步是…… — Walks through a process in numbered stages — useful for any explanation.
• 不是……，是…… — Not X, but Y — corrects the expected reading.
• 把 A 和 B 放在一起 — Put A and B side by side — used for comparison.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

The Odyssey is the first feature shot entirely on IMAX film, using the new Keighley camera

Nolan Shot All of The Odyssey on IMAX Film. The New Camera Is Named After a Couple Who Gave IMAX 53 Years.

HSK 3-4 level · 2:12

• 电影 (diànyǐng) — film, movie
• 名字 (míngzi) — name
• 丈夫 (zhàngfu) — husband
• 颜色 (yánsè) — colour
• 把关 (bǎguān) — to be the gatekeeper, to vet
• 毛病 (máobìng) — a fault, a defect
• 形容 (xíngróng) — to describe, to liken
• 判断 (pànduàn) — to judge, to determine

• 不是……，是…… — Not X, but Y — corrects the expected answer.
• 一……就…… — As soon as X, then Y. Two actions in immediate sequence.
• 直到…… — Until — marks the point at which a long-running state ends.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →

Jason Kelce's Garage Beer / Liquid Death ad campaign about AI data centre water consumption

Jason Kelce Is Asking Fans to Send Their Pee to AI Data Centers. What He Actually Wants to Talk About Is Water.

HSK 3-4 level · 4:20

• 水 (shuǐ) — water
• 热 (rè) — heat
• 楼 (lóu) — a building
• 便宜 (piányi) — cheap
• 躲不开 (duǒ bu kāi) — cannot be dodged
• 温度 (wēndù) — temperature
• 关键 (guānjiàn) — the key point, crucial
• 干净 (gānjìng) — clean

• 这就是为什么…… — This is why … — points back at the reason just given.
• 第一，……第二，…… — Enumerates reasons or problems in order.
• 其实只……了一件事 — In fact did only one thing — used to strip something down to its real effect.

Get more from this episode at fluentide.com:

• Read the full interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin + definition
• Toggle pinyin on/off above the Chinese text
• See the complete English translation side-by-side
• Save vocabulary to your personal word bank

Open this episode on Fluentide →