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The Lure of Being Smuggled Abroad

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IN THIS LESSON
ID: 2546 Upper Intermediate
Today’s lesson is a discussion about people smuggling in a Chinese village in Fujian, its effects on both the migrants who struggle in their new life in the West and the people, particularly children, that are left behind.
Mon Oct 06 2014 | Jenny, David
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SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
偷渡 tōudù people smuggling, to stow away, to border hop
悠久 yōujiǔ established
纷纷 fēnfēn one after the other
华侨 huáqiáo overseas Chinese
你听说过福建有个“偷渡村”吗？那里有很悠久的移民史，从60年代以后，那里有很多人纷纷偷渡去美国打工，所以那个地区的华侨数量多得惊人。
nǐ tīngshuō guò fújiàn yǒu gè “tōudù cūn ”ma ？nàlǐ yǒu hěn yōujiǔ de yímínshǐ ，cóng liùshí niándài yǐhòu ，nàlǐ yǒu hěnduō rén fēnfēn tōudù qù měiguó dǎgōng ，suǒyǐ nàge dìqū de huáqiáo shùliàng duō de jīngrén 。
Do you know that Fujian has a whole village dedicated to people smuggling? There is a long history of emigration from the village, as from the 1960s onwards, batch after batch of people have been smuggled to America to work, resulting in a shocking number of people there who hold American passports.
为什么要偷渡啊？多危险啊，保不准就在途中命丧黄泉了。
wèishénme yào tōudù a ？duō wēixiǎn a ，bǎobùzhǔn jiù zài túzhōng mìngsànghuángquán le 。
Why do people want to stow away? It’s pretty dangerous and unless you’re careful, you’ll go to Davy Jones’ locker on the way.
嗯，很多偷渡者都有很坎坷的经历，一些人被警察逮住，一些人在多地辗转，也有很多人因偷渡而丧命。而偷渡成功的，一般也要过二三十年才能获得绿卡。不过，他们这么做都是为了生计啊。
ng4 ，hěnduō tōudùzhě dōu yǒu hěn kǎnkě de jīnglì ，yīxiē rén bèi jǐngchá dǎizhù ，yīxiē rén zài duō dì zhǎnzhuǎn ，yě yǒu hěnduō rén yīn tōudù ér sàngmìng 。ér tōudù chénggōng de ，yībān yě yào guò èrsānshí nián cáinéng huòdé lǜkǎ 。bùguò ，tāmen zhème zuò dōu shì wèile shēngjì a 。
Yeah, people who get smuggled usually have quite a bumpy ride, some are arrested by police, some get passed through a string of different places, and lots of them lose their lives. And those who arrive at their destination without a hitch have to wait 20-30 years before they can get a green card. But they do all this for the chance of a better life.
想想也是，其实和外地人去大城市打工是一个初衷，只是那些人是通过偷渡去“洋打工”了。
xiǎngxiang yěshì ，qíshí hé wàidìrén qù dàchéngshì dǎgōng shì yī gè chūzhōng ，zhǐshì nàxiē rén shì tōngguò tōudù qù “yángdǎgōng ”le 。
Thinking about it, you’re right, it’s like the aspirations migrant workers have when they take jobs in cities away from home, it’s just that these people have to be smuggled into the West to work.
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