Shadowing Practice: Soft power in the digital age | Vietnam Today - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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What shapes a country's image today?
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What shapes a country's image today?
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Not just governments, not just diplomacy.
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Nowadays, increasingly, it is the Internet.
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Digital platforms are now changing how countries build influence and governments are now adapting to a new reality.
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Soft power doesn't always come from official campaigns but from what people choose to watch online.
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Soft power is the ability to influence through attraction rather than coercion.
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a concept coined by political scientist Joseph Nye.
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Traditionally, it came from culture,
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political values and foreign policy.
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But social media has changed how countries are perceived.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian incidents surged.
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A few years later, a different trend went viral.
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Known as Chinamaxing or becoming Chinese,
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the trend sees foreign creators adopt the Chinese language, habits and lifestyles.
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The phrase becoming Chinese has become a popular buzzword,
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reflecting foreigners' desire to experience life in China.
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Recent surveys suggest younger generations in many Western countries view China more positively than older groups,
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showing how digital content can rapidly reshape perceptions.
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In Thailand, a baby hippo became part of the country's soft power strategy.
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Mu Dang gained hundreds of millions of views,
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boosting tourism before being named a cultural ambassador.
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So in this new landscape, where does Vietnam stand?
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Speaking of the digital, the rise of digital soft power is also reshaping how Vietnam presents itself to the world.
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This influence is now coming from a combination of official outreach and organic content spreading online.
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Now let's take a closer look on that.
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Videos about farming, rural life and everyday routines in Vietnam are attracting millions of views on TikTok and Instagram.
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This is how Vietnamese kids spend their days in Vietnam.
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They are also encouraging tourists looking to experience a more authentic side of Vietnam to visit the country.
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We've been preparing the traditional cake, which we enjoy now.
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You can see everybody's enjoying it.
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I wanted to see the real traditional,
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how it looks, how it was in the past,
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and how the real people live,
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not only the very commercial and traditional places.
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Vietnamese cuisine is also gaining global attention.
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From Banh Nguy to Cà Phê Sữa Đá,
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short-form videos are spreading Vietnamese culture worldwide.
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In January 2026, Vietnam issued Resolution No. 80 to expand the country's cultural presence and build a distinct national brand.
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A digital transformation project for the cultural sector through 2030 was also approved recently to strengthen global cultural identity.
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As digital platforms increasingly shape national image,
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the challenge is no longer just gaining attention online,
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but turning it into lasting influence As more influence shifts toward the digital realm,
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governments are also trying to understand how to leverage this space effectively And to explore this issue further,
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our reporter spoke with the veteran diplomatic Ton Ngu Thị Ninh,
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former vice chair of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee and founder of the Ho Chi Minh City's Peace and Development Foundation,
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which recently organized the Vietnam Moment 2025 forum on Vietnamese soft power,
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focusing on the country's advantages, challenges and future prospects.
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Let's take a look.
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Thank you very much for joining our talk today.
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And do you think that social media influencers are sort of becoming informal diplomats in shaping their national image?
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I would rather say that they are national image builders.
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Conscious or unconscious?
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Positive or negative?
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The question is, can we make proactive and positive use of them to project national diplomacy?
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I think we would have to be very selective.
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So speaking of being proactive,
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do you think Vietnam should proactively try to create viral content?
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Or should we let trends develop naturally?
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I think it should be the both.
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The state has to adopt the soft touch.
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It should have the ability to identify promising talent
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and then provide the enabling conditions so that that person arises in her or his own field.
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So that's the best way.
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So I think we should be open to various formats.
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I think the most decisive factor is identifying talent and promise.
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So do you think that content about rural life
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or everyday life in vietnam is a long-term approach it's not because we we develop and show content about
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rural life in Vietnam that we don't show other aspects of Vietnamese life.
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But I personally, at least myself,
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I really understand why and I support why showing moments of aspects of rural life in Vietnam is so popular.
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People look for authenticity.
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When you move into a city,
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It's so vibrant, but you know,
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you don't know exactly where to put your finger on authenticity because there's so much sophistication, commercialization around.
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So when you move into the Vietnamese countryside today,
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the Vietnamese rural landscape is still,
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you know, virgin enough to be really attractive and to really send a message that the Vietnamese people are very communal.
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The village is something that is still close to the hearts of many, many Vietnamese.
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As long as we can keep that authenticity, we should show it.
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I believe that we have the wares,
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the assets to make a convincing self-power story.
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I think we're starting.
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We're starting on our way there.
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I think personally, Vietnam will need to find its own identity.
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So once again, thank you very much for joining our talk.
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My pleasure.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

This video on soft power in the digital age presents a rich context for English speaking practice. With its focus on how countries like Vietnam are viewed through digital content, it encourages learners to explore contemporary topics relevant to global discussions. Engaging with this content can boost speaking fluency in both informal conversations and formal discussions.

By practicing with this video, you can enhance your understanding of cultural globalization while improving your English speaking skills. The conversational style and varied vocabulary encourage the use of the shadowing technique, where you repeat what you hear simultaneously, allowing for effective intonation and rhythm practice. This method not only improves pronunciation but also helps learners internalize common phrases and expressions used in everyday English.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

The speaker employs several key structures worth noting:

  • Passive voice: Structures like "is reshaping" and "is influenced" illustrate the importance of passive constructions, allowing learners to express actions without focusing on the doer.
  • Present continuous tense: Phrases such as "are changing" and "are attracting" highlight ongoing actions, which are useful for discussing current trends and developments.
  • Tag questions: The speaker may use tag questions like "isn't it?" to engage listeners and encourage interaction, a useful technique for conversational fluency.
  • Gerunds and infinitives: Expressions like "encouraging tourists" and "to experience" demonstrate the versatility of verbs in different forms, enhancing vocabulary.

Incorporating these structures into your own speech can improve your overall grammatical accuracy and expressiveness, greatly benefiting your English speaking practice.

Common Pronunciation Traps

While engaging with the video, pay close attention to the following pronunciation intricacies:

  • Vietnamese names: Words like “Vietnam” and “Mu Dang” may pose pronunciation challenges due to unfamiliar syllables. Practice these names to become comfortable with their sounds.
  • Word stress: Terms such as “influence” and “attraction” have specific syllable stresses that can change their meaning if pronounced incorrectly.
  • Linking sounds: In phrases like “social media is” and “cultural presence”, notice how the sounds blend together, a common feature in fluent English speech.

Applying the shadowing technique with the video will help you navigate these pronunciation traps and reinforce your learning. By mimicking the speaker, you can enhance your articulation and improve your overall confidence in speaking English.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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