All 4 Graded Readings

Chinese women spend $30 million on virtual boyfriends

PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)

Dating App - Level 0

Young Chinese women are spending $30 million a month on a dating app called Love and Producer. The app has virtual boyfriends, not real men. Users buy "Purple Diamonds" from the app. They spend these in the app to go on dates and on their relationships. It makes the most money on Apple's China App Store.

The app has two million daily users. Most users are women in their early 20s. They love the romance. A student said she loved it because: "It's like a romantic novel with...voices. It's more real than reading a novel." Another young woman said: "I don't have a boyfriend, so I'm happy to have [virtual boyfriends]".

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Dating App - Level 1

A dating app in China is popular with young women. They spend $30 million a month on it. It is a little different because the men on the app aren't real men. They are virtual boyfriends. Users buy "Purple Diamonds" from the app. They spend these in the app to go on dates and keep their relationships going. The app is called Love and Producer. It now makes the most money on Apple's China App Store.

The app has two million daily active users. Most users are women in their early 20s. They love the romance and fun. A 19-year-old student explained why she liked the app: "It's like a romantic novel with...voices. It's more real than reading a novel." She loved the "delicate drawings". Another young woman said: "I don't have a boyfriend, so I'm happy to have a relationship with a "paper partner". She liked getting messages from her virtual boyfriends.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Dating App - Level 2

Slowest

A dating app in China is very popular with women. They are spending $30 million a month on it. It is a little different from usual dating apps because the four single men on the app are virtual boyfriends. Users role-play dating the virtual guys. They buy "Purple Diamonds" from the app and spend them in the app to go on dates and keep their relationships going. The app is called Love and Producer. It is now the biggest money earner on Apple's China App Store. Players spent over 200 million Chinese Yuan ($30 million) on the app last month.

A research company said the app has over two million daily active users. Most of these are women in their early 20s. They love the idea of romance and fun. A 19-year-old university student explained why she liked the app: "It's like a romantic novel with fascinating voices. It's more real than reading a novel." She loved the "delicate drawings" and the "great voices". Another young woman said: "I don't have a boyfriend, so I'm happy to have a relationship with a "paper partner". She also liked getting e-mail and chat messages from her virtual boyfriends.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Dating App - Level 3

A new dating app in China is very popular with women. It is so popular that Chinese women are spending over $30 million a month on it. It is a little different from the usual dating app because the boyfriends are not real. There are just four single men on the app and they are all virtual boyfriends. Women have to role-play dating the four boyfriends. They have to use real money to buy "Purple Diamonds" from the app. They then spend their Purple Diamonds in the app to go on dates and keep their relationships going. The app is called Love and Producer. It is currently the biggest money earner on Apple's App Store in China. Players spent over 200 million Chinese Yuan ($30 million) on playing it last month.

A market research company said the app has more than two million daily active users. The vast majority of these are women in their early 20s. The company said users love the idea of romance and fun. A 19-year-old student at Wuhan University explained why she liked the app. She said: "It's like a romantic novel with fascinating voices. It's more real than reading a novel." She said she loved the app's "delicate drawings," as well as the "great voices" of the four male characters. Another young Chinese woman said: "I don't have a boyfriend, so I'm happy to have a relationship with a "paper partner". She also liked getting e-mail and chat messages from her virtual boyfriends.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson



MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

This useful resource has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for …

  • warm-ups
  • pre-reading and listening
  • while-reading and listening
  • post-reading and listening
  • using headlines
  • working with words
  • moving from text to speech
  • role plays,
  • task-based activities
  • discussions and debates
and a whole lot more.


More Listening

Online Activities

Help Support This Web Site

  • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You