Pratique du Shadowing: What is the Uffington white horse? - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

The Huffington White Horse is one of the most incredible prehistoric sites in the world.

It's 3,000 years old.

Part of its mystery is, of course, its meaning and its purpose.

Why would this horse be carved into the side of this hill?

The answer may lie in its location.

This stretch of the Ridgeway marked the boundary between three Iron Age tribes.

Each tribe minted its own coins, and archaeologists can trace their approximate territories by mapping where these coins have been found.

So the White Horse may have been a meeting place for these three tribes, or perhaps it was made as a warning sign by one of the tribes to ward off their neighbours.

Below the White Horse is Dragon Hill, a naturally occurring hill that was flattened for ceremony several hundred years after the White Horse was first carved.

According to local folklore, it marked the site where St. George slayed the dragon.

The patch of ground here marks the spot where the dragon's blood spilt onto the earth, poisoning it forever.

This old story led to a more modern belief that the white horse was actually not a horse at all, but a dragon.

This, however, can't be the case.

We know from Iron Age coins and artefacts that horses were prevalent in Iron Age art.

However, we don't have any depictions of dragons.

We don't even know if dragons existed in the mythology of these tribes.

If it was a dragon, it would be the first and only depiction of a dragon that we have from this era, whereas horses are everywhere.

Some say the horse is a representation of the goddess Epona, but that's likely to be too early.

Epona doesn't seem to arrive in Britain until after the Roman invasion.

Horses were being used in battle for the first time during the Iron Age.

Carving one onto a hillside would show your neighbours you had horses and you weren't afraid to use them.

To further add to this theory, there is a hill fort above the White Horse which did have significant defences.

There haven't been any fines to suggest there was military action that took place here, but perhaps the fort was deterrent enough.

But beyond a show of power, the horse could have had a spiritual significance.

It's built just below some burial mounds and some have theorised that the horse represents death and rebirth.

We can't overlook the fact that the horse is viewed best from above.

Could it have been carved for the pleasure of some celestial being?

We can't say for sure but it is tantalising.

One of the most amazing things about this horse is how it survived all of this time.

As you can see the lines on the carving are incredibly thin.

It would only take 30 years for the grass to grow over it and it would be covered forever.

Every seven years or so the horse would be re-chalked.

It's a custom that was well established by the 18th century and we know this from a newspaper article.

It's called the scouring of the white horse.

It was a festival with cheese rolling, wrestling, drinking and music.

There's no source that tells us how the horse was maintained for 3,000 years.

We only know it from recent history really.

But in local folklore it's believed that

if the horse is ever allowed to fade away

that the land would suffer and the spirits of the hill would grow restless.

I think this story might have played an important part in the horse being cared for

and looked after after all these years.

It's living proof of how folk tales bring people together.

It's survived countless religious changes, the Roman invasion, the Norman invasion, plagues, wars.

No matter what, people came together to preserve the horse.

Its meaning and original purpose lost, but its significance has never been forgotten.

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Vocabulaire et conseils d’expression pour cette leçon

Cette vidéo contient 46 phrases et 654 mots à répéter en shadowing. La partie parlée dure 3:23. Le locuteur parle vite, environ 193 mots par minute : attendez-vous à des liaisons et à des sons réduits. Seuls 80 % des mots font partie des 3 000 mots les plus courants en anglais, le vocabulaire est donc exigeant.

Vocabulaire clé de cette vidéo

15 mots moins courants de la vidéo, avec leur prononciation et leur sens :

dragon /ˈdɹæɡən/ (nom) — dragon. In European mythologies, a gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a lizard-like body, often a…
invasion /ɪnˈveɪʒən/ (nom) — invasion. A military action consisting of a large armed force of one geopolitical entity entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the…
coin /ˈkoɪ̯n/ (nom) — pièce de monnaie, jeton. A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle.
fort /fɔɹt/ (nom) — fort. A fortified defensive structure stationed with troops.
significance /sɪɡˈnɪfɪkəns/ (nom) — importance, signification. The extent to which something matters; importance
neighbour /ˈneɪbɚ/ (nom) — voisin, voisine. A person living on adjacent or nearby land; a person situated adjacently or nearby; anything (of the same type of thing as the subject) in an adjacent or…
carving /ˈkɑɹvɪŋ/ (nom) — sculpture de bois, gravure. A carved object.
naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ (adverbe) — naturellement. In a natural manner.
occur /əˈkɜː/ (verbe) — se produire, avoir lieu. To happen or take place.
thin /ˈθɪn/ (adjectif) — mince. Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
belief /bɪˈliːf/ (nom) — croyance. Mental acceptance of a claim as true.
establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/ (verbe) — affermir, instaurer. To make stable or firm; to confirm.
mystery /ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/ (nom) — mystère. Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown.
suffer /ˈsʌfɚ/ (verbe) — souffrir. To undergo hardship.
custom /ˈkʌstəm/ (nom) — coutume. Frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving.

Les verbes à particule que vous entendrez

care for (verbe) — soigner. To attend to the needs of, especially in the manner of a nurse or personal aide.
look after (verbe) — s'occuper de, garder. To follow with the eyes; to look in the direction of (someone or something departing).

Prononciation à surveiller

Le locuteur utilise 8 contractions et formes réduites, comme can't, don't, doesn't. Prononcez-les sous leur forme courte, telles que vous les entendez.

Les sons « th »: thin /ˈθɪn/, mythology /mɪˈθɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, rebirth /ɹiːˈbɜːθ/
Les sons « sh » et « zh »: invasion /ɪnˈveɪʒən/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, representation /ˌɹɛp.ɹə.zɛnˈteɪ.ʃən/, depiction /dɪˈpɪkʃən/
Mots longs — placez bien l’accent: significance /sɪɡˈnɪfɪkəns/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, ceremony /ˈsɛɹ.əˌmoʊ.ni/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/, representation /ˌɹɛp.ɹə.zɛnˈteɪ.ʃən/

Comment s’entraîner avec cette vidéo

Écoutez la vidéo en entier une fois sans parler et notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas.
Commencez à la vitesse 0,75×, répétez phrase par phrase, puis revenez à la vitesse normale quand cela devient facile.
Enregistrez-vous et comparez avec l’original, en faisant attention à des mots comme dragon, invasion, coin.

La grammaire de cette vidéo

Les structures que le locuteur utilise le plus, avec les mots exacts de la vidéo :

Structure	Dans la vidéo
Voix passive be + participe passé — l’accent est mis sur ce qui arrive, pas sur qui le fait	be carved · have been found · was made
Present perfect have/has + participe passé — une action passée qui compte encore maintenant	have been found · haven't been · have theorised

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

Technique du shadowing : lire le guide complet étape par étape →

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