シャドーイング練習: Japan bans baby names like Pikachu and Kitty: BBC Learning English from the News - YouTubeで英語スピーキングを学ぶ
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From BBC Learning English, this is Learning English from the News,
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From BBC Learning English, this is Learning English from the News,
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our podcast about the news headlines.
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In this programme, Japan changes law to stop baby names like Pikachu and Kitty.
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Hello, I'm Neil.
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And I'm Beth.
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In this programme, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.
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You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
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So let's hear more about this story.
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So, Japan has changed the law to stop people naming their babies things like Pikachu and Kitty.
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New rules have come in on the pronunciation of kanji.
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Those are the Chinese characters used as one of the three forms of Japanese writing.
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The change is designed to prevent unofficial pronunciations of the kanji characters.
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In recent times, these unusual interpretations of the characters have allowed people to call their kids' names seen as strange
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or silly by the authorities.
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And our first headline is about this.
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It's from The Guardian in the UK.
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Japan introduces rules to put outlandish baby names to bed.
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And that headline again from The Guardian,
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Japan introduces rules to put outlandish baby names to bed.
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First of all, the word outlandish.
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Now that describes something strange or unusual,
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such as calling your child Pikachu.
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But we're interested in this expression, put something to bed.
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Because we're talking about babies,
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Beth, I can sense that this is some kind of joke.
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OK, but hang on before we get to the joke.
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So, let's start with the meaning.
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If you say that you have put something to bed,
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you mean you've dealt with a difficult situation successfully.
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So, for example,
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I had a bit of a disagreement with one of my neighbours about where they leave their rubbish bins for collection.
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But we got together and discussed it and we put it to bed.
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Ah, OK.
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So you successfully dealt with the issue and now it's not a problem.
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Well, that's good, Neil, because you don't want to be fighting with your neighbours.
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Exactly.
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So, Beth, can you work out why in this headline and with this story,
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the expression put something to bed is a bit of a joke?
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Yes, it's a joke because we're talking about a dispute here between the Japanese authorities
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and people who give their kids outlandish names.
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And the dispute has been put to bed, resolved through new laws.
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And the story is about babies.
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Yes, and babies sleep a lot and need,
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literally, to be put to bed.
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Exactly.
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OK, Neil, let's put this section to bed and get a recap of the vocabulary.
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We've had put something to bed – deal with a problem successfully.
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For example, the company put to bed threats of strikes by offering workers a big pay rise.
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This is Learning English from the News,
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our podcast about the news headlines.
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Today we're talking about a new law in Japan designed to stop people giving their babies unusual names, like Pikachu.
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In recent times, parents in Japan have been choosing names for their babies,
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which have been seen as more individual and creative than traditional names.
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The new law aims to prevent that.
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The names are described in Japanese language as kirakira,
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which means shiny or glittery.
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And it's this idea that we're going to look at in our next headline.
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Our headline from Euro Weekly,
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You can't call your baby that.
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Japan limits the choice of baby names to stop flashy ones.
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And that headline again from Euro Weekly.
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You can't call your baby that.
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Japan limits the choice of baby names to stop flashy ones.
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So the word we're going to discuss is flashy.
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What does flashy mean, Beth?
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OK, well the word flashy is an adjective but it helps to look at the root of this of this word flash.
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Neil, what is a flash?
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Well, a flash is a short moment of bright light,
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like on an old-fashioned camera.
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And Beth, what happens when you see a flash?
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Well, it attracts attention, so you have to look in the direction of the flash to see what just happened.
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That's right.
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So, something that is flashy is something that attracts.
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So, what sort of things can be described as flashy?
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Well, if someone has a very expensive watch or car,
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one that seems to be worn or driven mainly to attract attention,
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we can say that it's flashy.
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We can also describe a person as flashy,
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if they behave or present themselves in a way that makes people look at them.
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And a note, we often shorten flashy to just flash.
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That's a flash watch you're wearing, Beth.
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Oh, well, I thought you'd notice it, Neil.
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Well, I did.
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We've had flashy, which describes something expensive or designed to attract attention.
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For example, the singer arrived at the awards ceremony in a flashy car.
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This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English.
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We're talking about new rules on the pronunciation of Japanese characters,
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which will prevent parents choosing unusual and flashy names for their babies.
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We've been hearing about a current trend in Japan of giving babies unusual names.
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The authorities say it can be hard to know how to pronounce these names
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and can also cause the children embarrassment in later life.
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Our next headline is about official attempts to stop this trend.
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So, let's have our next headline which comes from South China Morning Post.
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Don't do it!
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Japan takes aim at baby names like Nike with new rules on kanji readings.
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That headline again from the South China Morning Post.
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Don't do it!
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Japan takes aim at baby names like Nike,
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with new rules on kanji readings.
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So this headline says that the rules take aim at baby names like Nike.
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And we're looking at the expression take aim at.
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Now if you take aim at something literally,
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you try to hit it,
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either by throwing or kicking something,
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or pointing a weapon at something you want to hit.
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So a football player will take aim at the goal when they're taking a free kick.
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Or a soldier with a gun will take aim at an enemy soldier.
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But here we're talking metaphorically.
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Yes, we are.
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The Japanese authorities are taking aim at this new trend for baby names,
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like Pikachu and Nike.
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They are attacking the trend as if they are aiming a gun at it.
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And we see this expression commonly when talking about official attempts to deal with problems or criticise something seen as bad.
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Yes.
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So, for example, we might hear,
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the government has taken aim at unemployment by offering young people training opportunities.
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We've had take aim at something,
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try to deal with an issue or criticise something.
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So, for example, she took aim at her rival for the job promotion by pointing out all his weaknesses.
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That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.
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We'll be back next week with another news story.
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And don't forget to follow us on social media.
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Just search for BBC Learning English.
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Thanks for joining us and goodbye.
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Goodbye.
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このレッスンについて
このレッスンでは、最近の日本のニュースに基づいて、英語の発音、語彙、そして表現を学びます。「赤ちゃんの名前にピカチュウやキティなどの奇抜な名前をつけないように」という新しい法律が日本で施行されたことを掘り下げながら、英語のスピーキングとシャドーイングの技術を向上させることを目指します。このレッスンでは、リスニング能力と発音の正確さを高めるための具体的な言葉やフレーズも紹介します。
主要な語彙とフレーズ
- outlandish: 奇抜な、異常な
- put something to bed: 問題を解決する、片付ける
- kanji: 漢字、日本語の文字体系の一部
- pronunciation: 発音
- unofficial: 非公式の
- authorities: 当局
- dispute: 論争、対立
- strange: 奇妙な、不思議な
練習のヒント
このビデオは比較的ゆっくりとしたペースで進むため、英語シャドーイングに最適です。ネイティブスピーカーの発音をよく聴き、文のリズムやイントネーションをコピーしてみましょう。特に、「put something to bed」や「outlandish」といった表現の部分で、音の高低や強調を意識することが重要です。
まず、短いフレーズを選び、何度も繰り返し発音してから、少しずつ文全体をシャドーイングしてみてください。この方法は、英語スピーキング練習に非常に効果的です。特に、自然なスピードで会話できるようになるための練習には、shadow speechやshadowspeakのテクニックを応用することが役立ちます。毎日の練習を続けて、自信を持って英語を話せるようになりましょう。
シャドーイングとは？英語上達に効果的な理由
シャドーイング（Shadowing）は、もともとプロの通訳者養成プログラムで開発された言語学習法で、多言語習得者として知られるDr. Alexander Arguelles によって広く普及されました。方法はシンプルですが非常に効果的：ネイティブスピーカーの英語を聞きながら、1〜2秒の遅延で声に出してすぐに繰り返す——まるで「影（shadow）」のように話者を追いかけます。文法ドリルや受動的なリスニングと異なり、シャドーイングは脳と口の筋肉が同時にリアルタイムで英語を処理・再現することを強制します。研究により、発音精度、抑揚、リズム、連音、リスニング力、そして会話の流暢さが大幅に向上することが確認されています。IELTSスピーキング対策や自然な英語コミュニケーションを目指す方に特におすすめです。