シャドーイング練習: mpxwlItsDA8 - YouTubeで英語スピーキングを学ぶ
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Hello. This is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Beth.
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Hello. This is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Beth.
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"Plastic is fantastic." This phrase was used a lot in the 1950s when mass-produced plastic items started to become part of our everyday lives.
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The following decades saw a revolution as plastic became the most commonly used material in modern life, found in everything from cars to furniture to packaging.
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Take a quick look around and you'll soon see how many everyday items contain plastic.
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But now our love of plastic is being questioned, mostly thanks to climate change and pollution caused by single use plastics – plastic products which are designed to be used just once before being thrown away. 11 million tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into our oceans every year.
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It's believed that single-use plastics make up 40% of all plastic pollution globally. What's more, it's not just land and water being polluted - tiny plastic pieces known as microbeads have even been found inside the human body and can be passed from mother to child through breast milk. And because plastic comes from fossil fuels, the process of making it creates problems at every stage, from burning coal, to transportation, to recycling. In this programme, we'll be asking: is it time to live without plastic? And, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
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But first I have a question for you, Beth.
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One reason why plastic became so popular is that it's a very flexible material.
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It can be formed into different shapes, making it useful for keeping food fresh, or holding liquid.
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Originally, plastic was invented to replace the decreasing supply of natural materials like metal, wood and glass. So which items did plastic first replace? Was it:
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a. snooker balls b. shopping bags or c. hairbrushes?
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Hmm, I guess the first thing to be made of plastic was a hairbrush.
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OK, Beth, I'll reveal the answer later in the programme.
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Dr Sherri Mason is Professor of Chemistry at Penn State University in the US, and a specialist in plastic pollution.
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Her award-winning 2017 research into microplastics in rivers led to the US Congress banning microbeads. Here, she explains the problem of plastics to BBC World Service Programme, The Real Story.
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Plastic is synthetic and, as a consequence of that, nature doesn't really know what to do with it.
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Like, a paper bag that's sitting on the side of the road – it's unsightly, but within weeks there are organisms in the soil they can use that paper bag as a food source, right...
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They have evolved to basically chew up that paper bag and turn it back into soil, turn it back into carbon and nitrogen and oxygen.
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But with regard to plastic, because it is a synthetic material, you don't have that evolution.
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There are some organisms that can use it as a food source, but they're few and far between, especially when you're talking about water systems, aquatic systems and the temperatures that exist, and so they can't really use it as a food source so plastic doesn't biodegrade...
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Plastic is a synthetic material, meaning that it's made by combining manmade chemicals, instead of existing naturally.
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Natural materials like paper decay and harmlessly turn back into soil – they biodegrade. But plastic is not like this.
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It doesn't decay and get broken down by microbes and bacteria.
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In fact, some plastic-eating microbes and bacteria do exist, but these are few and far between, they're rare – they don't happen very often. It is the fact that plastic doesn't decay which is responsible for the waste we see in the environment. Waste which is often unsightly, meaning ugly and unpleasant to look at. Fortunately, help is at hand.
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The plastic-eating microbes Neil mentioned, especially one called Rhodococcus ruber, have been tested by scientists and seemed capable of breaking down plastic into its basic components.
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What's also needed is an emphasis on reducing plastic production, especially packaging and other single-use products, rather than simply recycling. Action like this should help plastic achieve its original purpose – to help preserve, not pollute, our natural resources. And speaking of the origins of plastic, isn't it time to reveal the answer to your question, Neil?
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Right. I asked you which object made of natural materials was the first to be replaced by plastic?
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You said it was a hairbrush which was... the wrong answer, I'm afraid Beth.
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In fact, the first plastic-moulding machine was used in 1872 to produce snooker balls.
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OK, let's recap the vocabulary we have learned from this programme, starting with single-use plastics – plastic products which are designed to be used just once, before being thrown away.
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Microbeads are tiny plastic particles found in products like toothpastes and body scrubs, which can enter and pollute rivers, seas and the human body.
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The adjective synthetic describes a non-natural material made by combining chemicals.
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To biodegrade means to decay naturally in a way that is not harmful to the environment. The phrase few and far between means very rare or not happening very often.
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And finally, if something is described as unsightly, it's ugly and unpleasant to look at. Once again our six minutes are up.
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Join us next time for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at Six Minute English. Goodbye for now.
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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、BBC Learning Englishの「Six Minute English」を題材に、現代社会が直面する重要な環境問題の一つであるプラスチック汚染に焦点を当てます。プラスチックが私たちの生活にどのように普及し、なぜ環境にとって問題なのか、そしてその解決策について深く掘り下げて学びます。
動画では、使い捨てプラスチック、マイクロビーズといった具体的な問題提起から、合成素材としてのプラスチックの特性、そして未来に向けた解決策（生分解性プラスチックや微生物の利用、生産削減）までが議論されます。専門家による解説を通じて、環境問題に関する専門的な英語スピーキング練習の機会を提供します。
この動画を通して、環境問題に関する議論で使える重要な語彙を習得し、説明や意見を述べる文脈での表現力を高めることができます。ニュースやドキュメンタリーを理解し、自分の考えを英語で的確に伝えるための英語の流暢さ向上に繋がるでしょう。
重要な語彙とフレーズ
- single-use plastics (使い捨てプラスチック): 一度使ったらすぐに捨てるように設計されたプラスチック製品。
- microbeads (マイクロビーズ): 歯磨き粉やボディスクラブなどに含まれる非常に小さなプラスチック粒子で、環境汚染の原因となる。
- synthetic (合成の): 自然界には存在せず、人工的に化学物質を組み合わせて作られた素材を表す形容詞。
- biodegrade (生分解する): 環境に害を与えることなく、自然のプロセスによって分解されること。
- few and far between (めったにない、非常にまれな): 起こることが非常に少ない、または見つけるのが非常に難しい状況を表すフレーズ。
- unsightly (見苦しい、醜い): 見た目が悪く、不快感を与える様子を表す形容詞。
この動画の練習のコツ
この動画は、環境問題という現代的で重要なトピックを扱っており、IELTS対策やディスカッション能力の向上を目指す方に特におすすめです。ナレーターの英語はBBC Learning Englishらしく、非常に明瞭で聞き取りやすいですが、議論が進むにつれて話速は中程度からやや速くなる部分もあります。主にイギリス英語のアクセントが特徴的です。
シャドーイングを行う際は、以下の点に注目して練習しましょう。
- まず、トランスクリプトを読みながら内容全体を理解し、知らない語彙や表現を調べましょう。
- 次に、ナレーターのイントネーションやリズム、特に質問や説明の際にどのように声のトーンが変化するかに注意して聞き込みます。
- 専門用語が多いため、それらの単語を正確に発音練習することが重要です。「plastic」や「synthetic」、「biodegrade」といった単語の母音や子音の音に意識を向けましょう。
- 話速が上がる部分では、無理に追いつこうとせず、まずはゆっくりと正確に発音することを心がけ、徐々にスピードを上げていきましょう。これにより、英語の流暢さだけでなく、難しいトピックに対する理解度も深まります。
- 専門家による説明部分では、情報を順序立てて伝える練習として、話の構成にも注目すると、より効果的な英語スピーキング練習になります。
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。