シャドーイング練習: RE3 Unit 3A - 動画で英語スピーキングを学ぶ

レッスンを作成中...
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Track 5 Reading 3A Racing to Rescue Koalas It's two in the morning,
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and a koala is caught on a fence, like a prisoner trying to escape.
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A phone rings in the home of Megan Aitken, in a suburb of Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia.
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Aitken runs a volunteer organization devoted to rescuing wild koalas.
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Before she is told the location, she has already thrown her clothes over her pajamas, ready to head out.
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When Aitken arrives on the scene, two other volunteers, Jane Davies and Sandra Peachy, are already there.
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They discover that the koala's fur is caught in the barbed wire.
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Nearby, they notice tall eucalyptus trees.
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He was obviously trying to get to the trees on the other side, Aitken says.
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Aitken puts on heavy gloves.
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Despite their cute appearance, koalas can be ferocious when resisting capture.
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If they feel threatened, they bite, and Aitken has the scars to prove it.
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The volunteers get to work.
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Davies throws a blanket over the animal, while Peachy opens the lid of a cage.
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firmly grasps the koala through the blanket, frees it from the fence, and drops it in the cage.
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Next, they check the animal's physical condition.
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If the koala is sick or injured, it may need to be taken to an animal hospital.
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If the koala is healthy, like this one, it is normally released where it is found.
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Koalas tend to live in a small area and often eat from the same trees over and over.
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Right now, however, Aiken and the rescued koala are in a suburb with almost no trees.
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This is the whole problem, Aiken says.
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There are so few places left for the koala.
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In the end, Aiken takes the animal to a small park nearby and releases him.
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Good luck, little one, she says.
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Koalas at Risk Koalas are getting caught in fences and dying,
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explains Deirdre de Villiers, a koala researcher in Queensland, Australia.
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Others are being killed by dogs or struck by vehicles, she says.
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Some even die simply because a homeowner cut down several eucalyptus trees in his backyard.
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For 15 years, de Villiers has been studying koalas and the reasons for their disappearance.
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She is also working on ways to make suburban areas more koala-friendly.
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De Villiers believes that koalas and humans can live together if certain changes are made.
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She recommends reducing speed limits on streets and creating more green areas for koalas to live in.
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Even more important is the need to preserve eucalyptus trees.
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Even if these changes are made, koalas still have another problem.
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Disease is a huge issue, explains veterinarian John Hanger.
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Hanger says that almost half of Queensland's female koalas are affected by a disease called chlamydiosis.
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Without treatment, the koalas are unable to reproduce.
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Koala populations that used to be vibrant are becoming extinct, says Hanger.
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Once there were millions of koalas in Australia.
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Now, there are believed to be fewer than 80,000.
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A friend to koalas.
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At her home near Brisbane, Deirdre de Villiers is taking care of a female koala named Ruby.
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Ruby still sleeps in the basket hugging her teddy bear, she says.
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She was rescued from the jaws of a dog.
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Every two days, de Villiers collects eucalyptus leaves the koala's primary food from a nearby farm to feed Ruby.
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For 12 years, she has cared for more than 60 koalas.
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Later, Davilias visits a forest near Brisbane to catch TV, a wild female koala.
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Davilias has been following TV for over a year.
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Using special audio equipment, Davilias walks and listens for a signal from the koala's radio collar.
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She eventually finds TV sitting on a tree branch 15 meters high.
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As Davilias climbs up a ladder, TV starts moving down the tree.
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Then suddenly, the koala jumps into the air and lands on the ground.
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She is quickly captured by Davilias' team.
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TV is given medicine to relax her.
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Next, de Villiers measures the length of the koala's body and head.
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She also checks TV's teeth and the condition of her fur.
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I think she has a baby, de Villiers says.
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She carefully opens up the koala's pouch and takes out a 10 cm long baby koala.
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De Villiers examines the baby for any problems.
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Then she puts it back in the mother's pouch.
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As long as there are healthy babies, she says, there's still hope.

この動画で身につくスキル

英語シャドーイングに最適なこの動画では、2つの重要なスピーキングスキルが身につきます。まず、物語を流れるように話すリズムです。救助活動の様子を説明する際の「Before she is told... ready to head out」のような連続した文を自然に発音することで、会話が途切れない感覚が養えます。もう一つは、感情を込めた発音です。「Good luck, little one」のような優しい口調や、問題点を指摘する際の「This is the whole problem」の強調の仕方を学ぶことで、英語での表現力が向上します。

聞き取りに注意すべき音のつながり

ネイティブの発音では、単語がつながって発音されることが多いので、shadowing siteで練習する際は特に注意しましょう。例えば、「thrown her clothes」は「スローン・ハー・クロウズ」ではなく「スローンナー・クロウズ」となり、「over her pajamas」は「オーバー・ハー・パジャマズ」ではなく「オーバーラー・パジャマズ」と発音されます。また、「tall eucalyptus trees」の「tall eucalyptus」は「トール・ユーカリプタス」ではなく「トールユーカリプタス」と連結されるので、耳を澄まして聞きましょう。これらのリンキングを覚えることで、英語の発音を良くすることができます。

ネイティブのように話すコツ

shadowspeakのコツはリズムとストレスの捉え方です。動画の中では、「Aitken runs a volunteer organization devoted to rescuing wild koalas」のような長い文でも、「volunteer」「devoted」「rescuing」「wild」「koalas」の部分にストレスが置かれています。これらの単語を強く発音することで、文のポイントがはっきりし、ネイティブらしさが出ます。また、「He was obviously trying to get to the trees on the other side」の「obviously」は「オブビアスリー」ではなく「オブビアスリ」と短く発音されるので、このようなリダクションも覚えて、自然な話し方を身につけましょう。繰り返しshadow speechの練習をすることで、これらのポイントが自然に使えるようになりますよ。

この動画の文法

話し手がよく使っている文型を、動画の実際の表現とともに紹介します。

文型動画での表現
現在完了進行形 have/has been + -ing — 以前に始まり今も続いている動作has been studying · has been following
受動態 be + 過去分詞 — 誰がするかより、何が起きるかに焦点を当てるis caught · is told · be taken
現在完了形 have/has + 過去分詞 — 過去の出来事が今も関係しているhas already thrown · has cared

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。

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