Shadowing Practice: Japanese Tea Ceremony | International Tea Day | practice English with Spotlight - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Welcome to Spotlight.
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Welcome to Spotlight.
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I'm Liz Waid.
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And I'm Adam Navis.
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Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
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It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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A small group of people sit in silence.
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Her eyes are fixed on the movement of one woman, Sachiko.
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Sachiko is a small Japanese woman.
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She wears traditional Japanese clothes, a beautiful kimono.
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She is busy preparing a green tea.
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She concentrates on each of her movements.
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Each movement flows into the next.
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What is she doing?
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She is leading, or hosting, a Japanese tea ceremony.
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Today's Spotlight is on the Japanese tea ceremony.
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In Japan, drinking tea is very popular.
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Originally, people drank tea as a form of medicine.
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Soon they drank it because they enjoyed it.
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At first, black tea was the most popular.
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But in the 12th century this changed.
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The people used a different kind of tea.
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Green tea or matcha.
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Both green and black teas come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.
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People put the plant leaves in the sun to dry them.
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Black tea is dried in the sun for a longer time.
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The leaves react with the oxygen in the air and turn black.
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But to make green tea, people gently steam the leaves before drying.
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This way the leaves keep their green color.
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The Japanese tea ceremony developed over many years.
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But during the 16th century, the ceremony became an art form called wabi cha.
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One of the people who influenced this art was the great tea master Senno Rikyu.
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He believed in the importance of peace, respect, purity, and calmness.
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He combined this simple, everyday part of life with his spiritual beliefs.
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These are now called Sado, the way of the tea.
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Sachiko is a young Japanese woman.
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She has studied the tea ceremony for many years.
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She describes what the tea ceremony means to her.
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For me, the tea ceremony is like learning about life,
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how I live and how do I see myself in this life.
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And my tea master will teach me history of the tea ceremony and teach me about movements
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or flower arrangement or utensil or pottery or any sort of thing.
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The tea ceremony takes normally about three hours.
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It takes many years to perform the art of a tea ceremony perfectly.
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Like Sachi-ko, students do not just learn about tea.
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They must also learn other traditions, such as Japanese writing and flower organizing.
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At official tea ceremonies, even the people who attend must know some things about Sado.
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They must know the right ways to move, such as how to drink the tea.
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They must know when to speak and what to say.
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In most tea ceremonies, a host will invite four people.
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They are guests of the ceremony.
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The host's helper leads these people into a waiting room.
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The helper offers Sayu to drink.
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This is hot water for tea making.
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At the right time, the helper leads the people to the tea room, or chashitsu.
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This special room is only for tea ceremonies.
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Tea rooms are usually inside a tea house.
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Pretty houses are usually outside in the garden.
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Before the host receives her guests, she fills the stone basin with water.
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She washes her hands and mouth.
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She walks to the middle gate.
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Here she welcomes her guests with a bow.
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No one speaks.
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The host leads the guests through the gate.
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Then they too wash at the stone basin.
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They are then ready to enter the tea house.
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They enter the tea house through a sliding door.
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The door is just under a meter high.
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One must bow to go through.
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This is an important act.
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It is a sign of equality.
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When people are through the door, they become equal.
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They lose their social position.
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The tea room is simple.
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It usually has a hanging piece of material.
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This has Japanese writing on it.
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It may include words that show the values of the tea ceremony,
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like peace, respect, purity, and calmness.
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The room also usually contains flowers.
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The guests bend down on their knees.
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And they wait for the host to serve them.
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They leave their worries behind them.
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They center their minds only on the room.
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Hosts may serve the guests sweets called higashi.
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The host then organizes the tea instruments.
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She cleans them with water.
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She dries them with a fine cloth.
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Then she places three scoops of tea for each guest into the tea bowl, or chawan.
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She puts the right amount of water into the chawan.
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And then she mixes it using a chasen.
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She needs skill to mix the powdered tea in the correct way, to make it become a thick liquid.
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Then she bows.
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She lifts the chawan with her right hand, and she places it on her left hand.
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She turns the chawan to the right three times using her right hand.
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The host then passes the chawan to one of the guests.
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He bows and accepts the bowl.
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After he drinks from it, he cleans the top.
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Then he passes it to the next guest with his right hand.
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The guest turns the chawan and drinks from it in the same way.
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Guests look at the bowl before they drink from it.
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They see its beauty.
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During the whole ceremony, the host serves the guests.
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Each instrument and movement is important in the ceremony.
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Buddhist theology influences much of these movements, positions, and instruments.
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However, you do not have to be a Buddhist to take part in a tea ceremony.
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Some people take part in the ceremony simply to enjoy the social gathering.
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Others take part to enjoy the peace and calmness of the ceremony.
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The way of the tea has four main teachings.
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Wa means harmony or peace.
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People must try and be at peace with everything in their life.
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People and nature.
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Kei means respect.
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People must respect everything around them.
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Sei means purity.
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People must try to act purely.
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Jakku means peace of mind.
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It is these values that tea masters spend years trying to learn through sado, way of the tea.
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Would you like a Japanese tea ceremony?
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Are there any ceremonies for food in your culture?
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You can leave a comment on our website.
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Or email us at radio at radioenglish.net.
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You can also comment on Facebook at facebook.com slash spotlightradio.
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The writer of this program was Marina Santee.
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The producer was Michio Ozaki.
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The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom.
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All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight.
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You can listen to this program again,
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and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net.
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This program is called Japanese Tea Ceremony.
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Look for our free official app in the Google Play Store and in iTunes.
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program.
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Goodbye.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

Practicing your English speaking skills through immersive experiences like the Japanese tea ceremony can be incredibly beneficial. In this video, the use of shadowspeak allows learners to engage with unique cultural elements while improving their pronunciation and intonation. The slow and deliberate speech style not only makes it easier for learners to understand but also encourages them to mimic natural speech patterns. As you follow along, try to replicate the speaker's pacing, which can enhance your fluency and confidence in using English in a formal context.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

The transcript offers several key structures that English learners can use to enhance their speaking abilities:

  • Present Continuous Tense: The phrase “She is leading, or hosting, a Japanese tea ceremony” showcases the present continuous tense, which is useful for describing actions currently taking place.
  • Passive Voice: The expression “green tea or matcha is made” illustrates the passive voice, important for emphasizing the action rather than the doer. This structure is prevalent in formal situations.
  • Comparatives: The sentence “black tea was the most popular. But in the 12th century this changed” contrasts different time periods, an effective way to present comparisons in conversations.
  • Descriptive Language: Words and phrases like “traditional Japanese clothes” and “beautiful kimono” provide learners with vocabulary that can enhance their descriptive skills in speaking.

By noting these structures, learners can practice their speaking through shadow speech, creating a stronger connection to the material and fostering their overall language development.

Common Pronunciation Traps

Even advanced learners can stumble on certain words or phrases. Here are a few tricky pronunciation areas to focus on:

  • “Ceremony”: This word can be difficult due to its rhythm; practice breaking it down into syllables: ce-re-mo-ny.
  • “Utensil”: Pay attention to the soft "u" sound and the stress on the second syllable: u-TEN-sil.
  • “Wabi cha”: This term requires correct enunciation to respect its cultural significance; practice saying both parts slowly, emphasizing the “wabi” and “cha” equally.

Using a shadowing app can facilitate the repetition and correction of these pronunciations, allowing learners to internalize the sounds of English more effectively. Make sure to listen carefully and repeat several times for improved clarity in your speech.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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