Shadowing Practice: Why Jasmine Oil Is So Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Right now, these jasmine buds don't smell like anything.
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But once they bloom, producers in India process their coveted aroma into one of the priciest oils in the world.
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Just one kilogram of jasmine oil can cost over $5 ,000.
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It's a key ingredient in luxury perfumes.
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But to get one kilogram of some jasmine oil, these women need to pluck over 5 ,000 buds.
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So what does jasmine smell like?
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And why is the oil so expensive?
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For hundreds of years, jasmine has been used in India to make garlands and headpieces for special occasions.
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It's scent is sweet, fruity, and floral, blending well with other fragrances.
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And while India grows over 80 varieties of jasmine, jasmine grandiflorum and sambac are two of the most commercially valuable.
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It's been considered very divine.
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And sambac, especially even amongst other flowers, is considered one notch superior.
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It's the most preferred flower.
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Jasmine sambak has this ease, this friendliness, this happiness.
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It is a joyful scent.
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Jasmine sambak thrives in Madurai, the jasmine capital of India.
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Like any flower, jasmine produces a strong scent only after it blooms.
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But local sellers don't want jasmine flowers.
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They want the buds.
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That's because, once the flower blooms, the scent only lasts a few days.
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The buds last longer, so they're easier to transport, whether it be for garlands or oil extraction.
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Raja runs a jasmine oil company.
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But before Raja can produce the oil, he'll need to wait for the day's harvest.
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Jasmine is a night -blooming flower.
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To maximize the harvest and ensure the buds make it to the markets in time, harvesters head to the fields early.
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Rati is one of a handful of women tasked with plucking the buds.
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It's not as simple as grabbing each bud she sees.
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Only the right bud blooms that day, otherwise it's not going to bloom.
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So if it doesn't bloom, no fragrance.
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Deciphering which buds to harvest requires a keen eye, one that Ratti has trained over the last 10 years in these fields.
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Ratti goes to each bush one by one, plucking thousands of buds before she collects a kilogram of jasmine gathering
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that much takes her about an hour the work must be done gently by hand
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so as not to damage the buds damage
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or wilted buds mean more work for Rati jasmine is a
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very laborious picking process as a kilo of jasmine just to
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give you a perspective will have about 5 ,000 to 6 ,000 independent in flowers
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so to pick one kilo they have to move 5 ,000 times you know the hand moves back
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and forth 5 ,000 times to pick just one kilo of flowers
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but that's still a tiny fraction of the buds needed to
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produce a kilogram of oil for one kilogram of jasmine oil Raja needs one metric ton
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or 1 ,000 kilograms of flowers as she works Rati collects the buds in her sari to protect them
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and preserve to serve their fragrance.
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She'll harvest for about five hours straight.
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It's tedious and tiring, but it's critical for her to keep moving before it gets too hot.
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Then the buds head to the local market.
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Murugan is used to the market's chaotic energy.
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He's been sourcing jasmine for oil production for 18 years.
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Practically all corners of the market are full of buyers, bags of jasmine buds, and scales to determine the proper quantity for sale.
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The rate today is 500 rupees per kilogram.
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Before buying, he assesses the buds closely to determine if the size will be worth the price.
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When the sun has set, Raja's employees begin unloading bags full of jasmine buds back at the factory.
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The first step is to spread them out with rakes, and then again with their hands and feet.
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Spreading out the buds is crucial to preserving them.
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Leaving them in a big pile would generate heat, which would again cause them to wilt.
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Then Rajasthin waits until the flowers begin to bloom.
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The minute it starts blooming, it starts emitting the fragrance.
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And then after some time, you can see it emits a bad fragrance.
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So you know, there's a constant chemical reaction that's happening in the flower.
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For us, it's so important to capture the fragrance at the right moment, which is soon after it blooms, which is the best in terms of yield and the span.
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Like several other white flowers, jasmine is rich in indole.
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Ironically, indole is found in feces too.
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In the case of feces, there's too much indole, so it produces an unpleasant smell.
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But in limited amounts, it creates an appealing aroma, as it does with jasmine.
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When the jasmine has bloomed, Raja's team loads the flowers into four 5 ,000 -liter extractors.
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The flowers then soak in a solvent.
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Once the solvent absorbs the smell of the flowers, they remove all of the liquid.
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They're left with this waxy, hard substance called concrete.
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It's what Raja uses to finally extract the oil.
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You add alcohol into the concrete and then the concrete is separated off the waxes, it's filtered, and then we get the absolute.
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Jasmine sambac is the most coveted of all jasmine flowers, hence the high price.
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At its peak, jasmine sambac flowers can cost 10 times more than other types of jasmine.
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And when it comes to the final price of the oil, the majority of it depends on the cost of the flower itself.
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About 60 percent, the bulk of the cost, is attributed towards the flower cost itself.
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So it varies depending on the price of the flowers every year.
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The cost of one kilo of concrete is around $2 ,750 to $3 ,000.
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And the absolute is almost a double, like $5 ,500 plus per kilo of absolute.
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But jasmine sambac oil wasn't always this valuable.
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In fact, Raja says it was rarely harvested before the launch of Dior's Jador fragrance.
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That was when the sambac became the inthic.
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Before that, sambac was grown in India, but it was not really extracted.
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Today, jasmine oil extracts travel from India all the way to Paris, where they will be used in many high -end fragrances, particularly at Guerlain.
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Guerlain sources jasmine sambac oil directly from Raja.
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The signature of the house is made with jasmine and five other ingredients.
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So jasmine is almost everywhere.
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The company produces all of its fragrance blends in -house, including Mont Guerlain.
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Jasmine sambac is the star of Mont Guerlain.
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You have the top note of lavender.
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Blend then in the jasmine sambac florals you enjoy.
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Then comes the sandalwood and the vanilla.
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This is such a soft and beautiful fragrance.
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You know, it's weird.
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Sometimes you even surprise yourself smelling memories.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 92 sentences and 1100 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:09. The speaker talks at a steady 120 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 73% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| jasmine noun | /ˈd͡ʒæzmɪn/ | Any of several plants, of the genus Jasminum, mostly native to Asia, having fragrant white or yellow flowers. |
| flower noun | /ˈfloʊɚ/ | A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens… |
| bud noun | /bʌd/ | A newly sprouted leaf or blossom that has not yet unfolded. |
| fragrance noun | /ˈfɹeɪɡɹən(t)s/ | A pleasant smell or odour. |
| bloom noun | /blum/ | A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud. |
| harvest noun | /ˈhɑɹ.vəst/ | The process of gathering the ripened crop; harvesting. |
| concrete adjective | /ˌkɑnˈkɹit/ | Real, actual, tangible. |
| scent noun | /sɛnt/ | A distinctive smell. |
| extract noun | /ˈɛkstɹækt/ | Something that is extracted or drawn out. |
| blend verb | /blɛnd/ | To mingle; to mix; to unite intimately; to pass or shade insensibly into each other. |
| collect verb | /ˈkɑlɪkt/ | To gather together; amass. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| preserve verb | /pɹəˈzɝv/ | To protect; to keep from harm or injury. |
| floral adjective | /ˈfloɹəl/ | Of, pertaining to, or connected with flowers. |
| ingredient noun | /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/ | One of the substances present in a mixture, especially food. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| move back verb | To reschedule (something) to a later date or time. |
| spread out verb | Become further apart. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 8 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, they're, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, thrive /θɹajv/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, occasion /əˈkeɪ̯ʒən/, luxury /ˈlʌk.ʃə.ɹi/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/, fraction /ˈfɹæk.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, superior /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, practically /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.k(ə.)li/, ironically /aɪˈɹɑnɪkli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like jasmine, flower, bud.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been considered · is considered · must be done |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been · has trained · has set |
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.