Prática de Shadowing: The Bloody Origins of the Number Zero - Aprenda a falar inglês com vídeo
Escolha um modo de prática
Cada modo abre uma sala de prática em tela cheia.
149 frases
Se as frases estiverem muito curtas ou longas, clique em Edit para ajustá-las.
1
The ground shakes as thousands of Mauryan elephant riders thunder toward the coastal kingdom of Kalinga.
2
It’s 261 BCE.
3
Emperor Ashoka already rules most of India and now moves on to crush Kalinga and seize their ports.
4
The Kalingans stand ready to defend their home with swords, javelins and war elephants of their own.
5
But they are outnumbered and don’t realize how badly until it’s too late.
6
A trumpeting avalanche rolls toward them.
7
Blades on tusks cut through bodies while the rest are crushed underfoot.
8
Those who survive run for the Daya river.
9
But on the far bank, Mauryan cavalry is already closing in.
10
Panic spreads and soldiers jump into the water, only to be met by arrows raining down from Mauryan archers.
11
The water turns red as the slaughter continues leaving 100,000 dead and even more forcibly deported.
12
Families are erased and villages destroyed.
13
Yet, this devastation does not fuel more war.
14
Instead of violence, a different kind of power rises, built on knowledge and reason, spreading outwards in ripples that still reach us today.
15
Monasteries and Merchants When the Kalinga war ends, the Mauryans control nearly all the land between the Himalayas and the ocean, home to roughly a third of the world’s population at the time.
16
The successful conquest of emperor Ashoka pushes his rule to the eastern coast, but the triumph comes at a cost.
17
Confronted with the scale of the suffering he caused, Ashoka is overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow.
18
For months he is desperate to repent, until he encounters Buddhism.
19
At the time, it’s still a small movement carried along roads by begging monks who speak of non-violence and tolerance as a release from suffering.
20
Ashoka converts and becomes a patron, spreading belief without enforcing it.
21
Pillars are carved with his edicts on kindness, religious tolerance and social welfare.
22
They read like ancient good-life quotes: To do good is difficult.
23
One who does good first does something hard to do.
24
Ashoka practices what he preaches.
25
He upgrades imperial roads, plants shade trees and builds wells for travelers and cattle.
26
These roads double as trade routes, linking inland markets to ports bound for Southeast Asia.
27
Caravans carry vast amounts of Indian riches like ebony, sandalwood, cotton and pepper.
28
Buddhism also starts taking off and monks crowdsource support to cut caves into cliffs for simple monasteries.
29
They offer shelter to travellers and position themselves as guardians of the trade.
30
This resonates with a rising merchant class which donates generously, gaining both protection and spiritual merit.
31
The Buddhist monasteries grow bigger.
32
Now not just spiritual centers but engines of wealth.
33
Monks manage land and run mines and mills.
34
They lend money to farmers who invest in trading voyages.
35
Basically, monasteries become the first banks of South Asia.
36
It’s a perfect system: faith funding trade, trade carrying faith.
37
The Mauryan empire collapses a century after Akosha, but the monasteries endure and merchants keep moving.
38
They turn westwards, where a new superpower is stretching its limbs with a growing demand for Indian goods.
39
We’ll take a quick break from ancient trade systems and focus on today’s business.
40
Thanks to our partner Odoo for sponsoring this episode.
41
Odoo is an all-in-one management software that helps you run your business everyday.
42
What was enabled by personal interactions back then is only possible through professional solutions in today’s global economy – and Odoo offers these through more than 45 apps — like accounting, inventory, CRM and many more — all centralized on one single platform.
43
You can for example create and send your invoices in seconds: you just select your customer, add your products and quantities, define the billing terms and you can already send it all via email.
44
Plus, with the built-in chatter, you keep a clear overview of your emails, notes and activities — all in one place — and tracking your payments with clear statuses and deadlines is just as simple. You can try out all these features for free, because your first Odoo app is free forever, with unlimited support and hosting included.
45
When you’re ready to scale up, Odoo adapts to your needs and you can simply add applications.
46
You get access to all applications from $24.90 a month.
47
With Odoo, your potential knows no limits – this could be your start to...
48
The Golden Age of Trade 6000 kilometers west, Roman dominance has been rising through marching legions and territorial takeover.
49
In 30 BCE, having conquered Cleopatra’s Egypt, the empire grips the Red Sea ports.
50
This opens a direct corridor to the Indian world and ship traffic increases.
51
It helps that the Indian peninsula sits inside a massive wind machine.
52
For half the year, the monsoon blows towards the Arabian sea, and for the other half, it flips direction.
53
This predictable rhythm lets Indian sailors ride the wind straight across the ocean and glide safely home months later.
54
They build enormous and tough ships that can easily carry 1000 people or a few hundred tons of cargo.
55
In Rome, Indian goods sell for up to a hundred times their original price.
56
If you’re lucky the profit from a single voyage can buy 2000 acres of the best Egyptian farmland or pay 10,000 Roman soldiers for a year.
57
In this trade, a successful merchant doesn’t just get rich.
58
They can rival the wealth of senators.
59
Above all, the Indians bring pepper.
60
It pours into the markets and rewires Roman taste itself.
61
Nearly 80% of their recipes now demand it.
62
Even soldiers freezing at Hadrian’s Wall order pepper, to make their rations edible.
63
Words like pepper, ginger and sugar travel with the spice, moving from Sanskrit into Latin and almost every European language.
64
But the biggest ships aren’t loaded with spice.
65
They are animal transports, vast floating stables carrying elephants, tigers, leopards, even occasional rhinoceros.
66
All kept alive through an almost 2 month journey for Rome’s gladiator games.
67
Indian imports into Egypt surge past 1.3 billion a year in today’s dollars.
68
And Roman tax collectors skim off over a quarter of that flow.
69
Enough to finance a third of the empire’s budget.
70
Older accounts emphasized the overland Silk Road from China, but when historians re-examined maritime trade, the volumes of goods travelling along these routes told a different story.
71
Goods do travel overland from China, but the Silk Road is slow, costly and hard to control.
72
Most Chinese goods reach Roman markets through Indian sea trade networks.
73
All this makes India Rome’s largest trading partner.
74
For more than 300 years, the system works.
75
Until the Roman Empire starts to weaken.
76
Commerce slows, fleets shrink and ports fall silent one by one.
77
Indian merchants redirect their massive ships toward Southeast Asia’s rising kingdoms.
78
And with them travel ideas that will reshape how humans understand the universe itself.
79
Ground Zero Trade fuels prosperity across the subcontinent.
80
By the 4th century, most of it is ruled by the Gupta Empire.
81
Wealth flows into art and science fueling a boom in centers of learning.
82
Among them rises Nalanda, the elite MIT of ancient India.
83
10,000 monks live and study there, crowned by a vast nine-storey library known as the Sea of Jewels.
84
India begins to build one of the richest mathematical traditions on Earth.
85
Scholars start writing nine numerical symbols in a radically new way.
86
A digit’s position now defines its value.
87
Around 628, the mathematician Brahmagupta takes on a revolutionary idea.
88
He defines zero, lays out its rules and gives it real power.
89
Suddenly, any number, no matter how big, can be expressed with just ten symbols.
90
They call the new number shunya - the void.
91
It draws directly from the Buddhist idea that emptiness is not absence but something meaningful.
92
By the 7th century, Buddhism is still tightly linked to scholars and new ideas but has begun to fade from everyday life.
93
The Gupta Empire backs Hinduism instead, which celebrates warrior kingship at a time of northern Hun invasions that leave many Buddhist monasteries in ruins.
94
So Buddhist communities pack their manuscripts and flee, drawn by new patrons for Indian monastic knowledge.
95
In China, Indian monks and scholars help the first and only female emperor, Wu Zetian, to rise to power.
96
Monasteries flourish throughout the empire and Indian culture comes into fashion.
97
For more than a decade, Buddhism even becomes a state religion.
98
South of China, across the Bay of Bengal, Buddhism is absorbed into the local culture.
99
Stone temples rise, while religious texts and literature take shape after Sanskrit models.
100
Across Southeast Asia, local traditions are blended with Indian culture, creating a vast and powerful Indosphere of influence.
101
But the final expansion of Indian ideas turns west.
102
From the 7th century, with the rise of Islam, Arab and Persian merchants expanded the Indian Ocean routes, linking South Asia and the Middle East by sea.
103
Over the next century these networks converge in Bagdad, the heart of the Abbasid Caliphate – and what travels there is not faith or culture, but something more practical.
104
The Journey of Numbers In the 8th century, a young Islamic world stands between Europe and India.
105
From Baghdad, a family of administrators called the Barmakids helps run the caliphate.
106
Their bloodline runs from Buddhist scholars who once led Central Asia’s greatest monastery.
107
And that legacy doesn’t vanish, even embedded in a different culture.
108
They establish the House of Wisdom, designed to rival India’s Nalanda.
109
By commissioning translations and gathering manuscripts, the Barmakids fill libraries with Indian texts.
110
First paper mills follow, enabling mass manuscript production.
111
Over the next two centuries, Arab scholars translate, copy and carry Indian knowledge west toward the far edge of the Arab world.
112
When the manuscripts reach Spain, Europe is deep in the Middle Ages.
113
The next centuries see Europe shaped by growing kingdoms, population growth and a hunger for knowledge.
114
But merchants still struggle through trade with clunky abacuses and every multiplication is a slow-motion disaster with Roman numerals.
115
Until now, Indian maths lives mostly in monasteries and early universities but doesn’t reach the street.
116
But change is on the way.
117
In 1225, Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor, arrives in Pisa.
118
He is part ruler, part nerd, part showman.
119
He speaks five languages, debates math and philosophy with Arab scholars and thinkers of every kind.
120
Muslim bodyguards in turbans flank him, followed by a procession of exotic animals and wagons stacked with manuscripts.
121
To some in Europe, his open mind is deeply unsettling.
122
He’s here to meet Fibonacci, the mathematician who has just written The Book of Calculation on the nine Indian numerals and the strange new symbol the Arabs call zephir.
123
Frederick encourages him to expand the book, transforming abstract knowledge into practical tools for merchants.
124
It’s an instant bestseller.
125
It shows how to convert currencies, calculate profit and interest but mostly replace the abacus with pencil and paper.
126
Indian numerals spread across Europe, adopted by bankers funding explorers and voyages.
127
But as Indian mathematics spreads west, its homeland falls apart.
128
Turkic armies sweep through northern India.
129
Nalanda is destroyed and its great library burned to ash.
130
Old trade routes collapse, scholars scatter and waves of Persian migrations reshape the north.
131
At court, Sanskrit fades, now replaced by Persian.
132
By the 13th century, the language that carried a thousand years of knowledge begins to slowly disappear from centers of power.
133
When a Portuguese ship reaches India in 1498, history closes a cruel loop.
134
India had given Europe the mathematical tools that the West now weaponizes.
135
Navigation uses them to open new sea routes, allowing the Portuguese to violently attack the spice trade.
136
Finance takes over, enabling wealthy London merchants to run the East India Company and turn India into a balance sheet.
137
Other European powers follow and India is gripped tightly within their claws for nearly five centuries.
138
Universal Language At its peak in the late 7th century, the Indian sphere of influence shapes nearly half of humanity.
139
Carried by faith and trade, it embraced curiosity and tolerance.
140
By improving everyday life, Indian culture spread by being both useful and beautiful, enriching every society it touched.
141
The legacy is still visible.
142
Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, carries India in its name.
143
Thai kings are still crowned in Sanskrit ceremonies.
144
China now has the largest Buddhist population on Earth.
145
And the Buddhist temple Angkor Wat in Cambodia remains the largest temple ever built.
146
But the most enduring legacy is simpler.
147
A way of counting and calculating, the closest thing humanity has to a universal language.
148
The soft power of Indian knowledge never disappeared.
149
It still helps us to measure, understand and reshape reality itself.
Baixar aplicativo
Tudo o que você precisa para falar fluentemente
Pronúncia com IANota em cada frase
Prática de IPADomine cada som
VocabulárioMonte seu banco de palavras
Jogo de vocabulárioAprenda brincando
Mesmo canal
B21
Why These Nuns Cut off Their Noses and Lips
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C15
The Real Story of the Mongolian Singing Dunes
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
The Most Ridiculous War Humans Ever Fought
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B25
The Gold Nugget That Changed America Forever
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B24
Whale Hunting Was Absolutely Crazy
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C14
The Final Days of Louis XIV
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
FOR YOU
Vídeo recomendado
C1291 frases
Why did white men conquer the world?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
43 frases
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY - The Buddha
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
22 frases
THE ZERO MINDSET
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
206 frases
The History of Myanmar in 18 Minutes | Updated to 2026
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
52 frases
English Reading Practice: #1 (Advanced) | Mahatma Gandhi
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
186 frases
Sabbateanism: The Rise and Fall of a Messiah
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1147 frases
How India Face With Massive Aggressive Elephant Herds Ravaging Over Million Hectares of Farmland
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
172 frases
9 Stoic Rules For A Better Life (From Marcus Aurelius)
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C14
65 frases
The shock of doing nothing | Andrew Holecek
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
256 frases
Why Didn't Hinduism Spread Beyond India and South-East Asia?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1137 frases
Three Kingdoms - OverSimplified
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulário e dicas de fala para esta lição
Este vídeo tem 149 frases e 2081 palavras para praticar shadowing. A fala dura 14:30. O falante mantém um ritmo estável de cerca de 143 palavras por minuto, confortável para o shadowing. Apenas 71% das palavras estão entre as 3.000 mais comuns do inglês, por isso o vocabulário é exigente.
Vocabulário principal deste vídeo
15 palavras do vídeo que vale a pena aprender, com pronúncia e significado:
| Palavra | Pronúncia | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| merchant substantivo | /ˈmɝt͡ʃənt/ | comerciante, mercador |
| scholar substantivo | /ˈskɑlɚ/ | bolsista, bolseiro |
| monk substantivo | /mʌŋk/ | monge |
| manuscript substantivo | /ˈmæn.jəˌskɹɪpt/ | manuscrito |
| vast adjetivo | /væst/ | vasto |
| emperor substantivo | /ˈɛmp(ə)ɹə/ | imperador |
| pepper substantivo | /ˈpɛp.ə/ | pimenta, pimenteiro |
| everyday adjetivo | /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/ | cotidiano |
| legacy substantivo | /ˈlɛɡəsi/ | legado |
| define verbo | /dɪˈfaɪn/ | definir |
| symbol substantivo | /ˈsɪmbəl/ | símbolo |
| enable verbo | /ɪˈneɪ.bəl/ | habilitar, possibilitar |
| elephant substantivo | /ˈɛlɪfənt/ | elefante, elefanta |
| tolerance substantivo | /ˈtɑ.lə.ɹəns/ | tolerância |
| spouse substantivo | /spaʊ̯s/ | cônjuge, esposo |
Phrasal verbs que você vai ouvir
| Palavra | Significado |
|---|---|
| fall apart verbo | cair aos pedaços |
| take off verbo | tirar |
| take over verbo | tomar posse de, apoderar-se de |
| try out verbo | provar, experimentar |
Gramática neste vídeo
As estruturas que o falante mais usa, com as palavras exatas do vídeo:
| Estrutura | No vídeo |
|---|---|
| Voz passiva be + particípio passado — o foco está no que acontece, não em quem faz | are outnumbered · are crushed · be met |
| Present perfect have/has + particípio passado — uma ação passada que ainda importa agora | has begun · has just written |
| Orações relativas who / which + oração — informação extra sobre uma pessoa ou coisa | Those who survive · One who does |
Pronúncia para ficar de olho
O falante usa 8 contrações e formas reduzidas, como doesn't, you're, aren't. Diga-as na forma curta, do jeito que você ouve.
- Os sons de “th”: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, mathematical /ˌmæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪ.kəl/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, wealthy /ˈwɛl.θi/, thunder /ˈθʌndɚ/
- Os sons de “sh” e “zh”: crush /kɹʌʃ/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, sheet /ʃit/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, shelter /ˈʃɛltə/
- Palavras longas — acerte a sílaba tônica: universal /ˌjunəˈvɜɹs(ə)l/, humanity /hjuˈmænɪti/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, mathematical /ˌmæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪ.kəl/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/
Como praticar com este vídeo
- Ouça o vídeo inteiro uma vez sem falar e anote as palavras que você não conhece.
- Faça shadowing frase por frase na velocidade normal, repetindo cada uma até o seu ritmo ficar igual ao do falante.
- Grave a sua voz e compare com o original, prestando atenção a palavras como merchant, scholar, monk.
O que é a Técnica de Shadowing?
Shadowing é uma técnica de aprendizado de idiomas com base científica, originalmente desenvolvida para o treinamento de intérpretes profissionais. O método é simples, mas poderoso: você ouve áudio em inglês nativo e repete imediatamente em voz alta — como uma sombra seguindo o falante com 1-2 segundos de atraso. Pesquisas mostram melhora significativa na precisão da pronúncia, entonação, ritmo, sons conectados, compreensão auditiva e fluência na fala.