跟讀練習: Why does Japan work so hard? | CNBC Explains - 通過影片學習英語口語
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61 句
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Working long hours is a way of life in Japan.
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So much so that some occasionally die from it.
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Kuroshi is a term that means death by overwork.
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So why are people working so hard and can it be fixed?
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Japan has some of the longest working hours in the world.
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Nearly a quarter of Japanese companies have their employees work more than 80 hours of overtime per month.
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Those extra hours are often unpaid.
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Today, Japan's corporate culture is driven by the so-called salaryman.
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The salaryman is defined by his loyalty to his company and expected to spend his entire career working for the same firm.
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Not only does he work long hours in the office, but it's also assumed he'll participate in after-work activities too, like drinking with colleagues.
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And they're not taking enough time off.
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In 2017, one survey found that despite being entitled to 20 days off per year, Japanese workers left 10 of those days unused,
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used, topping every other country in the survey.
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You don't have to be in the confines of corporate walls to feel the impact of its work culture.
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It's 3 a.m.
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Thursday morning right now in Tokyo.
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I'm in the area of Ginza.
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Every few minutes I see a man wearing a suit holding a briefcase.
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The nation's work ethic dates back to what's referred to as Japan's economic miracle, which was its dramatic economic growth beginning in the 1950s,
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which propelled it to become the world's second largest economy.
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Inside Japan's corporations, the culture emphasizes the success of a company as a whole to be more important than any single individual,
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which might explain why one study found that 63% of Japanese felt guilty for taking paid leave.
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But perhaps more concerning is this.
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Long work hours don't necessarily mean high productivity.
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In fact, Japan has the lowest productivity amongst the G7 nations.
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Earlier I mentioned the term karoshi.
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It means death by overwork.
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It's legally recognized by the government and usually is marked by a heart attack, stroke, or suicide due to stress.
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There's hundreds of cases of karoshi reported annually, although some argue these cases are underreported and that the real number could exceed that by up to 10 times.
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An employee of the advertising firm, Dentsu, jumped to her death in 2015.
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The cause was said to have been depression caused by overwork.
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The case generated widespread attention and renewed calls to change the long working hours and illegal unpaid overtime, highly common in Japan.
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The firm was fined for violating labor standards
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because she was reportedly forced to work more than 100 hours of overtime per month.
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The company's CEO even resigned over the controversy.
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After the death, Dentsu made some changes within the company.
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One of them, the lights in the office now turn off at 10pm every night in an effort to force employees to leave.
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Both the government and companies are now actively trying to reduce the number of working hours here.
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And there are some early signs of hope.
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Japan's government has considered several initiatives to curb the number of hours spent at the office, including making it mandatory to take at least five vacation days a year
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and requiring a rest period between the end of one day and the start of another.
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In 2016, a new holiday, Mountain Day, was started, bringing Japan's number of annual public holidays to 16.
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And in 2017, the government launched an initiative called Premium Fridays,
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in which it encouraged companies to allow their employees to leave at 3 p.m on the last Friday of the month, promoting consumer spending and less time in the office.
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But one study found that less than 4% of employees in Japan actually left early on the first Premium Friday.
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Which is why, despite these initiatives, a cultural challenge still looms.
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Since Japan's culture emphasizes the group over the individual, well, no one wants to be the first one to leave the office.
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And there's another reason that there's pressure on people to work hard.
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Japan's economy is in danger, and in order to maintain its massive size, Japan needs to put in the hours.
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Japan lost its spot as the world's second largest economy to China in 2011, a title that it had previously held for 42 years.
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Japan is dealing with a labor crisis.
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Its population is aging fast, and its birth rate is in decline.
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That means its total population is going down.
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And in the next 50 years, it's projected to shrink by nearly a third.
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The population is expected to go from 127 million in 2015 to just 88 million by 2065.
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There's two likely ways that a nation can compensate for the labor shortage, immigrants or robots.
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Japan has always been less inclined to accept immigrants.
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In fact, its percentage of foreign workers is tiny compared to other nations of large economies.
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So without more immigrants, it's looking to robotics to fill in the gap.
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Its robotics industry has spanned from hospitality to manufacturing, and now even reaching farms by creating robots that melt cows.
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But whether technology could open the door for a better work-life balance for Japan's workforce still remains to be seen.
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背景與背景
在日本，長時間工作已經成為一種生活方式，甚至出現了“過勞死”（Karoshi）這個詞，指因過度工作而導致的死亡。日本的企業文化強調員工對公司的忠誠，很多日本職員一輩子都在同一家公司工作。這種文化使得他們繼續加班，加之不願意請假，導致許多人每年都有未使用的休假天數。從1950年代開始，日本經濟快速增長，造就瞭如今的經濟格局，然而過度工作卻對職員的身心健康造成了嚴重影響。若想在這樣的環境中提升英語能力，尤其是口語能力，理解日本工作文化背後的根本原因將是一個重要的起點。
日常溝通的五個關鍵短語
- 工作太久了。 - “I've been working too long.”
- 再見後再聊。 - “Let’s talk later after work.”
- 我需要請假。 - “I need to take a day off.”
- 加班是常態。 - “Overtime is the norm here.”
- 請把工作安排好。 - “Please manage the workload.”
通過聆聽和模仿這些短語，可以幫助提高口語流利度，增強與他人的溝通能力，尤其是在關於工作的話題上，讓你更加自信。
逐步跟讀指南
學習英語口語的有效方法之一是跟讀練習，即“shadow speech”。跟讀可以幫助你更好地掌握髮音和語調。以下是一個逐步的跟讀指南，幫助你通過這段影片提升英語能力：
- 首先，觀看影片並認真聽每一句話，注重發音與語調。
- 選擇短小的段落進行反覆觀看，確保理解每個句子的含義。
- 逐句模仿。可以先慢速跟讀，然後逐漸加快速度，目的是提升你在雅思口語練習中的流利度與自然性。
- 錄下自己的聲音，與影片中的原音進行對比，找到發音上的不足。
- 反覆練習，直到你能夠自然而流利地完成整段跟讀。
通過這些步驟，你不僅能提高英語發音，還能更好地理解文化背景，最終改善自己的口語能力。這個方法綜合了 看YouTube學英語 、提高英語發音 和 shadowspeaks 的技巧。
影片中的語法
說話人最常用的結構，並附上影片中的原話：
| 結構 | 影片中的用法 |
|---|---|
| 被動語態 be + 過去分詞 — 強調發生了什麼，而不是誰做的 | be fixed · is driven · is defined |
| 現在完成時 have/has + 過去分詞 — 過去發生但與現在仍有關聯的事 | has considered · has always been · has spanned |
什麼是跟讀法？
跟讀法 (Shadowing) 是一種有科學依據的語言學習技巧，最初開發用於專業口譯員的培訓，並由多語言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。這個方法簡單而強大：您在聽英語母語原聲的同時立即大聲重複——就像是一個延遲1-2秒緊跟說話者的影子。與被動聽力或語法練習不同，跟讀法強迫您的大腦和口腔肌肉同時處理並模模擬實的講話模式。研究表明它能顯著提高發音準確性，語調，節奏，連讀，聽力理解和口語流利度——使其成為雅思口語備考和真實英語交流最有效的方法之一。