跟读练习: Why does Japan work so hard? | CNBC Explains - 通过视频学习英语口语
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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.
背景与背景
在日本，长时间工作已经成为一种生活方式，甚至出现了“过劳死”（Karoshi）这个词，指因过度工作而导致的死亡。日本的企业文化强调员工对公司的忠诚，很多日本职员一辈子都在同一家公司工作。这种文化使得他们继续加班，加之不愿意请假，导致许多人每年都有未使用的休假天数。从1950年代开始，日本经济快速增长，造就了如今的经济格局，然而过度工作却对职员的身心健康造成了严重影响。若想在这样的环境中提升英语能力，尤其是口语能力，理解日本工作文化背后的根本原因将是一个重要的起点。
日常沟通的五个关键短语
- 工作太久了。 - “I've been working too long.”
- 再见后再聊。 - “Let’s talk later after work.”
- 我需要请假。 - “I need to take a day off.”
- 加班是常态。 - “Overtime is the norm here.”
- 请把工作安排好。 - “Please manage the workload.”
通过聆听和模仿这些短语，可以帮助提高口语流利度，增强与他人的沟通能力，尤其是在关于工作的话题上，让你更加自信。
逐步跟读指南
学习英语口语的有效方法之一是跟读练习，即“shadow speech”。跟读可以帮助你更好地掌握发音和语调。以下是一个逐步的跟读指南，帮助你通过这段视频提升英语能力：
- 首先，观看视频并认真听每一句话，注重发音与语调。
- 选择短小的段落进行反复观看，确保理解每个句子的含义。
- 逐句模仿。可以先慢速跟读，然后逐渐加快速度，目的是提升你在雅思口语练习中的流利度与自然性。
- 录下自己的声音，与视频中的原音进行对比，找到发音上的不足。
- 反复练习，直到你能够自然而流利地完成整段跟读。
通过这些步骤，你不仅能提高英语发音，还能更好地理解文化背景，最终改善自己的口语能力。这个方法综合了 看YouTube学英语 、提高英语发音 和 shadowspeaks 的技巧。
什么是跟读法？
跟读法 (Shadowing) 是一种有科学依据的语言学习技巧，最初开发用于专业口译员的培训，并由多语言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。这个方法简单而强大：您在听英语母语原声的同时立即大声重复——就像是一个延迟1-2秒紧跟说话者的影子。与被动听力或语法练习不同，跟读法强迫您的大脑和口腔肌肉同时处理并模仿真实的讲话模式。研究表明它能显着提高发音准确性，语调，节奏，连读，听力理解和口语流利度——使其成为雅思口语备考和真实英语交流最有效的方法之一。