节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-01-12
难易度:High
关键字:ritual, sacred, symbolic, warrior, reed, endless
(Music).
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
And today we're going to continue discovering a vibrant PEOPLE GROUP full of
culture, traditions and...
(Background Noise).
Hey, Ryan, I know we've been talking about the traditional cultures of
Swaziland, but what are you doing?
Well, I'm performing a Swazi dance called the Sibhaca.
(Background Noise).
Ryan, your dancing and singing are hard to miss.
But we're supposed to be teaching.
I know. But the customs and ancient rituals of Swaziland are evident all across
the country, and I want to bring them here too.
(Background Noise).
Ryan, what kind of rituals are you talking about?
Well, I'm glad you've asked.
Why don't we continue reading about "Stunning ceremonies" on page 25.
(Background Noise).
The Swazi Way of Life.
Stunning ceremonies.
The historical traditions and customs of Swaziland are evident across the
country.
That's because the Swazi people, led by their king, have gone to great lengths
to preserve their ancient traditional rituals.
The two most important are the Incwala and the Umhlanga.
Also known as the "first fruits" ceremony, the Incwala takes place every
December and is considered the most sacred of all Swazi rituals.
During the celebration, many people, particularly men,
flock to the Ludzidzini Royal Village for weeks of dancing to celebrate their
symbolic relationship with their king.
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Ryan.
And we are now on day two of our PEOPLE GROUPS article continuing talking about
the culture of Swaziland.
Now yesterday we had a wonderful conversation about them.
And I'm excited to start talking more about their vibrant culture starting with
their Stunning ceremonies.
Yes. Now we saw a lot of exciting things yesterday, and now we're going to start
with Stunning ceremonies.
This is equally exciting.
What does it mean if something is stunning, Kaylah?
It means it is so amazing that you just have to stop.
It's like it stops you exactly where you are.
You can't help but watch it because it's so incredible.
So it is a stunning ceremony.
That's right.
These are certainly stunning.
Now the historical traditions and customs of Swaziland are evident all across
the country.
That's right.
So not only in one area, not only in the small rural areas but also in the urban
areas, we can see the evidence of how incredible this country is.
That's right.
That's what that word "evident" means.
It means you can see it.
That's right. So it is very popular.
It's very common to see ceremonies.
Now we're going to talk about some of these ceremonies.
But Ryan, I would like to say before we do that I definitely would stop and be
stunned at how incredible these are.
That's right. That's... these ceremonies are very stunning, very beautiful.
And we'll see how they... how vibrant they are in a little bit.
But uh, these traditions are all across the country.
And that is because the Swazi people, led by their king, have gone to great
lengths to preserve their ancient traditional rituals.
Now we remember from yesterday that this country is still a kingdom and ruled by
a monarch.
So they still have a king.
And they work with their king to help preserve these.
That's right.
It says: along with their king.
Yeah. And their king helps them, or leads them, to preserve their ancient
traditional rituals.
That means to keep them or to keep them from changing.
So they continue practicing these ancient traditional rituals.
That's right. It even says they "go to great lengths." What does that phrase
mean?
Well, that's a great question, Kaylah.
Why don't we visit Liz with Grammar on the Go.
Hello, friends.
Greetings from Johannesburg, South Africa.
My name is Liz, and it's time for Grammar on the Go.
I'm on my way over to Swaziland for a quick tour.
Now in today's article, we read: ... the Swazi people have gone to great lengths
to preserve their ancient traditional rituals.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence for today.
Notice the phrase, "gone to great lengths." It's an idiom that means to go
through a lot of trouble.
So today's Grammar Tip sentence just means that the Swazi people have put in a
lot of effort, energy and time to preserve their ancient traditional rituals.
We use this idiom, to go to great lengths, when we want to describe how someone
used a lot of energy, effort and time to accomplish something.
For example, if a bride had a particular kind of wedding cake that she wanted at
her wedding banquet,
and she visited every bakery in town to find a baker who could do the job. Then
we can say:
The bride went through great lengths to find a baker who knew how to prepare the
exact kind of wedding cake she wanted.
Or, Timothy was able to have the best instructors as his personal tutors because
his mother made a huge effort to find them for him.
So we can say: Timothy's mother went through great lengths to find the best
tutors for him.
If you turn to today's Grammar Tip section, you'll find more example sentences
there.
That's it for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go, signing off, in Johannesburg.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Liz.
So they go to great lengths to preserve their rituals.
That's true. And a "ritual" is referring to something that you do regularly.
Usually if you're talking about a culture with ancient traditional rituals,
those are things like dances or ceremonies.
That's right. And that's what we're talking about are these ceremonies, these
stunning ceremonies.
The two most important are the Incwala and the Umhlanga.
That's right.
Those are the most important ceremonies that they have in Swaziland.
And we're going to learn more about them now.
Also known as the "first fruits" ceremony, the Incwala takes place every
December and is considered the most sacred of Swazi rituals.
That's right.
This is a "sacred" celebration, which means it is very important to their
religion as well as their culture.
So what does it mean to be a... first fruits?
Well, something that is "first fruits" means they are young, they are fresh.
And I think here, actually, Kaylah, it's referring to the women of the culture.
And so they call this the "first fruits" ceremony.
So it's the first fruits.
It has to do with the things that come in first, from maybe harvest, or even
people can be the first fruits.
That's right. Now during the celebration, many people, particularly men,
flock to the Ludzidzini Royal Village for weeks of dancing to celebrate their
symbolic relationship with their king.
Now that's a hard word, that Royal Village.
That is actually a Swazi word, so you don't have to worry about it in English.
But it is a fun word to try to say.
Well, they go to, they flock to this area.
What does that mean when you flock?
Yeah. The word "flock" means many people are moving to one place at once.
Or perhaps even animals can flock too, similar to how they moved from Africa.
That's right.
Can you explain the difference in the verb, to flock, and the noun, flock?
Well, a flock is referring to a group of something, usually a group of animals,
like a flock of birds.
OK. So a flock of birds could also flock.
So it can be both a noun and a verb.
Here it's the verb meaning they go to as a large group of people to celebrate
their symbolic relationship.
That's right.
These people are celebrating their relationship with their king, which is
"symbolic." That means that it is referring to something else.
That's right. It represents something else as well.
So is their relationship... does their relationship actually exist with the
king, or does it just represent that kind of relationship?
Exactly. It's showing that kind of relationship how that king is leading them,
and they want to form that bond with him, that symbolic relationship.
So this is an exciting festival where everyone can come together and participate
as well.
We're going to talk about more ceremonies after the break.
Before we go, let's visit the Chat Room.
Excuse me, Bryan, do you have a minute?
Sure, Ken. What's up?
Well, I'm reading this article on the web about a popular festival in Spain.
And it says: Thousands of tourists flock to the festival.
Yes, and?
Don't you find that sentence a little strange?
"Thousands of people flock to the festival..." No. That sounds all right to me.
But don't we use "flock" to talk about sheep?
Does this mean that people take their flocks of sheep there?
Well, you're right, Ken.
The word "flock" is usually applied to a group of animals of one kind,
especially sheep or goats.
But actually, you can have a flock of people too.
You can?
That's right.
Do you know how many people or sheep make up a flock?
No. Do you?
No, I don't.
But I do know it means quite a few.
Or when talking about people, it means a crowd of people, especially a crowd of
people who are under someone's care.
Oh, just like a flock of sheep under the care of a shepherd.
Yes. That's the idea.
Anyway, so if we know that a flock of sheep means a crowd of people, and then we
say people flock, as a verb, to a place, what does that tell you?
That lots and lots of people go there?
Right you are.
Well, thanks, Bryan.
I bet you are hoping that more people would flock to the library.
Actually, no. I prefer the peace and quiet here.
Yeah, me too.