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Transcript

Becoming an Adult (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Jillian Woodward.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: And I'm Roger Bassett. Spotlight Advanced uses a special English
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: no matter where in the world they live.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: When did you become an adult? How old were you?
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  Speaker 1: Were you twelve or ten or younger? Maybe you were
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: older when you became an adult? How did you know
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: that you were no longer a child? Were you recognized
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: by your community? Was there a ceremony for you? Or
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: did the law state that you are now an adult?
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  Speaker 2: Coming of age is an important time in any person's life.
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  Speaker 2: Coming of age is when the law or a community
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  Speaker 2: wreck ignize as a child as an adult. All cultures
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: celebrate the coming of age in different ways. Today's Spotlight
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Advanced is on these ceremonies.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Ted Beltrou is a young man in the Amazonian Sati
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  Speaker 1: Mahwei tribe. He rides in a small boat with four
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  Speaker 1: other men. They are all around the same age. They
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  Speaker 1: are preparing for a special ceremony. They have painted their
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  Speaker 1: bodies and now they are traveling to the ceremonial area.
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  Speaker 2: When the young men arrive at the ceremonial area, they
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  Speaker 2: cover their hands with black charcoal made from burned wood.
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  Speaker 2: The tribal leaders then prepare gloves made of grass. These
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  Speaker 2: hand coverings hold bullet ants, a kind of insect. The
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  Speaker 2: young men put the gloves on their hands. Inside the gloves,
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  Speaker 2: the bullet ants start to wake up from sleep. The
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  Speaker 2: ants start to sting and inject a liquid venom into
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  Speaker 2: the young men's hands. The sting from a bullet ant
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  Speaker 2: is thirty times more painful than other stinging insects.
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  Speaker 1: The young men must hold their hands in these coverings
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  Speaker 1: for over ten minutes. Their faces must show no pain.
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  Speaker 1: The young men's hands start to fill with blood. They
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  Speaker 1: cannot move their hands. The venom from the ants is
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: very strong and painful. The tribe leaders lead the young
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: men in a dance to keep them from thinking about
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  Speaker 1: the pain. After ten minutes is finished, the ceremony is over.
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  Speaker 1: But in the satire Marwe tribe, a young man must
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  Speaker 1: do this twenty times before he is considered to be
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  Speaker 1: a man. This is their coming of age ceremony.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: People celebrate the change from child to adult differently in
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  Speaker 2: different parts of the world. Some cultures hold special ceremonies
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: for children who reach adult age. Other cultures do not
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  Speaker 2: have ceremonies. They simply recognize that person as an adult.
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  Speaker 2: They may enjoy adult freedoms, such as driving a car
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  Speaker 2: or voting in elections.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: In Northern Canada, a twelve year old boy named Aarpak
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  Speaker 1: is on his first hunting trip. He travels with his
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  Speaker 1: father and his father's brother. This is the first time
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  Speaker 1: that Arpak will use his hunting skills. Once he kills
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: a large bearded seal, he will be a man. He
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  Speaker 1: has shown that he can provide food for the community.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: In a village in eastern Uganda, boys become men in
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  Speaker 2: a very different kind of ceremony around the age of sixteen.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: The boys in the village are covered in millet, a
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  Speaker 2: grain mixed with water. The people believe that the millet
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: keeps evil spirits away. The boys walk through the village
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  Speaker 2: streets as their friends and family sing.
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  Speaker 1: The boys hold onto a stick above their heads. A
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  Speaker 1: tribal leader then circumcises each boy. The boys are not
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  Speaker 1: allowed to shout or cry. No medicine is used, so
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  Speaker 1: the process is very painful, but the boys must show
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  Speaker 1: they are men by taking the pain without showing emotion.
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  Speaker 1: When the ceremony is over, the boys go to a
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  Speaker 1: special building where they will stay for days to recover.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Latin American girls celebrate coming of age with a special party.
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  Speaker 2: This happens when a girl is fifteen years old. The
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  Speaker 2: party is called a kinsignetta. Kinsigneta means fifteen years in Spanish.
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  Speaker 2: The girl wears a special white dress to the party.
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  Speaker 2: All her friends and family attend. They will all sing, dance,
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  Speaker 2: and eat special foods.
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  Speaker 1: After the king sayan niira, the girl will be able
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  Speaker 1: to do many adult things. She will be able to
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  Speaker 1: put makeup on her face, she will attend social events
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  Speaker 1: with her parents, and she will be able to have
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  Speaker 1: a boyfriend.
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  Speaker 2: In Japan, all people celebrate coming of age together. The
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  Speaker 2: festival of Sejin Nohi happens on the second Monday in January.
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  Speaker 2: It celebrates everyone who turned twenty years old in the
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  Speaker 2: past year.
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  Speaker 1: In the morning at local city offices, government officials give speeches.
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  Speaker 1: They give small gifts to all new adults. The young
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  Speaker 1: men and women wear traditional Japanese clothes. At the end
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  Speaker 1: of the ceremony, the new adults gather for a party.
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  Speaker 2: The final coming of age ceremony we look at today
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  Speaker 2: is very different than most parties. It takes place on
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  Speaker 2: the South Pacific island of Pentecost. The ceremony is a
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  Speaker 2: way for boys to prove their manhood. Both boys and
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  Speaker 2: men join in the ceremony. The ceremony is called Nagol.
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  Speaker 1: Nagol happens between April and June every year. Men from
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  Speaker 1: the southern part of the island build large structures out
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  Speaker 1: of wood. These towers are twenty to thirty meters high.
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  Speaker 1: A trusted village leader cuts vines from trees. These vines
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  Speaker 1: are like ropes that grow naturally in the forest. Young
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  Speaker 1: men climb to the top of the tower and tie
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  Speaker 1: these vines to their ankles.
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  Speaker 2: The men then jump off the tower. They fall to
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  Speaker 2: the ground, but at the last moment, the vines pull
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  Speaker 2: them back. The freshly cut vines stretch and prevent the
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  Speaker 2: men from falling to their death. But the jump is
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  Speaker 2: not a success unless the men touch their head to
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  Speaker 2: the ground. The vines must be just the right length.
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  Speaker 2: If the village leader cuts the vines too long, the
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  Speaker 2: jumper may die.
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  Speaker 1: These are just a few of the many ways people
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  Speaker 1: celebrate becoming an adult. Some are dangerous, some are painful,
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  Speaker 1: and some are just fun. In each case, children prove
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  Speaker 1: that they are ready for the responsibilities of adult life.
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  Speaker 1: What ways do people celebrate becoming an adult in your culture?
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  Speaker 1: Tell us about becoming an adult where you live.
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  Speaker 2: You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram,
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: and x You can also get Spotlight episodes delivered directly
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: to your Android Apple device through our free official Spotlight
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: English app.
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  Speaker 1: The writer of this episode was part of the Spotlight team.
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  Speaker 1: The producer was mitchi Owazarki. The voices you heard were
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes
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  Speaker 1: were adapted for this episode and voiced by Spotlight. No
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: AI or artificial intelligence was used in this episode. Spotlight
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  Speaker 1: Episodes are written, voiced, and produced by real people for
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: real people, no matter where in the world they live.
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  Speaker 1: This episode is called Becoming an Adult.
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  Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
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  Speaker 2: Spotlight Advanced episode. Goodbye.