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  • Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

  • BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.  

  • And I'm Neil. Sleep - we all need it - some more

  • than others. I can usually get by

  • with around seven hours a night

  • but I do like to have a nap - a

  • short sleep - in the afternoon,

  • when I'm not working of course.

  • How about you, Neil? I'm always tired and as soon as

  • my head hits the pillow, I'm out

  • like a light - meaning I go

  • to sleep very quickly. Well, Neil, you might not survive

  • in South Korea then. Apparently,

  • it's one of the most stressed and

  • tired nations on earth - a place

  • where people work and study longer

  • hours and get less sleep than

  • anywhere else. We'll find out

  • more later and teach some

  • sleep-related vocabulary. But before we do, you need to

  • give me a question to keep me

  • awake and alert! Of course I do, and here it is.

  • In the 1960s, American man,

  • Randy Gardner, set the world

  • record for staying awake for

  • the longest period. Do you know

  • what that time was? Was it: a) 64 hours, b) 164 hours,

  • or c) 264 hours? All sound impossible but I'll guess

  • a) 64 hours - that's nearly 3 days! Oh, well. I'll give you the answer

  • later in the programme - assuming

  • you don't doze off! But let's talk

  • more about sleep now. As I

  • mentioned, we all need it to

  • help our mind and body rest

  • and relax. And going without

  • sleep - or sleeplessness - is

  • bad for our health. Many things can stop us sleeping

  • and some of them are pressure,

  • anxiety and stress caused by

  • your job. And in South Korea

  • research has shown it's become

  • increasingly difficult to

  • switch off - stop thinking about

  • work and relax. South Koreans

  • sleep fewer hours and have

  • higher rates of depression

  • and suicide than

  • almost anywhere else. Se-Woong Koo has been reporting

  • on this for the BBC World Service

  • Documentary podcast. He met one

  • worker who explained why she

  • never got time to relax. Separating work and rest time

  • has been a recurring issue

  • for Ji-an - in her last job

  • her office hours were long.

  • Like most Korean firms, her

  • employer didn't think about

  • any boundaries. They encroached

  • on almost all her time. They told me 'you need to be

  • contactable 24/7' - there will

  • always be someone from work

  • reaching out to me, like

  • needing to get something

  • done right now. Even just

  • thinking about it,

  • I get really agitated. So, that stressed out worker

  • got agitated just thinking

  • about the situation - she

  • got worried or upset. That's

  • because office hours in South Korea

  • are long and some employers

  • expect their workers to be

  • contactable all the time. Yes, there are no boundaries - so

  • no limits or rules about when

  • employers can contact their

  • employees. Therefore, as this

  • employee said, work

  • encroached - it gradually took

  • over - her leisure time. Stress

  • like this can lead to

  • insomnia - a condition where

  • you are unable to sleep. The BBC Discovery podcast goes on

  • to explain that offering a cure

  • for this sleeplessness has become

  • big business. There are sleep

  • clinics where doctors assess

  • people overnight, and sleep

  • cafes that offer places to nap

  • in the middle of the working day. One other issue in South Korea that's

  • affecting sleep is the 'bali bali'

  • culture, meaning 'quickly, quickly'

  • or 'hurry, hurry'. People are

  • constantly in a rush. Doctor Lee spoke to the

  • World Service's Discovery podcast

  • about the effects of this and

  • how even trying to take

  • medication to help sleep,

  • has its problems. People take like, ten or twenty

  • pills per one night, and

  • because they cannot fall

  • asleep even with the medication,

  • they drink alcohol on top of

  • that, and they experience

  • side-effects of the medication.

  • People can sleepwalk, and go

  • to the refrigerator, eat a

  • lot of things

  • unconsciously - uncooked food,

  • and they don't remember next day.

  • There were cases of car accidents

  • in the centre of Seoul which

  • has been sleepwalking patients. So, some people are taking lots

  • of pills to help them sleep but

  • they're not working so they're

  • drinking alcohol as well.

  • This leads to

  • side-effects - unpleasant and

  • unexpected results from

  • the medication. It seems, one of these

  • side-effects is

  • sleepwalking - moving around

  • and doing things while still asleep. Well, if sleeping pills aren't working,

  • there's always meditation - or working less. At least South Koreans are getting

  • some sleep, unlike Randy Gardner who

  • I asked you about earlier. Yes, he holds the record for

  • staying awake the longest.

  • And I thought he stayed awake

  • for 64 hours. Was I right? No, Neil. Not long enough.

  • Randy Gardner stayed awake for

  • an incredible 264.4 hours - that's

  • 11 days and 25 minutes - in

  • January 1964. That's one record I really

  • don't want to beat. Well, before you nod off Neil,

  • let's recap some of the vocabulary

  • we've been discussing, including

  • go out like a light, which means

  • you go to sleep very quickly. When you switch off you stop

  • concentrating on one thing and

  • start thinking about something else. A lack of sleep or rest can make

  • you agitated - you get

  • worried or upset. Encroach means gradually take over.  

  • When you take medication and it

  • gives you an unpleasant and

  • unexpected result, we call

  • these side-effects. And sleepwalking describes

  • moving around and doing things

  • while still asleep. That's our six minutes up.

  • Goodbye and sweet dreams! Goodbye!

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Sleepy in South Korea - 6 Minute English

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    chatarow 發佈於 2022 年 02 月 05 日
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