Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Bruce Gulland.
Voice 2
And I am Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
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Voice 1
Some people drink it with food in the afternoon.
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Some people drink it to give themselves energy in the morning.
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Some people drink it as part of a ceremony.
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Some people drink it when they are sick.
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Some people drink it hot.
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Some people drink it very cold.
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People have been drinking it for hundreds of years, in hundreds of countries. What is it? Tea!
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Tea comes from the camellia sinensis plant. People pick the leaves off the plant. They set the leaves to dry. The tea leaves are ready when all the water from the leaves is evaporated. There are many ways to prepare the leaves before making the tea drink. Some tea leaves are left open to the air before they are dried. This makes the leaves darker. They will taste stronger. Some people mix tea leaves with flowers, oils, and other plants to give teas different tastes. The people who originally discovered tea developed these methods many years ago.
Voice 1
The story of tea begins in China. Chinese history says that over 5,000 years ago, Chinese emperor Shen Nung discovered tea. Stories say that a dry leaf from the tea plant fell into the emperor’s cup of hot water. The emperor saw that his water turned dark. He tasted the water and liked it. This was the first cup of tea.
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However it started, tea became very popular in China. People believed that tea was healthy. People in China also created many different ways to prepare tea. In fact, a man named Lu Yu wrote a book just about tea, late in the eighth century.
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Soon after this, tea travelled to Japan. Japanese Buddhist priests travelled to China. And they brought tea back with them. In Japan, people developed special ceremonies to serve tea. Serving tea became a new form of art. It was most common among wealthy people.
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Tea was an important part of both Chinese and Japanese culture. It had travelled to other Asian countries too. But tea had not yet travelled anywhere else in the world. Finally, in the late 1500s, Portuguese travellers brought small amounts of tea back to Europe. Portugal was one of the first European countries to trade with China. Portugal worked with the Netherlands to move the tea through Europe. Dutch ships took tea to France and other countries on the Baltic Sea.
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Only very wealthy people had enough money to drink tea in Europe. It took many months to transport the tea from Asia. And only a limited amount was transported. But more countries started to trade with China. They also brought tea back to Europe. Prices became lower, and more people could drink tea.
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Today, England is the European country most known for tea. British traders started shipping tea to England in the late 1600s. Tea trade had become a very profitable business. England imported about 18,000 kilograms of tea a year in 1699. Ten years later, the country imported six times that amount of tea!
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British colonists also brought tea wherever they settled. Tea became very important in India. It is still a very important crop there. And Indian tea is known around the world.
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Tea played an important part in one British colony you might know. This colony is now known as the United States of America. England sent tea to America. But as time went on, England raised the taxes on the tea and other goods it sent. The people living in the colonies did not like these taxes. To protest the high taxes, a group of colonists took a large shipment of tea and threw it into the ocean. Today, this event is known as “The Boston Tea Party”. It was one of the most important events in the American Revolution.
Voice 1
Tea has also changed over many years. In the past, people drank tea by putting the leaves directly into the water. But around 1908, an American inventor developed a new method – tea bags. Thomas Sullivan put the tea in a small silk bag. This bag of tea could be put directly into the hot water.
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At first people, in Britain did not like tea bags. But during World War II, people could not get their normal tea. So they had to use tea bags. Today most tea bags are made of paper. And they are very popular in many parts of the world.
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Today, people on every continent drink tea. But people in different places drink tea differently. In the United Kingdom, tea became part of the daily meal.
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Traditionally, two meals involved tea in British homes. These meals became popular in the 1600s. The first was afternoon tea – or “low tea”. This was popular among wealthy people. They would drink tea and eat small sandwiches of meat and bread. This meal happened around three o-clock in the afternoon. The other meal was called “high tea.” High tea was a larger meal eaten later in the night. It was popular among poorer people.
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In Western Asia and the Middle East, a popular way to enjoy tea is as Masala Chai. Masala Chai is a drink made from black tea. But this drink has sugar, spices and milk in it.
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Around the world, people boil plants and flowers to make drinks similar to tea. These are called tisanes. A tisane is any drink made from hot water and any plant material, except from the tea plant. They are also often called herbal teas.
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In areas of South America people enjoy a particular tisane. The drink is called Mate. People make it from the leaves of the yerba mate plant. A person puts dry yerba mate leaves into a dry gourd. This is a container made from a dried vegetable skin. He then adds water to the gourd. He drinks the liquid through a thin metal tube – a bombilla.
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People in Southern Africa make a drink called rooibos. This hot drink is made similar to tea. But instead of tea leaves, it uses the leaves from the rooibos plant. The drink is a red color, and is often called red tea.
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However you drink tea, the next time you have a cup, think of all the people around the world who are joining you! Enjoy!
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Do you drink tea? What kinds of tea do you drink? Tell us what you think! You can leave a comment on our website. Or email us at radio@radioenglish.net. You can also comment on Facebook at facebook.com/spotlightradio.
Voice 1
The writer of this program was Joshua Leo. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called “The Amazing History of Tea”.
Voice 2
Visit our website to download our free official app for Android and Apple devices. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
Question:
Do you drink tea or tisanes? What is your favorite kind of tea?
yes I drink tea, so my favorite tea is red tea mint flavor.
Yeah,I like drinks tea with milk
Here in my country, we used bag tea and find two kinds of tea it’s (black and green)
We put the bag tea in hot water and put little sugar and if you want milk can you put some milk it amazing with sandwiched in morning.
Yeah,I like drinks tea with milk
Here in my country, we used tea bags and find two kinds of tea it’s (black and green)
We put the tea bags into hot water and put little sugar and if you want milk can you put some milk it amazing with sandwiched in morning.
yes, I drink tea
, and tea with fresh mint is my favorite
Yes i do like Tea, it is like a life for me. the most of people usually drink coffee in the morning but i think i am different because i don’t feel woke up with out drink my red teaY
First of all thank you for the podcast it’s interesting!
Second off all I really don’t like tea cold or hot but maybe I can drink it with flavours or milk
Third of all I,m a coffee lover
and I think when I say first, second, third > maybe it’s cringe in english culture hhhhhhh however nevermind I am learning
Wow
you english very good
Wow
you english very good
we drink tea every day and tea is the main part of our breakfast meal. we also drink tea in the afternoon. black tea is more popular in my country. we drink hot tea because we believe that cold tea is not healthy. we add Saffron or cardamom to make it more delicious and we drink it with sugar or date
Yes, l do .my favourite tea is Red tea I like it is so good
Thank you very much for giving a lot of knowledge to the audience
I’ve been a fan of the program for a long time, every week I listen to it
Not only let me hear English with a native accent, but also gain knowledge about history and life science, culture, everything becomes closer and easier to understand.
a useful program
Talking about the topic of tea today, I want to share, in our country, when guests come to a person’s house, people often invite tea, drink tea after a meal.
Use tea to make a mouthwash to effectively prevent tooth decay, beautify and if you have a sore mouth, drinking tea will help you get rid of pimples in your mouth.
Nowadays young people like to drink milk tea, this is a popular drink, if you want to invite your friends out and chat, you will say “milk tea?”
milk tea
Of course I drink tea, our tea called Atay, we made it by hot water with green tea and mint, it’s amazing tast.
in my country Iraq, people drik only hot tea twice in day ,even in summer and weather has 50 C
we fall in love whith tea more than any other drink
Yes I drink tea with eat some sandwich, but,my favorite drink is coffee.often I drink tea bags because easy used and common. I loved the information in this broadcast, example the tea profitable business and beginning tea story and revolution United States and war of independence and the Boston Tea Party .
Yes, I drink tea 4 time in a day. My favorite tea is hot black tea.
Yes, I drink red tea.
Yes I drink tea, and my favorite tea is red tea.
Actually I don’t know that Africans used sage leaves instead of tea leaves.
Sometime I drink tea for relax.
yes , I like drinking tea , however I like to drink cold tea
I drink mint tea
It is the best drink after dinner in Saudi Arabia
I prefer drinking tea especially cold tea with some space of orange peels
I drink black tea twice a day in the morning with breakfast and in the afternoon with a baking sweet.
Yes, I drink tea and I like everything!
I like drink a dark coffee at 3 time every day.
and thanks you, , you podcast is amazing
Thank you, we are happy that you like the podcast!
In my country Its usually drink tisanes makes whit plants or flowers medicals to cure, for example: chamomile, rosemary, thyme, bougainvillea.
I like strong taste, like chai.
For me Tea the best hot drink I drink it for many of reasons its give me energy and enough caffeine for my day
I am pleased, first of all, to give a good greeting to everyone in this program.. I love tea a lot, especially black tea.. I enjoy drinking it especially in the early morning hours and after heavy meals. In my country, tea is one of the main drinks served on occasions.
sure i dink tea , my favorite kind is green tea ^_^
i drink tea with a small sandwich after i wake up
I am not a tae lover but he has a great comfort.
I prefer to drink hot red tea early in the morning. While I drink green tea after heavy meals
yes, i like drink tisanes and coffee
Hi everyone, greetings from col. here we drink coffee. which do You prefer: tea or coffee?
Honestly I don’t like tea only I can drink it with milk and a lot of sugar
Hhhhh all the people here from Saudi Arabia
Yse i engoy wen i drnke tea i prefer the blak tea becauce i feel better wen i drnke it.
yes I drink ,in my country we drink tea a lot at breakfast ,lunch, dinner and all the time
We are drink tea with milk everyday with breakfast meal in egypt we can not imagne our day start without it hahahahaha
Yes i drink red tea and green tea with mint
And I like in morining ,drink tea with milk
First of all, thank you for the podcast was amazing
second of all in my country, we drink the tea at different times in the morning with breakfast and evening with some cookies, and for me, the best moment is when I drink the tea at midnight, with some basil the taste was different, and when I’m in a good mood I take ice tea with peach it’s very refreshing.
We are so glad you are enjoying to Spotlight!
Hi, spotlight I am enjoying to listen for the topics in spotlight. In fact I don’t drink tea so much I drink it with breakfast, or sometimes with my family, and I drink a normal tea its color is red.
Thanks for your comment. We are glad you are enjoying the Spotlight topics.
i love tea! And my favourite tea is Red tea~ I like it’s pure, no sugar, no milk:>
YesI do
Favorit tee with milk and sandwiches
I prepare tee with shoger and flwers
Of course ! who don’t like to drink tea ?
My favourite kind of tea is ice tea
I love the peach flavor
And I drink it everyday it makes me relaxed and in good mood ♀️
I’m here because of Abdurahman Hejazy
Hii man ♀️
Yes, I like drink tea ❤️
I like drink tea in the morning
Firstly , thank you so much, l like this story it is a great story !
About your question, yes , l drink the black tea with milk sometime , l drink it every morning!
I love the tea with breakfast , My favorite tea is red
Of course, I like to drink tea. Indeed, I rather drink tea than other drinks. I drink any time during my day. However, I like black tea, mint tea and milk tea.
I want tea with meint
Yes I like drink tea , my favourite kind tea with lemon
Nice work!…,
thank you