July 16, 2025 • 10 mins
Megan Nollet and Andrew Devis share about the ways people find whom they will marry in different countries around the world.
https://spotlightenglish.com/uncategorized/traditions-of-love/
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https://spotlightenglish.com/uncategorized/traditions-of-love/
Download our app for Android at http://bit.ly/spotlight-android
Download our app for iOS at http://bit.ly/spotlight-apple
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spotlightradio
Are you learning English? Are you looking for a way to practice your English? Listen to Spotlight to learn about people and places all around the world. You can learn English words, and even practice English by writing a comment.
Visit our website to follow along with the script: http://spotlightenglish.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Megan no Lett.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And I'm Andrew Davis. Spotlight uses a special English method
of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Do you know how your parents first met? Do you
know what happened before they got married? What did your
grandparents do to get to know each other before they
got married? How have you looked for a husband or wife?
Today's spotlight is on courtship the many different ways men
(00:54):
and women find a husband or wife.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Courtship is an name for the process of finding and
getting to know someone that you will marry. Today, many
people do this through dating, but not in every culture.
Courtship happens differently in cultures around the world, and courtship
today often is very different from courtship hundreds of years ago.
(01:21):
Let's look at some of the different ways people find love.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
In ancient times, many marriages started when men from one
group or tribe would steal a woman from another tribe.
The woman would then be forced to become the man's wife.
She would become a part of her new tribe. Family
and community are often important in finding a husband or
(01:49):
a wife. For royal families, this choice can also affect
a whole country. Often these marriages are arranged, that is,
other people helped to choose the husband or wife, or
others even force a particular choice.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Arranged marriages were common through history among royal families as
a way to bring security to a country. One example
of this is Queen Maria Theresa of Austria. She had
thirteen sons and daughters. She used her children as a
way to help her country avoid wars. The Queen forced
(02:31):
her children to marry dukes and duchesses from other countries.
By the end of her life, Maria had children who
were part of the royal families of Spain, France, Netherlands
and Italy.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Arranged marriages do not just happen among rich and powerful people,
and they are often a way for parents to love
and care for their children. This kind of marriage is
common in many cultures.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
In some parts of Pakistan, families follow a courtship tradition
called pate leiki. In the Urbdu language, pate means written
leiki means stomach, so pate leiki means written on the stomach.
Two families agree to marry their children before they are
born or when they are very young. The marriage then
(03:26):
happens when the children are young adults. The children must
follow the wishes of their families. They are not permitted
to decide whom they will marry, but recently courts in
Pakistan have tried to fight this tradition.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
There is also a form of arranged marriage in Japan.
There this process is called miyai. Parents will choose a
boy for their daughter to meet. Sometimes the family will
hire a nakodo or go between a person who knows
many young people in the community. This nakodo will then
(04:07):
choose two available people. The man and women look at
pictures of each other and then decide to meet. The
families and the son and daughter all attend this first meeting.
If the meeting goes well, then the couple may meet
again and someday get married. But if a marriage is
(04:31):
not arranged, how do two people find each other for marriage?
There are many other traditions that help people meet each other.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Meeting in public places is a common custom for courtship.
In the village of Crosscombe in England, young men and
women had an interesting courting tradition in the fourteen hundreds.
The young, unmarried women in the village would block the
village streets. They would make all the the unmarried men
pay a fine to pass through. The next day, the
(05:04):
unmarried men would block the street and the women would
have to pay. All the money collected went to the
local church, and the young men and women got to
know each other a little better.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
A newer form of courtship is called speed dating. The
idea started in Beverly Hills, California, in nineteen eighty eight.
Here is how speed dating works. Many men and women
gather together at a restaurant or bar. A speed dating
leader tells the people what to do. Each man finds
(05:40):
a woman to talk with and they sit down at
a table. The man and woman talk and ask questions
to quickly learn about the other person. After about five minutes,
the speed dating leader rings a bell. Everyone must find
a new person to talk with.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
The men and women talk to many people throughout the night.
If a man enjoys talking to one particular woman, he
writes her name down. The women do the same thing.
At the end of the night, everyone gives their names
to the speed dating leader. If a man and woman
wrote each other's names, they are a match. The speed
(06:25):
dating leader gives them the phone number or email address
of their match.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Speed dating may seem like a foolish way to meet people.
How much can you really learn about a person in
just five minutes, But many experts say that some of
the most important opinions you make about someone happen within
the first thirty seconds. Speed dating is quick courtship.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Courtship traditions in the Philippines are not quick like this. Instead,
in many different parts, the man and the woman slowly
show interest in each other. When the interest is confirmed,
they begin to go on dates. But in different areas
of the country, there are other traditions too. In the
(07:20):
Palawan region, men perform courtship through the use of love riddles.
A riddle is a question that must be solved. Riddles
often have hidden meanings. The parents of the girl ask
the man and his parents riddles to learn more about them.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
In the Pungasanan region of the Philippines, the man makes tagaama,
a liquid love potion. He gives this to the woman,
hoping she will drink the tagaama or use it as
a perfume and fall in love with him. If this
does not work, he will act out a story or
(08:01):
drama to show his love for the woman. In the
Versaiahs region, the men sing songs to the women they
want to marry. Men also will write love letters and
give these to a close friend to bring to the woman.
But the man does not only write to the woman,
(08:21):
he also writes to her family.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Whatever the culture, courtship is an important part of life.
Courtship is how we decide whom to marry. It is
part of forming families. No matter how you find a
husband or wife, courtship is the first part of forming
a good marriage relationship.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
What do you think of these courtship traditions? What do
you look for in a person who you will marry?
What character treats build a lifelong commitment to another person?
Share your thoughts with us. You can leave a comment
on our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com.
(09:14):
You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue
Sky and as. You can also get our programs delivered
directly to your Android or Apple device through our free
official Spotlight English app.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
The writers and producers of this program were from the
Spotlight team. The voices you heard were from the United
Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for
this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to
this program again and read it on the internet at
(09:52):
www dot Radio English dot net. This program is called
Traditions of Love.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
We hope you will join us for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,
Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Megan no Lett.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And I'm Andrew Davis. Spotlight uses a special English method
of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Do you know how your parents first met? Do you
know what happened before they got married? What did your
grandparents do to get to know each other before they
got married? How have you looked for a husband or wife?
Today's spotlight is on courtship the many different ways men
(00:54):
and women find a husband or wife.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Courtship is an name for the process of finding and
getting to know someone that you will marry. Today, many
people do this through dating, but not in every culture.
Courtship happens differently in cultures around the world, and courtship
today often is very different from courtship hundreds of years ago.
(01:21):
Let's look at some of the different ways people find love.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
In ancient times, many marriages started when men from one
group or tribe would steal a woman from another tribe.
The woman would then be forced to become the man's wife.
She would become a part of her new tribe. Family
and community are often important in finding a husband or
(01:49):
a wife. For royal families, this choice can also affect
a whole country. Often these marriages are arranged, that is,
other people helped to choose the husband or wife, or
others even force a particular choice.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Arranged marriages were common through history among royal families as
a way to bring security to a country. One example
of this is Queen Maria Theresa of Austria. She had
thirteen sons and daughters. She used her children as a
way to help her country avoid wars. The Queen forced
(02:31):
her children to marry dukes and duchesses from other countries.
By the end of her life, Maria had children who
were part of the royal families of Spain, France, Netherlands
and Italy.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Arranged marriages do not just happen among rich and powerful people,
and they are often a way for parents to love
and care for their children. This kind of marriage is
common in many cultures.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
In some parts of Pakistan, families follow a courtship tradition
called pate leiki. In the Urbdu language, pate means written
leiki means stomach, so pate leiki means written on the stomach.
Two families agree to marry their children before they are
born or when they are very young. The marriage then
(03:26):
happens when the children are young adults. The children must
follow the wishes of their families. They are not permitted
to decide whom they will marry, but recently courts in
Pakistan have tried to fight this tradition.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
There is also a form of arranged marriage in Japan.
There this process is called miyai. Parents will choose a
boy for their daughter to meet. Sometimes the family will
hire a nakodo or go between a person who knows
many young people in the community. This nakodo will then
(04:07):
choose two available people. The man and women look at
pictures of each other and then decide to meet. The
families and the son and daughter all attend this first meeting.
If the meeting goes well, then the couple may meet
again and someday get married. But if a marriage is
(04:31):
not arranged, how do two people find each other for marriage?
There are many other traditions that help people meet each other.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Meeting in public places is a common custom for courtship.
In the village of Crosscombe in England, young men and
women had an interesting courting tradition in the fourteen hundreds.
The young, unmarried women in the village would block the
village streets. They would make all the the unmarried men
pay a fine to pass through. The next day, the
(05:04):
unmarried men would block the street and the women would
have to pay. All the money collected went to the
local church, and the young men and women got to
know each other a little better.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
A newer form of courtship is called speed dating. The
idea started in Beverly Hills, California, in nineteen eighty eight.
Here is how speed dating works. Many men and women
gather together at a restaurant or bar. A speed dating
leader tells the people what to do. Each man finds
(05:40):
a woman to talk with and they sit down at
a table. The man and woman talk and ask questions
to quickly learn about the other person. After about five minutes,
the speed dating leader rings a bell. Everyone must find
a new person to talk with.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
The men and women talk to many people throughout the night.
If a man enjoys talking to one particular woman, he
writes her name down. The women do the same thing.
At the end of the night, everyone gives their names
to the speed dating leader. If a man and woman
wrote each other's names, they are a match. The speed
(06:25):
dating leader gives them the phone number or email address
of their match.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Speed dating may seem like a foolish way to meet people.
How much can you really learn about a person in
just five minutes, But many experts say that some of
the most important opinions you make about someone happen within
the first thirty seconds. Speed dating is quick courtship.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Courtship traditions in the Philippines are not quick like this. Instead,
in many different parts, the man and the woman slowly
show interest in each other. When the interest is confirmed,
they begin to go on dates. But in different areas
of the country, there are other traditions too. In the
(07:20):
Palawan region, men perform courtship through the use of love riddles.
A riddle is a question that must be solved. Riddles
often have hidden meanings. The parents of the girl ask
the man and his parents riddles to learn more about them.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
In the Pungasanan region of the Philippines, the man makes tagaama,
a liquid love potion. He gives this to the woman,
hoping she will drink the tagaama or use it as
a perfume and fall in love with him. If this
does not work, he will act out a story or
(08:01):
drama to show his love for the woman. In the
Versaiahs region, the men sing songs to the women they
want to marry. Men also will write love letters and
give these to a close friend to bring to the woman.
But the man does not only write to the woman,
(08:21):
he also writes to her family.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Whatever the culture, courtship is an important part of life.
Courtship is how we decide whom to marry. It is
part of forming families. No matter how you find a
husband or wife, courtship is the first part of forming
a good marriage relationship.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
What do you think of these courtship traditions? What do
you look for in a person who you will marry?
What character treats build a lifelong commitment to another person?
Share your thoughts with us. You can leave a comment
on our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com.
(09:14):
You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue
Sky and as. You can also get our programs delivered
directly to your Android or Apple device through our free
official Spotlight English app.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
The writers and producers of this program were from the
Spotlight team. The voices you heard were from the United
Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted for
this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to
this program again and read it on the internet at
(09:52):
www dot Radio English dot net. This program is called
Traditions of Love.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
We hope you will join us for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,
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