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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 7 hours

a night, but I do like to have an app, 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?

A, 64 hours, B, 164 hours, or C, 264 hours.

Or sound impossible, but I'll guess A, 64 hours. That's nearly three days.

Well, I'll give you the answer later in the program, assuming you don't dose 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 increasingly difficult to switch off. Stop thinking

about work and relax. South Koreans sleep fewer hours and have higher rates of depression and

...