Shadowing-Übung: Australian Political System & Voting Explained | Learn Australian English - Englisch Sprechen Lernen mit Video

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Liz, I got a letter in the mail last week saying I had to go and vote.
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I did not know this was mandatory.
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I panicked.
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I didn't even know who to vote for.
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I walked in, got the paper, and genuinely had no idea what I was doing.
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Jack, you just described the experience of thousands of new Australians at their very first election.
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And the thing is, in Australia, not voting can get you fined.
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A fine for not voting.
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That's right.
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A fine for not voting.
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Australia is one of very few countries in the world where voting is compulsory, legally required.
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And if you are applying for Australian citizenship, or if you simply want to understand the country you are living in, this episode is essential.
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We are going to break down the entire Australian political system in plain English.
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No jargon.
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No confusion.
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And we will explain the voting system that confuses almost every new voter, including Australian-born ones.
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We will get to that in segment three.
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So stay tuned.
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Hi everyone, I'm Liz and welcome to Learn Australian English, the podcast where we teach you real Australian English through real Australian topics.
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I'm Jack.
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Today, Australian Politics and Voting.
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Now, we know what you might be thinking.
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Politics?
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Really?
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But here is the thing.
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Understanding Australia's political system is not just about being a good citizen.
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If you are applying for Australian citizenship, you will be tested on this.
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And even if you are not, this knowledge will help you follow the news, understand your rights, and participate confidently in Australian life.
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We will also teach you the vocabulary that comes with all of this.
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So by the end of this episode, you will be able to talk about Australian politics comfortably,
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confidently and in completely natural Australian English.
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Let's start with the foundation.
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What type of country is Australia politically?
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Australia is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy.
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Let's break those two terms down.
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A constitutional monarchy means Australia has a monarch, currently King Charles III, as the head of state.
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The head of state is the symbolic leader of the country.
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However, the king does not govern Australia day to day.
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That role belongs to elected Australian leaders.
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The king is represented in Australia by the Governor-General at the national level and by governors in each state.
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The Governor General has important constitutional powers, but by convention does not interfere in day-to-day politics.
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And a parliamentary democracy means Australians elect members of Parliament, or MPs, to represent them and make laws.
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The leader of the country is the Prime Minister, the head of the elected Now, Australia has three levels of government.
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Federal, state and territory and local.
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The federal government handles national issues.
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Defence, immigration, foreign affairs and national economic policy.
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State and territory governments handle things like hospitals, schools and roads within their borders.
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and local councils manage your immediate area, rubbish collection, parks, local planning.
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So when Australians say the government, it is important to know which level they mean.
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The federal government sits in Canberra, Australia's capital city, in the Parliament House.
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Now we get to the part that most people find genuinely fascinating.
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How Australia actually makes its laws.
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And there is one fact coming up that surprises almost everyone.
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Stay with us.
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It is worth knowing.
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The Federal Parliament has two chambers, two houses.
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This is called a bicameral parliament.
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Bi means two, so two chambers.
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The two houses are the House of Representatives and the Senate.
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The House of Representatives is sometimes called the lower house.
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It has 150 members, each representing a specific area, called an electorate or seat.
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The political party that wins the most seats in the House of Representatives forms the government, and their leader becomes the Prime Minister.
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The Senate is called the Upper House.
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It has 76 Senators, 12 from each State and 2 from each Mainland Territory.
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The Senate acts as a House of Review.
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It checks and reviews laws passed by the House of Representatives.
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This system of checks means no single group can push a law through without proper scrutiny.
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And here is the fact I promised.
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The leader of the country, the Prime Minister, is not directly elected by the Australian public.
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Australians vote for their local Member of Parliament.
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And the party that wins majority forms the government.
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The leader of that party becomes Prime Minister.
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So technically you vote for a party, not a Prime Minister.
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This is a crucial distinction, and it explains why Australia can have multiple Prime Ministers in a short period.
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If a party votes internally to change its leader, a new Prime Minister can take office without a general election.
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Australia had six Prime Ministers in ten years at one point.
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That is quite a ride.
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It really was.
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The opposition is the major party that did not win government.
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They form the Shadow Cabinet and hold the government accountable.
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Their leader is called the Leader of the Opposition.
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OK?
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We promised you the voting system that confuses almost everyone.
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Here it is.
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First, the big one.
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Voting in Australia is compulsory.
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That means it is legally required.
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Every Australian citizen aged 18 and over must be enrolled to vote, registered on the electoral role and must attend a polling place on election day.
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If you do not vote without a valid reason, you can be fined.
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Compulsory voting makes Australia quite unusual.
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Only about 20 countries in the world have it.
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The fine for not voting is relatively small, but the principle is significant.
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Australia believes civic participation is a shared responsibility.
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Voting is not just a right here.
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It is a a civic duty.
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Elections are held on Saturdays, always a Saturday, at polling places such as local schools, community halls and town halls.
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You take your name off the electoral roll, receive your ballot papers, go into a private polling booth, mark your vote and place it in the ballot box.
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The process is very well organised and usually quite quick.
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And here is a uniquely Australian election day tradition, the democracy sausage.
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Community groups set up sausage sizzles outside polling places on election day.
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You vote, then you buy a snag in bread.
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It has become a beloved national tradition.
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And there is even a website that tracks which polling places have the best sausage sizzle.
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Only in Australia.
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Only in Australia.
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Now, the voting system itself.
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Australia uses preferential voting, also called ranked choice voting.
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Instead of just choosing one candidate, you number all the candidates in order of your preference.
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Number one is your first choice.
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Number two is your second choice, and so on.
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Your vote goes to your first choice first.
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But if your first choice candidate does not win enough votes, Your vote then transfers to your second choice.
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This continues until one candidate has a majority.
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This means your vote is never truly wasted.
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Even if your favourite candidate does not win, your preference still counts.
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The Australian Electoral Commission – or the AEC – runs all federal elections
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and publishes guides in multiple languages to help voters understand the system.
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Australia's major parties are the Australian Labor Party , known as Labor, and the Liberal Party,
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which often governs in coalition with the National Party.
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There are also minor parties, including the Australian Greens and various independent candidates.
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One important note, the Liberal Party of Australia is actually the Conservative Party, not Liberal in the American sense.
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In Australia, Liberal refers to economic liberalism, free market principles, not social progressivism.
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The Labour Party is the centre-left party, historically linked to the union movement.
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Australia's democratic values include the rule of law, meaning everyone is equal under the law,
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freedom of speech, the right to express your opinions openly,
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freedom of religion, the right to practise any religion or none at all, and the separation of powers.
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The Legislature makes laws, the Executive implements them, and the Judiciary interprets them independently.
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Before we wrap up, for anyone preparing for the Australian Citizenship Test,
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the key facts, Australia is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.
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head of state is King Charles III, represented by the Governor-General.
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The Prime Minister leads the elected government.
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There are three levels of government.
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The Federal Parliament has two chambers.
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Voting is compulsory from age 18.
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Australia uses preferential voting.
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And Australia's core values are the rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and equality under the law.
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The test is 20 multiple choice questions.
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You need 15 correct, 75% to pass.
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Five questions of these 20 questions are about Australian values, which you must get all correct to pass.
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And for everyone else, knowing this material makes you a more informed, more confident participant in Australian life.
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That is worth something regardless of your citizenship status.
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Are you preparing for the Australian citizenship test?
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Or did something in this episode surprise you?
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Tell us in the comments.
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And if this episode helped you, please like and subscribe.
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Good luck with the citizenship test.
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See you next time.

Wortschatz und Sprechhinweise zu dieser Lektion

Diese Sprechübung auf Niveau B2 basiert auf dem Video „Australian Political System & Voting Explained“. Diese Wörter kommen am häufigsten vor: Australian, Australia, voting, vote, Prime. Dieses Video enthält 147 Sätze und 1519 Wörter zum Nachsprechen. Der gesprochene Teil dauert 11:35. Der Sprecher spricht gleichmäßig mit etwa 131 Wörtern pro Minute – ein angenehmes Tempo fürs Shadowing. 86 % der Wörter gehören zu den 3.000 häufigsten im Englischen; den Rest solltest du dir vor dem Üben ansehen.

Wichtiger Wortschatz in diesem Video

Die 15 anspruchsvollsten Wörter aus dem Video, mit Aussprache und Bedeutung:

WortAusspracheBedeutung
citizenship Substantiv/ˈsɪtɪzənʃɪp/Staatsbürgerschaft, Staatsangehörigkeit
elect Verb/ɪˈlɛkt/entscheiden, wählen
compulsory Adjektiv/kəmˈpʌlsəɹi/obligatorisch, pflichtmäßig
monarchy Substantiv/ˈmɑnɚki/Monarchie
sausage Substantiv/ˈsɔsɪd͡ʒ/Wurst
electoral Adjektiv/ɪˈlɛk.tɚ.əl/Wahl-
parliamentary Adjektiv/ˌpɑɹləˈmɛnt(ə)ɹi/parlamentarisch
confidently Adverb/ˈkɑnfɪdəntli/selbstbewusst
preferential Adjektiv/ˈpɹɛf.ɜː(ɹ)ˌɛn.ʃəl/vorrangig
sizzle Verb/ˈsɪzəl/zischen
govern Verb/ˈɡʌv.ən/regieren, steuern
confuse Verb/kənˈfjuːz/verwirren, konfundieren
civic Adjektiv/ˈsɪvɪk/bürgerlich
ballot Substantiv/ˈbælət/Abstimmung
genuinely Adverb/ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/wirklich, echt

Phrasal Verbs, die du hören wirst

WortAusspracheBedeutung
break down Verbversagen, den Geist aufgeben
come up Verberscheinen
set up Verb/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/aufbauen, für den Einsatz vorbereiten

Sätze zum Wiederholen

Kurze, vollständige Sätze aus dem Video, die du im Alltag wiederverwenden kannst:

  • I didn't even know who to vote for.
  • Let's start with the foundation.
  • Let's break those two terms down.

Grammatik in diesem Video

Die Strukturen, die der Sprecher am häufigsten verwendet, mit den genauen Worten aus dem Video:

StrukturIm Video
Bedingungssätze if + Satz, will/would + Verb – eine Bedingung und ihre Folgeif you are not, this knowledge will help
Passiv be + Partizip Perfekt – wichtig ist, was geschieht, nicht wer es tutwill be tested · is represented · is called

Aussprache, auf die du achten solltest

Der Sprecher verwendet 3 Kurzformen und abgeschwächte Formen, zum Beispiel I'm, didn't. Sprich sie in der kurzen Form, so wie du sie hörst.

  • Die Laute „sh“ und „zh“: citizenship /ˈsɪtɪzənʃɪp/, preferential /ˈpɹɛf.ɜː(ɹ)ˌɛn.ʃəl/, rubbish /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/, publish /ˈpʌblɪʃ/, distinction /dɪˈstɪŋkʃən/
  • Lange Wörter – auf die Betonung achten: citizenship /ˈsɪtɪzənʃɪp/, compulsory /kəmˈpʌlsəɹi/, electoral /ɪˈlɛk.tɚ.əl/, parliamentary /ˌpɑɹləˈmɛnt(ə)ɹi/, confidently /ˈkɑnfɪdəntli/

Laute, die Deutschsprachigen schwerfallen:

  • Stimmhafter Auslaut — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ am Wortende nicht verhärten: sausage /ˈsɔsɪd͡ʒ/, confuse /kənˈfjuːz/, subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/, beloved /bɪˈlʌvd/
  • /æ/ — offener als „ä“: ballot /ˈbælət/, fascinate /ˈfæsɪneɪt/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, mandatory /ˈmæn.dəˌtɔɹ.i/, podcast /ˈpɑdˌkæst/
  • /dʒ/ — stimmhaft, nicht „tsch“: sausage /ˈsɔsɪd͡ʒ/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, jargon /ˈdʒɑː.ɡən/

So übst du mit diesem Video

  1. Höre dir das ganze Video einmal an, ohne zu sprechen, und notiere die Wörter, die du nicht kennst.
  2. Sprich Satz für Satz in normaler Geschwindigkeit nach und wiederhole jeden, bis dein Rhythmus zum Sprecher passt.
  3. Nimm dich auf und vergleiche mit dem Original; achte dabei auf Wörter wie citizenship, elect, compulsory.

Was ist die Shadowing-Technik?

Shadowing ist eine wissenschaftlich fundierte Sprachlerntechnik, die ursprünglich für die professionelle Dolmetscherausbildung entwickelt und durch den Polyglotten Dr. Alexander Arguelles populär gemacht wurde. Die Methode ist einfach aber wirkungsvoll: Du hörst englisches Audio von Muttersprachlern und wiederholst es sofort laut — wie ein Schatten, der dem Sprecher mit nur 1–2 Sekunden Verzögerung folgt. Anders als passives Hören oder Grammatikübungen zwingt Shadowing dein Gehirn und deine Mundmuskulatur, gleichzeitig echte Sprachmuster zu verarbeiten und zu reproduzieren. Studien zeigen, dass es Aussprachegenauigkeit, Intonation, Rhythmus, verbundene Sprache, Hörverständnis und Sprechflüssigkeit signifikant verbessert — was es zu einer der effektivsten Methoden für die IELTS Speaking-Vorbereitung und reale englische Kommunikation macht.

Shadowing-Technik: die vollständige Schritt-für-Schritt-Anleitung lesen →