Shadowing-Übung: English Listening Practice - Inflation - Englisch Sprechen Lernen mit Video

Welcome to the Listening Time Podcast.

Hey everybody, this is Connor and you're listening to episode 121 of the Listening Time Podcast.

Thank you all for listening.

I hope you're all doing great.

The topic of today's episode is a really interesting one

and I think that most of you are gonna like this one

because it's something that most of us or maybe all of us are currently

dealing with or are at least having to think about a little bit, which is inflation, right?

We are experiencing a lot of inflation in many countries around the world and a lot of places

have had a lot of issues because of inflation.

Economies have been hurt and people have had a hard time because of inflation in this recent period.

And remember that I'm recording this in 2023.

So if you're listening to this in a future year, then this might not be as relevant.

But during this time that I'm recording this episode,

inflation is a hot topic and many people are talking about this and complaining about it.

And so I thought this would be a good topic to discuss in today's episode.

So we'll talk about what inflation is, the causes and effects of inflation.

We'll talk about some countries that have very high inflation right now and what people do during times of high inflation.

So this should be a really interesting episode.

I'm excited for it.

And before we start, remember that I have my new podcast available now, which is called US Conversations.

This is an exclusive podcast.

You can sign up for it if you feel ready to listen to conversations at real speed in English.

So in this new podcast,

I talk to different English teachers from around the United States in different parts of the country,

and we have a normal conversation about many different topics,

and I provide the transcript for you with the definitions of key words and phrases that we use during the conversation.

So I know that a lot of you have been waiting for this type of content from me, and now it's available.

So if you'd like that, you can click on the link in the episode description below this episode.

That's patreon.com slash usconversations.

And of course, you can sign up for my membership

if you want my specialized training to help you understand native speakers when they speak fast.

The link is also in the description below this episode.

And if you like this podcast, please share it with anyone else you know who's learning English,

and please give it a five-star rating and write a review.

Alright, let's get started.

Are your ears ready?

You know what time it is.

It's listening time.

Okay, let's talk about inflation.

First of all, what is inflation?

People might have different definitions of inflation and people think about this topic in different ways,

but I'll just give an overall definition that most people would be happy with.

And that is inflation means that there is an increase in prices and a fall in purchasing power.

What does purchasing power mean?

This just means that your money buys less stuff.

You can't buy as much stuff with the same amount of money that you used to be able to buy.

So that's a fall in purchasing power.

So that's inflation.

And many of us are struggling right now with inflation in our different countries because over the past couple years,

we've seen a lot of inflation around the world.

So let's talk about some causes of inflation.

There are different causes.

It's not just one particular thing.

There could be certain things that come from the demand side,

meaning the consumer who is buying products or services

and there could be causes from the supply side from the people

that are producing these goods

and services maybe the cost of production has gone up for them

and they can't produce as much stuff or they need to raise prices because of problems with the supply side.

So there are a lot of different things that can affect and influence the inflation rate.

But let me just talk about maybe the overall idea of what causes inflation.

Of course, this isn't necessarily the most detailed explanation, but I think it kind of summarizes everything.

So inflation is caused by having more currency units

that are chasing goods and services without a greater increase in production of those goods and services.

Okay, that might be a little hard for you to understand.

Let me explain it.

So a currency unit just refers to one dollar or one euro or whatever, right?

A currency refers to the different money that we use in different countries, right?

So the dollar is a currency, the euro is a currency, etc. So when we have more dollars,

for example, in circulation, but we don't have the same increase in the production of goods and services,

if there isn't an increase, or if there's a decrease, or if there's an increase but not enough of an increase,

this will result in higher prices.

It will result in inflation.

Think of a basic example, right?

In the years 2020 and 2021, in many places, for example,

in the United States, the government gave out a lot of free dollars to people.

A lot of people received stimulus checks and there were other forms of stimulus

that produced more dollars more of these currency units right however this didn't increase the amount of goods

and services that were created and so we had more dollars but we didn't necessarily have more goods and services.

So people might have felt richer because suddenly they had more money in their bank account.

However, when you just increase the money supply,

that simply means that prices will go up because now there is more money

in the system that is chasing the same amount of goods and services.

So that makes the price of these things go up.

That's just logic, right?

So that's what happens when you suddenly increase the currency and there are more dollars or more euros,

it makes prices go up, right?

And you can increase the amount of currency in a system without price inflation

if the production of goods and services increases even more than the increase in the currency.

So a good example of this was in the late 1800s in the US

when there was actually an increase in the overall currency,

the amount of currency units in the system.

However, prices actually went down.

How did that happen?

Well, It's because there was so much production of goods and services,

and that production was even greater than the increase in the money supply.

So even though the money supply expanded, prices actually went down because more things were produced.

So you can see

100

that there are a lot of factors at play in terms of the causes of inflation and how inflation happens.

101

Let's talk about the effects of inflation now.

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So when there's inflation, when there's a lot of inflation especially, people are not encouraged to save.

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people are actually encouraged to spend and invest.

104

For example, let's pretend you have $10

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and the rate of inflation is very high right now and you put your $10 in a bank account,

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a savings account, and it has a low interest rate and that $10 increases a little bit,

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but the rate of inflation is 10% maybe,

108

and then maybe next year your $10 has grown to $10.05 in that savings account,

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but the purchasing power has gone down for those $10.

110

Now, instead of needing $10 to buy a hamburger, it takes $11 dollars.

111

So even though you saved ten dollars and you earned a little bit of interest,

112

the rate of inflation went up higher and you actually lost purchasing power.

113

You see how that works?

114

So people are not as encouraged to save because usually the rate of inflation kills their savings.

115

It makes their savings less valuable.

116

So instead of that, people are encouraged to spend money now because prices increase in the future if there is inflation.

117

And so people want to buy things now before prices increase.

118

And people want to invest their money in something that will provide them a return that's greater than the rate of inflation.

119

So if inflation is 10%, you want to earn at least 11% with your investments so

120

that you can beat the rate of inflation and your purchasing power won't go down, right?

121

So in the opposite scenario, if there is deflation, this has the opposite effect.

122

It encourages people to save money because their money will actually be worth more next year than it's worth now.

123

So you put your $10 in a savings account and maybe that grows to $10.05 next year or maybe it doesn't.

124

Maybe it's just ten dollars still however that ten dollars

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buys more next year because prices have gone down and you've received an increase in your purchasing power.

126

So that's what happens when there's deflation.

127

And in many cases, deflation might result in less investment

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because people don't need to chase the best forms of investment to beat the rate of inflation because there is no inflation.

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There is deflation.

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So people don't need to search for those investments.

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They can just keep their money in a bank account,

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and it grows in real value over time because prices are going down.

133

So you see how inflation and deflation encourage the opposite behavior, right?

134

And when it comes to wages, the word wages just refers to the amount of money that you make,

135

specifically the amount of money you make per hour.

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So when it comes to wages and your income,

137

this never keeps up with inflation if there's high inflation.

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So if there's 10% inflation,

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your wages are probably not gonna go up by the same amount at the same time, right?

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So you might receive raises over time, your boss might raise your salary,

141

however your overall purchasing power is not increasing because prices are increasing faster than your wages.

142

So even though you might make more money in in one year, your real wage is actually less.

143

When I say your real wage, I'm referring to your real wage adjusted for inflation, right?

144

So even though your income might increase, life continues to get harder and harder to afford.

145

The verb afford is used to say that you can pay for something.

146

So if I say I can't afford that car, I'm saying I don't have enough money to buy that car.

147

So life gets harder and harder to afford because your income doesn't increase as fast as inflation increases.

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And another reason why life gets harder to afford is because interest rates often rise when we have high inflation.

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And so, for example, it might be a lot more expensive to get a loan from the bank

150

or to pay back money that you've borrowed.

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So things get harder to afford overall.

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And so of course there are many negative effects of inflation.

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This is something that hurts people very badly in many cases.

154

So what are some countries that have high inflation right now in 2023?

155

So I'll mention a few of them here,

156

but there are many other countries that also have pretty high inflation currently, but here are a few of them.

157

Venezuela has around 400% inflation.

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That's really, really high.

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So imagine prices today being 400% what they were last year, right?

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That's not a good situation, of course.

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In the country of Lebanon,

162

recently there was over 250% inflation, really, really high.

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In Argentina, inflation has been a big problem in recent years,

164

and the rate of inflation has reached to over 100%.

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And inflation is also a big issue in Turkey right now.

166

it's close to 50% at the time of recording this.

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So there are some countries right now that are dealing with major problems because of really high inflation.

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And maybe you live in one of these countries and you know exactly what I'm talking about.

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It's not a good situation to be in.

170

And how about the U.S.?

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Well, of course, the U.S doesn't have inflation anywhere near some of these other countries.

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However, in June of 2022,

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it reached 9.1%, which was the highest rate in many years in the U.S.

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And to be honest, that 9.1% is understated.

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When I say that it's understated, I'm saying that in reality, it's more.

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So when we see the official rate of inflation in the U.S., we know that in reality,

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it's even higher than what they're saying it is.

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But that 9.1% was the highest in many years.

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The rate of inflation has gone down this year.

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However, at the time of recording this, we still have inflation.

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So prices are still increasing, but by less, right?

182

Because we don't have deflation yet.

183

Prices aren't going down yet, but they're going up at a slower pace than they were a year ago, for example.

184

But the U.S has dealt with a lot of inflation recently, and the percentage in the U.S might not seem very high to you,

185

depending on where you live, but people definitely feel it here.

186

And lastly, what do people do during periods of high inflation or hyperinflation?

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Well, one thing is that people who live in a country with really high inflation,

188

they tend to immediately exchange their money once they've earned it for another more stable currency or for precious metals.

189

When I use the phrase precious metals, I'm talking about things like gold and silver, right?

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So, for example, in Turkey right now,

191

if people receive their income in the local currency,

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they might try to immediately exchange that for U.S dollars or for euros or for gold,

193

for example, so that they don't lose purchasing power so that their money doesn't deteriorate by tomorrow or next week.

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They want something more stable, right?

195

So that's something that happens in many places, but in a place like the U.S.,

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it doesn't happen the same way because we have the U.S dollar,

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And so the U.S dollar is generally considered to be the safe,

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stable currency that other people look to for refuge.

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When I say the word refuge, I'm talking about protection and safety, right?

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So we have this currency already.

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So when we deal with inflation, we can't do the same thing with another currency the way

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that other countries do this because the people in those countries might exchange their currency for dollars,

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but we already earn dollars.

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And so most people in the U.S don't really have this option.

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We don't think about exchanging our currency for another more stable one, right?

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We can exchange our dollars for precious metals, of course, and some people do that,

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but we don't really have the option of exchanging our dollars for a more stable currency

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because we have the currency that people usually view as the safe currency, right? the safest and most stable one, right?

209

So that's a little bit different in the U.S.

210

And a lot of times during periods of really high inflation, the government in

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that country will make it illegal to exchange over a certain amount of money for dollars

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or euros or whatever and

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if that's the case then people create a black market for dollars

214

or euros or whatever so people exchange this illegally

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because they need a more stable currency and

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if the government doesn't let them have one then they'll get it illegally so that's another thing that happens

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Something else that happens is

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that people try to invest their money quickly in something that's going to give them a real return return.

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They don't want to just hold their currency.

220

They might exchange it for another currency or precious metals

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or invest it in something that will gain in value to a greater degree than the rate of inflation.

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And so they might try to buy something, some asset, so that they can beat inflation.

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By the way, the word asset in this context refers to something

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that you own that can produce a positive economic effect for you.

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For example, like owning a property

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right or owning a stock so people might try to find assets

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that will grow faster in value than the rate of inflation right

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and another thing people might do is buy things now rather than later

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because they know that prices will increase in the future so they buy things now and in really extreme examples of hyperinflation,

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people will just immediately buy things once they get paid in their local currency.

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They might immediately buy milk or buy rice or buy something

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because they know that it's better to do that right now than wait a week when the price is higher, right?

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And if they buy something real now, it will increase in value very, very fast, right?

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And one last thing that might happen is that people might leave their country, unfortunately, and look for a more stable situation.

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So that's what might happen in times of very high inflation.

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All right, I think that's all for today.

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Hopefully this topic was interesting for you.

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Hopefully it was educational, and I know it's not the funnest topic,

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but I think it's interesting because a lot of us are dealing with this now.

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Remember that you can sign up for my new podcast if you want to hear real conversations

241

in English with the transcript, of course.

242

The link is in the episode description below this episode.

243

And you can also join my normal membership if you want my specialized training.

244

And if you want my advanced podcast episodes, you can become a Listening Time family member.

245

And if you like this podcast, please share it with anyone else you know who's learning English.

246

and please give it a five-star rating and write a review.

247

All right, thank you for listening to this episode and I'll talk to you on the next episode of Listening Time.

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Wortschatz und Sprechhinweise zu dieser Lektion

Diese Sprechübung auf Niveau B2 basiert auf dem Video „English Listening Practice - Inflation“. Diese Wörter kommen am häufigsten vor: inflation, currency, increase, dollar, price. Dieses Video enthält 247 Sätze und 3036 Wörter zum Nachsprechen. Der gesprochene Teil dauert 27:56. Der Sprecher spricht langsam, etwa 109 Wörter pro Minute, sodass genug Zeit bleibt, jeden Laut nachzuahmen. 87 % der Wörter gehören zu den 3.000 häufigsten im Englischen, der Wortschatz ist also leicht zu verfolgen.

Wichtiger Wortschatz in diesem Video

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

Wort	Aussprache	Bedeutung
inflation Substantiv	/ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/	Inflation, Geldentwertung
podcast Substantiv	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	Podcast, Audio-Internetsendung
deflation Substantiv	/dɪˈfleɪʃən/	Deflation
euro Substantiv	/ˈjʊɹoʊ/	Euro
hyperinflation Substantiv	/ˌhaɪpəɹɪnˈfleɪʃən/	Hyperinflation
specialize Verb	/ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/	spezialisieren
understated Adjektiv	/ʌndəˈsteɪtɪd/	unaufdringlich, unauffällig
transcript Substantiv	/ˈtɹæn.skɹɪpt/	Abschrift, Transkript
stimulus Substantiv	/ˈstɪm.jə.ləs/	Auslöseimpuls
illegally Adverb	/ɪˈliːɡəli/	illegal, rechtswidrig
refuge Substantiv	/ˈɹɛfjuːd͡ʒ/	Zuflucht
rat Substantiv	/ɹæt/	Ratte, Ratz
deteriorate Verb	/dɪˈtɪɹ.iə.ɹeɪt/	verschlechtern
hamburger Substantiv	/ˈhæmˌbɜɹ.ɡɚ/	Hamburger
summarize Verb	/ˈsʌməˌɹaɪz/	zusammenfassen

Phrasal Verbs, die du hören wirst

Wort	Aussprache	Bedeutung
go down Verb		absteigen, hinabsteigen
go up Verb		hinaufgehen, steigen
keep up with Verb		mithalten, mit etwas Schritt halten
pay back Verb	/peɪ bæk/	zurückzahlen

Sätze zum Wiederholen

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

I hope you're all doing great.
Are your ears ready?
Let's talk about the effects of inflation now.
You see how that works?
Because we don't have deflation yet.

Grammatik in diesem Video

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

Struktur	Im Video
Present Perfect have/has + Partizip Perfekt – eine vergangene Handlung, die jetzt noch wichtig ist	have been hurt · we've seen · has gone
Passiv be + Partizip Perfekt – wichtig ist, was geschieht, nicht wer es tut	have been hurt · is called · is caused
Relativsätze who / which + Satz – eine Zusatzinformation über eine Person oder Sache	bit, which is · now, which is · people who live

Aussprache, auf die du achten solltest

Der Sprecher verwendet 53 Kurzformen und abgeschwächte Formen, zum Beispiel don't, I'm, doesn't. Sprich sie in der kurzen Form, so wie du sie hörst.

Die Laute „sh“ und „zh“: inflation /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/, deflation /dɪˈfleɪʃən/, hyperinflation /ˌhaɪpəɹɪnˈfleɪʃən/, specialize /ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/, circulation /ˌsɝkjʊˈleɪʃən/
Lange Wörter – auf die Betonung achten: hyperinflation /ˌhaɪpəɹɪnˈfleɪʃən/, understated /ʌndəˈsteɪtɪd/, illegally /ɪˈliːɡəli/, deteriorate /dɪˈtɪɹ.iə.ɹeɪt/, circulation /ˌsɝkjʊˈleɪʃən/

Laute, die Deutschsprachigen schwerfallen:

Stimmhafter Auslaut — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ am Wortende nicht verhärten: specialize /ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/, understated /ʌndəˈsteɪtɪd/, refuge /ˈɹɛfjuːd͡ʒ/, summarize /ˈsʌməˌɹaɪz/, verb /vɝb/
/æ/ — offener als „ä“: podcast /ˈpɑdˌkæst/, transcript /ˈtɹæn.skɹɪpt/, rat /ɹæt/, hamburger /ˈhæmˌbɜɹ.ɡɚ/, lastly /ˈlæstli/
/dʒ/ — stimmhaft, nicht „tsch“: refuge /ˈɹɛfjuːd͡ʒ/, adjust /əˈd͡ʒʌst/

So übst du mit diesem Video

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

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 →

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Wortschatz und Sprechhinweise zu dieser Lektion

Wichtiger Wortschatz in diesem Video

Phrasal Verbs, die du hören wirst

Sätze zum Wiederholen

Grammatik in diesem Video

Aussprache, auf die du achten solltest

So übst du mit diesem Video

Was ist die Shadowing-Technik?