Shadowing Practice: If You Can Understand This News Article, Your English is Excellent! - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creando lección...
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In this English lesson, we'll read a CNN news article together.
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And as we read the article, you'll learn advanced English vocabulary in context.
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You'll learn the correct grammar and the correct pronunciation at the same time.
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This is an advanced article discussing the potential risks that short form video has on your brain.
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If you can understand this article, your English is excellent.
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Welcome back to J4S English.
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Of course, I'm Jennifer.
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Now let's get started.
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Our headline, is brain rot real?
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Researchers warn of emerging risks tied to short form video.
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So let's look at this, tied to, and notice the sentence structure, because we have something emerging risks.
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That's something tied to something else.
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So you can replace the word tied with connected to.
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So we have emerging risks and we have short form video tied to connected to.
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It means associated.
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If you use associated, you need a different preposition.
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You need with.
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So associated with short form video, but with tie connected, the preposition is to.
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So let's look at this example, learning English with the news, what you're doing right now is tied to,
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we need the verb to be in this sentence structure, is tied to.
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Now you have two options.
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You can have a noun in this example, short form video.
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That's a noun.
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It's a something.
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So here we have improved fluency.
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That's a noun fluency is a noun and improved describes a fluency
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so this is a something
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or you can have a verb an ing you need the verb an ing
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because to in this case functions as a preposition the expression is to be tied to
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so this to is not connected to the verb now because that you need the verb an ing to improving my fluency.
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And if you agree with this sentence, put that's right.
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That's right.
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Put that's right in the comments.
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And don't worry about taking notes.
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I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF.
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You can find the link in the description.
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Now let's learn about this topic of brain rot.
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Don't worry.
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You'll learn what that is and these emerging risks.
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So if the risks are emerging,
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it means they're starting to happen now and they're emerging because of the connection to short form video.
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Let's keep reading with short form video.
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Now, of course, short form video is not what you're watching now.
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It's YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, Tik Toks, short form video, of course.
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Now dominant on social media.
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So if they're dominant on social media, it means that more people are watching shorts, then they are watching this video that is 30 minutes,
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approximately 30 minutes in length, a long form video.
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So this is a long form video, long form.
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Notice it's an adjective.
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It describes the video.
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So I create YouTube shorts.
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Hopefully you watch them and enjoy them but what you're watching is a long form video.
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With short form video now dominant on social media,
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researchers are racing to understand how the highly engaging algorithm driven format may be reshaping the brain.
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Okay.
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So here, the highly engaging algorithm driven format.
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So highly engaging algorithm driven they describe the format i could equally say how the format
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the is the article it's connected to the noun
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so it would be the format
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because adjectives are optional in english sentence structure they're not required
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so i can remove these
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and have how the format the format is what shorts the
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format is short form video that's the format it's the style of the video the format
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and they're saying they're highly engaging you're engaged the from start to finish you're looking at it
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but maybe in long form video you get a little bored maybe an algorithm driven
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so this means that the algorithm is deciding what videos you may want
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and also deciding what videos creators like myself create
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because certain videos are more popular
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so we're going to create more of those popular videos that's the algorithm driven format maybe reshaping the brain
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so you have your brain right now if it
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is reshaped it means that it's changed it's changed it's modified in some way
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that would be reshaping now we have shaping when you're an infant
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and a baby a toddler their brains are being shaped are being formed
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but as adults our brains are already formed so adding re in front of it means that they're being changed again,
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shaped again, because of the short form video content.
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Notice they say researchers, they are racing to understand.
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Of course, you know, to be in a race, I'm racing tomorrow night, I'm in a race, I'm participating in a race,
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maybe a marathon I'm pretending to run right now.
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It could be a bike race or another form of race as well.
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But in this context, a racing to understand.
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It means they're trying to understand very quickly.
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So you might say, we're racing to complete the project.
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I'm racing to submit my application because there's a deadline.
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I'm racing to get to the airport.
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You're trying to get there very, very quickly.
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So you're either working faster, harder, or you're physically moving faster.
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Like if you're trying to get to the airport, you would drive faster.
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So here, race is a verb.
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It's to race and then the infinitive, to understand, to get, to complete.
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In this example sentence, we raced because race is your verb that you would conjugate.
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Here it's in the present continuous.
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It's taking place now here is in the past simple yesterday
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last week earlier this morning we raced to finish the infinitive to finish the project
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so we worked really hard or we worked faster than normal
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let's continue increasingly studies are finding associations ah remember i said associated with So here,
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this is the noun form.
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Are finding associations, connections, ties.
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You can even use this is tied to, so the verb form to be tied to,
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but you can use the noun form and use ties, connections, associations, between.
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And in all three of those, you would use the preposition between.
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There are ties between heavy consumption of short form video and challenges with focus and self -control.
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So we have these two things, but we use association ties connections to mean they're related.
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So we could say heavy consumption of short form video is tied to,
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is connected to, is associated with challenges with focus and self -control.
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The meaning is the same.
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It's simply the sentence structures that are different.
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So you can review these in more detail after the lesson
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using the lesson PDF to make sure you're comfortable with it and you can practice with your own examples as well.
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Are you enjoying this lesson?
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If you are, then I want to tell you about the Finally Fluent Academy.
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This is my premium training program where we study native English speakers from TV,
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movies, YouTube, and the news so you can improve your listening skills of fast English, expand your vocabulary with natural expressions,
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and learn advanced grammar easily plus you'll have me as your
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personal coach you can look in the description for the link to learn more
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or you can go to my website
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and click on finally fluent academy now let's continue with our
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lesson the research though still early seems to echo widespread concerns over brain rot
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so here though still early this is in commas
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which means grammatically you can remove it
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so this verb needs to conjugate with the subject
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which is the researcher the research the research seems to seems
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to echo they're using seems to to make it sound less definitive
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i think but i'm not 100 so that's less definitive seems to echo
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so what is an echo have you ever been in a cave
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and you say hello
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and then you hear hello even though nobody else is there right that's an echo
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so it's your voice and it repeats so that's what It's suggesting here.
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So the research seems to echo widespread concerns over brain rot.
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It means that one research paper will say, says there are concerns.
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A separate research paper says there are concerns.
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So it repeats the research is finding the same conclusion.
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Basically that's what they're meaning by echo.
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It repeats itself.
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It expresses the same or similar idea.
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And the idea being concerns over brain rot.
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Now they're going to define what brain rot is.
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Notice they have it in quotation marks.
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This is to suggest that it is not an official term.
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Okay.
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So here they're saying it's an internet slang term.
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an internet slang term that the oxford university press defines as so they're saying
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we're going to provide a more formal definition the supposed deterioration of a person's mental
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or intellectual state so a deterioration means that it's getting worse
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so if someone has an illness and the doctor says
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that the person is deteriorating it means that they're getting worse
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and worse because of the illness
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but you can use it with the paint on the walls the paint is deteriorating is getting worse
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and worse as the years go on you can use it with your car with with anything
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that has a lot of pieces that can break
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and get damaged you can say is deteriorating so
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that would be the verb form to deteriorate
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and then here the deterioration is the noun form the person's mental state or intellectual state.
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So that is brain rot.
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Basically your brain is getting worse and worse because of the short form video,
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according to some research.
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The term, the term being brain rot, the term became so mainstream
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if something is mainstream it means it's it's used in everyday speech it is accepted in everyday context
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so that would be mainstream the term became so mainstream
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so used and accepted
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that the academic publishing house the academic publishing house being the
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oxford university press crowned it as it's 2024 word of the year
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so they're saying crowned it as to represent gave it the title
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but since it was the winner a winner receives a crown
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so that's how they're using crowned it as
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but you could simply say uh gave it awarded it as well let's keep going a september review
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so a review that happened in september they're using september
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which is the month of course they're using it as an adjective to describe the review it's easier
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and more concise than saying a review published in september you can just say a september review
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And of course we capitalize the months of the year.
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A September review of 71 studies with a total of nearly 100 ,000 participants.
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So using nearly, it means it wasn't exactly 100 ,000,
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but maybe it was 99 ,998 or 91, 87, something very close of nearly 100 ,000 participants.
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A participant is a person who participates in a study.
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So that would be participant.
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Participants found that heavy consumption.
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So here to describe the consumption, they're using the word heavy, which means a lot.
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You watched, that would be consume.
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So you can consume in the sense of eat food, but if you consume content, of course, you're not eating it, you're watching it.
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So heavy consumption would just describe someone that watched many, a lot of short form videos.
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That heavy consumption of short form video was associated with,
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oh, you know what this means, was associated with.
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What if I wanted to change this to
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connected or tied to remember you have to change the preposition
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and in this case they're using the verb to be
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so the verb to be needs to be conjugated in this case it's third person singular
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but in the past was associated with at the time of
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the study was associated with poorer cognition especially regarding attention spans
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and impulse control so attention span is your ability to watch this 30 minute video without getting distracted
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that would be a measure of your attention span
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and impulse control would be
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if during this video you think to yourself I'm a little hungry can you control
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that or do you have to get up
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and go get a bag of chips or some chocolate
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because you have poor impulse control so that would be impulse control
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and attention span based on a combination of behavioral tests
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and self -reported data let's keep reading the review
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so remember here this is the september review
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and then they provide the details almost nearly 100 000 participants
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71 different studies that's the review published in psychological bulletin a journal of the american psychological association
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so they include this information just so you know that this is a legitimate review.
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If it's in a journal, it represents that it followed a certain process.
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There was certain criteria to make sure it is legitimate.
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But remember, all of this information in the commas can be removed.
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It just provides additional information.
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So the review also found links.
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So here, instead of links, you can use connections or ties or associations.
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They're introducing a fourth option.
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So you can actually also say, where is our connected to?
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Here it is.
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So was associated with, was connected, tied just to add on a fourth you can use linked
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linked to link to it uses the preposition to associated is the only one
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that I've mentioned that uses a different preposition with
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so here links this is the noun form
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so we can use the same nouns
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that we already learned connections associations ties links
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and remember these are nouns nouns are singular or plural
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and in this case they're using it in the plural form
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links between heavy consumption again consuming a lot of shorts watching a lot of shorts heavy consumption of the videos
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and increased symptoms of depression anxiety stress and loneliness So these are negative associations,
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connections, ties, links as well that the studies found.
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Despite growing alarm, the word despite is used to introduce a contrast.
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So even before reading anything more, I know that something positive is going to be said.
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Why?
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Because everything we've talked about so far has been negative
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and despite is only used to introduce a contrast despite growing
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alarm some researchers say the long -term picture is still unclear
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so although this isn't necessarily a positive it is more positive than what we've read
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so far so it's considered a contrast growing alarm
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so alarm you can change this to concern despite growing concern doubts fears hesitation
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so all of
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that would represent alarm negative feelings towards the topic despite growing alarm some researchers say the long -term picture
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so the long -term picture would be
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if you look at consumption of short short form content over
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five years 10 years 15 years i don't know what the definition of long term would be
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but to me it's somewhere one five plus years in the future is still unclear
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so this is saying we don't some researchers saying we don't know what the future will be
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if we keep watching shorts in one...
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year five years ten years for example james jackson a neuropsychologist
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so he would be probably one of these researchers james jackson
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said there's a long history of people crusading against new technologies
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so if you crusade against a new technology it means you say no we shouldn't have this.
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It's bad.
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It will do harm.
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That would be crusade against.
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It's the opposite of people who support and promote.
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Crusade against new technologies and cultural phenomena, whether it's video games or Elvis concerts.
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This is an example of a cultural phenomena relatively dated now a lot of young people
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if you're 20 years old you probably have no idea what this represents
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but if you're older you probably understand the cultural phenomena around Elvis Presley
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so he's cautious about overreacting
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so here let's say you react okay this comes from the word react
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so if someone says jennifer i loved your video how i react is how i respond
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emotionally and physically as well
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so a reaction would be smiling that's a reaction a more
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physical reaction emotional would be feeling feeling good feeling proud saying saying oh thank you so much I appreciate that.
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So words, all of that's my reaction.
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Now, if I overreact, it means my reaction is too strong based on the situation.
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So if you say, Jennifer,
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I really liked your video and I just start crying tears of joy and I fall to the ground and say, thank you so much.
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Like too positive for something that wasn't overly positive right
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so you can overreact by being too positive
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and of course you can overreact by being too negative as well
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so he's cautious about overreacting so people saying shorts are going to ruin our brains maybe
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that is reacting too strongly for the situation So that would be an overreaction to the rise of short form video.
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But he said, nonetheless, that he believes many of the concerns are justified.
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So although he, he's saying he doesn't want to overreact on the negativity of short form videos,
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he also feels that the concerns about the impact on our brains,
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our attention span, our impulse control are justified, which means they are true.
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They are warranted.
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They're there for a reason.
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Let's continue.
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What's important.
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He said is balance.
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There are people that engage with short form videos.
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You're engaging with this video right now, just by watching this video, you're engaging.
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If you commented, commented, that's right, or anything, which please comment.
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If you commented, you're engaging.
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If you hit like, you're engaging.
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If you hit subscribe, you're engaging with the video.
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So please do that because it supports the channel and I greatly appreciate it.
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There are people that engage with short form videos in a way that are value added.
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So in ways, excuse me, I said all way, which is grammatically correct, or you can say in ways,
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which he had here, meaning there's more than one way.
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A way just means there's one because a is the article for a singular concept.
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And when you have a plural like he has, you don't use an article.
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You don't use the singular article a, which is why in the singular, you would say a way.
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In a way that is, I would have to change this to is that is value added for sure.
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So remember, if you make one change, like I did accidentally, you have to think about, Oh, do I have to conjugate my verb differently?
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Do I have to change something else?
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And that is absolutely possible and likely in English sentence structure.
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So in ways that are, because there's more than one in ways that are value added.
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So value added.
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simply means in ways that add value.
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So you could absolutely say in ways that add value.
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And that's even shorter.
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And often native speakers prefer the shorter, more concise way that add value.
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Okay.
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So here the verb is add.
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And then what are you adding?
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The something, the object is value or you can use to be that's the verb
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and then value added is an adjective
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but they mean the same thing now hopefully this describes you
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you engage with shorts such as a short where you learn
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five different ways to say you're excited just to give an example
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so that That provides value to you because you expand your vocabulary.
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And then hopefully after you watch one short,
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you put your phone down and you practice those five different ways to say, I'm excited.
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So you just engaged with a value added short.
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So hopefully that's the way you consume my shorts because of course I don't want to contribute to brain rot.
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I want to contribute to improving your brain by improving your fluency.
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So absolutely you can engage with shorts in a way that is a value added.
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And that's the end of the article.
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So what I'll do now is I'll read the article from start to finish and you can focus on my pronunciation.
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Is brain raw real?
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Researchers warn of emerging risks tied to short form video.
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With short form video now dominant on social media researchers are
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racing to understand how the highly engaging algorithm driven format may
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be reshaping the brain increasingly studies are finding associations between heavy consumption of short -form video
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and challenges with focus and self -control
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the research though still early seems to echo widespread concerns over brain rot an internet slang term
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that the Oxford University Press defines as the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state.
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The term became so mainstream that the academic publishing house crowned it as its 2024 word of the year.
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A September review of 71 studies with a total of nearly 100 ,000 participants found
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that heavy consumption of short -form video was associated with poorer cognition especially regarding attention spans
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and impulse control based on a combination of behavioral tests
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and self -reported data the review published in psychological bulletin a
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journal of the american psychological association also found links between heavy consumption of the videos
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and increased symptoms of depression anxiety stress and loneliness.
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Despite growing alarm, some researchers say the long -term picture is still unclear.
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James Jackson, a neuropsychologist, said there's a long history of people crusading against new technologies and cultural phenomena,
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whether it's video games or Elvis concerts.
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So he's cautious about overreacting to the rise of short -form video.
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But he said nonetheless that he believes many of the concerns are justified.
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What's important, he said, is balance.
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There are people that engage with short form videos in a way that are value added for sure.
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Do you want to keep learning English with the news?
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If you do put let's go, let's go, put let's go in the comments.
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And of course, make sure you like this lesson, share it with your friends and subscribe so you're notified every time I post a new lesson.
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And you can get this free speaking guide where I share six tips on how to speak English fluently and confidently.
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You can click here to download it or look for the link in the description.
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And here's another lesson I know you'll love.
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Watch it now.

Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación de nivel C1 se basa en el vídeo “If You Can Understand This News Article, Your English is Excellent!”. Este vídeo tiene 342 frases y 3741 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 29:23. El hablante mantiene un ritmo constante de unas 127 palabras por minuto, cómodo para el shadowing. El 83 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:

PalabraPronunciaciónSignificado
verb sustantivo/vɝb/verbo
noun sustantivo/naʊn/nombre, nombre sustantivo
researcher sustantivo/ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/investigador, investigadora
echo sustantivo/ˈɛk.oʊ/eco
overreact verbo/ˌoʊ.vəɹ.ɹiˈækt/sobrerreaccionar, reaccionar exageradamente / hiperbólicamente
preposition sustantivo/ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/preposición
participant sustantivo/pɑːɹˈtɪsəpənt/participante, partícipe
emerge verbo/ɪˈmɝd͡ʒ/emerger, aparecer
algorithm sustantivo/ˈælɡəɹɪðm̩/algoritmo
impulse sustantivo/ˈɪmpʌls/impulso
fluency sustantivo/ˈfluːənsi/fluidez, fluencia
crusade sustantivo/kɹuːˈseɪd/cruzada
singular adjetivo/ˈsɪŋ.ɡjə.lɚ/singular
consume verbo/kənˈsum/consumir
adjective sustantivo/ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/adjetivo

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

PalabraSignificado
get up verbolevantarse

Frases que vale la pena repetir

Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:

  • Our headline, is brain rot real?
  • You'll learn what that is and these emerging risks.
  • Let's keep reading with short form video.
  • Are you enjoying this lesson?
  • Do I have to change something else?

Gramática en este vídeo

Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:

EstructuraEn el vídeo
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo haceis not connected · is reshaped · being shaped
Oraciones de relativo who / which + oración — información extra sobre una persona o cosaperson who participates · heavy, which means · people who support
Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahorahave improved · I've mentioned · we've talked

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 83 contracciones y formas reducidas, como they're, you're, I'm. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

  • Los sonidos de “th”: algorithm /ˈælɡəɹɪðm̩/, nonetheless /ˌnʌnðəˈlɛs/
  • Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: preposition /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/, reshape /ɹiːˈʃeɪ̯p/, deterioration /dəˌti.ɹi.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, cautious /ˈkɔːʃəs/, cognition /kɑɡˈnɪʃ.ən/
  • Palabras largas — cuida el acento: overreact /ˌoʊ.vəɹ.ɹiˈækt/, preposition /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/, participant /pɑːɹˈtɪsəpənt/, deteriorate /dɪˈtɪɹ.iə.ɹeɪt/, deterioration /dəˌti.ɹi.əˈɹeɪ.ʃən/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

  1. Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
  2. Haz shadowing frase por frase a velocidad normal, repitiendo cada una hasta que tu ritmo coincida con el del hablante.
  3. Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como verb, noun, researcher.

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.

Técnica de shadowing: lee la guía completa paso a paso →