Shadowing Practice: Why Living in London has Become Impossible - Learn English Speaking with Video

Elige un modo de práctica

Cada modo abre una sala de práctica a pantalla completa.

222 oraciones

Si las oraciones son demasiado cortas o largas, haz clic en Editar para ajustarlas.

This is London.

At first glance it seems like one of the best places to live in the world.

In a city of 9 million people, over 200 ,000 are millionaires.

It's one of the world's top finance centres, and has more private jet traffic than anywhere else in Europe.

But what was once heart of a global empire has undergone a dramatic shift.

Today more than 1 in 4 people in the city live in poverty, and homelessness is 8 times the national average.

it's easy to see why people are being pushed onto the streets in 2017 the median rent was around one

and a half thousand pounds a month today for a new tenancy

you're looking at over 2 700 an 80 increase in just eight years

and in the midst of one of the biggest property crisis

in the city's history nearly 45 of all property purchases in

central london are made by foreign buyers for many young people

in the uk london was the dream the capital brings promises of lucrative jobs opportunity

and a better life that in the past has drawn millions to the capital

but many of the perks of being in the city are

now drying up jobs are harder to get them before

and the ones

that you do land don't pay as much as they used

to despite having a very wealthy population the actual standard of

living in london is far worse than it looks after housing costs high

Pay -earning Londoners rank in the bottom 5 % for the UK in spending power, and wages adjusted for inflation haven't risen since 2008.

You earn more, but live worse.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and last year, shoplifting in the capital surged by 35 .5%, the highest increase of any type of crime.

Across London, it's not uncommon to see things like this.

Basic products like meat and cleaning items, locked up in plastic boxes to prevent theft.

London is not all bad some people still live decent lives

but it's a shadow of its former self and to many represents the general decline

Britain has been experiencing

so how did it come to this this is how life

in one of the world's richest cities became impossible for almost

everyone on average Londoners spend 46 % of their income on

housing 50 % more than the rest of the UK in

fact one in four Londoners are considering leaving the city in the next year

because of high rents

so how did the situation get

this bad funnily enough much of london's current housing issues stem

from a seemingly inconsequential decision made nearly a hundred years ago

in the 1930s the average house price in london was 500

pounds three times the average income the housing crisis didn't exist back

then the concern wasn't whether enough houses were being built

but the unstoppable growth of cities into the countryside so the government decided to contain London's growth.

The idea was simple, protect the countryside,

preserve the air quality and stop cities from using up rural land by drawing a boundary around the city, a greenbelt.

Local authorities were allowed to purchase land around the capital to be protected from house building.

The aim?

Preserve nature and keep city life breathable.

And for a while it worked.

Large areas of countryside remain untouched today despite huge demand for a million homes in the capital.

But this policy came with unintended consequences in the long term.

Today, three times the land area of Greater London is protected.

And all this means that there is very little land which people can actually build on.

Typically, where 52 ,000 houses are needed each year, London has only been building 30 ,000,

meaning 1 .1 million are now needed to bring London up to the European average of houses per person.

But planning restrictions are only part of the story.

Back in the 1960s, it wasn't just family homes that were cheap.

The city had huge amounts of government -owned social housing.

At this point, one in three houses in the UK were publicly owned, following an explosion of house building after

World War II.

This kept house prices low, as there was a high supply of housing and fewer families looking to buy in the private market,

meaning less competition for houses.

But this all began to radically change in the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher was elected.

The 1980 Housing Act introduced the now -famous right -to -buy scheme,

giving millions of council tenants the chance to purchase their homes at discounts of up to 70%.

In many ways, it was a massive success.

Homeownership in London soared from 55 % in 1980 to 67 % in 2003, and over 316 ,000 homes were sold in the city.

For many families, it was a life -changing opportunity.

But there was also a catch.

Councils weren't allowed to reinvest the money from the sales into building more housing.

What followed was decades of decline of the UK's public housing

stock resulting in a record 330 ,000 households on the waiting list for social housing in London today

and 180 ,000 people in temporary accommodation

The safety net was sold off but never replaced

and the long -term effects of this policy are now being felt harder than ever

Houses in London used to cost 8 times the average salary in 2005 but that figure has risen to 14 times today

One of the largest issues, not just in London, but across the whole of the UK at the moment is immigration.

But it's really hard to know what's true and what isn't, especially as different sources in the UK have very different narratives.

That's why I use Ground News.

It's the only platform that shows you how different media outlets report on the same event.

You can compare headlines from across the political spectrum, left, right and centre, and see who's spinning what and why.

Take this story about immigration in the US.

The left -leaning source says that

Trump wanted children to be deported by night and fog,

highlighting the illegal nature, while this right -wing source calls the judge a far -left imperial and mentions the Biden regime.

Same story, two completely different framings.

Their blind spot feature is also especially useful, as it shows you which stories are being ignored by one side of the media,

so you don't just see what your usual sources want you to see.

If you care about cutting through the noise,

scan the QR code, or head to ground .news forward slash invisible to get 40 % off the vantage plan.

That's what I use to stay genuinely informed.

Link in the description.

Now let's get back to the video.

This is obviously unsustainable, but what you might not expect is there's actually nearly 100 ,000 unoccupied homes in the capital,

all left empty while demand soars.

That might sound hard to believe given how many people want to move to the city, but to understand why this happens,

we first need to understand how the housing market is different to almost any other good.

The problem is that houses are bought to live in, but also as safe investments for the wealthy,

so there is often more demand for houses than need.

In recent years, the increasing house prices in London have made the city one of the world's most attractive places to invest in real estate,

and for that fact, the prices in central London have increased by 46 % in the past decade, meaning investors expect to make a high profit.

100

The result?

101

Most of the people buying homes in the city aren't actually

102

interested in living in london in 2023 alone an enormous 45 of central london property sales were made by foreign buyers

103

foreign investment of course comes with some economic benefits

104

but for the locals trying to live in london it's a disaster studies have found

105

that without foreign investment average prices would have dropped from 215 000 to 174 000 a 19 difference

106

and londoners are left paying for these investments unfortunately it's not just the city's housing market

107

that has been sold to the highest bidder many aspects of

108

daily life have also faced a similar fate a policy experiment

109

with lunder's water supply in 1989 is now seen as a

110

huge failure privatizing public utility companies can often lead to the

111

companies prioritizing short -term profit over the quality of service

112

and long -term investment which is vital for water systems

113

and thames water which supplies all the water for the city was given to a private company in 1989.

114

unfortunately upgrading the city's infrastructure usually doesn't make profit for investors, so it didn't happen, and now their infrastructure is broken.

115

Since 2022, Thames Water has failed to complete 100 infrastructure upgrades to reduce sewage spills, which often happen after heavy rainfall.

116

At the same time, since 1990, they have paid out over 7 billion in dividends to investors, financed by increasing company debts rather than profits,

117

and that debt has now risen to 18 billion pounds, which is roughly 80 % of the value of the company itself.

118

Thames Water is now on the brink of collapse.

119

But the result of this catastrophe?

120

Water bills in London are expected to rise by 31 % this year, the biggest increase since water was privatised in the 1980s.

121

And regular Londoners are being forced to rescue a failing company

122

which has just announced a new aim to pay out an extra £2bn to shareholders.

123

To be fair, it's not just privatisation that has been making things more expensive.

124

Prices across the board have risen by 35 % in just four years, driven by fuel, housing costs and post -pandemic inflation.

125

Not counting fuel and housing, prices for everyday goods have risen by 25%.

126

For many people, this is simply unaffordable.

127

Take energy bills.

128

Before the pandemic, the average household paid around £1 ,000 a year.

129

Today, it's £1 ,700.

130

On top of this, London has an older housing stock than the rest of the population.

131

So even without these price rises, average energy bills in the city are usually 20 to 30 percent higher than the rest of the UK.

132

Of course, with everything becoming more expensive, the government inevitably needs to spend more anyway,

133

but underinvestment since 2008 during the Conservative government's austerity programme has brought the country's public services to breaking point.

134

To put this into perspective, public service debt has risen from £500 billion in 2008 to £2 .8 trillion this year.

135

On top of the UK's ageing population, this means Britain's NHS is costing more than ever before,

136

at an extra £100 billion per year than in 2008.

137

And it's not just the NHS.

138

London councils face a £17 billion road maintenance backlog, and one in six students study in a school which needs major work.

139

The money has to come from somewhere, and so council tax has nearly tripled in some London boroughs since the 1990s,

140

and Britain as a whole is facing the highest tax burden since World War II too, at 34 % of GDP.

141

Politically, the easiest way to increase income tax is to freeze the threshold of each tax bracket.

142

What this means is that when wages increase with inflation, people are pushed into higher tax brackets,

143

despite not being able to actually buy more with higher wages.

144

Because Londoners earn 30 -40 % more than people across the rest of the country, they pay higher amounts of income tax,

145

even though higher wages are swallowed up on housing.

146

So Londoners are again paying disproportionately more than the rest of the UK And these worse living standards have consequences

147

People become desperate

148

Research suggests that a 10 % increase in the cost of living increases crime by 8 %

149

And Londoners have clearly felt this effect

150

The city's overall crime rate had increased by 25 % just last year

151

And the situation is even worse when you look at shoplifting

152

Which rose by 35 % But the most common crimes?

153

Violent and sexual offences.

154

And so living in London today means being at serious risk just for leaving your expensive house,

155

which is made more difficult when 50 % of Londoners admit to not trusting the city's police force.

156

But it isn't only crime which affects the quality of life.

157

When you think life in London is expensive enough, the costs of just getting around have spiralled. Since 2019, most cars

158

that don't meet environmental standards must pay £12 .50 a day

159

to drive into Greater London under the ultra -low emission zone scheme.

160

In the city centre, it's £15 a day for congestion charge.

161

There are of course perfectly valid reasons for this.

162

The environmental and public health benefits are huge, and nitrous oxide pollution has fallen by 54 % in central London.

163

But that comes at a cost of over £500 a month just to drive to work.

164

Costs that disproportionately hit working -class Londoners who can't afford newer cars or alternative forms of transport.

165

To make matters worse, real wages have actually fallen in the last 20 years, and the UK's productivity has stolen since the financial crisis,

166

as wages haven't been able to keep up with other countries.

167

Adjusted for inflation, the average Londoner is earning around 5 % less today than in 2008,

168

while other OECD countries have seen incomes grown by around 9%.

169

If wages had continued rising at pre -2008 levels, Londoners would be earning £11 ,000 more per year.

170

Instead, they now have the highest employment rate in the UK at 6%,

171

and among young people, nearly one in five are out of work or education.

172

Unfortunately, it's changing the way people live, and who can afford to live in London at all?

173

Middle -class Londoners are increasingly being pushed out.

174

They can't afford to stay, and are being forced into commuter towns beyond the Greenbelt.

175

This is part of the reason why London now has the longest average commute in the UK at 81 minutes.

176

People are far from their support networks and feel more isolated, so much so that half of all Londoners have reported feeling lonely.

177

And all of this financial stress is making people more anxious about the future.

178

Around a third of all people living in London now say it's a good time to save, the highest number since 2007,

179

which means less money spent on restaurants, leisure or entertainment and a much lower sense of life satisfaction.

180

Then there's public transport itself off.

181

Despite the soaring cost of living, London has one of the most expensive public transport systems in the world,

182

being around one and a half to two times more expensive than similar world cities, and only 40 % of trains have air conditioning,

183

with summer temperatures regularly exceeding 30 degrees Celsius on the underground.

184

Air quality is even worse, and levels of 2 .5 of pollution caused by the grinding

185

of metal wheels can be 15 times higher than at street level, making the Tube one of the most polluted environments in the city,

186

with some underground carriages that haven't been updated since 1972.

187

Unfortunately, when we look across many public services in the UK, especially in the capital, a similar picture starts to emerge.

188

They've been under -invested in and now we're paying the price.

189

Hammersmith Bridge, a key river crossing, has been closed since 2019 due to safety concerns and might not reopen until 2035,

190

with repair costs spiralling to £250 million pounds.

191

And across the city, 200 out of the 500 bridges are currently rated poor or in very poor condition.

192

In a city of this size, in one of the richest countries in the world, that should be unthinkable.

193

But for millions of Londoners, it's simply everyday life.

194

The bottom line is London has become a city for the rich.

195

So the question is, can anything be done to fix it?

196

The answer comes with one word, supply.

197

By building more affordable homes, the government could reduce demand ease prices

198

and make it possible for more people not just the wealthy to live there

199

and some of this could come from reforming the green belt

200

if just one percent of it were made available for development

201

it would create 140 000 new homes without sacrificing the natural beauty the policy was designed to protect

202

but there are other less controversial options too london is full of Brownfield sites old industrial plots that sit empty and underused.

203

If fully developed, they could provide over 400 ,000 homes, helping to meet housing demand without eating into green space.

204

Or maybe the government could make it harder to buy homes without living in them by increasing tax on empty properties.

205

They could also step in to expand the housing stock,

206

not just by building, but by purchasing existing homes and renting them affordably onto those and lower incomes.

207

Perhaps one of the most poignant and cutting issues is that of foreign investment.

208

London's property market has become a magnet for global capital but without guardrails it's hurting those who actually live and work there.

209

The government could step in with targeted policies for example progressive taxes on empty homes

210

or higher taxes on expensive properties purchased by non -residents.

211

Some things are starting to change.

212

The mayor of London has already announced air conditioning

213

which will be installed on the Piccadilly line

214

but the city needs to find a way to lower fares

215

and it also needs faster links to commuter towns so

216

that living further out doesn't mean sacrificing hours each day the outlook is currently bleak

217

but there is certainly room for change london is one of

218

the most economically productive cities in the world contributing over 500 billion pounds to the uk economy every single year

219

but without access to affordable housing efficient infrastructure

220

and a stable cost of living its long -term competitiveness is at risk and policy responses so far have not been enough.

221

At this point, it's not just a question of whether London's housing crisis is sustainable,

222

it's just a matter of time to see whether the government is willing and able to intervene and stabilise it.

Descargar app

Todo lo que necesitas para hablar con fluidez

Pronunciación con IAEvalúa cada oración

Práctica de IPADomina cada sonido

VocabularioConstruye tu banco de palabras

Juego de vocabularioAprende mientras juegas

Escanea el QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

FOR YOU

Recomendar Video

197 oraciones

Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación se basa en el vídeo “Why Living in London has Become Impossible”. Las palabras que más se repiten: london, housing, Londoner, homes. Este vídeo tiene 222 frases y 2932 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 16:32. El hablante habla a un ritmo natural de unas 177 palabras por minuto, cercano a una conversación cotidiana. El 86 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

15 palabras del vídeo que vale la pena aprender, con su pronunciación y significado:

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
wage sustantivo	/weɪd͡ʒ/	salario, sueldo
earn verbo	/ɝn/	ganar, granjear
infrastructure sustantivo	/ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/	infraestructura
inflation sustantivo	/ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/	inflación
desperate adjetivo	/ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹɪt/	desesperado, que necesita desesperadamente
wealthy adjetivo	/ˈwɛl.θi/	adinerado, rico
investor sustantivo	/ɪnˈvɛs.tə(ɹ)/	inversionista, inversor
countryside sustantivo	/ˈkʌn.tɹiˌsaɪd/	campo, campaña
everyday adjetivo	/ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/	de diario, cuotidiano
household adjetivo	/ˈhaʊshoʊld/	casero, hogareño
immigration sustantivo	/ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/	inmigración
decline verbo	/dɪˈklaɪn/	periclitar, declinar
invest verbo	/ɪnˈvɛst/	invertir, insumir
underground adjetivo	/ˌʌn.dəɹˈɡɹaʊnd/	subterráneo, soterraño
sacrifice sustantivo	/ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/	sacrificio

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Palabra	Significado
get back to verbo	responder / contestar (en un rato), volver / tornar a contactar
get off verbo	bajarse
keep up with verbo	seguir, ir al paso
sell off verbo	liquidar, rematar

Gramática en este vídeo

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

Estructura	En el vídeo
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — una acción que empezó antes y continúa	has been experiencing · has been making
Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora	has undergone · has drawn · haven't risen
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace	being pushed · are made · being built
Oraciones de relativo who / which + oración — información extra sobre una persona o cosa	investment which is · pounds, which is · those who actually

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 21 contracciones y formas reducidas, como don't, haven't, can't. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

Los sonidos de “th”: wealthy /ˈwɛl.θi/, theft /θɛft/, threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/, breathable /ˈbɹiːðəbəl/
Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: inflation /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/, immigration /ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/, pollution /pəˈluʃən/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/
Palabras largas — cuida el acento: infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, immigration /ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/, affordable /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/, temporary /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/

Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:

s + consonante al inicio — sin añadir una “e” delante: stable /ˈsteɪ.bəl/, steal /stiːl/, spin /spɪn/, stem /stɛm/, spectrum /ˈspɛktɹəm/
/v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: investor /ɪnˈvɛs.tə(ɹ)/, everyday /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/, invest /ɪnˈvɛst/, preserve /pɹəˈzɝv/, poverty /ˈpɑːvɚti/
/z/ — sonora, no /s/: preserve /pɹəˈzɝv/, disaster /dɪˈzɑːs.təː/, ease /iz/, freeze /ˈfɹiːz/, invisible /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como wage, earn, infrastructure.

¿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 →

Shadowing Practice: Why Living in London has Become Impossible - Learn English Speaking with Video

Elige un modo de práctica

Descargar app

Why New Zealand Is the Only Safe Haven Left

The World’s Smallest Apartments: 16 ft² Coffin Homes in Hong Kong

Is France signalling the end of neoliberalism?

A Tour of London in the 1700s (AI Reconstruction)

The Illusion of Africa's Economic Boom

£55K in London vs £38K in Manchester: Who Ends the Month Richer?

How living abroad rewires your brain.

Why Living In Australia Is Impossible

British High Streets Were Perfect... Until We Let This Happen

Is Money Really the Key to a Good Life? | B2 English Shadowing

240626 BBC London, Evening News

Marxism vs libertarianism: The economic calculation problem