Shadowing Practice: Why seals are coming back to the Thames - BBC London - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Today I'm with ZSL, the Zoological Society of London, as they carry out their annual census of seals on the Thames.
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Now unfortunately the best way to do that is by using one of these.
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Hello, Theo.
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- Hi, Andy.
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Hi there.
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Come on in.
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Thank you, sir.
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See, I see a map of the Thames estuary here.
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Is that where we're going to go today?
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Yeah, so Andy's going to take us up over the Thames, over the sand banks and the coastline, and we're going to check out how many seals we can see.
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Now Andy, I understand you've been flying this part of the world for 20 years.
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And in that 20 years, you've seen the seals the whole time?
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Yeah, I have.
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I think it came as a surprise to everybody that there were so many in the estuary.
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But of course you live around here, do you think most of the population know about the seals on their doorstep?
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Most people do not know there's any seals out there at all.
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And of course the $64 ,000 question, will we see some today?
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Previously when doing these kinds of surveys we've seen good numbers and we're doing this survey at the right time of year.
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So fingers crossed, we'll see plenty today.
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Let's go spot some seals.
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We head out to Margate Sands looking for grey and harbour seals.
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I must not go to sand over there, so it's whatever the one is next to it.
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It's not long before we spot our first group of seals.
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I think I can see some seals on the end of this picture anyway.
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Right on that bend there, there's maybe about ten seals.
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Wonderful.
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Real variation in colour as well.
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Thea takes pictures of the seals to analyse later.
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And I'm using a GPS unit to help identify where each group is found.
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- What's your weight point?
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- Weight point 224.
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I counted 19 seals there.
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They all look like harbour seals.
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This is cutting edge conservation work on seals and it doesn't really get much more exciting than this.
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The seals are coming up again.
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- It's well there, some pups, beer.
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Back on the ground and Thea is already analysing the results.
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After each survey, we take all the photos and we go through them all, identify the species for each bank or point on the coastline.
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And we come together to ensure that if there's any discrepancy between number or species ID, then we work that out together and make sure that we've got as close to an accurate count.
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as we possibly can.
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What more can you tell from just that picture alone?
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We look at each individual seal and we look for features that indicate what the species is.
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So for a harbour seal, For example, Generally you'd see the eyes on the front of the head and a shorter snout,
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whereas for a grey seal you'd see usually like they call it a Roman nose, so it's sloping, the eyes further back and to the side.
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And that's a harborsie, a much more dog -like with funny little nostrils and angle as well.
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Since ZSL began monitoring the sales six years ago, numbers have doubled.
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with an estimated 3 ,500 of them living in the Thames.
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We take the increase in seals that we're seeing as a positive sign of the health of the ecosystem.
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We should be very proud of the Thames, it's incredibly biodiverse, it is full of life.
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It's not just brown, underneath there is plenty of fish and all sorts of other exciting species.
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What's particularly exciting is the harbour seals are actually breeding in the Thames estuary.
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first ever pup count.
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We recorded 138 pups which is great news.
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There was a survey back in 2011 by the Sea Mammal Research Unit
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and they recorded in the region of 40 pups So that does suggest an increase.
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It's strong evidence that obviously the Thames is a breeding site for these animals.
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The river has come a long way from 60 years ago, when it was declared biologically dead.
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London and the Thames at Wandsworth illustrates a quaint facet of the river pollution.
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It seems a nationwide demand for clean rivers is the only hope.
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We're much more careful about what goes into our river, so Sewage treatment works as an example of that.
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And we really have come a long way.
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That's why we see all this life, but that's not to say we don't still have some way to go.
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to keep maintaining this trajectory of a healthier Thames.
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Pfff.
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The cleaner water is providing fish for the seals, which are now being spotted across the capital.
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How far are we seeing seals moving up the towns?
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- So we're seeing them go all the way up until the tidal limit in Teddington.
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So they're traveling all through central London
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and there are kind of hotspots around London where people see them
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and they are generally where you get a higher footfall or you have taller buildings.
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So Canary Wharf is known for a bit of a hot spot for spotting seals.
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And people having interactions with them as well.
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Yeah, there are some interesting videos that have popped up of them climbing aboard the front of a kayak or a canoe.
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We don't know necessarily where this behavior comes from, but they're curious and inquisitive and highly intelligent animals.
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But it's not just seals that are turning up in the Thames.
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There have been recent reports I've harbored porpoise.
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Dolphins and even seahorses as well.
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But perhaps most astonishingly, in 2018, Benny turned up.
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The first ever beluga whale in British waters was found just down there.
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Amen.
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Oh The whale, nicknamed Benny the Beluga, living in a stretch of the Thames, may be able to survive there, according to experts.
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Our very own wildlife cameraman Russell Savory was lucky enough to capture these shots of the beluga.
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Cruise ships, the bulk carriers and things were going up and down the Thames and this beluga just bobbing around there.
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Obviously fishing I guess but to be able to get a beluga in the Thames, it's just unreal.
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while undoubtedly the best way to sense the seals is from the air.
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If you want to get up close and personal, you're going to need another form of transport.
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I want a boat.
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We never used to see them, but over the last ten years they've started off from about six seals, and now they've just gradually got more and more seals around the coast.
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Where we go, six seals are now 120.
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Stuart Barnes runs sail tours on his boat along the Thames estuary.
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Hopefully I can get you in the region of about 10 to 15 metres.
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Yeah, let's go do it.
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Ten minutes from Grumsgate Harbor and a magical sight awaits us.
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These are all harbour sales, getting the most wonderful views.
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The thing that I'm amazed by is the colour variation.
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Some are black, some are grey, some are blonde, some are ginger, some are variegated and spotted all over.
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And there's a few youngsters that were obviously born maybe five, six, seven weeks ago, just on the water's edge.
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It just goes to show the Greater Thames Estuary is in pretty good mig.
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We won't know the results from this year's SEAL survey for a few months.
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But from what we've seen, the population here is thriving.
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And so, is the Mother Thames.
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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección
Esta lección de conversación de nivel B2 se basa en el vídeo “Why seals are coming back to the Thames - BBC London”. Las palabras que más se repiten: seal, Thames, beluga, estuary, harbour. Este vídeo tiene 101 frases y 1242 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 8:34. El hablante mantiene un ritmo constante de unas 145 palabras por minuto, cómodo para el shadowing. Solo el 81 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés, por lo que el vocabulario es exigente.
Vocabulario clave de este vídeo
Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| beluga sustantivo | /bəˈluɡə/ | beluga |
| estuary sustantivo | /ˈɛst͡ʃuˌɛɹi/ | estuario |
| excite verbo | /ɪkˈsaɪt/ | emocionar |
| coastline sustantivo | línea costera | |
| whale sustantivo | /ˈweɪl/ | ballena |
| variation sustantivo | /ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/ | variación |
| breed verbo | /ˈbɹiːd/ | criar |
| biologically adverbio | biológicamente | |
| cameraman sustantivo | /ˈkæm(ə)ɹəˌmæn/ | camarógrafo, camarógrafa |
| discrepancy sustantivo | /dɪˈskɹɛpənsi/ | discrepancia |
| inquisitive adjetivo | /ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/ | inquisitivo |
| nostril sustantivo | /ˈnɒs.tɹɪl/ | narina, ventana |
| porpoise sustantivo | /ˈpɔːɹpəs/ | marsopa |
| variegated adjetivo | /ˈvɛ(ə)ɹi.əˌɡeɪtɪd/ | variegado, abigarrado |
| youngster sustantivo | /ˈjʌŋstɚ/ | jovenzuelo, jovenzón |
Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| carry out verbo | /ˈkæ.ɹi aʊt/ | llevar a cabo, llevar al cabo |
| check out verbo | investigar, chequear | |
| come up verbo | salir a relucir | |
| get up verbo | levantarse | |
| go through verbo | atravesar | |
| go up verbo | subir | |
| turn up verbo | aparecer |
Frases que vale la pena repetir
Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:
- Is that where we're going to go today?
- Let's go spot some seals.
- What more can you tell from just that picture alone?
- How far are we seeing seals moving up the towns?
- There have been recent reports I've harbored porpoise.
Gramática en este vídeo
Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:
| Estructura | En el vídeo |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora | you've seen · we've seen · have doubled |
| Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace | is found · was declared · being spotted |
| Oraciones de relativo who / which + oración — información extra sobre una persona o cosa | pups which is · seals, which are |
Pronunciación a tener en cuenta
El hablante usa 27 contracciones y formas reducidas, como we're, I'm, we've. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.
- Los sonidos de “th”: thrive /θɹajv/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
- Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: variation /ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/, nationwide /ˌneɪ.ʃənˈwaɪd/, pollution /pəˈluʃən/
- Palabras largas — cuida el acento: estuary /ˈɛst͡ʃuˌɛɹi/, cameraman /ˈkæm(ə)ɹəˌmæn/, discrepancy /dɪˈskɹɛpənsi/, inquisitive /ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/, variegated /ˈvɛ(ə)ɹi.əˌɡeɪtɪd/
Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:
- /v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: variation /ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/, inquisitive /ɪŋˈkwɪzətɪv/, variegated /ˈvɛ(ə)ɹi.əˌɡeɪtɪd/, thrive /θɹajv/
- /dʒ/ — no es la “y” ni la “ch”: trajectory /tɹəˈd͡ʒɛktəɹi/, ginger /ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/
Cómo practicar con este vídeo
- Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
- Haz shadowing frase por frase a velocidad normal, repitiendo cada una hasta que tu ritmo coincida con el del hablante.
- Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como beluga, estuary, excite.
¿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.