Shadowing Practice: The Most Gruesome Parasites – Neglected Tropical Diseases – NTDs - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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In the year 1014, Byzantine Emperor Basil the Second defeated the Bulgarian army and captured 15 thousand prisoners.
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In the year 1014, Byzantine Emperor Basil the Second defeated the Bulgarian army and captured 15 thousand prisoners.
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He could've killed them, but he had a different idea.
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He wanted to weaken his opponents for decades to come.
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So he ordered that 99 out of every 100 prisoners be blinded.
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The 100th to be spared one eye to guide the rest back home, forcing their communities to care for them for the rest of their lives.
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Today, humans are subject to an attack just as cynical as this by a league of supervillians called NTDs.
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One in seven humans on the planet suffers from one or more NTDs, more than the entire population of Europe.
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They do unimaginable damage, by crippling countless people, they destroy billions of dollars in income each year, weaken communities, and slow progress.
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What are these monsters straight out of a horror movie, seeking to wreak havoc on our species?
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NTDs are caused by a vast range of different parasites such as worms, amoebae, bacteria, or viruses.
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The symptoms they cause are just as diverse and truly the stuff of nightmares.
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Some, like hookworms, compete with children's brains and bodies for nutrition, stunting growth, and impairing intelligence.
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Some NTDs cause blindness as the result of awful eye infections.
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Other parasites confine patients to bed for months, and damage internal organs, often shortening lifespans drastically.
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Yet others cause horrible disfigurements that lead to social stigma, a life lived in shame, and unemployment.
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There are also a few that are incredibly agonizing. They cause continuous itching, or horrible pain.
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In fact, let's introduce you to one of them: Dracun culiasis.
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If you accidentally drink water infected by it, you won't notice anything for a year.
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Until one day, you suddenly see a blister on your leg.
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The worm breaks out of the skin to release new larvae.
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The only way to remove it is to slowly pull it out of your leg, centimeter by centimeter, over the course of several weeks, because Dracun culiasis is now up to a meter long.
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We can all agree that we should kill such parasites with fire.
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That's why we declared war on them, pleading to eradicate most of them by 2020, and we tried doing that very hard.
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In 1985, there were 3.5 million cases of Dracun culiasis all over the world.
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In 2015, there were 22.
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We killed 99.999% of these little monsters.
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It will be the first parasite we eradicate for good very soon.
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So, even if they don't generate big headlines like Ebola did, actually, amazing things have happened when it comes to NTDs.
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All NTDs have one thing in common: they preferably attack humans who live in the most isolated communities, and who are least able to defend themselves.
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There are villages that are 500 kilometers from the nearest health facility, with no roads anywhere.
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So even if a remedy is available, what if it means going on an odyssey to get it to the patients?
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This called for an attack using brute force.
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To stamp out NTDs once and for all, what's possibly the biggest medical program in human history was launched, unmatched in scale.
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Organizations from all fields are working together right now to eliminate ten of these NTDs forever.
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Ironically, every NTD is, in fact, preventable or treatable.
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But most of them can only be controlled by giving medicine to every person in all high-risk areas.
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That means millions and millions of doses of medicine, often for several NTDs at a time, over the course of years, in countries where there is no infrastructure.
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Governments and health organizations just couldn't do that by themselves.
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Here, humanity got an opportunity to show off what the industrialized production of medicine can achieve.
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The pharma industry stepped in to distribute the necessary drugs for free, and promised to keep doing it until those ten diseases are gone.
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By 2020, nearly $18 billion worth of drugs will have been distributed, the largest drug donation the world has ever seen.
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They also helped make sure the drugs actually get to where they're needed.
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In 2015 alone, these treatments reached over 850 million people, more than the population of the EU and the US combined.
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Bad things happening generates headlines.
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Hundreds of millions of people overcoming extremely destructive diseases, in an unprecedented act of cooperation doesn't.
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Stories like this one are not told often enough.
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Good things happen all the time, moving humanity closer to a future with no suffering.
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So, if you or one of your friends are in need of uplifting news, share this video with them.
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We, as a species, really can do great things with no other motivation than to help each other.
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It's good to remember that from time to time.
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This video was made possible in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and your support on Patreon.com If you want to help us make more videos, you can do so here.
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If you're disappointed by the lack of disturbing facts in this video, here's a playlist about the end of everything!

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Why practice speaking with this video?

Practicing speaking through videos like this one on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) offers several advantages for English learners. Firstly, the video's engaging content on gruesome parasites not only sparks curiosity but also serves as a powerful context to improve your speaking skills. The complex yet feasible themes enable you to explore essential vocabulary related to health, human conditions, and medical advancements.

Moreover, utilizing the shadowspeak technique allows learners to immerse themselves in natural speech patterns. By repeating phrases and sentences as they hear them, you improve your English pronunciation and gain confidence in your speaking abilities. Engaging with the emotive language and varied sentence structures encourages deeper understanding and recall, making your learning experience both enriching and memorable.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

The speaker employs several key grammatical structures and expressions that can enhance speaking skills:

  • “What are these monsters straight out of a horror movie?” - This rhetorical question sets the stage for engaging dialogue and highlights how to create suspense in speech.
  • “They could've killed them, but he had a different idea.” - The conditional structure here is critical for making hypotheticals or discussing alternatives, which is common in English conversational skills.
  • “These treatments reached over 850 million people.” - Noticing how the past simple tense is used to convey completed actions is invaluable for narrating events effectively.
  • “We declared war on them” - This metaphorical expression is effective in communicating urgency and determination. Using metaphors can enhance descriptive abilities in your speech.

Common Pronunciation Traps

When practicing pronunciation, be aware of tricky words and expressions in the video that could pose challenges:

  • Neglected - The 'g' in "neglected" can often be silent or pronounced incorrectly. Focus on the three syllables: ne-glec-ted.
  • Parasites - The 's' sound can be difficult to articulate clearly at the end. Practice saying it slowly to avoid merging with the following word.
  • Dracun culiasis - This term is complex and can lead to mispronunciations. Break it into manageable parts: "Dra-cun cu-lia-sis." Practicing it will boost your confidence in discussing medical topics.

Incorporating these techniques and focusing on key expressions will not only enrich your vocabulary but will dramatically improve English pronunciation. Shadowing the speaker with shadow speech techniques will ensure that you are prepared to engage in meaningful discussions about crucial global issues, while simultaneously enhancing your language skills.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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