Pratique du Shadowing: How to talk about CLIMATE CHANGE in English - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

How do you talk about climate change in English and with confidence?

⏸ En pause

Vitesse :

293 phrases

Si les phrases sont trop courtes ou trop longues, cliquez sur Edit pour les ajuster.

How do you talk about climate change in English and with confidence?

Let's find out.

Hello, this is Keith from English Speaking Success and also if you didn't know I run the website Keith Speaking Academy.

Nice to see you here,

hoping to, well, help you speak better English,

give better answers and get a higher score on IELTS Speaking.

So today I'm going to take you on a rather quick

tour of the key language you need to speak about climate change.

We're going to look at five things.

You're going to learn key terminology,

some advanced collocations, some useful verbs,

some nice phrasal verbs, and five, some idiomatic expressions.

It doesn't get any better.

Let's do it.

Right, let's dig in first with some terminology.

First one, of course, climate change.

Of course, this is the long-term change to the weather and the temperature in the world.

We're getting more extreme weather,

storms and flooding and so on.

And of course, global warming as the planet gets warmer or hotter.

Number two, CO2, not CEO.

CO2 is carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide is one of the gases.

It's one of the greenhouse gases that contributes to global warming and climate change.

It's kind of seen as the baddie,

the not good gas, that is part of the problem.

The next one, carbon emissions.

Difficult to say, carbon emissions.

Can you say it?

Great, so carbon emissions is how much carbon we put into the atmosphere.

So when we burn fossil fuels,

like oil, gas, coal, then what happens is we're putting CO2 into the air.

This is the damage we do.

Of course, there are also natural carbon emissions,

for example, from breathing or decomposition as well.

Next one, carbon footprint.

You know when you walk on the sand,

you leave a footprint in the sand and you can see where you've been.

Carbon footprint is the same idea.

It's how much CO2 you put into the atmosphere.

And from your activities like using electricity,

maybe taking a plane somewhere or driving your car,

we can see how much CO2 you're putting out.

That's your carbon footprint.

It can apply to a person,

to a company, to an event, the carbon footprint.

Next, carbon neutral.

The idea here is that

when the CO2 we put into the environment is the same as the CO2 we take out of the environment,

then it's carbon neutral, it's level.

So for example, if you're driving your car to your friend's house,

you're putting CO2 into the atmosphere from your car,

the fuel from the car.

However, if when you get to your friend's house,

you plant a tree, the tree will be taking in CO2 and that can balance out so you're carbon neutral.

Clever, hey?

Although your friend's gonna end up with a lot of trees in his garden.

Next, net zero emissions.

To be honest, it's the same as carbon neutral.

So all of the big governments around the world are now striving to have net zero emissions

so that at the end of the day,

what they put out and what they bring in is gonna be the same.

So there's no extra CO2 causing climate change.

So you'll hear governments talking about net zero commitments.

They have a net zero commitment to be carbon neutral in the near future.

So we all have to reduce our carbon footprints.

Well, there's things that governments can do,

there's things individuals can do.

That's the topic for another video.

Finally, renewable energy.

So we've got energy that comes from things like coal,

gold, no coal, gas, these fossil fuels,

that once we've used them, boom, they're gone.

We can't renew them, we can't use them again.

However, things like the sun,

water, and the wind, we can get energy from these sources,

and they are renewable because we can use them again.

Renewable energy.

So energy from the sun, we call solar energy.

Energy from water, we call hydro energy.

And energy from the wind, we call wind energy.

There are others like geothermal,

but without getting too complex.

That's the main thing, renewable energies.

That's what we're all talking about.

That's what we're all striving for.

Well, most of us.

Great terminology, done.

Let's move on.

Okay, let's look now at advanced collocations.

So when you listen to governments and activists and organizations talk about climate change,

you're gonna hear these kind of collocations.

They're used a lot, very, very important.

First of all, let's look at some words and collocations that use the idea of big,

something is big.

Now, people don't say it's a big challenge, right?

Because, well, you go, okay,

well, passing IELTS is a big challenge.

So in order to make people wake up and to capture their attention,

100

often politicians and journalists use different words.

101

They will say, climate change is an unsurmountable challenge.

102

Unsurmountable means you cannot get over it.

103

It's an unsurmountable challenge.

104

Can you say that?

105

An unsurmountable challenge.

106

Great.

107

People could say, well, it has a big impact, right?

108

Deforestation, that's cutting down trees, has a big impact.

109

Well, okay.

110

Or it has a serious impact.

111

Much more powerful.

112

Deforestation has a serious impact.

113

We could also say, there's a big need to do that.

114

Well, yes, I mean, there's a big need to go running in the evening and get fit.

115

But talking about climate change, there's an urgent need.

116

You'll hear this all the time.

117

There's an urgent need for us to reduce our carbon footprint.

118

Can you say that?

119

There's an urgent need for us to reduce our carbon footprint.

120

Lovely, good.

121

Another one for big is,

122

well, a big change, right?

123

We need to make a big change.

124

Well, that's not very exciting.

125

No, we need to make a drastic change.

126

This sense of it's more than big,

127

it has to be radical.

128

We need to make a drastic change.

129

Lovely, great.

130

So we've looked at big, what about easy?

131

Now, often we see other words for easy.

132

I'm just gonna throw one at you.

133

And instead of saying, there is no easy solution,

134

you often hear, there is no straightforward solution.

135

Straightforward solution.

136

Can you say?

137

Great, so there is no straightforward solution to climate change.

138

Okay, there are some nice nifty collocations.

139

Let's move on.

140

Okay, let's look now at four useful verbs to talk about climate change with confidence.

141

I'm going to test you first to see what you say,

142

and then we'll look at the answer.

143

There are different possibilities, so let's have a look.

144

The first one is to blank a target.

145

What would you say?

146

Right, so the most common is probably to reach a target.

147

Here's your target and you reach the target.

148

If you listen to people talking at COP26,

149

the big climate change conference,

150

they're talking about the urgent need to reach the 1.5 target.

151

That is to limit global warming of the planet's surface to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

152

So to reach a target,

153

you can say to hit a target,

154

to attain a target, or to achieve a target.

155

All of those are fine.

156

Number two, to blank solutions.

157

Okay, now you may talk about to find solutions,

158

but I'm thinking not only to find,

159

but to implement solutions, right?

160

So we talk about implementing solutions.

161

You could also say to put into place solutions.

162

Okay, so it's not only finding,

163

but it's making it happen.

164

That's the key thing.

165

Next one, number three, to blank sustainable.

166

Yeah, this one's a straightforward answer.

167

to become sustainable, right?

168

So we need our industries to become sustainable.

169

We need our lifestyle to become sustainable.

170

Something that can carry on for a long time without causing harm or damage.

171

Okay, last but not least, to blank emissions.

172

There are different possibilities, but if we're talking about climate change,

173

then we're probably talking about to reduce emissions.

174

You could say to lower emissions,

175

to cut back on emissions.

176

The other interesting one is to offset emissions.

177

Do you remember the friend with all the trees in his garden, right?

178

What's happening there is you're driving the car,

179

You're doing something that's having a negative impact.

180

You're planting the tree has a positive impact.

181

So when you balance a negative and a positive,

182

then you offset the negative with the positive.

183

So there are lots of carbon offset schemes now where you can offset emissions by doing something positive

184

for the environment, I mean.

185

Okay, great, nice useful verbs.

186

Let's move on.

187

Right, next up, phrasal verbs.

188

I've got four phrasal verbs for you.

189

A phrasal verb, by the way,

190

is a verb plus a particle or an adverbial particle or a preposition like in,

191

on, out, under, away, from.

192

And often the phrasal verb is a bit idiomatic.

193

So the words don't mean exactly the same, right?

194

For example, to cut down a tree, right?

195

Is to cut down a tree.

196

It's very clear what it means.

197

But to cut down on smoking doesn't mean you're cutting your cigarettes.

198

It's more idiomatic.

199

It means to reduce how much you smoke.

200

So that's the first one, right?

201

The cut down on coal.

202

We need to cut down on coal means to reduce.

203

Cut down on how much coal we use.

204

We need to cut down on our use of fossil fuels,

205

for example, cut down on.

206

Number two, very similar meaning,

207

right, to reduce, cut back on.

208

We need to cut back on coal.

209

We need to cut back on coal production.

210

Nice.

211

Number three also means to reduce,

212

but to do it slowly phase out.

213

There's an urgent need to phase out our use of carbon, for example.

214

Lastly, we've got to give up something,

215

meaning to stop doing it or having it.

216

We need to give up our way of life.

217

Give up, give up.

218

We need to give up our way of life.

219

We need to give up our excessive use of coal,

220

water and fossil fuels, for example.

221

Okay, I said this was a whirlwind tour, a very quick tour.

222

Let's move on next to some idiomatic expressions.

223

So let's look at some idiomatic expressions.

224

First of all, do your bit,

225

to do your bit means to make your contribution,

226

to do something that is expected of you, right?

227

So when it comes to climate change,

228

you can do your bit by eating less meat,

229

by driving less frequently, by taking a bicycle instead.

230

A similar expression is to play your part.

231

You can play your part by turning off the lights when you leave the room.

232

Next one, kick the can down the road.

233

Now a can, maybe a can like this is a can of a drink.

234

When you kick the can down the road,

235

it means you're delaying making a difficult decision.

236

When Greta Thunberg went into the UN climate change meeting and she said, How dare you?

237

Because she knew that governments around the world were kicking the can down the road.

238

They were delaying the decision to act on climate change.

239

Kick the can down the road.

240

Can you say that?

241

Lovely.

242

Next one, to grapple with an issue.

243

We are grappling with this issue,

244

but it's difficult to solve.

245

So to grapple with an issue or a problem or difficulty is to try hard to solve it,

246

but it's very difficult.

247

So governments around the world are grappling with the issue of climate change.

248

Nice.

249

Next one, face a problem head on, head on.

250

Here's the problem.

251

So instead of looking kind of to the side,

252

head on, face the problem head on,

253

means to directly try to handle or deal with the problem.

254

So you may find with problems that we often try to avoid them or ignore them.

255

What we should do is face the problem head on and solve it, implement solutions.

256

Next one, to put our heads in the sand or to put your head in the sand,

257

or if it's me, I'm putting my head in the sand.

258

It comes from the famous bird,

259

the ostrich, who we think puts its head in the sand and it means to ignore a situation.

260

I think you have this expression in several other languages.

261

So sometimes governments are accused of putting their head in the sand when they refuse to talk about climate change.

262

Don't put your head in the sand.

263

Look up, face the problem head on.

264

The last expression is to make a dent in a problem.

265

To make a dent in a problem means to have a small impact, not enough.

266

We often say, we can't even make a dent in this problem.

267

We can't even make a dent in this problem.

268

It means we can't have any impact, we can't reduce it.

269

Again, let me take my can.

270

Thank you Guinness, not sponsoring.

271

But if I take a hammer and my can,

272

then I dent the can, can you see that?

273

But that doesn't solve the problem, right?

274

It's just a very small impact.

275

So I can't make a dent in the problem.

276

I can't even have a small impact.

277

I can't reduce it.

278

If we don't do something,

279

if we don't take drastic action to make drastic change,

280

then we're not even gonna make a dent in the problem of climate change.

281

That's it.

282

Lots of expressions, verbs, collocations,

283

and things like that to help you speak with more confidence on the topic of climate change.

284

I hoped you enjoyed the video.

285

If you did, please remember to click on subscribe,

286

turn on the notifications to find out about new and upcoming videos in the near future.

287

In the meantime, go and check out my website, Keith Speaking Academy.

288

If you're preparing for IELTS,

289

it's a gold mine full of interesting stuff.

290

See you soon, my friends.

291

Take care.

292

Bye-bye.

293

Thank you.

TRENDING

Populaires

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

☕ Offrez-nous un café

ShadowingEnglish reste 100% gratuit grâce à votre soutien. Les coûts des serveurs et de l'IA sont élevés — votre café nous aide à continuer ! 🙏

Faire un don via PayPal

ShadowingEnglish.com – Pratique du Shadowing en Anglais

Parlez anglais couramment grâce au Shadowing. Écoutez des vidéos YouTube de locuteurs natifs, répétez phrase par phrase et développez une vraie prononciation et fluidité — utilisé par les candidats IELTS du monde entier.

Pratique du Shadowing: How to talk about CLIMATE CHANGE in English - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

Populaires

Why practice speaking with this video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Pratique du Shadowing: How to talk about CLIMATE CHANGE in English - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec YouTube

Télécharger l'application

Why practice speaking with this video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?