Pratique du Shadowing: We’ll Never Beat the Houthis - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo
Création de la leçon...
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Hello, this is John Mearsheimer.
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As you know, I am now answering questions from channel members.
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And today I have a question that comes from someone who self -identifies as Ed Hod App 6465.
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And Edhadap6465 asked me this question,
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should we go to war against the Houthis, not Iran?
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In general, do you think damaging the Iranian proxies in the region is a worthwhile strategy?
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Let me start by just describing to you what I think
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the basic situation is in the region with regard to the United States, the Houthis, and the Iranians.
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The United States is obviously at war with the Houthis.
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Excuse me.
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The United States is obviously at war with Iran.
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But it's very important to understand that the two sides are not shooting at each other at the moment.
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There's no fighting taking place at the moment between the Iranians on one side and the Americans on the other.
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But we are at war.
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There's just a lull in the fighting.
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With regard to the Houthis, the United States is not at war with the Houthis.
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And the United States is not fighting against the Houthis.
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the houthis are fighting against saudi arabia
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and those people in yemen who are associated or allied with saudi arabia
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so in a very important way we have two different wars taking place here one is a war between iran
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and the united states and the other is a war between the houthis and Saudi Arabia.
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Now, very importantly, you want to remember that after President Trump came to office in January 2025,
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he said that he was going to defeat the Houthis in ways
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that would take them out of the fight in the Middle East.
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So what happens in March of 2025, a few months after president trump is back in the white
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house as he starts a fight with the houthis by may of 2025
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roughly two months later president trump ends the war he declares victory of course
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but the fact is we don't win we were incapable of defeating the houthis this cannot be emphasized enough
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so the point i'm making to you is that
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when you think about fighting against the houthis today you want understand
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that the United States went up against the Houthis once before in Trump's second term in office.
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And we effectively quit that fight because we were losing that fight.
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So the question that I'm being asked to address is whether the United States, which is already at war with Iran,
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although we're not fighting with the Iranians at this juncture, whether we should also go to war against the Houthis.
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And what this means, given that the Houthis and the Saudis are fighting each other,
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is whether or not we should join with the Saudis against the Houthis.
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Now, there's no question that the Houthis are very important strategic actors in the Middle East,
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and they are a threat to the united states
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and the principal reason is that the houthis
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because of the damage they can do to saudi arabia
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and the fact
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that they control the bab al mandab strait puts them in
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a position where they can throttle the flow of oil out of the persian gulf and the red sea
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so it's very important to understand that the houthis are a threat to the united states But again,
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the question on the table is whether we should go to war against the Houthis.
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My response to that is no. The fact is that the United States has no way of defeating the Houthis militarily.
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We went to war against the Houthis once before.
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We couldn't beat them then, and we certainly can't beat them now.
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You want to remember
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that one of the principal reasons President Trump ended the war with the Houthis in May of 2025 is
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because he felt
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that we were expending too many precious munitions fighting against the Houthis in what was ultimately proving to be a lost cause.
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Well, today, after this long war, with iran
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that has been going on since february 28th of this year
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we have even less munitions available to fight against the houthis than we had back in the spring of 2025.
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so if we pick a fight with the houthis two things happen one is we don't win
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and number two we expend more precious munitions.
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So you see, in a very important way, the reason that we're not fighting against the Iranians today,
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we're at war with the Iranians for sure.
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And at some point down the road, the shooting may start again.
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But we're not engaged in a shooting match with the Iranians at the moment
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because we have no way of militarily defeating the Iranians. And furthermore,
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we have a huge shortage of precious munitions well the same basic logic applies to the houthis we don't have
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the munitions that we need to attack the houthis
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and produce victory we also don't have the munitions we need to defend their allies
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and here we're talking mainly about saudi arabia if the houthis retaliate
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so we have no war -winning strategy against the houthis
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but to make matters worse it's very important to understand
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that the houthis have the ability to hit critically important targets in saudi arabia in fact there are reports today
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that that saudi arabia's principal oil line
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that goes from the eastern side of saudi arabia to the
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western side of saudi arabia where oil is then put in the red sea
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and shipped to global markets that
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that pipeline has once again been shut down by the houthis now it's not absolutely certain
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that that's the case
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because one can never be certain about news reports uh coming out of the middle east these days
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but there is good reason to believe
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that the houthis have shut down this pipeline all of this tells you
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that the houthis have the ability to do significant damage to critical saudi infrastructure
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so the point i would make is that if we up the ante against the Houthis.
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We try to defeat them once again.
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We're not likely to succeed.
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And furthermore, we're likely to make a bad situation worse
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because the Houthis will retaliate against targets in Saudi Arabia
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that matter enormously in terms of the flow of oil out of the Gulf
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and into world markets i'd make one final point on this
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if the united states working with the saudis is successful at damaging the houthis military capability
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and it looks like the houthis are on the ropes in other words
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if i'm wrong that when i say that i don't think the united states can bring the Houthis to their knees.
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If I'm wrong, I believe that what would then happen is
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that the Iranians would join the fight with the Houthis against the United States.
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The Iranians have a deep -seated interest in making sure the Houthis don't lose.
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So if we are moving in a direction where it looks like we're going to be successful against the Houthis, I think the Iranians would then come in.
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And we're back to square one
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because the United States does not have military capability to defeat the iranians
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and it would be almost impossible for us to prevent the
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iranians from doing significant damage to saudi oil infrastructure all this in conclusion is a way of saying
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that the united states has no winning strategy in the middle east or in the Persian Gulf region.
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It has no winning strategy against Iran.
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It should be manifestly clear at this point in time.
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Remember, the war started on February 28th, and most of it was supposed to last three or four weeks.
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Here we are many months later, and the United States is not on the verge of achieving victory.
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If anything, the United States is in desperate straits vis -a -vis the Iranians
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and the idea that we can now pick a fight with the Houthis
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and do to the Houthis what we have been unable to
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do with with regard to the Iranians I think is a pipe dream
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and in fact as I've said we fought the Houthis once before
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and the Houthis won and I think that would happen again
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but even if I'm wrong I don't think that solves our problem
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because I think the Iranians would come to the rescue of the Houthis.
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That's really all I have to say on this sad situation.
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Once again, it becomes manifestly clear
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that the United States has gotten itself into a well of a lot of trouble in the Middle East, and it has no easy way out.
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In fact, I think it has no way out, period.
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Thank you very much for listening to this episode, and I look forward to answering the next question from a channel member.
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Vocabulaire et conseils d’expression pour cette leçon
Cette leçon d’expression orale s’appuie sur la vidéo « We’ll Never Beat the Houthis ». Les mots qui reviennent le plus souvent : houthis, Iranian, saudi, arabia, fighting. Cette vidéo contient 115 phrases et 1483 mots à répéter en shadowing. La partie parlée dure 10:37. Le locuteur parle à un rythme régulier d’environ 140 mots par minute, confortable pour le shadowing. 85 % des mots font partie des 3 000 mots les plus courants en anglais ; le reste mérite d’être vu avant de commencer.
Vocabulaire clé de cette vidéo
15 mots de la vidéo à retenir, avec leur prononciation et leur sens :
| Mot | Prononciation | Sens |
|---|---|---|
| infrastructure nom | /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/ | infrastructure |
| furthermore adverbe | /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/ | de plus, en plus en outre |
| ally nom | /ˈæl.aɪ/ | allié, alliée |
| capability nom | /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/ | capacité |
| pipeline nom | /ˈpaɪpˌlaɪn/ | pipeline |
| strait nom | /stɹeɪt/ | détroit |
| rescue verbe | /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ | délivrer, secourir |
| defend verbe | /dɪˈfɪnd/ | défendre |
| strategic adjectif | /stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/ | stratégique |
| solve verbe | /sɒlv/ | résoudre, régler |
| conclusion nom | /kənˈkluːʒən/ | conclusion, fin |
| engage verbe | /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/ | attirer l'attention |
| roughly adverbe | /ˈɹʌf.li/ | rudement |
| knee nom | /ni/ | genou |
| desperate adjectif | /ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹɪt/ | désespéré |
Les verbes à particule que vous entendrez
| Mot | Sens |
|---|---|
| shut down verbe | éteindre |
| look forward to verbe | avoir hâte de, attendre avec impatience |
La grammaire de cette vidéo
Les structures que le locuteur utilise le plus, avec les mots exacts de la vidéo :
| Structure | Dans la vidéo |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + participe passé — une action passée qui compte encore maintenant | have shut · have been · I've said |
| Voix passive be + participe passé — l’accent est mis sur ce qui arrive, pas sur qui le fait | are associated · cannot be emphasized · being asked |
| Propositions relatives who / which + proposition — une précision sur une personne ou une chose | someone who self · States, which is |
Prononciation à surveiller
Le locuteur utilise 25 contractions et formes réduites, comme we're, don't, I'm. Prononcez-les sous leur forme courte, telles que vous les entendez.
- Les sons « th »: furthermore /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/, throttle /ˈθɹɔ.tl̩/
- Les sons « sh » et « zh »: conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, shortage /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/, munition /ˌmjuˈnɪʃən/
- Mots longs — placez bien l’accent: infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, capability /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, critically /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kə.li/
Les sons difficiles pour les francophones :
- /tʃ/ et /dʒ/ — à ne pas adoucir en « ch » et « j »: infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, strategic /stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/, engage /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/, shortage /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/, verge /vɜːd͡ʒ/
- /r/ anglais — langue recourbée, sans frotter la gorge: regard /ɹɪˈɡɑːd/, infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, furthermore /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/, strait /stɹeɪt/, rescue /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/
Comment s’entraîner avec cette vidéo
- Écoutez la vidéo en entier une fois sans parler et notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas.
- Répétez phrase par phrase à vitesse normale, en reprenant chacune jusqu’à ce que votre rythme corresponde à celui du locuteur.
- Enregistrez-vous et comparez avec l’original, en faisant attention à des mots comme infrastructure, furthermore, ally.
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.