Pratica di Shadowing: 【English Podcast】Is a College Degree Still Worth It? — 4 Things to Consider - Impara a parlare inglese con i video
Creazione lezione...
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Hey everyone!
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Welcome back to Cindy in Chicago.
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I am Cindy and this is the show where we talk about American culture, real English, and the things nobody quite explains when you are living and working here.
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Today I want to start with a number.
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1 .7 trillion dollars.
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That's the total amount of student loan debt in the United States right now.
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1 .7 trillion.
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That's more than the entire economy of most countries in the world.
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Americans borrowed, mostly when they were 17 or 18 years old, to pay for college.
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Now, here's the question that a lot of people are asking: was it worth it?
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If you've ever wondered whether a college degree is really necessary, whether the cost makes sense, whether there's another way, this episode is for you.
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Today I'll cover three things.
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First, how much college actually costs in America.
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The numbers are important.
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Second, what a college degree actually gives you.
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Because it's not just one thing, it's several things, and some of them are more valuable valuable than others.
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And third, how the picture is changing.
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Because something is shifting right now in how American companies think about degrees.
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And it's worth paying attention to.
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I also want to share my own perspective, because I've been on both sides of this question.
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Is someone who went to college, and is someone who has been involved in hiring decisions?
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And I have some thoughts.
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Let's get into it.
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First, the cost.
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In America, going to college is expensive.
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Very expensive.
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The average cost of one year at a public university, a state school, or a state school, or a state school, or a state school, or a state school funded partly by the government is around $30 ,000 when you include tuition,
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housing, food, and other expenses.
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Tuition is the cost of your classes and education itself.
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At a private university, a school funded by private money, not the government, one year can cost $60 ,000, $70 ,000, sometimes $80 ,000.
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Four years of college?
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Multiply that out.
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Public university, around $120 ,000 total.
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Private university, $250 ,000 or more.
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Students don't pay all of this themselves.
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They use a combination of financial aid, money given by the school or government, and student loans.
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A student loan is money you borrow to pay for college.
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And you pay it back after you graduate with interest.
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Interest means you pay back more than you borrowed.
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The longer it takes to pay back, the more you pay.
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The average American college graduate, the average, starts their working life with $30 ,000 in student loan debt.
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And some people have much, much more.
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This is the context.
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This is why 1 .7 trillion dollars exists.
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Now, what does a college degree actually give you?
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I think about this in four parts.
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Part 1: Knowledge.
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This is the obvious one.
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You go to college, you study a subject, you learn things.
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But here is something honest: a lot of the specific knowledge you learn in college is not directly used in your career.
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The details of a history class, the specific equations from a chemistry course, the novels from a literature seminar...
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most of it does not show up in your complex problem,
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how to write clearly, how to argue for a position using evidence, how to manage your time when no one is telling you what to do every hour.
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These are called transferable skills.
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Skills that transfer, move from one situation to another.
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Knowledge matters, but the transferable skills often matter more.
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Part 2: Credentials.
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A credential is official proof that you have a qualification.
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A college degree is a credential.
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For many is required, not optional, required.
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For other jobs, a degree is expected, not legally required, but the norm.
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Most candidates have one, so not having one puts you at a disadvantage.
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And for some jobs, especially in technology, creative fields, and trades, a degree is becoming less and less necessary.
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We'll come back to this.
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But the credential, the piece of paper, still carries weight in American professional culture.
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It signals something.
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It says this person completed something
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through whether or not that signal is accurate it's still a signal
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that many employers respond to part three network this one is underrated
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and I say this from experience
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when you go to college you spend four years around people your age who are curious ambitious
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and building their lives your classmates become your colleagues your collaborators
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your references your friends the network you build in college the
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relationships can be more valuable than anything you learn in a
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classroom this is especially true at well -known universities with strong alumni networks.
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Alumni are people who graduated from the same school.
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Many universities have alumni networks, communities of former students who help each other with jobs, connections, and opportunities.
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Network is real, and it's one of the things you simply cannot get from an online course or a book.
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Part 4: Time and Experience.
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College gives you four years to figure out who you are before the full weight of adult life hits.
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You can join a theater group, fail a class and recover, have conversations that change how you think.
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This is not nothing.
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This is actually a lot.
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But, and this is important, this time and experience comes at a very high price, and not everyone can afford it.
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And not everyone needs four years of exploration to find their direction.
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Now let's talk about what's changing.
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Because something significant is happening in how American companies think about college
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have started removing the degree requirement from many of their job postings.
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Companies like Google, Apple, IBM, Delta Airlines and others have announced that they will consider candidates without college degrees for certain roles.
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The reason they give is this: a degree does not always predict job performance.
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What predicts job performance is skill.
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And skill can be developed in many ways, not just in a four -year college program.
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There is also a growing movement around what are called trade schools or vocational schools.
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These are schools that teach specific, practical job skills: plumbing, electrical work, welding, medical assisting, computer networking, coding.
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A two -year program at a trade school can cost a fraction of a four -year university degree,
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and the graduates often find work quickly in fields where skilled workers are genuinely needed.
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In America, there has been a long cultural assumption that a four -year college degree is the path to a good life, and that trade work, working with your hands,
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That assumption is being questioned loudly.
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A skilled electrician in Chicago can earn more than many people with college degrees.
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And they didn't take on $30 ,000 of student loan debt to get there.
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Here is my personal take: I went to college.
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I don't regret it.
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The network I built, the way of thinking I developed, the experiences I had, those things shaped me.
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And they've helped me professionally.
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But I've also been involved in hiring.
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And I can tell you honestly, a degree tells me very little about whether someone will be good at the job.
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look for is can this person think clearly can they communicate well do they show up
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and follow through do they keep learning those qualities come from many places college is one of them
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but it's not the only one
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if I were advising someone today especially someone who is uncertain about what they want to study
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or someone who would need to take on a lot of
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debt I would say this a degree is worth it
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when you know why you are getting it when you have a clear direction when the
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What degree is a harder call when you are going because it feels expected, because everyone else is going, because you are not sure what else to do.
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The question is not, "Is college worth it in general?" The question is, "Is college worth it for you, right now, for the specific thing you want to do?" That's a harder question,
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and it deserves a real answer, not just the default assumption that everyone should go.
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Let's do a quick review.
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1. Student loan debt in America totals $1 .7 trillion.
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with $30 ,000 in debt.
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College is expensive and that cost shapes everything.
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Two, a college degree gives you four things: knowledge and transferable skills, a credential, a network, and time and experience.
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Some of these are more valuable than others depending on your path.
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Three, the picture is changing.
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Major companies are dropping degree requirements.
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Trade schools are growing.
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The idea question.
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Four, the right question is not "is college worth it?" The right question is, "is college worth it for me for this specific goal at this specific cost?" Five,
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vocabulary from today.
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Tuition, the cost of education at a university.
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Student -owned, money borrowed to pay for college, paid back after graduation.
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Credential, official proof of a qualification.
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Transferable skills, skills that work across many different jobs and situations.
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Alumni, people who graduated from the same school.
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Trade school, a school that teaches specific job skills, usually in two years or less.
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That's everything for today.
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If this episode made you think about your own education or the system itself, I'd love to hear what came up for you.
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Leave it in the comments.
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And if you are finding these episodes useful, please subscribe.
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New episodes come out every week.
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Next week, I want to talk about the gig economy.
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Driving for a ride share company, delivering food, freelancing online, working on your own terms.
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It sounds like freedom.
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And sometimes it is.
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But T, there is another side that doesn't get talked about as much.
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That's next week on Cindy in Chicago.
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I'll see you then.
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Vocabolario e note di pronuncia per questa lezione
Questa lezione di conversazione di livello B2 si basa sul video “【English Podcast】Is a College Degree Still Worth It? — 4 Things to Consider”. Le parole che ritornano più spesso: degree, skill, cost, student, network. Questo video contiene 146 frasi e 1615 parole da ripetere con lo shadowing. Il parlato dura 9:42. Chi parla ha un ritmo naturale di circa 167 parole al minuto, vicino a una conversazione quotidiana. Il 87% delle parole rientra nelle 3.000 più comuni dell’inglese, quindi il lessico è facile da seguire.
Vocaboli chiave di questo video
Le 15 parole più avanzate del video, con pronuncia e significato:
| Parola | Pronuncia | Significato |
|---|---|---|
| transferable aggettivo | /trɑːnsˈfɜːrəbl̩/ | cedibile, trasferibile |
| borrow verbo | /ˈbɑɹ.oʊ/ | prendere in prestito |
| tuition sostantivo | /tjuːˈɪʃən/ | retta |
| assumption sostantivo | /əˈsʌm(p).ʃ(ə)n/ | assunzione |
| qualification sostantivo | /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ | certificazione |
| predict verbo | /pɹɪˈdɪkt/ | profetizzare |
| classmate sostantivo | /ˈklæs.meɪt/ | compagno di classe, compagna di classe |
| collaborator sostantivo | /kəˈlæbəɹeɪtɚ/ | collaboratore |
| electrician sostantivo | /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪʃən/ | elettricista |
| multiply verbo | /ˈmʌltɪplaɪ/ | moltiplicare |
| plumbing sostantivo | /ˈplʌmɪŋ/ | impianto idraulico, rubinetteria |
| underrated aggettivo | /ʌn.dɚˈɹeɪ.təd/ | sottovalutato |
| disadvantage sostantivo | /ˌdɪsədˈvæntɪd͡ʒ/ | svantaggio |
| professionally avverbio | professionalmente | |
| seminar sostantivo | /ˈsɛmɪnɑɹ/ | seminario |
I phrasal verb che sentirai
| Parola | Pronuncia | Significato |
|---|---|---|
| pay back verbo | /peɪ bæk/ | ripagare, restituire |
| figure out verbo | scoprire, rendersi conto |
Frasi da ripetere
Frasi brevi e complete del video che puoi riutilizzare nella conversazione di tutti i giorni:
- Today I'll cover three things.
- We'll come back to this.
- Let's do a quick review.
La grammatica di questo video
Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:
| Struttura | Nel video |
|---|---|
| Forma passiva be + participio passato — conta ciò che accade, non chi lo fa | has been involved · are called · is required |
| Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adesso | you've ever wondered · I've been · has been involved |
| Frasi relative who / which + frase — un’informazione in più su una persona o una cosa | someone who went · people who graduated · students who help |
Pronuncia a cui fare attenzione
Chi parla usa 12 contrazioni e forme ridotte, come don't, I'll, I've. Pronunciale nella forma breve, così come le senti.
- I suoni “sh” e “zh”: credential /kɹɪˈdɛnʃəl/, tuition /tjuːˈɪʃən/, assumption /əˈsʌm(p).ʃ(ə)n/, qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, electrician /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪʃən/
- Parole lunghe — attenzione all’accento: qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, collaborator /kəˈlæbəɹeɪtɚ/, electrician /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪʃən/, underrated /ʌn.dɚˈɹeɪ.təd/, disadvantage /ˌdɪsədˈvæntɪd͡ʒ/
I suoni difficili per chi parla italiano:
- Consonante finale — senza aggiungere una vocale dopo: alumnus /əˈlʌmnəs/, predict /pɹɪˈdɪkt/, classmate /ˈklæs.meɪt/, underrated /ʌn.dɚˈɹeɪ.təd/, freelance /ˈfɹiˌlæns/
- /æ/ — più aperta della “e”: classmate /ˈklæs.meɪt/, collaborator /kəˈlæbəɹeɪtɚ/, freelance /ˈfɹiˌlæns/, disadvantage /ˌdɪsədˈvæntɪd͡ʒ/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/
Come esercitarsi con questo video
- Ascolta tutto il video una volta senza parlare e annota le parole che non conosci.
- Inizia a velocità 0,75×, fai shadowing frase per frase e torna alla velocità normale quando diventa facile.
- Registrati e confronta con l’originale, facendo attenzione a parole come transferable, borrow, tuition.
Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?
Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.