Shadowing Practice: Are There Lost Alien Civilizations in Our Past? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Kies een oefenmodus
Elke modus opent een volledig scherm oefenruimte.
99 zinnen
Als zinnen te kort of te lang zijn, klik op Bewerken om ze aan te passen.
1
When we think about alien civilizations, we tend to look into the vastness of space to faraway planets.
2
But there is another incredibly vast dimension that we might be giving too little thought to.
3
Time.
4
Could it be that over the last hundreds of millions of years, other civilizations existed on Earth?
5
indigenous technological species that rose and died out, and that they or their artifacts are buried beneath our feet.
6
What does science have to say about this and what are the implications for us?
7
Life on Earth has existed for 4 billion years, mostly as single-celled organisms, until some 540 million years ago,
8
the Cambrian explosion heralded the age of animals.
9
A huge time window for our indigenous aliens.
10
Where would we look for them and what could we hope to find?
11
Sadly, we have only one civilization to look at, ourselves.
12
Anatomically modern humans emerged around 300,000 years ago and probably lived in small groups of hunter-gatherers, slowly spreading around the world.
13
Progress was slow and our lifestyle didn't change much, although there may have been local bursts of complexity.
14
Until about 10,000 years ago, when the agricultural revolution changed our lifestyle forever, enabling massive population growth and technological progress.
15
Rather than just animals with culture and tools that would have been invisible from space, we changed the face of the planet,
16
cleared forests and constructed cities and temples for our gods at breathtaking speeds and scales.
17
Until, about 300 years ago, we became an industrial species, and yet again our numbers grew exponentially, as did our impact on the planet.
18
We could say that our 300,000 year long history has three phases.
19
We were hunter-gatherers for 97%, farmers for 2.9% and industrialists for 0.1% of our history.
20
And yet, we are super new on Earth.
21
On geological timescales, even the sturdiest things lose their durability.
22
The oldest large-scale surface is the Negev Desert, a meager 1.8 million years old.
23
Everything older has been crushed to dust or turned over and it's either below the ground or covered by ice or ocean.
24
Our age, the Anthropocene, will be a layer only a few centimeters thick in a few million years.
25
If there were aliens before us and they too went through these three phases, what would remain of them?
26
What can we learn about indigenous aliens by looking at ourselves?
27
Hunter-gatherer aliens.
28
We actually know that in the last few million years there were hunter-gatherer aliens.
29
Our ancestors like Homo erectus and cousins like the Neanderthals
30
or Denisovans and probably many more that we haven't found yet or are lost to time forever.
31
They left fragments of their bodies, of weapons and tools and even art.
32
Considering how long they existed and how little remains of them, although they live not that far from our present, it's easy to think there have been others.
33
animals like us, that could talk and use tools and fire that had culture and art.
34
For the last two million years, most hominins lived as hunter-gatherers, so if these aliens never moved up higher on the tech tree,
35
hundreds of different species and cultures could have existed without leaving any traces.
36
Their artifacts lost to biological and then geological processes.
37
At worst, they would leave absolutely nothing to be found after thousands of years.
38
But what about fossils?
39
We talked about how unlikely the process of fossilization is in more detail in our dinosaur video, but in a nutshell, per 100,000 years of Earth's history,
40
we only get a handful of good fossils.
41
So we might easily just miss fossils of such people, but even if we had any, we wouldn't necessarily be able to identify them as hunter-gatherers.
42
Agricultural and Empire Aliens Looking at humans again, agricultural societies left much more to be dug up and found,
43
because they used more sophisticated tools made from sturdier materials and had to feed millions, leaving many more artifacts.
44
Farming allowed them to specialize and develop tech from writing to navigation, architecture and government.
45
Over thousands of years, city-states became kingdoms and empires, some existing for millennia before they fell.
46
Many of the buildings or monuments they constructed are still around, and traces of them will exist for a few thousand more years.
47
Some only as outlines in the ground, but still recognizable to future archaeologists.
48
The pyramids are piles of limestone so massive that they will probably be around for hundreds of thousands of years.
49
And because of the greater numbers of humans that lived during our farm and empire period, we can expect way more fossils and artifacts to be detectable,
50
maybe for a few million years before they vanish.
51
So we can say with confidence that no such indigenous alien civilization existed in the last few million years, because otherwise we would have found something that they left.
52
still leaves a window of hundreds of millions of years, back to the emergence of complex life where we wouldn't be able to tell.
53
If there were alien pre-industrial societies and empires on the level of the ancient Romans or Chinese, they would have likely disappeared without a trace.
54
Their tools, even advanced metals, would have rotted away.
55
If they dug up canals, cleared forests and built cities, their traces would be very hard to distinguish from nature.
56
Maybe there was once an empire of cephalopods occupying impressive cities in swamps and lakes made from wood and stone.
57
Their engineers flooding land to build wet cities, their poets reciting poems in a language of colors.
58
Maybe they never industrialized.
59
Maybe their society was too stable or not inventive enough, or they never got a chance.
60
A single event like an asteroid, an epidemic or an ice age could just have deleted their civilization ground up their temples as their soft bodies rotted away.
61
Sadly, we don't have the tiniest amount of evidence for any such civilization.
62
After a few million years at best, their achievements would have dissolved into nothing.
63
Industrial indigenous aliens.
64
What about industrial civilizations like humanity today?
65
Imagine humans died out suddenly through a pandemic or cosmic rays or something like that, what would remain?
66
Our impact on the planet is orders of magnitude greater than that of our ancestors.
67
The fossil record will show a great extinction of wildlife and an explosion of fossils from human-associated animals like rats, cows, pigs and chickens.
68
Like the structures of our ancestors, skyscrapers and streets and hard drives will basically crumble into nothingness in a few millennia.
69
But because there were so many humans everywhere, For a few million years after our sudden end, there would be clear hints of our existence.
70
The byproducts of our industrial lifestyle might actually give us away for some hundreds of millions of years.
71
We use massive amounts of artificial fertilizer which redirects Earth's flow of nitrogen that is being deposited in the soil.
72
Mining metals and rare earth elements leaves long-term scars and depletes natural resources.
73
We saturate our oceans with plastics that find their way to the ocean floor
74
and may persist for hundreds of millions of years.
75
There are radioactive elements and their decay, unnatural accumulations of elements that don't exist outside labs or weapons.
76
And of course, in our short industrial history, we have changed the proportion of CO2 in the air by burning massive amounts of fossil fuels,
77
increasing the acidity of the oceans, and so on.
78
We may already have left a mark in the geological record.
79
So far we have found no traces of an industrial alien civilization.
80
No layers of weird chemicals or displaced elements.
81
No radioactive layer to indicate that once great nations waged nuclear war.
82
We do see mass extinctions and massive shifts in the fossil records, but no evidence that they did not occur naturally.
83
And ironically, we've hit upon an interesting problem here.
84
If industrial societies stress the ecosystem enough to cause their own extinction, they won't be around that long.
85
But if they become sustainable, their imprint on the geological record may be tiny.
86
If past industrial civilizations were sustainable before they died out, we may have little to no chance of ever knowing about them.
87
In any case, over hundreds of millions of years, these signatures may become very subtle and get overlooked or interpreted as natural.
88
Even if an industrialized alien society existed 200 million years ago and lasted for 100,000 years, 300 times longer than industrial humanity,
89
it still might be easy to miss it in the geological record.
90
In any case, all of this is speculation.
91
In the end, we shouldn't use our imagination to trick ourselves into thinking we know anything about our blind spots.
92
Just assuming a thing happened because we don't have evidence against it is a trap we should avoid.
93
So for now, if we look at the vastness of time, it seems as devoid of aliens as the vastness of space.
94
Maybe we are alone in this universe and always were.
95
Maybe we'll find traces of others eventually, we don't know.
96
There is one important takeaway.
97
The continuation of our civilization is not guaranteed.
98
And if we're not careful, we may disappear forever.
99
Let's hope that in a few million years, there isn't another civilization studying our layer in the fossil record.
App downloaden
Alles wat je nodig hebt om vloeiend te spreken
AI UitspraakScoor elke zin
IPA OefeningBeheers elk geluid
WoordenschatBouw je woordenschat op
WoordenspelLeren terwijl je speelt
Zelfde Kanaal
C117
Queen Ant Clones Another Species
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C13
How Caffeine Works
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
B232
Your Skeleton Is Electric
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
How I Survived Late-Stage Cancer (A Fun Story)
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C11
The Beginning of Everything -- The Big Bang
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
C1118
Could Humans Evolve Flight?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C111
You Will Only Like Half of This Video
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C112
Would You Upload Your Mind?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
Your Brain on Magic Mushrooms
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C136
Why Ebola Keeps Coming Back
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
Let’s Steal a New Moon
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
What Happens AFTER Nuclear War?
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
3 Reasons Why Nuclear Energy Is Awesome! 3/3
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C118
What Falling in Love Does to You
University StudentsWorking Adults
B26
YOU Own the Moon. And Mars. And Venus.
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B23
What Is Life? Is Death Real?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1149
How Antidepressants Work
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B238
Your Brain Peaked at Birth
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C173
We Won’t Explore the Galaxy...
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B26
Dozens of Nukes Are Missing. Why? HOW?
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
FOR YOU
Aanbevolen Video
C19
92 zinnen
What Do Alien Civilizations Look Like? The Kardashev Scale
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C19
65 zinnen
What Happened Before History? Human Origins
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
9 zinnen
Our Greatest Delusion
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C13
22 zinnen
How The Universe Could Destroy Life On Earth
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
59 zinnen
Cambridge Ielts 16 Reading test 2 Passage 2
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
C13
64 zinnen
No Slaves? No Aliens? How the Pyramids Were Really Built| English Lesson & Connected Speech (B2–C1)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
C18
30 zinnen
Technology Made Us Human
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C13
627 zinnen
Brian Cox - The Most Mysterious Facts About The Universe
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
211 zinnen
Why Did Ancient Humans Start Believing in Gods?
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C110
168 zinnen
The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
C168
44 zinnen
Why is it Hot Underground?
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B27
40 zinnen
LITERATURE - Charles Darwin
British AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les
Deze spreekles op niveau C1 is gebaseerd op de video “Are There Lost Alien Civilizations in Our Past?”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: alien, civilization, industrial, fossil, hundreds. Deze video bevat 99 zinnen en 1546 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 10:26. De spreker praat in een gelijkmatig tempo van ongeveer 148 woorden per minuut, prettig om te shadowen. Slechts 79% van de woorden hoort bij de 3.000 meest gebruikte Engelse woorden, dus de woordenschat is pittig.
Belangrijke woorden in deze video
De 15 moeilijkste woorden uit de video, met uitspraak en betekenis:
| Woord | Uitspraak | Betekenis |
|---|---|---|
| civilization zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/ | beschaving |
| fossil zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈfɑsl̩/ | fossiel |
| artifact zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈɑɹtɪfækt/ | artefact |
| ancestor zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˈæn.sɛs.tɚ/ | voorouder |
| extinction zelfstandig naamwoord | /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/ | uitsterven |
| industrialize werkwoord | /ɪnˈdʌstɹiəlaɪz/ | industrialiseren |
| sturdy bijvoeglijk naamwoord | /ˈstɜrdi/ | solide, stevig |
| rot werkwoord | /ɹɑt/ | rotten, vergaan |
| millennium zelfstandig naamwoord | /mɪˈlɛnɪəm/ | millennium |
| radioactive bijvoeglijk naamwoord | /ˌɹeɪdioʊˈæktɪv/ | radioactief |
| technological bijvoeglijk naamwoord | /ˌtɛk.nəˈlɑ.dʒɪ.kəl/ | technologisch |
| disappear werkwoord | /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/ | verdwijnen, verzwinden |
| acidity zelfstandig naamwoord | /əˈsɪd.ɪ.ti/ | zuurgraad, aciditeit |
| anatomically bijwoord | anatomisch | |
| archaeologist zelfstandig naamwoord | /ˌɑɹ.kiˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒɪst/ | archeoloog, archeologe |
Grammatica in deze video
De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:
| Structuur | In de video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telt | has existed · has been crushed · haven't found |
| Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet | are buried · has been crushed · are lost |
Uitspraak om op te letten
De spreker gebruikt 14 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals don't, wouldn't, didn't. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.
- De klanken “sh” en “zh”: civilization /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, extinction /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/, exponentially /ɛkspə(ʊ)ˈnɛnʃəli/, nutshell /ˈnʌt.ʃɛl/, specialize /ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/
- Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: civilization /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, geological /ˌd͡ʒi.əˈlɑdʒ.ɪk.əl/, industrialize /ɪnˈdʌstɹiəlaɪz/, radioactive /ˌɹeɪdioʊˈæktɪv/, technological /ˌtɛk.nəˈlɑ.dʒɪ.kəl/
Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:
- Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: industrialize /ɪnˈdʌstɹiəlaɪz/, radioactive /ˌɹeɪdioʊˈæktɪv/, cephalopod /ˈsɛfələpɑd/, devoid /dɪˈvɔɪd/, dissolve /dɪˈzɑlv/
- /æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: artifact /ˈɑɹtɪfækt/, ancestor /ˈæn.sɛs.tɚ/, vastness /ˈvæstnəs/, radioactive /ˌɹeɪdioʊˈæktɪv/, vanish /ˈvænɪʃ/
- /g/ — een harde plofklank, geen Nederlandse “g”: meager /ˈmiɡɚ/, fragment /ˈfɹæɡmənt/, organism /ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/, distinguish /dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/, magnitude /ˈmæɡnɪtjuːd/
Zo oefen je met deze video
- Luister de hele video één keer zonder te spreken en noteer de woorden die je niet kent.
- Spreek zin voor zin na op normale snelheid en herhaal elke zin tot je ritme gelijk is aan dat van de spreker.
- Neem jezelf op en vergelijk met het origineel; let daarbij op woorden als civilization, fossil, artifact.
Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?
Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.