Shadowing Practice: What are the Signs and Symptoms of Prostate Cancer? | Cancer Research UK - Learn English Speaking with Video

Les maken...
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As the most common cancer in men, understanding prostate cancer is vital.
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So I've come to Cambridge University Hospital to speak with Dr
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Vincent Nanaprakasam to find out how they go about diagnosing this common cancer.
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Well Vincent, prostate cancer is notoriously difficult to diagnose isn't it?
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Indeed, in fact prostate cancer most often has no symptoms.
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A man might go to his GP because he has noticed a change in his urinary symptoms, getting up at night maybe or having difficulty passing water
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and most often that's due to a normal enlargement of the prostate as he gets older.
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In fact prostate cancer doesn't cause any symptoms unless it's very advanced, in which case it might mimic some of those symptoms of an obstructed or large prostate.
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But if there are any concerns, the first step is to go and see your GP who can then investigate further.
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So what would your GP do?
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Most often what they'll do is take a history from you, do an examination of the prostate and do a PSA blood test.
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What is a PSA test?
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So PSA stands for prostate specific antigen.
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It's produced by the prostate gland and it's a marker for the presence of prostate cancer.
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However, it can also be raised in other conditions so it's not a very specific marker,
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but it's the first test that we can do to say whether we should proceed to further investigations.
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So what happens if you get sent to the hospital for an examination?
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The specialist will see you, again take a history and an examination, and then most often what they will do is arrange a prostate biopsy.
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Increasingly they might recommend a scan to be done first, an MRI scan, and then discuss with you what the best way to do a biopsy is.
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And if it is cancer, tell us what happens then.
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Tell us about some of the tests.
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Well, a discussion then starts.
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The first step is to make sure that we know exactly what kind of cancer it is, and that might involve other types of scans, for example a CT scan or a bone scan.
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The kind of cancer is determined by the size of it or the stage of a cancer, and once the specialist puts all that information together with what the biopsy has shown,
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then they start to discuss with you what the treatments are.
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So, now we know more about the tests and the good news is
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that the majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer survive for 10 or more years.
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For further information, visit the Cancer Research UK website or see the other videos in this series.

What You'll Learn from This Video

This clip is perfect for english speaking practice as it builds two key skills: understanding medical terminology in context and following conversational question-and-answer flow. You’ll learn to parse complex topics like "prostate specific antigen" and "biopsy" while keeping up with natural dialogue. Plus, it trains you to listen for detailed explanations—great for real-life conversations where clarity matters.

Listen For These Sounds

The dialogue uses common connected speech patterns. Notice how "what are" becomes "waddare" and "because he has" links to "becausee hez." Reductions like "it's" (instead of "it is") and "they'll" (instead of "they will") are frequent, so listen closely. Also, phrases like "go and see" often blend into "g'and see" in fast speech—this is key for understanding native speakers.

Say It Like a Native

To mirror the speaker’s rhythm, focus on stress. Words like "vital," "diagnose," and "advanced" get emphasis, while function words like "the" and "is" are softer. Try the shadowing technique: pause the video, repeat each sentence immediately, matching the speed and tone. This "shadow speech" helps with pronunciation and fluency. For example, when the doctor says, "the majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer survive," stress "majority," "diagnosed," and "survive" to sound natural. Practice daily, and you’ll improve english pronunciation in no time—this video’s clear, conversational style makes it ideal for shadowspeaks practice.

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.