Shadowing Practice: 16.Talking about the environment - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hi, I'm Beth.
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And I'm Neil and this is Real Easy English from BBC Learning English.
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In this podcast, we talk about big topics in Easy English to help you learn.
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You can find all the vocabulary from this episode and read along on our website – bbclearningenglish.com.
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Hello Neil, how are you today?
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Hi Beth, I'm fine thank you.
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How are you?
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I'm good thank you.
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I have just got back from holiday and it was very hot.
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And today we're talking about the environment.
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We'll talk about climate change and what we are trying to do to help.
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OK Beth, can you explain the phrase climate change, please?
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Yes.
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So, climate change is what we call changes to the world's weather patterns.
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So, for example, the general temperature, rainfall, that kind of thing.
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And in particular, with climate change, we mean changes to the weather that are caused by human activity.
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So Beth, are you worried about climate change?
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Yes, definitely.
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I do think that it's a big problem.
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The world is getting hotter or the weather is changing quite a lot.
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I know that in a lot of countries, at the moment in the winter, it's much hotter than it used to be.
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And this affects people, it affects animals and plants, all sorts of things.
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But it's worrying for the future generations, isn't it?
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So children and future grandchildren have to live in this world and what kind of world might it be?
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So Neil, what do you try to do to help climate change?
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Well, I ride my bike whenever I can.
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I try not to make journeys in the car that I don't really need to.
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I use public transport when I can.
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I also try not to fly, but that's mainly, to be honest, because I don't like flying.
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How about you, Beth?
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What do you do?
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Well, I try to not eat too much meat.
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I might have something like chicken or fish maybe once or twice a week because I know that animal consumption,
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so eating meat, does contribute to climate change.
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Now, Beth, you told me you are getting solar panels, is that right?
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I did, yeah.
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So, I think we're going to have 12 put on the top of our house
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and that will bring our electricity bill down and it helps the environment because it's using energy from the sun. So, yeah.
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That's a nice eco-friendly plan you have.
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It is, yeah.
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Neil, is there anything else that worries you about the environment?
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Yes.
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I'm worried about pollution.
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The air in cities is very dirty and we live in London
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and sadly some schools are right next to busy roads and the children have to breathe polluted,
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dirty air and it can be really bad for their health.
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It can cause problems with breathing.
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So Beth, is there anything else about the environment that worries you?
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Yeah, so obviously we all know that there's a lot of plastic in the ocean and rubbish around us generally,
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but with plastic it's so hard to get rid of it.
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It doesn't go away on its own unless you recycle it
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and a lot of animals are getting caught up in plastic fishing nets,
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they're swallowing plastic, so this is a really big problem.
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And do you recycle?
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Do you use things more than once?
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Yeah, so I try and reuse things if I can and yeah we recycle plastic, metal, cards.
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I have a reusable water bottle as well and a reusable coffee cup.
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Let's recap the vocabulary we learnt during the conversation.
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We learnt climate change, which is what we call the changes in the world's weather patterns caused by human activity.
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We heard eco-friendly, an adjective we use to describe something that helps the environment.
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Recycling, collecting rubbish to use again.
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Pollution, damage caused by harmful chemicals, for example in the air.
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and public transport.
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Travel by bus or train, for example, to be more eco-friendly.
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And that's it for this episode of Real Easy English.
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Don't forget to listen to our other programmes to help you improve your English.
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Visit bbclearningenglish.com.
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Bye for now.
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Goodbye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 69 sentences and 701 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:34. The speaker talks at a steady 126 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| pollution noun | /pəˈluʃən/ | Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc. |
| rubbish noun | /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/ | Refuse, waste, garbage, junk, trash. |
| vocabulary noun | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| electricity noun | /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/ | Originally, a property of amber and certain other nonconducting substances to attract lightweight material when rubbed, or the cause of this property; now… |
| collect verb | /ˈkɑlɪkt/ | To gather together; amass. |
| consumption noun | /kənˈsʌmp.ʃən/ | The act of eating, drinking or using. |
| contribute verb | /kənˈtɹɪb.jut/ | To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole. |
| goodbye | /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ | Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| sadly adverb | /ˈsædli/ | In a sad manner; sorrowfully. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| harmful adjective | /ˈhɑɹmfl̩/ | Causing or likely to cause harm or damage; injurious. |
| swallow verb | /ˈswɑ.loʊ/ | To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | we're talking · are trying · is getting |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | have to live · have to breathe |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 14 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: pollution /pəˈluʃən/, rubbish /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/, consumption /kənˈsʌmp.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, electricity /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like breathe, pollution, rubbish.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.