Shadowing Practice: 260826 BBC Points West, Evening News - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Thank you Jane, evening everyone and welcome along to Wednesday's Points West.
2
Amanda with you tonight, coming up on the programme.
3
Another hosepipe ban is announced, this time by Bristol Water, which hasn't had a hot weather one for 50 years.
4
Are customers bothered?
5
I'm surprised it's so late, if I'm honest.
6
Hosepipe ban?
7
Probably not.
8
No, I've got a water bottle.
9
We ask how long it's likely to be in place.
10
Also on the programme, concerns that signs of autumn are happening a bit too early.
11
I'll be finding out how the hot, dry weather means pumpkins like these are ripening months ahead of schedule.
12
We chat to the inspirational balloon pilot from Bristol who smashed a world record at this year's Fiesta.
13
A challenge with a powerful story behind it. And making hyphens history.
14
hear about the campaign to ditch the dash in Bradford-on-Avon.
15
Evening.
16
First tonight, Bristol Water is introducing a hosepipe ban that comes into force tomorrow, just as it seems the weather is changing a bit and we could be in for some rain.
17
So why have they done it now and how long is it likely to last?
18
Our reporter Scott Ellis has been finding out.
19
A host pipe ban for Bristol and yet if you look at the Chew Valley Reservoir, it's nowhere near as low as it was last year.
20
The problem is we've had a long, hot, dry spell.
21
Bristol Water wants to save the water here and at Blagdon, at the Cheddar Reservoir and at the tanks at Barrow
22
and instead it takes more than half our water from the River Severn and that is where the problem lies.
23
The UK's longest river and the Welsh reservoir which feeds into it are suffering in the dry conditions.
24
The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales have applied for a drought order on
25
that river because the source is under strain and we felt strongly
26
that because this source needs protection that we would implement a hosepipe ban to protect that water coming down from North Wales.
27
The ban starts at midnight, Bristol Water telling customers they must not use hosepipes for non-essential purposes,
28
and this includes using a hosepipe to water your garden, wash your car, fill a paddling pool, swimming pool or hot tub, clean your patio or driveway,
29
or to clean walls and windows.
30
Some customers and all businesses are exempt from the ban.
31
We asked back garden owners near Bristol Water's head office what they thought of the first ban in over 50 years.
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I was thinking that it was a little bit late in coming in, because it's been such a hot July and August.
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I think, well, it's not going to affect us too much, because we've got a water butt, so we've not been necessarily using the hosepipe.
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My partner does it, he does use a hose.
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But at the moment, there's not much point doing it, because it's so hot, by the time you water it, it dies anyway.
36
We asked Bristol Water when the hosepipe ban will be lifted.
37
We need sustained rainfall, rainfall and we do need our reservoirs to recover, the reservoirs and wells to recover and also we need to bear in mind
38
that there's already a forecast for next year of being a dry hot summer
39
so we need to prepare for that as well
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so we need to make sure there's a substantial recovery before we remove the ban.
41
This is Bristol Water's first drought related hosepipe ban since the long hot summer of 1975.
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was followed by a dry winter and water rationing as the heat continued into 1976.
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Scott Ellis, BBC Points West.
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So with temperatures still on the warm side, this long hot summer seems to be reluctant to leave.
45
Or is it?
46
You may have noticed that some trees are already shedding their leaves
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and berries and fruits we usually expect to ripen around September time are weeks ahead of themselves.
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Georgia Eady reports on why these signs of an early autumn are causing concern.
49
This should be teeming with ripe blackberries but look because of the drought they've just shriveled up and dropped off.
50
It's not just the quality of the berries
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but it's also just how early they've ripened this year that shocked experts like Steve.
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He's spent his life in and around Stoke Park in Bristol.
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It was always at my school holidays around about August, September.
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Now I picked my first ripe blackberry June the 27th, 2026.
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And that's just not right because it's come forward about two months.
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They should be twice that size.
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He's worried about the impact this will have on wildlife this autumn.
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Birds that come from the Arctic Circle like the field fairs and red wings.
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The minute they get into this country, they've had a long flight they're really hungry.
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They get here and there's no berries.
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There's no food.
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In Gloucestershire it's not just the berries that are early.
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That's a lovely wine.
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You can feel it.
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Pumpkins are almost ripe and ready weeks ahead of schedule.
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They've got a long way to go to make it to Halloween.
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Other years we've been waiting for them to ripen in October
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and waiting for a bit of sunshine to give them that colour and it's not come.
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Potentially we might have to get them into storage to keep them dry
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so they don't suffer with any rots later on in the autumn if eventually it does rain.
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If it stays dry, they could well just hang on there and be fine.
72
There is some much-needed rain on its way over the next week or so, but is it too little too late?
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I mean, nature has amazing resilience.
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It adapts to a range of extremes.
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The problem is we've changed those extremes.
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We have record temperatures, we have record low rainfall then we break nature's capacities to respond and the system begins to disintegrate.
77
So what we're seeing now shouldn't surprise us.
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What should surprise us is how complacent we've been in not doing anything about the causes which we know all about.
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Although we can already see the impact of the dry and hot weather,
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it'll be in years to come when we'll really see who will be nature's winners and losers in this ever-changing climate.
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Georgia Eadie, BBC Points West, Bristol.
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Gloucestershire has its first case of blue-tongue disease.
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It mainly affects sheep and cattle and can lead to infertility, miscarriage and birth defects.
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Farmers are being advised to vaccinate their livestock.
85
The government say they're monitoring the situation closely.
86
There have already been reported cases in Somerset in this latest outbreak of the disease.
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And as you may have seen in the national news, Prince Harry and his family have flown back to the UK today after living in America for the last six years.
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The BBC understands they landed in Birmingham and are planning on settling down somewhere in the Cotswolds.
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They'll live in Britain as non-working royals with many questions still unanswered about who will pay for their security.
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It's believed their two children have been enrolled in school with the new term due to start next week.
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And I hope it's not too stressful in your household working out what still fits
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and where all the glue sticks have gone, hasn't the summer flown?
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Well, maybe it hasn't.
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You're watching Points West still to come between now and 7.
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And there might be some stormy weather ahead.
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Ian's getting ready with his forecast.
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And if it's not stormy, it's certainly very wet.
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First half of tomorrow in particular, a Met Office yellow warning for thunderstorms coming into force at 5 o'clock in the morning.
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I'll have the details later.
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Next, a major new research project in Bristol is seeking to improve understanding of heavy periods and their impact on women's lives.
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The study will follow participants on a daily tracking app and will monitor energy levels, sleep and mood.
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By gathering samples from thousands of women, scientists hope to find ways to help those who suffer every month.
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Here's our health correspondent, Matthew Hill.
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Horrific.
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I'm in pain every day.
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For Marie, heavy periods have been a part of life since she was a teenager.
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I'm currently not on any pain management because I have so many other conditions going on.
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And I'm looking at getting a uterus-only hysterectomy so that I can come off of contraception.
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Now she's supporting a major new study she hopes could help other women get answers faster.
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Heavy menstrual bleeding affects up to half of women worldwide.
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For some, it can mean periods lasting more than a week, needing to change protection every couple of hours,
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passing large blood clots and suffering exhaustion caused by iron deficiency.
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But despite affecting millions, researchers say menstrual health remains poorly understood.
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At the Universities of Bristol and Exeter,
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scientists are launching what's expected to become the world's largest biobank of menstrual fluid samples from women in their mid-30s.
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Thousands of volunteers will track symptoms, sleep, mood, energy levels and well-being through an app and questionnaires.
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They'll also provide menstrual fluid samples using specially designed sanitary pads.
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So when this area in the middle is full, they can just remove this.
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The samples will be linked to health and genetic information already collected through long-running studies, including children of the 90s.
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Researchers hope that combination of biological samples and real-time health data will reveal new clues about what's happening inside the body.
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So we're looking at menstrual fluid comparing people with heavy menstrual bleeding, for example, to people who don't have heavy menstrual bleeding.
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and then any signature that we see there might tell us something about what's causing that symptom.
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The hope is that identifying biological markers in menstrual fluid could eventually lead to earlier diagnosis,
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more personalised treatments and better support for women living with heavy periods.
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They're the professionals, they're the scientists, but anything can help, whether you just give, like, if you've got some what's known as spotting,
126
so literally just a spot of blood versus having an extremely heavy period.
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Once the biobank's established, it's hoped more volunteers can also take part to help shed light on an area
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that so far has been mainly ignored.
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Matthew Hill, BBC Points West.
130
Now, as a balloon pilot, Jo Bailey is very used to the ups and downs of her sport.
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But a year ago, the lows became very low indeed when she became dangerously ill with a twisted colon.
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She spent weeks in hospital, underwent several surgeries, including being fitted with a stoma, but always determined to stay positive.
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She challenged herself to set a world record at this year's Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
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And after official verification, Guinness have confirmed that she is now a world record holder.
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She joins me now. So welcome.
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You're very, very welcome.
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It's lovely to see you, old friend. And you did it.
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You smashed it.
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I did it.
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Yes.
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Just remind us what you had to do, what you had to beat, and how it went.
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So basically, in a hopper balloon, a small balloon, I had to go up and down above 10 feet, then come down to feet on the ground, and then go up and down as many times in an hour.
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And the Guinness set it at 30 up and downs.
144
And in my practice, I'd only done 40 minutes.
145
I couldn't even get to the hour.
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I got too tired.
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And then I managed to do 68.
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My timekeepers actually didn't have enough paper because I thought I'd only get up to 40.
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And another one, and another one.
150
That's amazing.
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Why did you call the challenge Paloma's big lift-off?
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Because in a year, I've got a permanent idiostomy stoma who I call Paloma.
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And I decided when the anniversary was at the end of May, beginning of June, and I felt really down and I couldn't shake myself.
154
And I just thought, come on, Jo, you need to set yourself a challenge.
155
I was on my own on a beach
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and thought right what am I going to do I could do something
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and I thought well I'm a balloonist I could do something with a balloon
158
and I came up with a stupid idea
159
which I didn't even mention to Clive for a couple of weeks
160
and then I spoke to Danny at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta
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and as soon as I told them both I went yes you have to do it
162
which I knew I would have to do it
163
but here I am I did it and there it is it must have got pretty dark back there for a time, how did you find that strength?
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Where did you find that mental willpower to get back to chasing adventure?
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I think even in hospital, and I did think at some point I actually wouldn't come out alive.
166
I did think I was gonna die.
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I didn't think I'd ever get out of hospital.
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My wound only healed in the end of December.
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So it's taken me a long time and I'm still healing.
170
But I did affirmations all the time in hospital.
171
I really tried to keep myself positive.
172
And when I could get out, I started to walk.
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I do my Pilates.
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But I love being outside.
175
And I still now listen to affirmations songs.
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So it's just keeping positive.
177
And you're lifting other people as well, because you've got a big thing going on social media, haven't you?
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It's called the Paloma Diaries.
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So it started as a bit of a therapy for me when I came out of hospital.
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But then I realised I was actually helping others and people really liked my stories because I was open and honest.
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And it's still going on.
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And briefly, you've helped a bunch of charities too.
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Yes, I have.
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ICU Pathways course at Southmead.
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Honestly, they changed my life.
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I was very lucky to go on the course.
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And it moved me from being in trauma to looking forward.
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and also Crohn's and Collider's, who are an amazing charity who support and research.
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Amazing.
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Well, we couldn't be prouder of you.
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You've done amazingly.
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You're much loved in the ballooning world all across Bristol, and they've been right behind you all the way through this, haven't they?
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So, well done.
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You make yourself proud.
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Thank you.
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Fabulous to see you again, Jo.
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Now then, there are lots of interesting local articles up on the BBC News website.
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Tonight, as always, here are some you might just fancy reading.
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Parking prices are due to go up in Wiltshire for the first time in four years.
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They'll rise on the 1st of September.
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The council says it'll cover increasing costs.
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Some are calling it a kick in the teeth.
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Scrap store North Somerset has been saved.
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It's secured grant funding to carry on collecting donated materials for local art projects, but they're still going to need to fundraise going forward.
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And what to do next with this first of its kind, and Roman Miller found last year by housing developers in the Forest of Dean.
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There are ongoing talks about whether the council should buy the site.
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You can find all those stories and more on the BBC News website and app.
208
Now, we love a hyphen here in the West, don't we?
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Whether it's in Western Supermare or down the coast in Burnham-on-Sea.
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But how about in Bradford-on-Avon?
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To dash or not to dash?
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Well, now a campaign has been launched to...
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Ditch the dash, as some townsfolk think that it's perfect without punctuation.
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Here's Pete Simpson.
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What's in a name?
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Well, if the name's Bradford-on-Avon, the answer is, of course, a river, but definitely not hyphens.
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But that hasn't stopped a dastardly spread of unwanted dashes, either on physical signs or all over the digital world.
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This man has suffered a lifetime of hyphens and now wants to do something about it.
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So, as a local, I've been frustrated probably since I was about 15, or it bothered me, maybe is a better phrase,
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that when I used to come into Bradford, road sizes didn't match.
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Some have hyphens, some don't, and there was inconsistencies in the way Bradford-on-Avon was spelt.
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The story goes that the hyphens were first used at the train station here, part of the Great Western Line at the turn of the century.
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They've been sliding into everyday use ever since.
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Well you would hope that official town council signage would be dramatically correct
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but look a little bit closer even in an official notice board and the hyphens are creeping in.
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Not that everyone has a problem.
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Does it really matter?
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Feels like there are much bigger things to to be worried about in this world?
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No hyphen.
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No hyphen.
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OK.
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And does it bother you that there seems to be quite a lot of places where hyphens are present?
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Not really, no. No. No, no, no. You've got better things to worry about?
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Absolutely.
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I always just say BOA, B-O-A.
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That's how I call it.
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Much easier and less time consuming.
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Yeah.
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Changing signs is one thing.
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But how on earth can Tom rewrite Bradford-on-Avon on all of the internet?
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Wikipedia now use hyphens, TripAdvisor use hyphens, Google use hyphens.
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So we're trying to right this wrong, essentially, from a local perspective.
243
Before it's too late, AI learns off content online, as we all know.
244
So the sooner we do it, which is why we want people's help, the more chance we have of correcting this challenge.
245
If you think his grammar crusade against big tech is futile, just as we're about to wrap up some news.
246
Tom, come back, come back.
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You're still rolling.
248
Amazing.
249
been in touch and they're going to drop the hyphens from their maps.
250
That is an amazing start to the campaign.
251
Maybe he can make hyphens history after all.
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Pete Simpson, BBC Points West, Bradford on Haven.
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One small victory at a time.
254
Now over the last few weeks we've been meeting some fantastic finalists from this year's Make a Difference Awards
255
and tonight it's the turn of Somerset and I'm delighted to introduce you to the appropriately named Gavin Stepp, who's nominated in the active category.
256
Welcome to the programme.
257
You've been nominated for the work you do with Huish Tigers FC, so tell us who they are and how that all came about.
258
Yeah, so they're a community football club in Taunton.
259
Just over 10 years ago now, my son was five.
260
He had a number of friends.
261
And I just thought there was an opportunity to maybe do something a bit different around community sport
262
and football and set a team up, well it wasn't even a team, a group for him and his friends to have a bit of a kick around
263
and they were about 10 at the time and it kind of snowballed
264
and has got a little bit out of control and we just over, we celebrated our 10th anniversary last year.
265
And how many of you are there now?
266
There are 50 volunteers for starters.
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Yeah that's right, so over 50 volunteers and over 400 registered players at the club.
268
400, so that grew, that small idea.
269
How does it make you feel when you're standing on the sideline and watching what you've created?
270
Yeah, I feel incredibly proud knowing the amount of opportunity
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that sort of the hard work of the incredible team of volunteers is providing for boys,
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girls and even some adults now as we've sort of grown to provide some adult football also.
273
Brilliant, keeping everyone going.
274
The Tigers aren't the only big cats that you work with, Give us an idea of your day job.
275
Yeah, so I'm the Women's Technical Director at the Football Association.
276
So I work with all of the England national teams from our seniors right the way through to our under 15s.
277
Wow, right in the thick of it.
278
Yeah.
279
And it's an exciting time.
280
Yeah, it's an incredible time.
281
So we've got a little bit of work to do left
282
that would hopefully qualify us for the World Cup next summer in Brazil.
283
And our under-20s are due to fly out to Poland next week for the under-20 World Cup as well.
284
Brilliant.
285
What do the teams, all the teams you work with across the spectrum, what do you think they could teach each other?
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Yeah, I think probably one of the most important things is to just remember why you started playing football.
287
and I look at our community players at Hughish Tigers
288
and just that love of turning up
289
and playing for the real love of the game and I see
290
that in lots of our aspiring England players and senior professional players as well, just remembering what it was that started them playing football.
291
So much inspirational crossover.
292
Look, Gavin, you're clearly so appreciated by all the people
293
that are around you so congratulations for getting this off the ground and getting so far with it.
294
It's brilliant.
295
Well done.
296
Thank you.
297
Thank you.
298
Now next, a family business that's been making ice cream for over a century is to close.
299
Tars has been a much-loved tradition in Bristol since it began in 1920.
300
Their vanilla ice cream has been judged the best in the UK more than 20 times.
301
The family says it's now much too tough to run a small business and once they've used up their remaining ingredients,
302
then they'll shut up shop for good in the autumn.
303
Now, the music world has been paying tribute to Dolly Parton.
304
She played at Glastonbury Festival in 2014, you remember, and today the organiser Emily Evis described her as an untouchable legend.
305
Alice Bovary has been looking back through the archives.
306
Our family, we're going to be playing with our good sister and second half, second cousin, third and five.
307
I lose count now.
308
Best person was probably Dolly Parton.
309
Absolutely Francesc.
310
I didn't love her.
311
Dolly Parton was good.
312
Obviously, like, she brought a massive crowd in.
313
Good girl.
314
Good girl.
315
At the end of the festival that year, a dog was found abandoned in a tent.
316
Rescuers named her Dolly, with the superstar hinting she'd adopt her if her owners didn't come forward.
317
I was very honoured and very flattered that they named her after me
318
and we'll take good care of her if that should turn out to be what we have to do.
319
But in the meantime, let's try to get them together.
320
It came out of the blue, so her management just rang and said Dolly is very keen on adopting Dolly the dog.
321
The dog was eventually reunited with her family, so the adoption never happened.
322
But Dolly Parton's links with the West Country still survive through an organisation called the Imagination Library,
323
a childhood literacy programme the singer founded 30 years ago.
324
The first one in Somerset was set up just this year in Chard, with every child under five being gifted a free book every month.
325
So Chard does sort of have pockets of deprivation, and we know that reading is a super important thing for children at every stage of their life, just in terms of building vocabulary and building understanding.
326
Dolly Parton's family say supporting the Imagination Library is the best way to honour her legacy.
327
What a force of nature, Such an outpouring of tributes as well.
328
She will be so missed right around the world.
329
Shall we check on the weather now?
330
Ian's here.
331
It's a bit wet, a bit of rain coming up.
332
Indeed, there will be.
333
It was a very different start this morning, mind you, as you can see just out west of Bridgewater, a very pleasant morning there at Otterhampton.
334
It won't look like that tomorrow morning at least.
335
Quite a different story indeed, as we start to import a period of rain spreading up from the south late tonight into tomorrow morning.
336
and there will be a tendency for some of that to start to turn quite heavy, potentially thundery, hence the Met Office yellow warning for thunderstorms, you can see roughly, let's call it about the M4 northwards,
337
but I'd blur the edges of that, and the start time has been revised just recently by the Met Office, brought forward to 5 o'clock in the morning,
338
rather than the previous 6 o'clock in the morning.
339
Now within the warning area at least, and potentially just outside it, there will be the threat at least of some very heavy downpours through the first part of the day,
340
could be a difficult commuting period.
341
The risk of some lightning, of some hail and as we were mentioning earlier in the programme because we've got all the drought stress effects on trees,
342
plentiful leaves down for many areas, of course all of that could get washed out into roadside drains
343
and the like and cause yet further exacerbation of localised flooding problems.
344
So a few things to consider there like I said at least for the first half of the day.
345
Now by contrast by midday today it was looking bone dry everywhere.
346
If I run the sequence through of late
347
You'll see showers started to break out out to the northeast of us and with time
348
One or two of those started to show their hand a little bit closer through parts of Oxfordshire
349
But a Met Office yellow warning for thunderstorms currently in force for Gloucestershire Looks like it probably will expire with nothing happening,
350
but we shall see What will happen though is this area
351
of low pressure spreading up this frontal zone through the course
352
of tomorrow morning Giving the threat of some very heavy rain in places and as
353
that drifts its way northwards the day will improve barring some
354
showers for some Some further outbreaks of showery rain liable to arrive through the course of Friday, particularly around the late morning middle part of the day.
355
Then a bit of a lull before this next area of low pressure gears up to give some further rain
356
as we head through into Saturday.
357
So it's a sort of on-off tap really of some further rainfall.
358
The forecast model was showing the potential at least for some showers in Gloucestershire.
359
Could yet happen I suppose.
360
But this is the main action developing through the early hours onwards.
361
Now I would stress do not take literally where you're seeing these bursts of heavier rain, the green colours for example, because some forecast models have a much more extensive band of
362
that across a good part of the region through the course of the early part of the morning onwards.
363
So that's why the risk of any of this happening pretty much anywhere should be considered.
364
It will be a warm sort of humid night prior to all of that starting to happen.
365
Tomorrow morning, whatever we do have of all of this, will slowly clear its way northwards through the first part of the day.
366
There will be scope for some further heavy showers, particularly in this zone here, I suspect.
367
But elsewhere, looking drier, looking brighter, the day will improve with time and it will still be a day warmer than average for the time of year, getting through about the low 20s.
368
Interesting times ahead, Ian.
369
Quite.
370
Thank you very much for all that.
371
I think that's it for me Ian
372
and the rest of the Points West team have a really nice evening whether you're off out
373
or communing with the sofa I'll be here again at half ten bye for now
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “260826 BBC Points West, Evening News”. This video has 373 sentences and 4659 words to shadow. The speech runs for 26:38. The speaker talks at a natural 175 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hyphen noun | /ˈhaɪ̯.f(ə̯)n̩/ | The symbol "‐", typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line. |
| hosepipe noun | A flexible pipe for carrying water or other liquids. | |
| menstrual adjective | /ˈmɛn.stɹu.əl/ | Of or relating to the menses. |
| balloon noun | /bəˈlun/ | An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible. |
| reservoir noun | /ˈɹɛz.ə(ɹ).vwɑɹ/ | A place where anything is kept in store. |
| rainfall noun | The amount of rain that falls on a single occasion | |
| drought noun | /ˈdɹaʊ̯t/ | A period of unusually low rainfall, longer and more severe than a dry spell. |
| berry noun | /ˈbɛɹi/ | A small succulent fruit, of any one of many varieties. |
| dash noun | /ˈdæʃ/ | Any of the following symbols: ‒ (figure dash), – (en dash), — (em dash), or ― (horizontal bar). |
| forecast noun | /ˈfɔːkɑːst/ | An estimation of a future condition. |
| northwards adverb | northward; in a northerly direction | |
| thunderstorm noun | /ˈθʌn.dɚˌstɔɹm/ | A storm consisting of thunder and lightning produced by a cumulonimbus, usually accompanied with heavy rain, wind, and sometimes hail; and in rarer cases… |
| ripe adjective | /ɹaɪp/ | Of a fruit, vegetable, seed, etc., ready for reaping or gathering; having attained perfection; mature. |
| bleed verb | /ˈbliːd/ | To shed blood through an injured blood vessel. |
| affirmation noun | /æfɝˈmeɪʃn/ | That which is affirmed; a declaration that something is true. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| go up verb | To move upwards. | |
| ask back verb | To invite an interviewee to a further interview. | |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. | |
| come forward verb | To offer help or information, especially about a crime. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm surprised it's so late, if I'm honest.
- No, I've got a water bottle.
- The problem is we've changed those extremes.
- You've got better things to worry about?
- Shall we check on the weather now?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | has been finding · we've been waiting · They've been sliding |
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to the · used to come |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have applied · we've not been · they've just shriveled |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is announced · will be lifted · was followed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 99 contractions and reduced forms, such as we've, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thunderstorm /ˈθʌn.dɚˌstɔɹm/, northeast /noːˈθɪjst/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dash /ˈdæʃ/, affirmation /æfɝˈmeɪʃn/, inspirational /ˌɪnspəˈɹeɪʃənəl/, smash /smæʃ/, specially /ˈspɛʃəli/
- Long words — get the stress right: inspirational /ˌɪnspəˈɹeɪʃənəl/, ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, participant /pɑːɹˈtɪsəpənt/, literacy /ˈlɪtəɹəsi/, developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like hyphen, hosepipe, menstrual.
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.