Shadowing Practice: الصحفي الأمريكي "تاكر كارلسون" يتعلم الإسلام من مسيحي عربي!!! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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What's it like to be a Christian in an overwhelmingly Muslim country here?
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Well, Christians here in Jordan have always felt really one and the same with the Muslims in Jordan.
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and it goes back thousands of years really Tucker.
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So it's always felt like we're really one in the same.
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Islam is very much an integral part of our culture. As Christians here.
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Yeah, we feel very comfortable.
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As Christians here.
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As Christians, absolutely.
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So you went to school, a number of very prominent schools in the United States.
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You spent a lot of time living in the US, so that most Americans are going to be surprised to hear that. Of course.
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I mean, a lot of my American friends, when I first met them, they were surprised that I'm Christian from Enjoy them.
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And I'm like, what do you mean?
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I mean, this is where Christianity started, right?
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This is, we are the ancient Christians.
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Islam is an integral part of the culture for Christians here.
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What does that mean?
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Well, look, the faith traditions are so similar.
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You know, if you look at the Quran, for example, the Quran is Jesus was mentioned 25 + times in the Quran.
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And he was mentioned under different words, different names.
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So, Isa is what his name is in Arabic.
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the word of God.
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That's actually from the Quran, the Messiah.
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the Messiah.
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that's also Ibn Maryam, son of Maryam, The other thing that you might find interesting is also the Virgin Mary, right?
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I mean, she was mentioned 30 plus times.
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in the Quran, she's revered.
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Right?
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Actually, she was the only woman whose name was actually mentioned in the Quran.
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No other name of a woman has been.
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I mean, there was-- - Really?
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- Absolutely.
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Maryam's is the only name that's named my name in the Quran as a woman.
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- As the mother of Jesus.
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- As the mother of Jesus.
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There is a whole chapter in the Quran just dedicated for the Virgin Mary.
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So you can see, and of course the same prophets, many of the same prophets, It's Elijah or Moses or Abraham or...
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They're in the Quran.
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Um.. as they are in the New Testament and the Old Testament.
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So the faith traditions are very similar.
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So that's why the Muslims are actually very accepting of the Christian faith traditions.
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They are encompassing of the Christian faith traditions.
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So yeah, I mean - - And you're saying this as a Christian?
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- I'm saying this as a Christian here in Jordan.
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Absolutely.
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I'm at a disadvantage because I have not read the Quran, I'll just say that but we have been taught for 25 years since 9 /11,
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that Islam is inherently hostile to Christianity.
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but you don't believe it.
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I totally disagree with that.
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I think hostility is, you know, Is it a human thing?
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Yes.
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You find humans on all sides of the spectrum.
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that are compassionate or hostile, that's a common thing across humanity, across the world.
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But to demonize one religion to say everyone in that religion is hostile is is an atrocity, Tucker.
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It's absolutely not true.
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I agree with you.
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Did you experience discrimination growing up here as a Christian?
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I've never felt discriminated against as a question.
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That's true?
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That is true.
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- Yeah.
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There's another story on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
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I think it's...
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I mean, it shows you just how old these traditions are in the region.
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and how welcoming it used to be to people from all across all faiths, a Jewish or a Christian or Muslim, right? in the past.
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- Wow.
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so since I think a thousand years ago, since Salah al -Din or Saladin, right?
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Yeah.
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The keys to the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
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did not belong to any of the Christian denominations, because they couldn't agree amongst themselves, right?
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The Armenian, the Orthodox, the Catholic, et cetera.
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Ethiopian, like who's going to have the key to the church, right?
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And actually that key was handed to, at the time, Salah al -Din.
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And even today, Those keys are handed to a Muslim family, it's I think the Ben Sebe family of Jerusalem.
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They opened the church in the morning.
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and they closed the church at night.
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So that's the kind of sort of I mean, these are the stories we grew up with.
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as Christians in the region, as Muslims in the region.
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even as Arab Jews, right? from the region.
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This is sort of the faith and the common faith and cultural tradition we grew up with here.
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Um, So a lot of the stuff that we see today is very new.
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These are lines drawn in the sand by colonial powers.
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that really sort of - Yeah.
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destroyed that social cohesion and the social fabric that existed here.
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My complete outsider perspective At the time when the official capital of the state of Israel moved from Tel Aviv, a city of recent creation,
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to Jerusalem, a city that, as noted, long predates the state of Israel.
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was that Jerusalem changed from an international holy site to a kind of government garrison run by a city state,
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run by a nation state.
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And that's probably not good for the Christians.
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Do you think it's fair?
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Yeah, I think Jerusalem belongs to all people, right?
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It surely doesn't belong to Bibi.
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It's not his.
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He didn't make it.
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None of those buildings was built by the government of Israel.
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Sorry.
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Ah.
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So but now it kind of feels like it belongs to BB.
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Again, this is my perspective from thousands of miles away, but - Okay.
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It's just interesting
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And you know this because you spend so much time in the United States that I don't think
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It would enter the minds of most Americans that a Christian could be better treated here in Jordan than in Israel.
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Yeah.
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I don't think it's just the Christians, I think...
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the occupation is an equal opportunity.
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Oh, for sure.
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I don't think it's primarily the Christians, but What makes it galling from an American perspective, I am American, I see everything through the lens of the United States and its own interests.
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is that, America is paying for this you know and America is a majority Christian country,
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So we can all have different views about what our foreign policy ought to be, I don't think many Americans are in favor of foreign policy that oppresses their fellow Christians,
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I hope not.
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I hope not.
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But you see the point.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Absolutely.
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I think...
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I mean, my advice would be to the Christians that really care in the US is, Talk to us.
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Talk to the ancient Christians, you know, we've been here.
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Since Christ, we're here.
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Don't just listen to the DC experts, you know.
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So you don't? they don't reach out to you?
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No, in fact, this, I think what I'm sharing with you today is something that's novel.
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This is not a narrative I don't think.
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that you hear, right?
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in the US a lot, ever.
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I feel shame listening to you and I rarely feel shame, but I do feel shame listening to you
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that I didn't know more about this because I am a Christian and I think, we have an obligation to know what our tax dollars do to our fellow Christians.
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And I just haven't spent enough time thinking about it and I think it's very odd
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that Christians in Jordan and in Israel aren't receiving Help from Christians in the West.
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And this is important to mention, Tucker, but possibly the most destabilizing thing happening in the region.
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is the situation Israel -Palestine.
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without a just resolution.
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Yes.
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A just resolution.
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for the situation of the Palestinians there.
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It's just...
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It's just, it's going to be even more destabilizing for communities in Palestine, in Jordan, across the region.
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How about the United States?
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Mm -hmm.
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So.. you fund mass murder in Gaza and there's no blowback to you, I think there's probably going to be, wouldn't you think?
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “الصحفي الأمريكي "تاكر كارلسون" يتعلم الإسلام من مسيحي عربي!!!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Christian, Quran, faith, tradition, Jordan. This video has 138 sentences and 1345 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:47. The speaker talks at a natural 153 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. 23 of its 138 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hostile adjective | /ˈhɑstəl/ | Not friendly; appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence or a desire to thwart and injure. |
| destabilize verb | /diːˈsteɪbɪlaɪz/ | To make something unstable. |
| integral adjective | /ˈɪntəɡɹəl/ | Constituting a whole together with other parts or factors; not omittable or removable. |
| prophet noun | /ˈpɹɑ.fɪt/ | Someone who speaks by divine inspiration. |
| atrocity noun | /əˈtɹɑsɪti/ | An extremely cruel act; a horrid act of injustice. |
| blowback noun | /ˈbloʊˌbæk/ | A type of action where the pressure from the fired cartridge blows a sliding mechanism backward to extract the fired cartridge, chamber another cartridge, and… |
| cohesion noun | /kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/ | State of cohering, or of working together. |
| demonize verb | /ˈdiːmənaɪz/ | To turn into a demon. |
| denomination noun | /dɪˌnɒmɪˈneɪʃən/ | The act of naming or designating. |
| encompass verb | /ɪnˈkʌmpəs/ | To form a circle around; to encircle. |
| oppress verb | /əˈpɹɛs/ | To keep down by unjust force. |
| predate verb | /pɹəˈdeɪt/ | To designate a date earlier than the actual one; to move a date, appointment, event, or period of time to an earlier point (contrast "postdate".) |
| revere verb | /ɹɪˈvɪə(ɹ)/ | To regard someone or something with great awe or devotion. |
| discriminate verb | /dɪˈskɹɪm.əˌneɪt/ | To make distinctions. |
| dedicate verb | /ˈdɛdɪˌkeɪt/ | To set apart for a deity or for religious purposes; consecrate. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- And I'm like, what do you mean?
- I've never felt discriminated against as a question.
- Do you think it's fair?
- This is not a narrative I don't think.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was mentioned · was actually mentioned · have been taught |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have always felt · has been · have not read |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 28 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: cohesion /kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/, denomination /dɪˌnɒmɪˈneɪʃən/, compassionate /kəmˈpæʃənət/, obligation /ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/, occupation /ˌɑkjʊˈpeɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: destabilize /diːˈsteɪbɪlaɪz/, atrocity /əˈtɹɑsɪti/, denomination /dɪˌnɒmɪˈneɪʃən/, discriminate /dɪˈskɹɪm.əˌneɪt/, overwhelmingly /ˌəʊ.vəˈwɛl.mɪŋ.lɪ/
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 hostile, destabilize, integral.
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.