Shadowing Practice: Alcohol abuse. | British Council-Learn English. - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hello and welcome to this Learn English Professionals recording, brought to you by the British Council.
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Alcohol abuse.
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Thanks for coming along to the studio today, Damien.
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We're going to talk about alcohol, and more to the point, alcohol abuse, what we've come to know as binge drinking.
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Yes, thanks for inviting me, Anne.
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We keep hearing about cases of binge drinking in the newspapers, on television, in magazines and on radio chat shows like this one.
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But what exactly is binge drinking?
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What does the term mean?
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Is there a difference between binge drinking and just plain old getting drunk?
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Well, the British Medical Association states that there is no consensus on the definition of binge drinking.
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In the past, we used the term binge drinking to refer to an extended period of time—a couple of days,
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for example—when a person would continue to drink alcohol to such an extent that he or she would abandon their usual activities,
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such as work, or, in the case of younger drinkers, classes.
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In medical terms, we usually agree that binge drinking refers to the thresholds that we have for holding our drink.
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Ah.
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But isn't binge drinking all about drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time?
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And don't we usually think of young people when we hear the term used?
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People who shouldn't really be drinking alcohol in the first place.
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Well, you are right about the first point.
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In common usage, probably because of all the recent media coverage,
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binge drinking has come to mean a heavy bout of drinking in just one evening, or a similar time span.
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Another factor is the intention.
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The intention?
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Yes.
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The fact that binge drinkers actually set out to get drunk.
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That's their goal, what they're trying to do.
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Binge drinkers aren't usually solitary drinkers.
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They drink in groups, sometimes very large groups, especially in the case of teenagers.
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And binge drinkers are getting younger and younger, if you believe what you read in the press.
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So, let's get this clear.
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Large groups of kids get together with the sole intention of getting drunk?
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In a nutshell, yes.
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Ah.
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And is binge drinking a particularly British problem?
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Surely young people drink in other countries too?
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Yes, you're right.
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Lots of countries have problems with youngsters drinking.
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But it does seem as though the UK is taking a particular interest in the problem.
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Let's say that here, In Britain, we see binge drinking as a huge social problem.
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In other countries, it's perceived as less of a problem.
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And should we be worried?
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Is it a problem?
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Well, that depends.
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I certainly think so, yes.
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In 2003, the cost of binge drinking was estimated as £20 billion.
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The figure will have risen considerably since then, I'm sure.
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In 2005, the government released figures from the Health Service
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that suggested that a million accident and emergency admissions each year are a direct result of alcohol consumption.
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And the emergency services report that Friday and Saturday nights they can hardly cope with the demand for attention.
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So why are the British so notorious when it comes to binge drinking?
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Are we worse than other European countries?
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The culture of drinking in the UK is very different from other countries like France, Spain or Italy.
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In most mainland European countries, children grow up seeing alcohol consumed slowly, a drop of wine with a meal,
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the odd beer on a sunny afternoon.
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In the UK, we go out to the pubs and up until recently, the pubs all closed at 11 on the dot.
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So, what happens?
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Well, you drink as fast as you can, so that by the time eleven comes around you aren't left feeling like another drink.
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Do you think we are used to seeing people drunk in Britain, or do we still get shocked?
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It depends, really.
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But being drunk isn't socially acceptable in most European countries, whereas in the UK, well,
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in some social circles quite the reverse is true.
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I'm afraid that's all we have time for.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Alcohol abuse”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: drinking, binge, alcohol, countries, drink. This video has 62 sentences and 676 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:33. The speaker talks at a steady 149 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 15 of its 62 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 |
|---|---|---|
| binge noun | /bɪnd͡ʒ/ | A short period of excessive consumption, especially of food, alcohol, narcotics, etc. |
| drinker noun | /ˈdɹɪŋkɚ/ | Someone who drinks alcoholic beverages on a regular basis. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| nutshell noun | /ˈnʌt.ʃɛl/ | The shell that surrounds the kernel of a nut. |
| youngster noun | /ˈjʌŋstɚ/ | A young person. |
| perceive verb | /pɚˈsiv/ | To become aware of, through the physical senses, to see; to understand. |
| solitary adjective | /ˈsɑlɪˌtɛɹi/ | Living or being by oneself; alone; having no companion present |
| admissions noun | The department, section, administrative team, etc., that process admissions for an institution, hospital, etc.; the place where such a department is located. | |
| notorious adjective | /nə(ʊ)ˈtɔː.ɹɪ.əs/ | Of a person or entity: generally or widely known for something negative; infamous. |
| consume verb | /kənˈsum/ | To use up. |
| mainland noun | /ˈmeɪnlənd/ | The continent; the principal land, as distinguished from islands or a peninsula. |
| socially adverb | /ˈsoʊʃəli/ | In a social manner; sociably. |
| considerably adverb | /kənˈsɪdəɹəbli/ | Significantly; to a degree worth considering. |
| abandon verb | /əˈbæn.dən/ | To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions. |
| threshold noun | /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/ | The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come around verb | /kʌ.məˈɹaʊnd/ | To change one's mind, especially to begin to agree or appreciate what one was reluctant to accept at first. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've come · has come · have risen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was estimated · aren't left |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 12 contractions and reduced forms, such as aren't, I'm, isn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: nutshell /ˈnʌt.ʃɛl/, socially /ˈsoʊʃəli/, threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/
- Long words — get the stress right: solitary /ˈsɑlɪˌtɛɹi/, notorious /nə(ʊ)ˈtɔː.ɹɪ.əs/, considerably /kənˈsɪdəɹəbli/
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 binge, drinker, depend.
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.