Shadowing Practice: Atoms | Middle school chemistry | Khan Academy - Learn English Speaking with Video
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You're walking on the street and suddenly you find a piece of gold.
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You pick it up and you get super curious.
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You have a lot of questions in your mind.
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One of the questions is, what happens if you were to break it?
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I mean, surely you can't break it with your own hands, but hey, when has that stopped you from imagining things, right?
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So what happens if you break this?
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Well, you get.. two pieces of gold.
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And then you wonder, well, what if you break it even further?
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you get even more smaller pieces.
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And what if we break it even further?
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We get even more smaller pieces.
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And now you start wondering, He Can I keep doing that?
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Can I keep breaking this piece of gold forever?
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That's what we're gonna talk about in this video.
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This was the question that many ancient philosophers from India, Greece, Rome, and probably many more pondered upon.
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They wondered, if you take any element, remember what elements are?
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These are the hundred, roughly about a hundred, building blocks that make up all the matter in the universe?
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Yeah, gold is an example of them, okay?
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So they wondered, if you take any element, could you keep breaking them down forever?
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And a lot of them thought that maybe the answer is no. Maybe you can't keep breaking it forever.
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Maybe eventually you will get one last, smallest piece of that element.
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A smallest piece of gold, for example, which you cannot break any further.
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A lot of people believed in this idea.
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And the Greeks actually named this smallest piece the atom.
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The word atom literally means uncuttable.
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because they believe that you cannot break this even more.
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Now, for a long time, many people didn't believe in this idea.
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So for centuries, the idea of atom was suppressed.
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until it was revived back by scientists like John Dalton.
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And today we have plenty of evidence that they do exist.
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So, What exactly are atoms?
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Well, think of atoms as the smallest piece of an element that has all the properties of that element.
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It is literally the building block of the element itself.
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For example, What's a gold atom?
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Gold atoms are the smallest pieces of gold, which has all the properties of gold.
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They're the building blocks of gold.
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What's a carbon atom?
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Well, they're the smallest pieces of carbon.
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They're the building blocks of carbon.
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They have all the properties of carbon.
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And just to give you another example, what's mercury atom?
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They're the smallest pieces of mercury.
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They have all the properties of the element mercury, and so on and so forth.
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Now, one question you could be having is, do atoms look like tiny balls?
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And the answer is no, it's just a representation.
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In reality, atoms are so incredibly tiny, we can't even see them with microscopes.
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So how tiny are they, you ask?
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Well, their size is incredibly hard to comprehend.
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So here's a way to think about it.
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How many gold atoms do you think you'll find in a gold ring?
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Typical gold ring.
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Well, it's not millions, not billions, it's sextillions!
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That's one followed by 21 zeros!
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That many atoms you'll probably find in a gold ring.
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And just to get a sense of this number, scientists estimate that that is roughly about the total number of stars in the observable universe.
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Let that sink in.
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That's how small atoms are.
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So long story short, almost all the matter in the universe, from the microbes to dogs and cats to mountains to planets and stars and almost everything that you see in this universe,
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they're all fundamentally made of elements.
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These are the building blocks of all the matter in the universe.
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We have about a hundred of them.
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But what are elements fundamentally made of?
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Elements like gold or any other element for that matter, they are fundamentally made of atoms.
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They are the smallest pieces of the elements, the building blocks of the elements that contain all the properties of the universe of that element.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
The speaker keeps coming back to these words: atom, element, gold, piece, smallest. This video has 64 sentences and 687 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:06. The speaker talks at a natural 168 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 19 of its 64 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 |
|---|---|---|
| atom noun | /ˈætəm/ | The smallest possible amount of matter which still retains its identity as a chemical element, now known to consist of a nucleus surrounded by electrons. |
| fundamentally adverb | In a fundamental or basic sense; reaching the very core of the matter. | |
| mercury noun | /ˈmɜɹkjəɹi/ | A silvery-coloured, metallic chemical element with the atomic number 80; it is liquid at room temperature, and toxic. |
| scientist noun | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research… |
| microbe noun | /ˈmaɪkɹoʊb/ | Any microorganism; (loosely, nonscientifically) especially, a harmful bacterium. |
| observable adjective | /əbˈzɜː.və.bəl/ | Able to be observed. |
| ponder verb | /ˈpɑn.dəɹ/ | To wonder, think of deeply. |
| uncuttable adjective | Not cuttable; that cannot be cut. | |
| microscope noun | /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskoʊp/ | An optical instrument used for observing small objects. |
| suppress verb | /səˈpɹɛs/ | To put an end to, especially with force, to crush, do away with; to prohibit, subdue. |
| revive verb | /ɹɪˈvaɪ̯v/ | To cause (a person or animal) to recover from a faint; to cause (a person or animal) to return to a state of consciousness. |
| comprehend verb | /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnd/ | To understand or grasp fully and thoroughly; to plumb. |
| philosopher noun | /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/ | A lover of wisdom. |
| sink verb | /ˈsɪŋk/ | To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance. |
| estimate noun | /ˈɛs.tɪ.mət/ | A rough calculation or assessment of the value, size, or cost of something. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Can I keep breaking this piece of gold forever?
- That's what we're gonna talk about in this video.
- They wondered, if you take any element, remember what elements are?
- Maybe you can't keep breaking it forever.
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 suppressed · was revived |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the smallest |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | start wondering · keep breaking |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | will get · you'll find · you'll probably find |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 14 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, can't, you'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: observable /əbˈzɜː.və.bəl/, philosopher /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/
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 atom, fundamentally, mercury.
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.