Shadowing Practice: Australia and New Zealand Compared - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Australia and New Zealand Two countries in Oceania...more specifically…Australasia.
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Separated by the Tasman Sea, they’re two well developed countries that often rank really high on nearly every quality of life ranking list and are, uh, pretty awesome.
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Both seem to be kind of far away from the entire rest of the world, and kind of in their own little world since they’re both so unique.
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Let’s first look at some differences between the two.
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First of all, New Zealand doesn’t exist.
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Ok, ok, that’s just basically a meme at this point that started since so many world maps were leaving out New Zealand.
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In fact, there’s even a large subreddit dedicated to them.
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But don’t believe the hype.
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New Zealand, in fact, DOES exist.
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See, there it is.
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Australia exists, too, but it’s about 29 times bigger than New Zealand.
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It’s the sixth largest country in the world, baby.
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That said, it only has around five times as many people.
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(A- 25.7 million, NZ- 5 million) Why?
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Well, check this map out.
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Only 2% of the population of Australia lives in the yellow area.
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And why does only 2% of the population of Australia live in that yellow area?
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That’s because much of it is desert or near desert.
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35% of the Australian continent doesn’t get enough rain.
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But what about up here?
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Well few live here mostly just because it’s so isolated from the rest of the population of Australia.
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Only one metropolitan area in New Zealand has a population over one million people.
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That’d be the magnificent Auckland.
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Australia, meanwhile, has five metro areas with over one million people.
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Its two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, each have more people than the ENTIRE COUNTRY OF NEW ZEALAND.
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Being so much bigger, Australia has a wider range of different types of climates.
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New Zealand has mostly an oceanic climate, whereas Australia is, well just look at this map.
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As I said earlier, much of it is desert or semi-arid.
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I should probably now bring up the sparsely populated area famously known as the Outback.
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While the Outback is typically only associated with the dry parts, it also includes the northern areas of Australia that have a savanna climate.
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Basically, the huge area in Australia where humans don’t dare live.
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It’s a magical place.
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And believe it or not, Australia has a little bit of rainforest and parts have a monsoon climate.
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Along the eastern coast, southeastern coast and island state of Tasmania, where most of the population lives by the way, Australia has a mostly oceanic and humid subtropical climate, but don’t forget the lovely Mediterranean climate along parts of the southern and southwestern coasts.
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That’s also where a lot of Australians live.
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Australia has a more varied landscape, and this magnificent sandstone formation, Uluru, one of the most important indigenous sites in the country.
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New Zealand’s mountains are way more impressive and tower over Australia’s mountains.
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In fact, many people not from Australia forget that Australia actually has mountains.
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Meanwhile, everyone seems to know about New Zealand’s dramatic mountains due to the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.
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The producer of those films, Peter Jackson, is from New Zealand, and he almost single handedly put New Zealand on the map due to those films.
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Remember how I said it’s often not on maps?
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Sorry for the bad joke there.
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Anyway, you can visit the actual Shire from the film today.
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And fun fact!
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My uncles lived in New Zealand while they worked on the Lord of the Rings films.
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What was I talking about again?
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Oh yes, mountains!
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New Zealand’s highest peak is around 1500 meters taller than Australia’s highest peak.
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Well mainland Australia at least.
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No one seems to care about you Mawson Peak, way over on Australia’s Heard island.
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New Zealand sits on the infamous Ring of Fire, an area where lots of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions tend to occur.
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Australia doesn’t have to worry about volcanoes.
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Also, since Australia sits on top of a very stable tectonic plate with no active faults, residents there don’t have to worry much about large earthquakes.
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New Zealanders, on the other hand, have to worry about a major earthquake at least once every ten years.
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Related to this, both Australia and New Zealand occasionally have to worry about tsunamis.
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Australia gets hit more by cyclones.
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While both countries have to worry about floods and wildfires, Australia is more often in the news for them.
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Also, while bushfires are a regular thing in Australia, it had one of the worst bushfire seasons in recorded history from September 2019 to March 2020.
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It was catastrophic and a bit horrifying, to say the least.
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New Zealand is made up of islands.
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Australia is mostly made up of a continent.
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Liam: Well actually, some people actually call Australia a really big island Mr. Beat: Well that’s preposterous.
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What a silly notion.
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Australia is clearly a continent.
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Liam: I mean, I agree with you, but that doesn’t stop the millions of people out there from calling it an island.
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Mr. Beat: Well someone needs to stop them.
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Liam, you must stop them.
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Liam: Uh, well I don’t know if that’s possible, Mr. Beat.
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However, I can make a video looking at why some people think Australia is an island.
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Mr. Beat: Right on.
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Can you have it done by the time I’m done with this video?
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Liam: I’ll see what I can do Mr. Beat: Dang, that’s awesome.
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(Liam zooms off screen) Well I’m looking forward to seeing how that turns out.
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So anyway, like I said, Australia is also mainly a continent, the oldest, flattest, and driest continually inhabited continent with the worst soil for farming.
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And yes, New Zealand is made up of islands…around 600 of them, and they’re mostly remnants of a bigger land mass under the sea (Under the Sea!) called Zealandia.
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Of those 600, however, only 13 are inhabited by humans.
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Most of the population of New Zealand lives on the BIG TWO, the two larger main islands, the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Maui, and South Island, or Te Waipounamu.
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Oh yeah? Well Australia has 8,222 islands, so it’s sooo much more than just a measly continent.
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Many seem to forget that New Zealand is lower in latitude, I mean, higher in latitude gosh that’s confusing…it’s higher in latitude than most of Australia.
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Further south ok?
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Latitude-wise, Australia is more African than European by the way.
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Australia borders the Indian Ocean.
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New Zealand borders the Pacific Ocean.
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East of New Zealand is just wow.
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Quite a bit of ocean there.
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And quite a bit of ocean west of Australia, too.
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Australians are often called Aussies and New Zealanders are often called Kiwis.
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That name comes from the kiwi, a flightless bird native to the country that’s also a national symbol.
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Here is a Kiwi holding a kiwi.
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New Zealand is growing at a faster rate.
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(A- 1.3%, NZ- 2.1%) The cost of living is lower in New Zealand.
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Not only that, but residents there generally pay lower taxes than residents in Australia.
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Australia has a higher GDP per capita.
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(A- $51,812.15 USD, NZ- $41,791.79 USD).
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That said, wealth inequality is a bit worse there.
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Also, New Zealand spends a higher percentage of its total GDP on education.
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(A- 5.3%, NZ- 6.4%) Major industries in Australia include mining, energy, manufacturing, and financial services.
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Major industries in New Zealand include agriculture, forestry, tourism, and food processing.
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New Zealand generally has faster internet speeds.
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While sheep outnumber humans in Australia 3 to 1, sheep outnumber humans in New Zealand 6 to 1.
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Residents of Australia are generally more religious.
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The biggest religion there is Christianity.
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Within that group, most are Protestant.
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Almost half of New Zealanders have no religion.
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There’s no big highway that goes straight through Australia east to west.
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I mean, there’s the Outback Highway, a series of roads and dirt tracks that link the east and west, but uh, I ain’t trusting that, dude.
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There is a north-south highway that links Adelaide and Darwin, though.
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Stuart Highway, aka “The Track.” It’s just a 31-hour drive!
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There’s a weird tradition in New Zealand of going places without shoes, apparently.
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You know, I think they’re on to something there.
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New Zealand legalized same-sex marriage more than four years before Australia.
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Australia has possibly the world’s longest fence, meant to prevent the dingoes from killing sheep in the southeastern part of the country.
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In fact, it’s even called the Dingo Fence.
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Due to its long geographic isolation, most of Australia’s mammals, amphibians, and reptiles are uniquely native to it.
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New Zealand has hardly any dangerous animals.
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Australia, on the other hand, has the most animals with the most deadly venom.
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Sure, it's known for its cuddly koalas, wombats, and kangaroos, but many of its native animals will actively try to KILL YOU, from sharks, to jellyfish, to snakes.
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That said, this may all be overhyped.
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In fact, due to antivenom inventions, these two horrifying spiders native to Australia haven’t killed anyone there since 1979.
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Australia has one of the highest electoral turnout rates in the world.
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Why? Well, probably because it’s mandatory for citizens there to vote.
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Not in New Zealand, though.
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While medical marijauna is legal in both countries, parts of Australia have either decriminalized or straight up legalized it.
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Hey speaking of…uh…parts.
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New Zealand is divided into 16 regions.
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Australia has six states, three internal territories, and seven external territories.
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So what’s the difference between states and territories there?
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Well states have more freedom to do their own thing.
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Territories are more under the direct control of the federal government.
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Hey speaking of government, while both have a parliamentary system, representative democracies, and constitutional monarchies, Australia is a federation.
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And speaking of that, New Zealand once had the opportunity to become part of that federation.
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Yep, it could have been part of Australia, but turned it down.
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Oh hey, let’s look at some history now, shall we?
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Humans have lived in Australia up to 64,000 years before they’ve lived in New Zealand.
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Aboriginal Australians, or a name given to the various groups of people who all first settled Australia, likely arrived by sea from Asia and developed a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
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Over a period of time of tens of thousands of years, the climate of Australia drastically changed.
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The earliest humans reached modern-day Tasmania around 30,000 years ago.
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Back then, it was connected to the continent via a land bridge.
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The first Torres Strait Islanders arrived from what is now Papua New Guinea around 2,500 years ago.
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New Zealand, meanwhile, was one of the last places settled by humans on earth.
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It wasn’t until 1,000 years ago, or maybe as recent as 750 years ago, that the Māori first arrived on canoes.
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The Dutch were the first Europeans to come across both places.
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In 1606, the Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon first landed in Australia.
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36 years later, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman spotted New Zealand, but never settled there.
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The same year Janszoon had landed in Australia, the Spanish explorer Luis Vaz de Torres checked out the Torres Strait and its associated islands which is why they’re all named after him.
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However, it was the Dutch who came back in greater numbers to check out Australia, which they called New Holland, of course.
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Not many stuck around to live, though.
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Around 1720ish, some Makassar people from modern-day Indonesia came down to settle Australia.
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And then there was that James Cook dude, an extremely influential British explorer and cartographer.
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He first checked out, mapped out, and claimed New Zealand for Britain in 1769, and then checked out, mapped out, and claimed the eastern coast of Australia for Britain the next year.
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The French came to both places soon after that, looking at possible colonization, but they became a bit preoccupied and never followed through.
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The British, however, did.
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In 1788, they arrived to settle, establishing the colony of New South Wales, specifically at Sydney Cove on January 26, which today is Australia's national day, Australia Day.
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Many of the first settlers of Sydney were British convicts.
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Criminals. Mostly for petty crimes, but ya know.
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Over the next 100 years, the British would establish several other colonies across the entire continent.
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Similar to when the British established colonies in North America, at first they tried to live somewhat harmoniously with the various indigenous people of Australia, who, ya know, had already been there for tens of thousands of years.
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However, similar to North America, the indigenous population had little resistance to several introduced diseases they brought over.
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Smallpox, measles, influenza, typhoid, and tuberculosis possibly shrunk the Aboriginal population up to 70%.
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And then of course, future British settlers weren’t as kind to the natives, and they took land that many indigenous folks claimed was supposed to be communal.
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This led to much conflict, especially in the early 1800s.
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Meanwhile, things were a bit more chill in New Zealand.
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The first British settlers there were mostly Christian missionaries, and they lived at Rangihoua Bay beginning in 1815.
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They founded Kerikeri in 1822 and Bluff in 1823.
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The Maori and British mostly got along, at least until the New Zealand Wars broke out.
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What a surprise, treaties had been broken and the Maori got upset.
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Even though the Maori were greatly outnumbered and had inferior weapon technology, they put up a good fight for decades, but ultimately lost most of their land and livelihood.
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Most of the new settlers in both places did the the whole farming thing, but land in Australia wasn’t as fertile as many were hoping it would be.
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However, mining also became a thing.
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Gold rushes caused the Australian population to more than double between 1851 and 1860.
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New Zealand also had some gold rushes in the 1860s.
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Meanwhile, Australia and New Zealand, being literally on the other side of the world from Britain, had been becoming more and more independent.
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The British Parliament did allow a form of self-government to the Australian colonies and the Colony of New Zealand.
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By the 1880s, though, a huge nationalist movement had developed in Australia.
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Surprisingly, a huge feminist movement had developed in New Zealand also by that time.
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In 1893, New Zealand became the absolute first country in the world to give women the right to vote.
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But hey, nine years later, Australia became the second country in the world to finally let women vote.
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Oh, and uh…that was the year after Australia became an independent country.
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Australia said New Zealand could join up, but New Zealand was like “naw man, we’re cool.” Australia was like “suit yourself,” and carried on.
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Instead, New Zealand earned “Dominion” status in 1907, which was similar to Australia so it has pretty much been an independent country ever since as well.
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Only in the 1900s did the population of both countries really start to grow.
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And grow they did, although both today are still sparsely populated.
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Alright then, yeah… for the rest of the video, let’s uh…look at the similarities between the two countries.
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Due to the aforementioned legacy of the British, the majority of residents of both countries speak English.
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Maori and New Zealand Sign Language are also official languages in New Zealand.
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Residents of both countries have different accents, although for outsiders that may be hard to pick up.
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One way to tell is how they say their vowels.
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Aussies tend to draw out vowels compared to Kiwis.
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According to the World Happiness Index, residents of both are generally among the happiest in the world.
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Probably related to this, both have very low poverty.
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Both have a high percentage of residents born in another country.
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(A- 30%, NZ- 27.4%).
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And if YOU are interested in moving to either (‘cause ya know you want to be happy, too) know that both are two of the easiest countries to immigrate to in the world.
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Because of this high immigration, both are ethnically diverse.
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While the majority of residents trace their background to Europe, more than 16% of Australians and 12% of New Zealanders trace their ancestry to Asia.
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New Zealand also still has a large Māori population.
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Māori culture remains a big part of New Zealand culture today.
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Both have a similar median household income.
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The minimum age to drink alcohol in both is 18.
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Both have areas with weird time zones.
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Both have flags that are often confused since they’re so similar since they both feature the British Union Jack in the top left corner and stars.
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An easy way to know the difference is that New Zealand’s stars are red with anger from constantly getting mixed up with Australia’s.
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The ozone layer is thinner above both countries compared to most of the rest of the world.
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As I said earlier, both are two of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.
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Australia, in particular.
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Sure, it may account for just over 5% of the world’s land area, but it has just .3% of the global population.
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A big reason why is urbanization.
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Hey speaking of which, both are two of the most urbanized countries in the world.
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Odds are, if you live in either country, you live in a city.
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Both have versions of universal healthcare.
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Related to this, both have a really high life expectancy.
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(A- 82.9, NZ- 81.7) The median age in both is about the same.
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(A- 37, NZ- 37.4) Regarding violent crime, both are two of the safest countries in the world.
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Both have historically had to deal with LOTs of invasive species, or non-native types of organisms introduced to an area that become way overpopulated and hurt the local environment.
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As I said earlier, many people who live in both have recent ancestors from other parts of the world, and those ancestors brought lots of animals with them that had no natural predators.
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In other words, no one eats them.
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Because of this, in Australia, they’ve had to deal with an overpopulation of European rabbits, deer, cane toads, and honey bees, as well as wild herds of cats, goats and horses.
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And believe it or not, Australia is the only country in the world with wild herds of camels.
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Oh, and there was that mice plague last year.
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Goodness gracious.
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New Zealand also has its fair share of invasive species…many of the same ones as Australia but other standouts like rats, possums, and weasels, but it has been a bit more aggressive getting rid of them in recent years.
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Residents of both often call the undeveloped areas of their countries “the bush.” Rugby is ridiculously popular in both.
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And of course there’s all the sports rivalries between the two, the biggest probably revolving around rugby and rugby league, of course, but also cricket and netball.
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All these weird sports Down Under.
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Oh, “Down Under” is what folks often call these two countries since they're “down under” most other countries, meaning they’re pretty far south, man.
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Coincidentally, “Down Under” by Men at Work is also the national anthem of Australia.
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Just kidding.
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But shout out to Australian music.
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No offense, New Zealand, but in my humble opinion Australia’s music is defo way better.
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Don’t believe me?
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Name one New Zealand band off the top of your head.
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Exactly. Also, there’s this Australian band called King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard that wrote a song about me, so that’s pretty rad and stuff.
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And one final thing.
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In 2006, an Australian tried to sell New Zealand on Ebay.
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In conclusion, while there is indeed a bit of rivalry OVERALL today between Australia and New Zealand, I think they will always have this special bond due to being on the edge of the globe far away from most of it all.
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They really are two special, amazing countries.
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Oh before we go, I almost forgot.
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Liam? Liam: Yes, Mr. Beat?
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Mr. Beat: Did you happen to get done with your video?
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Liam: Why yes I did, and I’m happy to report that Australia is an island continent.
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Mr. Beat: Well it’s settled then Hey did you know that an estimated $1.7 TRILLION of wealth is held in art?
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And contemporary art prices outpaced the S&P 500 total return by 174% from 1995 to 2020.
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But why should billionaires be the only ones who invest in art?
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What about the rest of us?
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Enter Masterworks!
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Masterworks.io is the only serious platform taking those billionaire art collectors head on.
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Now,we can invest in the same art they do.
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It takes just a few clicks My first question was is it legit?
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Yes! Masterworks is the first company to offer paintings filled with the Securities and Exchange commission as public offerings.
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You go to their site, create an account, browse their artwork, and boom, invest in some art.
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And if you don’t want to wait until you find a buyer, Masterworks offers a secondary market.
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Masterworks specializes in artwork, and can help you diversify your portfolio.
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My next question was, is anyone doing it?
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Yes again! Over 300,000 investors have already signed up.In fact, one of their latest offerings by the famous street artist BANKSY sold out in under 3 hours!
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If you want to take advantage and invest in some fine art, there IS a waitlist.
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However, you can get priority access and immediately start investing by clicking my link in the description.
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And, it also really supports my channel.
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So please at least check it out.
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Thanks to Masterworks for sponsoring this video.
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G’day, thanks to Liam from the channel State of the World for collaborating with me for this video.
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He really did make a video look at why folks call Australia an island, so be sure to check it out and you might as well subscribe to State of the World while you’re at it.
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Also a shout out to Jon from the channel Veritas et Caritas , who is from Australia and looked over my script.
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So which is better?
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Australia or New Zealand?
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Which two countries should I compare next?
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Let me know down below.
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And now it’s time for my monthly shout out to my Patreon supporters who donate at least $15 or more each month to my channel.
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Starting with my $20 a month supporters,
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Australia and New Zealand Compared”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Australia, Zealand, countries. This video has 268 sentences and 3680 words to shadow. The speech runs for 25:17. The speaker talks at a steady 146 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| continent noun | /ˈkɑntɪnənt/ | One of the main contiguous landmasses, separated by water or geological features, on the surface of a planet, sometimes including its continental shelves and… |
| colony noun | /ˈkɔl.ə.ni/ | A geographical area under the remote control of a country; especially to extract resources or exploit labor from that area. |
| settler noun | /ˈsɛt.lɚ/ | Someone who settles in a new location; especially one who takes up residence in a previously uninhabited place. |
| latitude noun | /ˈlætɪtud/ | The angular distance north or south from a planet's equator, measured along the meridian of that particular point. |
| explorer noun | /ɛkˈsplɔːɹə(ɹ)/ | One who explores something |
| indigenous adjective | /ɪnˈdɪd͡ʒənəs/ | Native to a land, especially before colonization. |
| kiwi noun | /ˈkiːwi/ | A flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand. |
| populate verb | /ˈpɒp.jʊˌleɪt/ | To supply with inhabitants; to people. |
| sparsely adverb | In a scattered or sparse manner; widely apart; thinly. | |
| shout verb | /ʃaʊt/ | To utter a sudden and loud cry, as in joy, triumph, exultation or anger, or to attract attention, to animate others, etc. |
| earthquake noun | /ˈɝθkweɪk/ | A shaking of the ground, caused by volcanic activity or movement around geologic faults. |
| sheep noun | /ˈʃiːp/ | A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis. |
| ancestor noun | /ˈæn.sɛs.tɚ/ | One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a forefather; a forebear. |
| horrify verb | /ˈhɒɹɪfaɪ/ | To cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror. |
| legalize verb | /ˈliːɡəlaɪz/ | To make legal or permit under law. Either by decriminalising something that has been illegal or by specifically permitting it. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| break out verb | To escape, especially forcefully or defiantly. |
| bring over verb | To cause to change allegiance or point of view. |
| bring up verb | To mention. |
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
| draw out verb | To make (something) last for more time than is necessary; to prolong; to extend. |
| follow through verb | To execute or complete a commitment. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Remember how I said it’s often not on maps?
- What was I talking about again?
- What about the rest of us?
- My next question was, is anyone doing it?
- Which two countries should I compare next?
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 | is made · are inhabited · are often called |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't killed · have lived · they've had |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who all · islands which is · people who live |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 33 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, don't, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: earthquake /ˈɝθkweɪk/, anthem /ˈæn.θəm/ [ˈæn̪.θəm]
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shout /ʃaʊt/, sheep /ˈʃiːp/, oceanic /ˌəʊʃiˈænɪk/, gracious /ˈɡɹeɪʃəs/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: indigenous /ɪnˈdɪd͡ʒənəs/, oceanic /ˌəʊʃiˈænɪk/, inhabited /ɪnˈhæbɪtɪd/, magnificent /mæɡˈnɪfəsənt/, similarity /ˌsɪm.ɪˈlæɹ.ɪ.ti/
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 continent, colony, settler.
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.