Shadowing Practice: B1 English Listening Practice - Natural Disasters - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
51 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Hey everybody!
2
Welcome to this B1 English listening practice video.
3
You can use this video to practice your listening and comprehension as I speak.
4
Before we start, remember to subscribe to the channel, click on the bell and follow us on Instagram.
5
You ready?
6
So today I'm going to talk about natural disasters.
7
This is an interesting topic because depending on where you live, you might have to deal with natural disasters on a regular basis.
8
let's go through some of the most notable disasters that occur throughout the world.
9
First, let's talk about earthquakes.
10
For a lot of people, this might just be the scariest disaster because it can strike at any moment without any notice.
11
That being said, the vast majority of earthquakes are minor and cause little to no damage.
12
As a California native, I've obviously witnessed my share of earthquakes, but I've only ever really experienced one major earthquake.
13
It just so happens that I was at the gym and when the earthquake started, all the weights and machines started shaking.
14
I was definitely a little freaked out.
15
But that's really the only time I've been in a big earthquake.
16
If you live in certain parts of the world, you might never have experienced an earthquake in your whole life.
17
For example, my Brazilian students usually tell me that they've never been in an earthquake before.
18
But on the other hand, my students from Chile and Japan tell me that they feel an earthquake almost every week.
19
For most of us, that seems insane.
20
And what about you?
21
Have you ever been in an earthquake before?
22
Okay, so now let's talk about hurricanes.
23
Hurricanes can be some of the most destructive events imaginable.
24
Take Hurricane Katrina, for instance.
25
This category five hurricane absolutely devastated the city of New Orleans
26
and caused almost 2 ,000 deaths and over a hundred and twenty five billion dollars in damage.
27
Of course, not all hurricanes are this catastrophic, but all hurricanes cause some damage when they hit land.
28
Thankfully, I've never been affected by a hurricane before, since I'm from the west coast of the US, which is never affected by hurricanes.
29
But for people living on the south and east coasts, These storms pose a constant threat.
30
I can't imagine what it would feel like to know that there's a hurricane headed straight in my direction.
31
I hope I never find out.
32
Alright, another natural disaster that can cause all kinds of damage is a tornado.
33
Tornadoes are a phenomenon that happen in the middle of the US, in states like Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, where the landscape is really flat.
34
You might have seen tornadoes featured in American movies before, where the people have to take shelter underground and wait for the tornado to pass by their town.
35
I'm glad that I've never gotten caught in the path of a tornado before.
36
Alright, one more natural disaster that affects people all over the world is floods.
37
Floods can happen in all kinds of different places.
38
If you live in a city that doesn't have a high level of infrastructure, it's likely that you've seen some flooding before.
39
In Mexico, for example, many parts of the big cities flood every time there's heavy rain.
40
The parts of the city that are at a lower altitude become like lakes
41
and rivers and drivers have a hard time navigating.
42
Sometimes the cars just stop and wait for the rain to subside and for the water to clear out.
43
As you can imagine, the traffic becomes a complete mess.
44
I really hate the rainy season in Mexico because all of this is a normal occurrence.
45
Floods may not be the scariest natural disaster, but they can be a huge inconvenience and they can become dangerous.
46
Which natural disaster seems the scariest to you?
47
Alright, that's all for today.
48
Leave a comment and tell me if you've ever experienced a natural disaster.
49
And remember to subscribe to the channel.
50
click on the bell, and follow us on Instagram for more English tips and lessons.
51
I'll see you next time.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
A1635
A1 English Listening Practice - Transportation
American AccentTravel EnglishDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A14,533
A1 English Listening Practice - Language Learning
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A12,230
A1 English Listening Practice - Money
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B1118
B1 English Listening Practice - Immigration
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A11,177
A1 English Listening Practice - Supermarket
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A11,287
A1 English Listening Practice - Daily Routine
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A12,577
A1 English Listening Practice - Cooking
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A2222
A2 English Listening Practice - Names
American AccentKidsTeensDaily Conversation
B1122
B1 English Listening Practice - Adulthood
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A2757
A2 English Listening Practice - Reading and Books
American AccentDaily Conversation
A22,333
A2 English Listening Practice - Travel
American AccentTravel EnglishWorking Adults
A198
A1 English Listening Practice - The English Language
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A287
A2 English Listening Practice - Learning
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A278
A2 English Listening Practice - Emotions
American AccentKidsTeensDaily Conversation
B2228
B2 English Listening Practice - Living Abroad
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
A283
A2 English Listening Practice - 4th of July
American AccentKidsTravel EnglishTeens
A1251
A1 English Listening Practice - Soccer
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B124
B1 English Listening Practice - American Culture
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B272
B2 English Listening Practice - Airplanes and Flying
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B155
B1 English Listening Practice - Tipping
American AccentTravel EnglishTeensDaily Conversation
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B11
57 sentences
NATURAL DISASTERS for kids - EARTHQUAKE 🌋 VOLCÁN 🌊 TSUNAMI 🌀 HURRICANE 🌪️ TORNADO 🔥 WILDFIRE
KidsDaily Conversation
B12
13 sentences
English in a Minute: The Calm Before the Storm
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B1542
52 sentences
B1 English Listening Practice - The Beach
American AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B14
92 sentences
LISTEN, LEARN, REPEAT & SHADOW English Speaking Practice
American AccentDaily Conversation
B12
30 sentences
Camping Trip: The Storm Is Coming
American AccentTravel EnglishDaily Conversation
B115 sentences
NE1 U20
Daily ConversationHigh School Students
B22
67 sentences
How to Survive WWIII
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B23
105 sentences
Earthquakes Conversation| Learn Real English Conversations
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B13
38 sentences
Unit 3 Hurricane who
Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B12
19 sentences
GN#29.3【英語リスニング】 世界ニュースで学ぶ時事英語。聞くだけで語彙力が向上します。Global Newsテーマでリスニング力を高めましょう。News English Listening
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
C110
197 sentences
English Daily Life Conversation - Factory Safety - Advanced English Practice with Vocabulary Review
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
Why practice speaking with this video?
In this B1 English listening practice video focused on natural disasters, you'll gain valuable insights into both the subject matter and the language used to describe it. By engaging with the content, you not only enhance your listening skills but also improve your speaking abilities through the shadowing technique. This method involves mimicking the speaker, which can significantly boost your pronunciation and intonation. When you practice speaking along with the video, you embrace the context of real-life conversations, allowing you to feel more confident when discussing similar topics in English.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
The video contains several key grammatical structures and expressions that are useful for discussing natural disasters:
- Conditional statements: Phrases like "if you live in a city that..." introduce conditions. Learning how to use these structures can help you articulate scenarios more effectively.
- Comparative language: The speaker compares experiences between people from different regions ("Some students have experienced more earthquakes than others"). Such language helps clarify differences and is common in discussions.
- Past experiences: The use of past simple tense, as in "I experienced one major earthquake," is important for recounting events. This structure will allow you to share your own stories more fluently.
Applying the shadow speak method can help you internalize these structures, making your conversation more natural.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While practicing with the video, pay attention to some tricky words and pronunciations that may pose challenges:
- Earthquake: Focus on the stressed syllable and the transition between the "th" and the "quake" sounds, as many learners tend to mispronounce “th.”
- Hurricane: Practice the smooth syllable flow - it’s crucial not to emphasize the wrong parts, which can confuse the listener.
- Tornado: Be mindful of how quickly this word is pronounced in a sentence. Shadowing the speaker’s delivery will help.
Mastering these pronunciations allows you to communicate more effectively and express your thoughts with clarity. By consistently using the shadow speech method, you'll notice significant improvement in your speaking skills over time. Remember, the more you practice, the more confident you'll become in your English learning journey. Make sure to regularly engage with topics like these to keep your skills sharp!
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 | I've been · they've never been · Have you ever been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being said · been affected |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might have · might just be · might never have |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most notable · the scariest · the most destructive |
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.