Shadowing Practice: Banking in Vietnam - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Welcome to Global Banking and Finance Review Awards.
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Global Banking and Finance Review is a leading brand name in the world of finance and banking.
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Their awards were created to recognize companies of all sizes
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that are prominent in particular areas of expertise and excellence within the global financial community.
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Today we are pleased to present an award to AB Bank for Vietnam's fastest growing retail bank.
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With the support of national as well as international partners, AB Bank has grown around a professional and modern management team.
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With the goal to become one of the leading commercial joint stock banks in Vietnam and a focus on retail banking,
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AB Bank has a strong emphasis on development and investment in technology and has enjoyed considerable growth over recent years.
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AB Bank aims to provide a platform for utility products and services for individual customers,
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corporate customers, as well as small and medium enterprises across the nation of Vietnam.
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Global Banking and Finance Review is pleased to present an award for fastest growing retail bank Vietnam 2017.
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Recently we were glad to welcome to London Deputy General Director Ms. Thiang Thi Hien to receive the award.
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Well welcome to London and thank you so much for being with us today and congratulations on the award as well.
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It's my pleasure to be here to get the award.
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Thank you for that.
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And in fact, congratulations also on 24 years of operation with AB Bank.
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How would you say, looking back over that time, the market, the banking market has evolved in Vietnam?
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Previous years, our economy experienced the recovery after the toughest periods
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of five since 2010 to 2015 of the downturn in the economy.
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Last year, we see the increase in GDP at 6 .2 %
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and the inflation is just at the rate of 2 .8%.
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For the Vietnamese banking industry, we also see the recovery after such periods.
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Under the focus of the government on reforming the banking industry,
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we decreased the number of the commercial banks.
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Now we have the soleil 31 commercial banks in Vietnam.
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The government focuses on improving the efficiency and competitiveness of the banking sector.
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We also can maintain the non -performing loan ratio lower than 3 % of the total outstanding loan to the market.
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That's why the government believes that we can improve faster
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and we can restructuring and finish the reforming the period sooner than expected.
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According to the reports of the World Bank,
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I think Vietnamese economy has a positive medium term outlook.
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And we have a recovery at the asset rate because we have a huge local demand.
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And we also have the economy that manufacturing focuses on the exports.
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So it's a very competitive market at the moment.
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What would you say the current trends in the banking sector actually are at the moment in Vietnam?
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We see some trends in Vietnamese banking sectors that is not outside the trend of the global banking sectors.
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Some similar like
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because of the challenge from the
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fintech wave of the fintech products that non -bank sectors provide to the customers.
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And that's a lot, many banks in Vietnam now have to diversify the product
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and services to adapt to the new situation of the market and the new requirements of the market.
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Besides that, because our banks in Vietnam, the income, the major income of the banks.
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income from the interest income.
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It's accounted around 80 % of the total income of the bank.
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Now we see the importance of the non -interest income.
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That's why we have to focus on the products,
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especially for the technology intense that we provide to the customers.
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Well those are some of the current trends.
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Anything else you want to add to that?
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I think one more important point I want to add on the current trend,
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because you see that the Vietnamese economy is a cash economy. And currently, the government
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and also state bank of Vietnam want to increase the capacity
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of the banks on providing the non -cash transactions to the market
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and that's why all the banks have to try the best
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effort on not only the training the customers on the way they behave with the money
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and the way they do the transaction in the payment so
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that to align with the direction of the government is to increase the non -cash transactions of the customers.
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So you've actually enjoyed a fantastic 168 % growth over the years gone by.
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What do you contribute and attribute indeed to that massive success?
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Looking back to what we have achieved last year, under the closely supervised and the support from the BOD,
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We see some primary contribution to such major achievement.
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The first is about the network.
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We increased significantly the number of the traditional network,
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around 159 point of transactions over 33 provinces and cities
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that provide the service to the key customer of that key carrier area.
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The later because we have to diversify the product to provide to the customers
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because we're not only relying on the traditional network
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but we also provide the service non -traditional network like the service
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and products on the online banking or mobile banking to the customers.
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So next one is about we are trying
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and maintaining the low non -performing loan is challenging in Vietnam because you know that non -performing loan
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service is not easy at all.
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But we have our planning for the recovery of the
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non -performing loan has been made a good mark last year
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and that's why our non -performing loan is a rate lower than the requirements of the state mind of Vietnam, 3%.
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The next one is the next point
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that helps us to improve the efficiency of the operation is
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that we provide a wider range of products to the customers by separating the SME division
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from the corporate banking in order to specify the requirements of the segment
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and also to provide the specialized products to that customer.
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The last reason is because we maintain the stable funding sources
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and lower the cost of the funding and we maintain the good liquidity
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and the squad is also the reason that support us to achieve the result of the last year.
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So you made some quite important changes there to make things more effective.
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And one of the recent developments I know is
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that AB Bank actually has become the first Vietnamese member of the Financial Innovations of UNEP, to get it correct there.
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Tell us more about the membership and the significance of that.
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Since 2013, when IFC became our strategic partners and strategic shareholders,
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we also have the kind of commitment together to provide delivery loan to the customer
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and support the specific customer with the projects
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that focus on sustainable development and the green economy, green technology.
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To continue that commitment, early this year,
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we became the first bank in Vietnam, became the member of UNEPFI.
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It is the program
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that has been established in 1972 in Stockholm by the UN to focus on the sustainable development and preventing the climate change.
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Become a member of this program,
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we want to be a pioneer in Vietnam to support the customer by green financing
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and support their project to focus on the sustainable development.
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The next one, when we become the member of this program,
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we are able to join with a network of over 200 members from over 40 countries,
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which is we can exchange the experience and
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we can learn from them so that we can improve our efficiency
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and to know how to support the customer on the sustainable development
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and how to manage the environment risk and also the social risk.
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Besides that,
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we also want to improve the efficiency of our green portfolio
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because you know that the project for the green technology or clean technologies
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normally need money a lot.
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But we believe that for the sustainable development, this is a good way to support the customer,
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not only for the customer, not only for ourselves, but also for the society.
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Yes, absolutely.
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With a green environment, absolutely.
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Now, I know, I mean, that's just one thing you mentioned there.
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And I know AB Bank is very keen to come up with new innovations and improve services to your customers.
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Can you tell us about some of your latest releases and projects?
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You know that for the improved customer experience, it's not only how many new products we provide to the customer,
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but also how the customer feel about your product and services.
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And that's why besides the new products we provide to the customers,
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depending on specific sectors like large corporate customers or SME customers or especially for the retail customers.
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Now, all
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that product we provide to the customer need to bring more
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efficiency to the customer help the customer have the better experience with the bank.
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Like, in shorter time serving, we focus on the operation excellence.
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We have to focus on improving our SLA to provide the service.
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Besides that, for now the customer experience the new technology products and we are now also focusing on that.
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Last year, AB Bank fan page on Facebook is also one of the top 8 fan pages in Vietnam
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and they interact with the customer on the Omnichannel.
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I think it's also a good way to improve the customer experience with the bank keeping up with the times
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and being very modern.
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Moving on, we've got another half year to go yet before the end of 2017, at least at the time of this recording.
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What are your plans for the future?
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Any exciting new innovations we can hear about?
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We have a big plan for 2017.
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Like besides all other banks, we have a business plan.
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Yes, we have to complete the business plan,
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especially for the financial target at increasing the net profit by 22%.
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Besides that, we have the other big targets like we are keeping the Moody's rating.
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The next one is listing our shares on the stock exchange.
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We also expect to prepare our financial reports according to the IFRS standard.
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The next target of this year is we have so many projects that need to be implemented to apply our PZ2 requirements.
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And the last big point
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that we expected to complete this year is to improve our financial indicators like ROE or ROA.
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It sounds like you're going to be very, very busy.
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Thank you very much for coming and telling us more about AB Bank.
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Once again, congratulations on the award and it's been really nice talking to you.
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Thank you so much.
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Thank you so much.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Banking in Vietnam”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: customer, bank, banking, Vietnam, product. This video has 148 sentences and 1769 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:53. The speaker talks slowly, about 105 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| efficiency noun | /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/ | The extent to which a resource is used for the intended purpose. |
| sustainable adjective | /səˈsteɪnəbəl/ | Able to be sustained. |
| requirement noun | /ɹɪˈkwaɪɹmənt/ | A necessity or prerequisite; something required or obligatory. Its adpositions are generally of in relation to who or what has given it, on in relation to whom… |
| transaction noun | /tɹænˈzækʃən/ | The act of conducting or carrying out (business, negotiations, plans). |
| congratulations | /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/ | Expressing praise and approval, expressing approbation. |
| innovation noun | /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/ | The act of innovating; the introduction of something new, in customs, rites, etc. |
| commitment noun | /kəˈmɪtmənt/ | The act of sending a legislative bill to committee for review. |
| strategic adjective | /stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/ | Of or pertaining to strategy. |
| excellence noun | /ˈɛksələns/ | The quality of being excellent; brilliance |
| stable noun | /ˈsteɪ.bəl/ | A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses. |
| membership noun | The state of being a member of a group or organization. | |
| establish verb | /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/ | To make stable or firm; to confirm. |
| intense adjective | /ɪnˈtɛns/ | Of a characteristic: extreme or very high or strong in degree; severe; also, excessive, towering. |
| enterprise noun | /ˈɛntəˌpɹaɪz/ | A company, business, organization, or other purposeful endeavor. |
| ratio noun | /ˈɹeɪ.ʃoʊ/ | A number representing a comparison between two named things. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
| keep up with verb | To manage to remain beside or just behind someone or something that is moving away from one. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Anything else you want to add to that?
- What do you contribute and attribute indeed to that massive success?
- Can you tell us about some of your latest releases and projects?
- What are your plans for the future?
- Any exciting new innovations we can hear about?
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 | has grown · has enjoyed · has evolved |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were created · has been made · has been established |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, we've, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: efficiency /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/, transaction /tɹænˈzækʃən/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, innovation /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: efficiency /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/, sustainable /səˈsteɪnəbəl/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, innovation /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, contribution /ˌkɑntɹɪˈbjuʃən/
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 efficiency, sustainable, requirement.
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.