Shadowing Practice: 『これが聞き取れたら英語上級者』元ソニーCEOの平井一夫さんからハイレベルビジネス英語を学ぼう！#sony #ceo - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Well, I've become CEO three and a half years ago, and we've taken some aggressive steps to restructure the organization, get out of profitable businesses,

and turn the businesses around category by category.

As a matter of fact, for example, the TV business, which we were unprofitable for the last 10 years,

we were able to turn on last fiscal year.

And so a lot of the restructuring and the things

that we've put in place over the past three years have really started to bear fruit

and I think the Sony organization just overall is headed in the right direction.

I know your mission is to just overhaul the company into this more focused and profitable company.

So is it fair to say that movies,

music, video games, image sensors are all going to be at the top of the resource of food chain?

TVs and smartphones will be at the bottom or spun out or sold off when you can cut them or reorganize them.

So let me address a second point first.

We are not selling off our TV business or our smartphone business.

Our TV business is now a fully -owned subsidiary.

The smartphone business has always been a fully -owned subsidiary.

We were able to turn the TV business around to profitability last fiscal year.

We are well on our way to doing a necessary restructuring

to turn the business for the smartphone business to profitability this fiscal year and next fiscal year and beyond.

And as you mentioned, the growth areas for Sony really are going to be driven by our image sensor business,

our entertainment businesses, and our video game business.

So that point that you mentioned is absolutely the important pillars, if you will, for Sony's growth going forward.

Okay, so speaking of the gaming, and I know you have a particular area of expertise in this, how do you think that

Sony's PlayStation is going to compete with Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo Wii in this all -important holiday season?

I think that based on the past performance of the PlayStation 4 console vis -a -vis our competitors,

not just in the US market but in Europe, in Japan and elsewhere.

We're very confident about being able to keep our leadership position with PlayStation 4 in all those territories.

And we have a lot of great games

that are coming up between now and the end of the year and certainly beyond that, which promises very well for the console.

Not to mention the fact that we are talking about our foray into virtual reality with PlayStation VR.

That's a product that's coming out next year.

And I heard you talk about virtual reality.

Do you see any kind of application for this technology,

whether it's in gaming, but I'm more interested in beyond when you see some of the products that you're pitched?

You have a large vision.

Do you see where the average person is going to be using these, not just gamers?

I think first of all, because it is coming from our PlayStation business, the video game applications are going to be first and foremost.

But at the same time, there are other image related applications or entertainment content.

A lot of discussions are already happening with the folks down at Sony Pictures Entertainment for television and motion picture content.

And also, if you look at other business applications, whether it's in, for example, in the manufacturing field or other consumer applications,

there are a lot of different areas in which the application or the technology can be used broadly.

But we want to make sure that we first start out with video game content

and then move on to movie and television content first.

So, Mr. Hari, Michael Rogers, the NSA director, spoke recently and said that

Sony did a great job handling the now infamous hack.

Did you ever find out if there was a disgruntled employee involved with that?

I think that based on all the reports that we've gotten from the FBI and other authorities,

that this was not something that was perpetrated by a disgruntled employee.

And that, in fact, it was actually an attack from a nation state.

And that's the information that we've gotten, and I think that's the information that I think the members of the media have as well.

Incidents like these are issues, unfortunately, that is a part of life, part of business going forward.

And whether it's

Sony, whether it's anybody else, it's not a question of if, but it's more of a question of when.

So rather than trying to say that this is never going to happen again, it's more making sure that if,

unfortunately, these incidents happen, that we are able to deal with it in a proactive and a very quick manner.

So, Mr. Harai, before we let you go, the one surprise, the biggest element that has made you readjust in these past three years,

what is it?

You know, I think that, you know, one of the things that really inspires me is the fact that,

you know, Sony is a worldwide organization with more than 140 ,000 employees.

Now, we've been able to really rally around the cause of restructuring the organization to make it a more profitable

and more strong organization going forward.

And the past three and a half years has been just a great journey in making sure that we undertake that path.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “『これが聞き取れたら英語上級者』元ソニーCEOの平井一夫さんからハイレベルビジネス英語を学ぼう！”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Sony, application, Playstation, organization, smartphone. This video has 61 sentences and 911 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:53. The speaker talks fast, about 187 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% 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

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
fiscal adjective	/ˈfɪskəl/	Related to the treasury of a country, company, region or city, particularly to government spending and revenue.
smartphone noun	/ˈsmɑɹtfoʊn/	A mobile phone with more advanced features and greater computing capacity than a feature phone.
profitable adjective	/ˈpɹɑ.fɪ.tə.bl̩/	Producing a profit.
virtual adjective	/ˈvɜɹt͡ʃuəl/	In effect or essence, rather than in fact or reality; also, imitated, simulated.
console noun	/ˈkɑn.soʊl/	A stand-alone cabinet designed to stand on the floor; especially, one integrated with home entertainment equipment, such as a TV or stereo system.
sensor noun	/ˈsɛn.sɚ/	A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner.
subsidiary adjective	/sʌbˈsɪ.di.əɹ.i/	Auxiliary or supplemental.
element noun	/ˈɛləmənt/	One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.
elsewhere adverb	/ˈɛlsˌʍɛɹ/	Synonym of somewhere else: in, at, or to some other place.
pitch noun	/pɪt͡ʃ/	A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand.
compete verb	/kəmˈpiːt/	To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend.
resource noun	/ɹɪˈzɔːs/	Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel.
spin verb	/spɪn/	To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.
rally noun	/ˈɹæli/	A public gathering or mass meeting that is not mainly a protest and is organized to inspire enthusiasm for a cause.
aggressive adjective	/əˈɡɹɛs.ɪv/	Characterized by aggression; highly combative; prone to behave in a way that involves attacking (especially if unjustly) or arguing.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
going forward adverb		In the immediate future and beyond.
sell off verb		To sell assets for the purpose of disposing of them quickly rather than for maximizing profit.
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
come up verb		To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
get out of verb		To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.

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 become · we've put · has always been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is headed · be driven · was perpetrated

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 9 contractions and reduced forms, such as we've, I'm, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

Long words — get the stress right: subsidiary /sʌbˈsɪ.di.əɹ.i/, competitor /kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/, profitability /ˌpɹɑ.fɪ.təˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, unprofitable /ʌnˈpɹɑf.ɪ.təbl̩/

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 fiscal, smartphone, profitable.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: 『これが聞き取れたら英語上級者』元ソニーCEOの平井一夫さんからハイレベルビジネス英語を学ぼう！#sony #ceo - Learn English Speaking with Video

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