Shadowing Practice: Coronavirus in the UK: The first 100 days - BBC News - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.
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Many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.
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It might be two weeks time,
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it might be four months time,
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it might be 12 months time, who knows?
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How on earth did it come to this?
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The coronavirus pandemic started in China,
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spread to Europe and had reached the UK by the end of January.
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First off, the government's strategy was to try to contain the virus.
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It set up quarantine centres for people coming back from mainland China.
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It traced the contacts of infected people and advised all of us to wash our hands.
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On 6 February, another case of coronavirus was identified.
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And by the end of February,
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the total number of confirmed cases in the UK had reached 23.
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The virus had begun to spread within the country.
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It was a bit unusual to see that Hazelmere could be the first place that it's been transmitted without an obvious cause.
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Contain, delay, research, mitigate.
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Wash your hands with soap and hot water for the length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice.
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Whatever extra resources our NHS needs to cope with coronavirus, it will get.
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Many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.
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We need people to start working from home where they possibly can.
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And you should avoid pubs,
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clubs, theatres and other such social venues.
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Just six days after the Chancellor pledged £12 billion to fund the coronavirus response,
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he was back, this time with £350 billion.
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This national effort will be underpinned by government interventions in the economy on a scale unimaginable only a few weeks ago.
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If we can get this down to numbers 20,000 and below,
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that's a good outcome.
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This was really the first time that a government figure had publicly come out
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and put a number on what the UK could expect.
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And while every single death is an individual tragedy and all the pain that causes,
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that's why this particular number of 20,000 has become such a marker.
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And it was the first indication,
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really, of what was to come.
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We are collectively telling, telling cafes,
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pubs, bars and restaurants to close.
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It might be two weeks time,
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it might be four months time,
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it might be twelve months time, who knows, nobody knows.
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We're paying people's wages up to 80% so someone can be furloughed rather than laid off to protect their jobs.
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This is when we need the government the most.
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I'm sorry.
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I urge you, at this moment of national emergency,
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to stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives.
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I've developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus.
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I am now setting the goal of 100,000 tests per day by the end of this month.
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The 100,000 number itself wasn't picked by scientists,
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it was a political target set by the health secretary to try to kickstart a big expansion in testing,
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and that became important later.
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He remains stable overnight.
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He's receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any assistance.
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Of those who've contracted the virus, 10,612 have tragically died.
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It's unbelievable that people would be so kind.
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20,319 have died.
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The number of deaths in hospitals were being recorded,
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but there were serious concerns about what was happening in care homes.
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Political pressure increased to try and record how many people were dying there too.
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We have recorded an additional 3,811 deaths in total.
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I can confirm today that for the first time we are past the peak of this disease.
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I can announce that we have met our goal.
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The number of tests yesterday,
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on the last day of April, was 122,347.
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There is some controversy about those figures though,
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and that's because 40,000 of those tests were home testing kits that were sent out but hadn't yet been completed and returned,
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and the number of tests did fall in the following days.
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But it did unquestionably mark a big expansion in the UK's ability to test.
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And pretty much everyone agrees that that is going to be crucial in moving the country out of lockdown measures.
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By the 6th of May,
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more than 30,000 people had died with coronavirus in the UK.
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And while we're past the peak,
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that number is still going up.
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That's now the highest number in Europe.
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It's the second highest in the world.
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That's not success or apparent success.
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So can the Prime Minister tell us how on earth did it come to this?
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What I can tell him is that at every stage as we took the decisions that we did,
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we were governed by one overriding principle and aim,
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and that was to save lives and to protect our NHS.
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One issue that has kept coming up is the supply of personal protective equipment to frontline workers.
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Now the government says it's put more than a billion bits of kit into the system,
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and there is a global supply issue.
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But doctors, nurses and care workers say there still isn't enough.
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PPE is going to be vital as lockdown restrictions ease.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

This video from the BBC encapsulates the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, providing a rich source of content for speaking practice. Engaging with such a timely topic not only helps improve your speaking skills but also enriches your vocabulary related to public health and crisis management. By mimicking the speaker's tone and emotions, you can enhance your shadow speech skills, making your speech more fluid and natural. Additionally, discussing such pressing issues cultivates critical thinking and broadens your conversational skills on current events, which is invaluable for real-life discussions.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Several key structures and expressions are prominent in this transcript, making them excellent for language learners to explore:

  • Future Tense with Uncertainty: The speaker says, "It might be two weeks' time..." This structure is useful for discussing possibilities and uncertainties in everyday situations.
  • Passive Voice: The phrase "the virus had begun to spread..." emphasizes the action rather than the subject, a valuable construction for formal discussions.
  • Imperative Verbs: "Wash your hands with soap..." serves as an effective command expressing urgency, which is often used in advice or instructions.
  • Conditional Forms: "If we can get this down to numbers..." provides a way to discuss hypothetical situations and impacts, a crucial aspect of speaking in debates or discussions.

Common Pronunciation Traps

While practicing with this video, be mindful of specific pronunciation challenges:

  • Unfamiliar Vocabulary: Words like "quarantine" and "furloughed" may be difficult for non-native speakers due to their syllabic structure and stress patterns. Use a shadowing app to repeat after the speaker until you feel comfortable.
  • Linking Sounds: Notice how phrases like "wash your hands" may link together in natural speech. This can be tricky if you’re not used to hearing connected speech; however, practicing in a shadowspeaks way can help.
  • Intonation Changes: Pay attention to the speaker's intonation during serious announcements. Mimicking this intonation can improve your expressive speaking, making your language more engaging.

Incorporating these techniques into your practice sessions can significantly improve your fluency and comfort in English. Dive into shadowing this video, and let the nuances of the speaker's language elevate your skills!

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.

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