Shadowing Practice: Could This Thing *Really* Fly? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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This video is brought to you by FarmKind.  More about them at the end of the video.
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The Quetzalcoatlus – one of the  largest pterosaurs that ever lived – was able to… fly?!
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That doesn’t sound right.
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I mean, look at this thing –  it’s the size of a giraffe!
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However, giant pterosaurs’ ability to fly is really well-established in  the scientific community.
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So how on Earth did this giant manage to fly?
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Hi, I’m Ever and this is MinuteEarth.
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Thanks to the fossil record, we know that pterosaurs had wings with  elongated hand bones, just like every other flying vertebrate. But simply having  wings doesn’t mean you can actually fly.
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If you’re too heavy for the size of those wings  – or if you can't flap them fast enough – you’ll never get anywhere. And compared to the biggest  flying creatures alive today – the Kori bustard, or the wandering albatross,  or even the Andean condor, depending on how you measure it – the  Quetzalcoatlus was way, WAY bigger.
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But, despite this giant pterosaur’s wingspan, scientists estimate that it was  only about as heavy as a large pig.
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Now with the wing-to-mass  ratio looking more decent, giant pterosaurs still needed to  be strong enough to flap them.
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And while wing muscles themselves  aren’t preserved in the fossil record, we know pterosaurs had huge bumps in their  forelimb bones and highly modified breastbones, with ample attachment space for powerful chest  muscles – just like modern flying birds do.
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So it’s reasonable to believe their  wing muscles were pretty brawny.
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On top of that, pterosaurs had  mostly hollow bones that increased the volume of their respiratory system  – again, just like modern flying birds – which allowed them to deliver tons of  oxygen to all those flight muscles!
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All this likely helped a Quetzalcoatlus’s  big body stay aloft once it was in the air.
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But getting into the air in the first place is the  hardest and most energy-intensive part of flight.
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Flying birds use their strong leg muscles  to launch themselves into the air; that’s why the bigger a bird is, the larger  and more powerful its legs tend to be.
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Giant pterosaurs were so huge that, in  order to jump into the air like birds, they would have needed truly gigantic legs that  would have made them definitely too heavy to fly.
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So they solved the whole launching  problem in a different way: they used their powerful wings for the  dual purpose of taking off and flapping.
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And this strategy is so efficient, that  bats independently evolved it as well.
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By the way, I think that this is my favorite  fact about giant pterosaurs –and bats, of course.
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Once you look at all the evidence and the facts, it makes perfect sense that these  giant pterosaurs could truly soar.
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They might look too big and wonky, but the Quetzalcoatlus was about as  close as we’ve ever come to a flying pig.
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Pigs these days, of course, rarely fly.
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And – sorry to be a downer, especially after  that uplifting video - but in a lot of places, the conditions they’re kept in are heartbreaking.
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As someone who loves animals, I hate  to see any animal suffering so much.
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That’s why we want to help make a genuine  positive change with today’s sponsor, FarmKind.
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FarmKind helps improve the lives of  animals by recommending expert-reviewed, top charities whose work  really makes a big difference.
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Like Sinergia Animal, which  is helping end the inhumane practice of keeping breeding  pigs confined in tiny crates.
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FarmKind never takes a cut of your donation;  it all goes to the charities helping animals.
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If you sign up for just $15 bucks a  month, that’s just 50 cents a day, you'll save 350 animals from  unnecessary suffering in your first year. Use the code MinuteEarth  for a 50% boost on monthly donations.
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If even a fraction of this community  did that, we'd transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of animals. Check out  the description for more info. Thanks FarmKind.
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What You'll Learn

This video helps you practice explaining complex ideas clearly (e.g., how pterosaurs flew) and transitioning between topics smoothly (from science to a sponsor message). You’ll also learn to use rhetorical questions to engage listeners, like "So how on Earth did this giant manage to fly?"

Listen For These Sounds

Notice connected speech: "that’s why" becomes "thatswhy" and "it’s the size" links to "itsthe size." Reductions like "I’m" (instead of "I am") and "don’t" (instead of "do not") are common. Also, listen for the schwa sound in "about" and "of," which softens the flow.

Say It Like a Native

Mirror the speaker’s rhythm by stressing key words: "giant pterosaurs," "wing-to-mass ratio," "powerful chest muscles." Use the shadowing technique—repeat phrases immediately after the video, matching its pace. A shadowing app can help you practice "shadow speech" in real time. Focus on rising intonation for questions ("Could this thing really fly?") and falling intonation for statements. This "shadowspeak" practice will make your speech sound more natural. Pause the video to mimic the casual tone in lines like "I mean, look at this thing" to master conversational flow.

Practicing with this video using shadow speak techniques will boost your ability to communicate complex thoughts and connect with listeners, just like the speaker does.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itis brought · aren't preserved
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thingsomeone who loves · Animal, which is

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 →