Shadowing Practice: COUNTRYBALLS: WORLD WAR ONE (part 1) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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This is Europe Today!
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And this is Europe roughly a hundred years ago.
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Looks like there are way fewer countries, right?
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Well, you'd be correct.
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Germany used to be much bigger and far more powerful.
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Russia stretched much further into Europe, and countries like Poland, Finland, or the Baltic states simply didn't exist.
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Austria and Hungary used to be best buddies, united in a single empire.
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Although many of the nationalities inside it didn't exactly like their bosses.
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The Ottoman Empire was still around too crumbling and collapsing, but still an empire.
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Italy was a newly unified kingdom trying to establish itself as a major European power, and France still wanted revenge for its humiliating defeat to Germany 40 years earlier.
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Soon I will get my revenge!
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Europe was full of rivalries, alliances, and empires competing against each other and everyone was building armies, everyone was producing new weapons,
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Everyone expected a massive war sooner or later.
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all they needed was a reason to start fighting.
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And that reason, it came much sooner than anyone expected.
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In 1914, the Austrian Archiduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife decided to visit the city of Sarajevo, in these primarily Serbian -inhabited lands.
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And these local Serbian nationalists were not exactly happy about it.
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As the Arkaduke's car was driving through the city, one Serbian nationalist threw a bomb at it, and...
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Thankfully for the Arkaduke, he missed and only injured several officers.
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"Mr. Arkaduke, they tried to assassinate you !" "Yes, I noticed." "You should immediately leave Sarajevo." "Hmm,
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no." "Good, I'll prepare the car and..." "What?" Instead of fleeing to safety, the Arkaduke decided to visit the wounded officers in the hospital.
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be the last thing he would ever do.
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By complete coincidence, the driver took a wrong turn and accidentally stopped right in front of one of the assassins.
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"Oh, today is my lucky day !" Seeing his second chance, he pulled out his pistol and killed both the Archiduke and his wife.
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Having your heir to the throne assassinated in broad daylight was not exactly on Austria -Hungary's bucket list.
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The Empire was furious and believed Serbia had something to do with the attack.
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So, Austria -Hungary sent Serbia an ultimatum filled with demands that were almost impossible to accept.
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"Hmm, Austria, it says here that you want your officials to operate inside my country." Yes, correct.
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We need to investigate the assassination.
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Well, that sounds like a violation of my sovereignty, so no. Oh, really?
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No problem then.
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Um, are you sure you're not angry?
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"Nah, don't worry about it, you just killed our future emperor, totally fine." Three days later, Austria -Hungary declared war on Serbia.
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"Wow, wow, wow!
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I am seeing that you are attacking innocent Slavic countries !" Russia immediately jumps on Serbia's side and declares war on Austria.
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Then Germany jumped in to protect its ally Austria.
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France, seeing that Germany attacks their ally, the Russians declared war on Germany.
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And there you have it.
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Four European great powers and a two -front war in just three days.
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It looks random, like everything exploded out of nowhere, but in reality, everyone knew this was coming.
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They were just waiting for the excuse, and the most prepared one: Germany.
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Germany had developed a plan called the Schliffenplan.
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So, the plan is very simple.
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Those Russians will need a lot of time to mobilize everyone from their large country, so before they are ready, we have to strike first and conquer them in lightning speed.
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But then, after we're done with France, we go to Russia and defeat them while they are still mobilizing.
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Any questions?
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Absolutely not!
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Yeah, what could go wrong?
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It turns out, a lot can go wrong.
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France was way more prepared and had a lot "Saisa!
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Isn't there any safer road we could take?
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Somewhere with no fortifications and flat terrain?" "Hey, what is that over there?" "No plan, soldiers!
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We are marching through Belgium to avoid the French forts !" "Hey, you can't do that!
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I'm neutral!
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You can't just march through me !" Germany invades Belgium in the hopes of avoiding the French fortifications and encircling them.
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The Germans expected Belgium to surrender immediately.
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unexpected.
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Belgium's resistance slowed the German advance just enough for France and Britain to prepare their defenses.
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Oh yeah, Britain joined in too.
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You see, Britain had promised to protect Belgian neutrality many years earlier, and just like that, almost all major European powers were now involved in the war.
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On one side, we have the Central Powers: Germany and Austria -Hungary, and on the other, it's the intent: Russia,
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France, Serbia, Montenegro, and now Britain and Belgium.
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mobilized and way quicker than anyone expected.
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"Hey Austria, would you take care of that?" "Yes, absolutely, no problems." Austria -Hungary had a hard time fighting Russia.
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Austria -Hungary wasn't made only of Austrians and Hungarians, but from many ethnic groups that didn't exactly want to fight in this war.
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"Why does no one understand my orders?" couldn't even defeat small Serbia with whom they started the war with.
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So, Germany had to spare some troops from the front with France, where they were getting closer and closer to the French capital of Paris.
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The French commanders were panicking, and they knew that if Paris fell, the war would be lost.
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So, they ordered the army to stop retreating, and instead try to fight the Germans.
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On the river Marne, the Germans were defeated and forced to retreat a bit.
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Then, they turned their attention to the coastal cities of France, and tried to capture them while the intent tried to stop them.
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Yeah, so the schleifenplan didn't work.
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"Of course it didn't.
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We're already fighting a two -front war." So what is the plan now? To dig. In.
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Germany wasted all their attacking potential and decided to start entrenching.
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Their foes did the same.
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Soon, a massive trench system formed, stretching from the North Sea all the way to Switzerland.
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this completely changed warfare.
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Speaking of warfare and conquest, if you love country balls you need to see this.
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This isn't just a mobile game, it's a real world territory war featuring over 500 unique hand -drawn characters and you can fully customize,
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power up and gear them out to completely break the meta.
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But this isn't just a collection game and you aren't just conquering fake digital
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The traditional grand strategy keeps you stuck behind a monitor.
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Here, I've literally walked around my city, conquered my neighborhood, and set up my defenses.
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Other players have been challenging my territory, but I've built a roster strong enough to hold the line.
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And don't fight alone.
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I just created the Country Ball Brothers Alliance, and we're recruiting right now.
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Plus, the devs just dropped a massive co -op raid update.
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We can team up, crush new bosses, and grab insane loot, like the shadow script brush I just scored.
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Everyone is fighting for territory right now, so claim your neighborhood before someone else does.
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Use the link down in the description
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or scan the QR code on screen right now to get a free Bulgaria ball instantly added to your account
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when you sign up.
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Unfortunately though, for the soldiers in World War I, uh, conquering territory was nowhere near this fun.
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The trenches were not a very good experience for any soldiers.
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Wait, I should probably say they were actually rather terrible.
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Mud, diseases, rats, and constant artillery bombing.
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Soldiers lived in horrible conditions.
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Those rats here look delicious, don't you think?
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I lost my eyesight to an artillery shell.
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Whoever didn't die of illness died in a pointless charge against enemy machine guns,
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sometimes resulting in thousands of deaths just to move the front line ever so slightly. And yet...
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That was the strategy for years.
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Meanwhile, over in the East, things were way more mobile.
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Russia suffered a huge defeat by Germany in the north and had to retreat to safer positions.
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In the south, they were deep into Austria and held a stronger position.
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Because of its enormous size, Russia had a hard time supplying all its soldiers.
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Some Russian units even lacked rifles and ammunition. Where are the supplies?
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Still coming.
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It's been three months!
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And unlike the Western Front, where trenches barely moved, The Eastern Front remained fluid and chaotic.
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Entire regions could be lost or taken in weeks.
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By 1915, Germany and Austria -Hungary launched a massive counter -attack,
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Russia was pushed hundreds of kilometers backward in what became known as the Great Retreat.
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"E is a strategic withdrawal.
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That's a fancy way to save running away." But despite the retreat, Russia was still in the war, bruised, exhausted, and poorly equipped but still fighting.
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As the war continued, more and more countries started joining the conflict.
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One of the first new major participants was Japan.
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Now, at first, this might sound strange.
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"What does a war in Europe have to do with me?" Well, Japan had an alliance with Britain
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and saw the war as the perfect opportunity to expand its influence in Asia and the Pacific.
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Germany had some colonies and small islands in the Pacific, and Japan was more than happy to take those without much resistance.
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The Central Powers also gained a new ally.
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It was the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
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In late 1914, the Ottomans officially entered the war by attacking Russian ports in the Black Sea.
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And suddenly, the war spread into entirely new regions the Middle East, the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, and the Dardanelles.
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This was a huge problem for Britain and Russia.
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The Ottomans controlled the strategically vital straits connecting the Mediterranean to Russia through the Black Sea.
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That's not good.
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The British and French later attempted to knock the Ottomans out of the war through the disastrous Gallopoli Campaign.
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How hard can it be to defeat the Ottomans?
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Yeah right, that country's on the verge of collapse should be an easy win.
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The campaign became a complete disaster for the Allies and turned into one of the Ottoman Empire's greatest wartime victories.
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It became known as the most pointless campaign of the entire war, with around half a million casualties.
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The war, though, was only just beginning.
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More countries were yet to join the conflict.
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Millions of new soldiers would soon be mobilized across the world.
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Germany would introduce terrifying new weapons like zeppelins, flamethrowers, and massive gas attacks.
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And the first British tanks would roll out onto the battlefield.
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Entire cities were soon to be destroyed.
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Empires about to collapse.
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The deadliest battles of the entire war were yet to come.
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But all of that, we'll have to discuss in the next video.
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Because the Great War was far from over, and Europe was about to change forever.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “COUNTRYBALLS: WORLD WAR ONE”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Germany, Austria, Russia, France, Ottoman. This video has 144 sentences and 1795 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:28. The speaker talks at a natural 156 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| retreat noun | /ɹɪˈtɹiːt/ | The act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant. |
| conquer verb | /ˈkɑŋkɚ/ | To defeat in combat; to subjugate. |
| trench noun | /ˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/ | A long, narrow ditch or hole in the ground; either manmade, or formed naturally through erosion or tectonic plate movement. |
| alley noun | /ˈæl.i/ | A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings. |
| declare verb | /dɪˈklɛɚ/ | To assert or announce formally, officially, explicitly, or emphatically. |
| collapse verb | /kəˈlæps/ | To break apart and fall down suddenly; to cave in. |
| assassinate verb | /əˈsæs(ə)nˌeɪt/ | To murder someone, especially an important person, by a sudden or obscure attack, especially for ideological or political reasons. |
| crumble verb | /ˈkɹʌmbəl/ | To fall apart; to disintegrate. |
| fortification noun | /ˌfɔː(ɹ)tɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ | The act of fortifying; the art or science of fortifying places to strengthen defence against an enemy. |
| mobilize verb | /ˈməʊbɪlʌɪz/ | To make something mobile. |
| mobilized adjective | Subject to mobilization | |
| pointless adjective | /ˈpɔɪntləs/ | Having no point or sharp tip; terminating squarely or in a rounded end. |
| nationalist noun | /ˈnæʃ.ə.nə.lɪst/ | An advocate of nationalism. |
| artillery noun | /ɑɹˈtɪləɹi/ | Large projectile weapons, in modern usage usually large guns, but also rocket artillery. |
| warfare noun | /ˈwɔɹfɛɹ/ | The waging of war or armed conflict against an enemy. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pull out verb | To withdraw; especially of military forces; to retreat. | |
| run away verb | To flee by running. | |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
| sign up verb | To add a name to the list of people who are participating in something. | |
| team up verb | To join into a team, or into teams. | |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. | |
| walk around verb | To walk with no planned destination; to meander. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Um, are you sure you're not angry?
- Isn't there any safer road we could take?
- Those rats here look delicious, don't you think?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to be |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were now involved · wasn't made · would be lost |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was producing · was driving · was coming |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | start fighting · stop retreating · start entrenching |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 27 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, isn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: flamethrower /ˈfleɪmˌθɹoʊ.ɚ/, withdrawal /wɪðˈdɹɔ(ə)l/, throne /θɹəʊ̯n/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: fortification /ˌfɔː(ɹ)tɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, nationalist /ˈnæʃ.ə.nə.lɪst/, casualty /ˈkæʒu.əlti/, nationality /ˌnæʃ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/, assassination /əˌsæs.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: assassinate /əˈsæs(ə)nˌeɪt/, fortification /ˌfɔː(ɹ)tɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, nationalist /ˈnæʃ.ə.nə.lɪst/, artillery /ɑɹˈtɪləɹi/, humiliate /hjuːˈmɪliˌeɪt/
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 retreat, conquer, trench.
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.