Shadowing Practice: Crash Course European History Preview - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hello and welcome to Crash Course History.
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Hello and welcome to Crash Course History.
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I'm John Green.
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You may know me because I once hosted a series of Crash Course videos on world history, which, depending on your perspective, was either far too Eurocentric or not nearly Eurocentric enough.
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Well, we're about to get rather Eurocentric.
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Mr.
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Green!
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Mr.
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Green!
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Right, I remember you!
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Yeah, you retired me from the past.
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I can't play Seventeen anymore.
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Anyway, starting today we're going to explore the history of Europe, beginning with the closing years of the so-called Middle Ages, and ending with Europe's recent and possibly temporary great turn toward political and economic unity.
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But here at the start I want to note two things.
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First, that Europe is a made-up idea.
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Like in parts of Eastern Europe, students learn that there are six continents, not seven, because Eurasia is treated as a single landmass on account of it being, you know, a single landmass.
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But then Eurasia is both physically and geopolitically inseparable from Africa, just as North America is from South America, and Australia is more of an island than a continent, and don't even get me started on Antarctica.
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So in some ways there are two continents.
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We don't even completely agree what constitutes Europe.
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The dividing line is often constructed as the Ural Mountains, which would mean that half of Russia is European and the other half Asian.
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And is Western Kazakhstan Europe?
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The southeastern border of Europe is also problematic.
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Is Turkey Europe?
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And if not, was the Roman Empire a European empire only when its capital was Rome, and not for the many centuries in which its capital was Constantinople?
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But of course, like many made-up ideas, Europe is also real.
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And in these videos we'll attempt to introduce you to the big political, economic, military, and cultural developments in recent European history.
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The second thing I want to say is that one cannot look at the history of Europe in isolation.
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Because as part of the Afro-Eurasian landmass, Europe has long been in contact and conversation with other parts of the world, and so it's impossible to examine its history in isolation because it was never isolated.
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In early human history, when bands of hunter-gatherers rarely reached populations of larger than a few dozen, people were relatively independent from those who lived far away from them.
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But the story of humans is in some ways a story of growing connection.
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Like 3,000 years ago, everything most humans used had been made within their community, from clothing to tools to weapons to jewelry to ideas.
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Over time, though, our trade networks and cultural connections expanded, and more of us began to live in cities and to travel between communities.
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By around a thousand years ago, for instance, Christianity, which was born in the Middle East, had become the dominant religion in Europe.
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And the Catholic Church was certainly extremely powerful.
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But there were also other religions being practiced.
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Like most of the Iberian Peninsula, for instance, was controlled by the Islamic Caliphate of Cordoba, which had arrived from northern Africa.
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Sun powder, which was first developed in China, began being utilized in Europe around 1300, and the great disease pandemics that reshaped early modern Europe also came from Asia.
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What I'm saying is that even Europe isn't really Eurocentric.
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We're going to try to emphasize the world's interconnectedness in this series, but any regional history risks isolating itself.
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So throughout, I hope you'll remember that Europe is a made-up idea, and that it is nonetheless real, and that the lives of humans in Europe have long been shaped by the lives of humans elsewhere.
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Our history will begin around the year 1300, with Central Europe a tangle of kingdoms and city-states and the continent in a purportedly dark age.
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Big changes are coming—the absolute devastation of the Black Death, a reimagining of the relationship between peasant and lord, and questions about the role of the Catholic Church in political life.
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But before we get there, I want to flash forwards and backwards.
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In September of 1940, with Europe roiled by the Second World War, an 18-year-old car mechanic named Marcel Ravidot was walking his dog Robot in the countryside of southwestern France when the dog disappeared down a hole.
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The next day, Marcel went to the spot with three friends to explore that hole, and after digging for a while, they found a cave with walls covered with paintings.
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Paintings of horses and bison, and even extinct species.
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It would eventually be established that some of these artworks were at least 17,000 years old.
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the boys who found that cave were so profoundly moved by the artwork they saw that they camped outside the cave to protect it for over a year.
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Now there's nothing unique to Europe about very old cave paintings.
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They've been found in the Americas, in Indonesia, in Africa, in Australia.
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They have not been found in Antarctica, another argument against its continthood.
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And don't tell me that continents are about geology, not humans.
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Who do you think invented continents?
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Rocks?
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I will confess to being a little human-centric when it comes to history.
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Right, but cave paintings are not unique to Europe.
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But what I find fascinating about ancient cave paintings is that they were often made over the course of many thousands of years, as hundreds of generations of humans lived in the same caves.
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Like the paintings at Lascaux, for instance, were likely created over a span of around two thousand years.
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For two thousand years, a community of humans lived in this cave.
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Two thousand years.
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Two thousand years ago, Tiberius was the emperor of the Roman Empire.
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Our history of Europe will span around seven hundred years, which is a long time.
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But it also isn't a long time, as it represents less than one half of one percent of human history.
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History, like so much else, changes as our perspective changes.
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And so as we zoom into the history of Europe, let's not forget that we're zooming in.
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Thanks for watching.
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I'll see you next time.
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P.S.
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Have you ever wondered what's at the center of the Earth?
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Well it turns out it changes every week, but this week it's yet another Earth.
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Earth's all the way down, you see.

Context & Background

In the preview of "Crash Course European History" hosted by John Green, viewers are introduced to the complexities of European history starting from the late Middle Ages to the contemporary era. Green emphasizes that Europe is a conceptual construct rather than a definitive geographical entity, illustrating the challenges of defining its boundaries and understanding its interconnectedness with other continents. By highlighting the intricate relationships between Europe and regions like Africa and Asia, Green encourages listeners to appreciate the richness of European history within a global context. This grounding prepares learners to engage more deeply with the content, enhancing their understanding of key historical developments.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • "Hello and welcome" — A warm greeting suitable for meetings or presentations.
  • "Let's explore" — An inviting phrase that encourages curiosity and discussion.
  • "It’s important to note" — Useful for emphasizing crucial information.
  • "What I'm saying is..." — This phrase acts as a segue into clarification or summary.
  • "Big changes are coming" — Great for introducing future developments or shifts.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To effectively enhance your speaking skills using the shadowing technique with this video, follow these steps in your practice:

  1. Watch Actively: Begin by watching the video without any distractions. Pay close attention to how John Green articulates his words and phrases.
  2. Pause and Repeat: Choose a section of the transcript, such as the introduction or key points about Europe’s identity. Pause after each sentence and attempt to repeat it aloud, mimicking his tone and pacing. This is where shadowspeak comes into play.
  3. Record Yourself: Use your smartphone or a computer to record your repetitions. This allows you to compare your pronunciation and intonation with the original.
  4. Reflect on Your Practice: After shadowing, listen to your recording. Note areas for improvement, such as clarity or rhythm.
  5. Incorporate Vocabulary: Use phrases from the 'Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication' list in your conversations or writing. This will reinforce your learning and help you learn English with YouTube more effectively.

Utilizing these strategies will not only improve your English speaking skills but also enhance your understanding of complex topics like European history. Happy shadowing!

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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