Shadowing Practice: Drinking Nasty Swamp Water (to save the world) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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- About a year ago, I read about this powder you could add to super muddy water like this, and then you stir it up, and five minutes later, the mud has separated from the pure, clean, drinkable water.

And as a man of science, I see this and it feels like nothing short of magic.

I only make 12 videos a year, so I am really picky about what topics I will cover.

And even though I usually just focus on using science and engineering to make totally ridiculous things.

At least once a year, I try to make the case that these same science and engineering principles are also being used to actually change the world for the better.

For example, last year I met with Manu Prakash from Stanford who was disappointed to realize the typical microscope and centrifuge to diagnose malaria costs tens of thousands of dollars and needs to be plugged in.

So he amended a paper microscope and a paper centrifuge that costs 68 cents that can diagnose malaria and require no electricity.

So today, we're gonna find out how this was invented, how the heck it works, and how it's being used to help people all around the world.

But first, to demonstrate this isn't some kind of smoke and mirrors trick, I located the nastiest water I could find near my house and met up with some intrepid field scientists.

Today I'm joined by my friends, Cole, Kayden, Rainie and Max, I promised them they could be in a video but I didn't tell 'em which one or what we'd be doing, and here's the deal, guys.

We need to go into that pond that's all gross and nasty and fill it up with muddy water, can you do that?

Do you guys think this would be good to drink this?

- No.

- What do you guys give me if I take a sip of this?

- 20 bucks. - 20 bucks? Okay.

We're not gonna do anything to this one but I'm gonna do something to this one so then we can compare the two, okay?

So I'm gonna take a little bit of this powder, I'm gonna put it in here.

You guys see this?

And then we're gonna take turns shaking it for like five minutes, okay?

- See. - Let's see what happens. - Looks better.

- It looks normal. - That looks better.

- It looks better.

Yeah, that looks really better.

Oh, that looks like.

- Okay, I'm gonna put my thumb at the water level so you know I'm not tricking you guys, okay?

- Ew. - Ew.

- Ah, that's some high quality H2O right there.

All right, where's my 20 bucks, Rainie?

- Mommy. - Chances are, if you're watching this video, you have essentially an endless supply of clean water at the pull of a lever.

And because this is so easy, we tend to forget just how critical water is for us.

You can live three weeks without food but only a few days without water.

And it's not just us, from plants to ants to bacteria, anything that is biological and living needs water to survive.

It sounds crazy, but there are no exceptions to this rule.

Because of this, when NASA is looking for evidence of life outside our planet, we first start by looking for evidence of water.

Given all that, it's a total bummer that nearly 1 billion people around the world don't have access to clean drinking water.

Today, drinking contaminated water causes more deaths than HIV, AIDS and malaria combined.

And so, that's why the powder in this packet is a really big deal.

It was invented by a guy named Philip Souter, he's a laundry scientist at Procter & Gamble who was originally trying to figure out a way to separate dirt from used laundry water.

And I wanna be clear here, they are not sponsoring this video in any way.

I just think what they're doing is really awesome and they deserve some credit.

So I was actually able to track Philip down and he told me all about how it worked.

- So essentially, there's three processes, there's coagulation, then the next phase is flocculation, and then the last piece is the disinfection.

- You start with clean water like this but now it's all brown because it's filled with lots of dirt, particles, parasites, and bacteria.

So you dump the powder in the water, and as Phil explained, the coagulant part of the powder goes to work first.

It's basically seed crystals that are positively charged, and because the dirt in the water is negatively charged, these seed crystals act like dirt magnets.

These dirt magnets grow until they're each about a millimeter in size.

The next part of the powder to activate is the flocculant, which is a polymer, which you can think about as having huge long arms that wrap up all the little dirt magnet clumps, and now they form bigger chunks as large as a centimeter.

And these chunks now are so big, they're just slightly more dense than the water, which means they sink to the bottom.

And finally, the chlorine is released and it goes to work on killing the 99.9999% of all the really tiny viruses and bacteria that are left in the water that didn't get wrapped up and sink to the bottom.

So now you're just left with safe drinking water at the top.

And this isn't just some PR stump for P&G.

Since 2004, millions of people in over 90 countries have used these packets and they've saved untold thousands upon thousands of lives.

In fact, they've cleaned enough water to fill a swimming pool that is the typical five feet deep by 15 feet across, only the length would need to stretch all the way across the United States over 13 times.

These packets cost them pennies to make which they sell at a loss and that feels like the right thing to do.

But it brings up the question, is there a case to be made beyond altruism where it's in the best interests of the rich countries to help out the poor countries?

And to answer this question, I wanted to speak with someone in the technology sector who had some experience in this kind of thing, and he's a bit of an obscure up and comer named Bill Gates.

But first, I had to do a little bit of research in order to get myself up to Seattle.

And when I arrived, they told me I was free to make myself at home while I waited for him to show up.

So I did what any rational person would do given the circumstances, I made the richest man on planet Earth some pizza rolls.

- Hi. - Bill, good to meet you.

- Yeah, thanks for doing this.

- They gave me free reign over your kitchen, and as a token of hospitality, I whipped up a batch of pizza rolls.

- Oh wow, I'll try it, it's not what I normally eat.

It's pretty hot, actually.

- They're kind of like lava in the middle.

- Not bad. - It's a bit okay, right?

- All right, yeah. - A little bit of cardboard.

- What do you got here?

- This was plan B 'cause I wasn't expecting you to actually eat one of those. - Okay.

- Dick's burgers. - Love Dick's.

- I know you love- - It's a Seattle phenomena.

- Truth be told, I actually knew this after seeing a picture of him on Reddit.

He's standing in line by himself to buy one of their hamburgers for less than two bucks.

Hate to disappoint you, there's no Dick's burgers in here.

- Okay. - We have some liquid refreshment.

- That's pretty dark looking.

- So I took out the powder and explained to him how it worked, and then I set up the bottles.

And here's where we stood after a minute or two.

- Looks like we're making some progress up at the top there. - We're making some progress.

- I'd rather eat these than that so far.

- Why should we care about developing nations?

- Well, the amount of resource that rich countries spend in helping poor countries is pretty small, it's well less than 1% of their budget.

I defend that because that money is so impactful, you're saving lives for less than a thousand dollars per life saved.

If you help a country lift itself up, then countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, India, get successful enough, they grow their economy so they no longer need it, they graduate.

- Okay, look at this.

- So it's amazing the way that a small amount of this thing. - Isn't it crazy?

It's like magic.

And I liked his answer that basically teaching a man to fish is better than just giving a man a fish.

What about the extreme case of a person who's just super self-absorbed, who might think, I just don't care if a poor country has a fish or not, it doesn't affect my daily life.

I asked what he would say to that person.

- The benefits are strong even if the pure humanitarian empathetic part isn't the key reason.

- So then Bill told me two main reasons we should try and help developing nations, even from a selfish standpoint.

The first is for our own safety.

If a poor country receives aid, it fosters education and economic opportunity, which makes it more stable.

And there's less of a reason for people to become desperate, which is a breeding ground for radical ideologies and terrorism.

All America's top generals agree that foreign aid creates stability, which reduces the need for military spending and makes the world a safer place.

Additionally, Bill told me there's the issue of diseases.

When the next pandemic comes, there's a good chance it will be far worse than Ebola and it will spread quickly into the rich countries.

There's a huge benefit to us in helping these developing nations get their health systems to the point where they can detect and treat bad stuff before it has the chance to go global.

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And the second selfish reason for helping developing nations that we discussed together was for our own prosperity.

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- After World War II, you think, hey, do we care about Japan?

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Well, hey, then Japan, you know, Sony and Toyota, they're making good products. - Nintendo.

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- Yeah, let's not forget Nintendo.

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It's a win-win situation, you know, where we want Japan to do well and make great products.

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And you know, they're buying Boeing jets, Microsoft software.

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- Hypothetically. - Hopefully.

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The idea that other countries doing well, it's not a zero sum thing, where, okay, if they do well, that means that it's bad for us.

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- Basically, we needed to get the Japanese back to a point where their brains could benefit the world again as quickly as possible.

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Otherwise, it's a waste of human capital and the world never knows "Super Mario Brothers".

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Which raises an interesting point.

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If you ask people, who is the most intelligent person to ever live?

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You get various answers like these.

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- Albert Einstein.

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- Einstein. - Einstein.

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- Albert Einstein.

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- Albert Einstein. - Einstein - Albert Einstein.

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- Mark Rober.

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- Did I tell you to say that?

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What? You! But the fact is, with 100 billion people to have ever lived on planet Earth, it's a statistical certainty that Albert Einstein wasn't the most intelligent human.

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It was some random person you've never heard of, probably born a long time ago who spent most of their daily energy just trying to survive.

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And that's why these packets are a huge deal.

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When you have nearly 1 billion people spending their time just trying to find clean water every day, that's a huge waste of untapped brain power.

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Now these packets and other aid efforts like them allow parents to stay healthy and gives them time to provide for their families, which gives their kids the opportunity to get educated, which in turn creates more opportunities for the following generation.

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And so, eventually, over time, the entire world starts reaping the benefit from the contribution of this previously untapped human capital.

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And in this way, some massive breakthrough in solar technology or maybe the cure to cancer or HIV might come from a poor country who is just a developing nation today, and I find that to be incredibly inspiring and a worthy goal.

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- You know, I get to learn a lot, you know, I'm gonna be working on these diseases the rest of my life.

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- Bill Gates, living legend, eater of pizza rolls.

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- Yeah, not bad. - That was fantastic, thanks so much, Bill.

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Now we drink.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Drinking Nasty Swamp Water”. This video has 129 sentences and 2090 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:03. The speaker talks fast, about 189 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% 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

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
packet noun	/ˈpæk.ɪt/	A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel
buck noun	/ˈbʌk/	A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the hamster, ferret, salmonid, shad, skunk and kangaroo.
bacterium noun	/bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/	A single-celled organism with cell walls but no nucleus or organelles.
malaria noun	/məˈlɛəɹi.ə/	A disease spread by mosquito, in which a protozoan, Plasmodium, multiplies in blood every few days.
magnet noun	/ˈmæɡ.nɪt/	A piece of material that attracts some metals by magnetism.
centrifuge noun	/ˈsɛntɹɪˌfjuːdʒ/	A device in which a mixture of denser and lighter materials (normally dispersed in a liquid) is separated by being spun about a central axis at high speed.
diagnose verb	/ˈdaɪ.əɡˌnoʊs/	To determine which disease is causing a sick person's signs and symptoms; to find the diagnosis.
untapped adjective		Not tapped; not drawn on in terms of resources.
microscope noun	/ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌskoʊp/	An optical instrument used for observing small objects.
invent verb	/ɪnˈvɛnt/	To design a new process or mechanism.
muddy adjective	/ˈmʌdi/	Covered or splashed with, or full of, mud (“wet soil”).
chunk noun	/t͡ʃʌŋk/	A part of something that has been separated; a generally squat, thick, irregular piece of something, e.g. wood or stone.
laundry noun	/ˈlɔːn.dɹi/	A laundering; a washing.
burger noun	/ˈbɝ.ɡɚ/	A hamburger.
selfish adjective	/ˈsɛlf.ɪʃ/	Holding one's own self-interest as the standard for decision making.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
wrap up verb		To cover or enclose (something) by folding and securing a covering entirely around it.
bring up verb		To mention.
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
help out verb		To provide assistance.
set up verb	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	To make ready for use.
show up verb		To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically.
take out verb		To remove.

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be plugged · was invented · is released
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has separated · they've saved · they've cleaned
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	flocculant, which is · water, which means · opportunity, which makes

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 47 contractions and reduced forms, such as gonna, I'm, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: empathetic /ˌɛmpəˈθɛtɪk/, breakthrough /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/, thumb /ˈθʌm/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: selfish /ˈsɛlf.ɪʃ/, coagulation /koʊ.æɡjuˈleɪʃən/, disinfection /dɪsɪnˈfɛkʃən/, flocculation /ˌflɒkjʊˈlɛɪ̯ʃən/, refreshment /ɹɪˈfɹɛʃ.mənt/
Long words — get the stress right: malaria /məˈlɛəɹi.ə/, altruism /ˈæl.tɹu.ɪz.əm/, coagulation /koʊ.æɡjuˈleɪʃən/, contaminate /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/, disinfection /dɪsɪnˈfɛkʃən/

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 packet, buck, bacterium.

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: Drinking Nasty Swamp Water (to save the world) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?