Shadowing Practice: Education For All | Cameron Allen | TEDxKids@ElCajon - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Approximately 70 million children don't have the opportunity to go to school every day.
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This is the same number as the amount of people that live in Thailand.
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Imagine an entire country missing out on their education.
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Out of the 70 million children that can't go to school every day, 25 million of them will never go to school, either because of money or there isn't a school in the area.
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Most of the kids that aren't able to go to school are girls.
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One of the worst places for school is Africa, because 33 million kids can't go to school there, and 18 million of these are girls.
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two-thirds of these kids will ever graduate high school.
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This is an amazing story about a girl named Jacinta at the age of 13.
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She lived in Tanzania, a country in Africa, when her family could no longer afford for her to go to school.
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So she had to drop out.
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She then had to work as a servant 18 hours a day and only made $13 a month.
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Then a charity called Camp Ed raised money for Jacinta and her family so that she would not have to work anymore and could go back to school.
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Later she was sent home and had the opportunity to start school once again so she headed back to school.
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After she went to school she got a great job and was able to send her brothers and sisters to school.
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But it's not just the kids and families that don't have enough money.
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It's there's not enough teachers.
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For example, in India, they need about 350,000 more teachers.
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And in West Africa, they need about 380,000 more teachers.
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But for every kid in the world to be educated, we would need approximately 5 million more teachers.
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When adults don't get proper education as kids, it leads to bad things.
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For example, if you aren't literate, you can't get a job, and if you can't get a job, you can't make any money.
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There's about 798 million adults who still lack basic literacy skills.
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And also, if you don't know, literacy means reading or writing.
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Some ways that you can help is by donating to a charity, as in UNICEF or CAMFED.
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CAMFED is a charity that helps girls in Africa go to school, while UNICEF is a charity that helps kids all over the world.
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But what would really help is spread the word.
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Tell your friends and families about these charities and to donate.
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The last thing you can do is just be grateful for your own education and take school seriously.
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But this can't just happen on its own.
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We need to do it.
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Education is something that not everybody has.
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So you should value your education because when we don't learn, the world never changes.
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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice English listening and speaking skills through the powerful message of education presented in a TEDx talk by Cameron Allen. The focus will be on understanding the significance of education for children worldwide and recognizing the barriers many face in accessing it. By engaging with this content, you will improve your ability to articulate thoughts on important social issues while enhancing your pronunciation and fluency through the shadowing technique.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Education - The process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at school.
  • Literacy - The ability to read and write.
  • Charity - An organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need.
  • Drop out - To leave school or college before completing a course of study.
  • Opportunity - A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.
  • Severe - Very great; intense, often used to describe serious challenges.
  • Grateful - Feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful.
  • Awareness - Knowledge or perception of a situation or fact.

Practice Tips

To maximize your learning from this TEDx talk, use the shadowing technique. Listen to the video, and as Cameron speaks, try to mimic his words and intonation as closely as possible. His delivery in the talk is clear, yet passionate, which makes it ideal for practice. Focus on the following:

  • Start by pausing the video frequently to repeat phrases, allowing you to ensure you're capturing both the rhythm and pronunciation.
  • Pay attention to the emotional tone of Cameron's speech, especially on key phrases like "education for all" and "we need to do it." Shadowing these emotional peaks will enhance your expressiveness.
  • Use slow playback settings if needed. This can help you adjust to the speed, making it easier to follow along and practice your shadow speak.
  • Record your shadow speech and compare it to the original. This will help you identify areas for improvement and boost your confidence in speaking.
  • Finally, practice regularly. The more you engage with the material, the quicker your speaking skills will improve. Join online discussions related to the video as a way to further develop your vocabulary and fluency.

Utilizing these strategies on a shadowing site, you can refine your English skills effectively while gaining insight into a crucial global issue—education inequality. Embrace this journey of learning and let your voice be heard!

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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