Shadowing Practice: How Big Is The Biggest Black Hole? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
The size of black holes is insane.
2
One of the smallest known black holes is J1650.
3
Its diameter is about as long as Manhattan, but it's got a mass of 3 .8 of our suns.
4
Step up is this black hole, Messier 15.
5
It's about the size of Mars, with a mass of 4 ,000 suns.
6
Now we're getting to the lower limit of what's considered a supermassive black hole.
7
This one's about the same size as our sun, but 100 ,000 times its mass.
8
And get this, the black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A, is about this size compared to the sun to our sun and has 4 million times its mass.
9
We captured this image of it in 2022.
10
Now comes the truly insane.
11
The black hole in galaxy M87 weighs 5 .4 billion suns.
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It was the first to be imaged in 2019.
13
And then one of the largest black holes ever discovered weighs a whopping 66 billion times more than our sun.
14
And finally there's Phoenix A star, estimated to have a mass of a hundred billion suns.
15
We haven't measured it directly, and ton 618 is farther away than Phoenix A *.
16
So we're seeing it farther back in time.
17
We made a whole longer video all about black holes, so subscribe.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “How Big Is The Biggest Black Hole?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: hole, sun, mass, size, billion. This video has 17 sentences and 206 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:10. The speaker talks at a natural 176 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 13 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| insane adjective | /ɪnˈseɪn/ | Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad. |
| galaxy noun | /ˈɡæl.ək.si/ | Any of the collections of many millions or billions of stars, galactic dust, black holes, etc. existing as independent and coherent systems, of which there are… |
| weigh verb | /weɪ/ | To determine the weight of an object. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| capture verb | /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/ | To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem. |
| discover verb | /dɪˈskʌvə/ | To find or learn something for the first time. |
| estimate noun | /ˈɛs.tɪ.mət/ | A rough calculation or assessment of the value, size, or cost of something. |
| diameter noun | /daɪˈæmɪdɚ/ | Any straight line between two points on the circumference of a circle that passes through the center of the circle; a chord that passes through the center of… |
| subscribe verb | /səbˈskɹaɪb/ | To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name). |
| supermassive adjective | Extremely massive; of extraordinary mass. | |
| whopping adjective | /ˈ(h)wɑpɪŋ/ | Exceptionally great or large. |
| hole noun | /hoʊl/ | A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; a dent; a depression; a fissure. |
| measure noun | /ˈmeɪ.ʒɚ/ | A limit that cannot be exceeded; a bound. (Now chiefly in set phrases.) |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| step up verb | To increase, augment, or advance, especially by one or more steps. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't measured |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be imaged |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, haven't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, measure /ˈmeɪ.ʒɚ/
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 insane, galaxy, weigh.
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.