Shadowing Practice: How to Survive the Jurassic Period - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Time travel has just been invented. And congratulations!
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You're being sent 200 million years back to the Jurassic period.
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After hurling through time and space, you wake up to chirping birds and lush trees as far as the eye can see.
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The air is warm and moist, and the stresses of your modern life are beginning to melt away.
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That's when you hear leaves crunching behind you.
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Your skin starts to crawl, and you can tell you're being watched.
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A Tyrannosaurus Rex is deciding whether to have you for lunch, so you had better think quick.
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This is How to Survive the Jurassic Period.
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The Jurassic period is the second of three periods in the Mesozoic era, also known as the Age of Dinosaurs.
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It began right after one of the largest mass extinctions on Earth and lasted around 56 million years.
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So if traveling back home is out of your hands, you're settling in here for the long haul.
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During this time, the supercontinent known as Pangaea split apart because of all the tectonic plate movement at the Earth's crust.
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The rifting created new continents, as well as the Central Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
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These conditions allowed for marine organisms to diversify.
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And on land, plants and dinosaurs began to thrive.
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But living alongside dinos wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park.
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What would you do for shelter?
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How would you find food to eat?
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And could you defend yourself from some of the largest creatures to ever roam the planet?
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Step 1.
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Find shelter.
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Finding a safe place to rest your head for the night won't be an easy task.
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Many dinosaurs have strong nocturnal vision, making them highly capable night hunters.
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And others have a keen sense of smell, so hiding isn't an option either.
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Your best bet is to set up camp in a faraway cave.
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Just make sure it's not already occupied.
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Step 2.
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Become a Vegetarian.
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Realistically, a human wouldn't be able to single-handedly hunt and kill a dinosaur.
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And even if you could, the massive amount of meat left behind would attract too many other predators.
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Another option would be to steal dinosaur eggs for a protein boost.
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But only go for the nest if you're ready to face off with a protective mama dino.
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The safest route is to stick to eating the surrounding vegetation.
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Flowering plants haven't evolved yet, so you won't get any tasty fruits.
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Hopefully, you like seaweed and mushrooms.
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Step 3.
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Defend yourself from predators.
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The Jurassic period was full of extremely dangerous predators.
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This one is 15 meters long and can swim.
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This one hunts in packs.
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And this one's bite is three times stronger than that of a great white shark.
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Since you won't be able to out-muscle these massive creatures, try outsmarting them instead.
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Memorize their patterns of behavior to stay one strategic step ahead in your newfound existence.
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Research suggests that a human couldn't throw a spear hard enough to pierce a dinosaur's skin, so devising slingshots and traps might be a better use of your time.
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Step 4.
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Adjust to the climate.
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Lucky for you, the Jurassic era is believed to have had a favorable tropical climate, much like today's Central America.
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Global temperatures then were a few degrees Celsius hotter than modern day, because volcanic activity released extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
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But hot and humid weather is manageable to withstand, as long as you stay hydrated.
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Until we figure out how to go back in time, the chances of you walking with the dinosaurs are slim.
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When technology finally catches up, though, you'll be ready.
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And if time traveling makes you nervous, don't worry.
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We have a video for that, too, on another How to Survive.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 53 sentences and 625 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:17. The speaker talks at a steady 146 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- dinosaur /ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/ (noun) — Those animals of the clade Dinosauria that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct.
- predator /ˈpɹɛd.ə.tɚ/ (noun) — Any animal or other organism that hunts and kills other nonplant organisms (their prey), primarily for food.
- defend /dɪˈfɪnd/ (verb) — To ward off attacks against (something or someone).
- shelter /ˈʃɛltə/ (noun) — A place where a person or animal may find protection from the elements (especially rain, storms, or cold) sometimes as a place to sleep (such as a cave).
- atmosphere /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/ (noun) — The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
- egg /ɛɡ/ (noun) — An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell…
- alongside /əˌlɔŋˈsaɪd/ — Side by side with.
- muscle /ˈmʌs.əl/ (noun) — A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.
- strategic /stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/ (adjective) — Of or pertaining to strategy.
- flower /ˈfloʊɚ/ (noun) — A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with angiosperms, frequently scented and attracting various insects, and which may or may not be used for sexual…
- boost /buːst/ (verb) — To lift or push from behind (one who is endeavoring to climb); to push up.
- steal /stiːl/ (verb) — To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
- congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/ — Expressing praise and approval, expressing approbation.
- hunter /ˈhʌntɚ/ (noun) — One who hunts game for sport or for food; a huntsman or huntswoman.
- settle /ˈsɛtəl/ (verb) — To determine (something which was exposed to doubt or question); to resolve conclusively; to set or fix (a time, an order of succession, etc).
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- catch up (verb) — To pick up suddenly.
- do for (verb) — To doom; to bring about the demise of someone; to injure or harm someone.
- figure out (verb) — To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
- go for (verb) — To try for, to attempt to reach.
- leave behind (verb) — To abandon.
- set up /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ (verb) — To make ready for use.
- settle in (verb) — To get comfortable or established, as in a new place.
- walk in (verb) — To come without an appointment to a place that would normally require one.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 14 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, won't, wouldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thrive /θɹajv/, withstand /wɪðˈstænd/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shelter /ˈʃɛltə/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, vegetation /ˌvɛd͡ʒəˈteɪʃən/, extinction /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/, mushroom /ˈmʌʃˌɹuːm/
- Long words — get the stress right: congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, vegetation /ˌvɛd͡ʒəˈteɪʃən/, organism /ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/, favourable /ˈfeɪv(ə)ɹəbəl/, diversify /daɪˈvɝ.sə.faɪ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like dinosaur, predator, defend.
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 | been invented · being sent · being watched |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has just been invented · haven't evolved |
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.