Shadowing Practice: How to talk about CLIMATE CHANGE in English - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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How do you talk about climate change in English and with confidence?
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How do you talk about climate change in English and with confidence?
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Let's find out.
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Hello, this is Keith from English Speaking Success and also if you didn't know I run the website Keith Speaking Academy.
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Nice to see you here,
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hoping to, well, help you speak better English,
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give better answers and get a higher score on IELTS Speaking.
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So today I'm going to take you on a rather quick
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tour of the key language you need to speak about climate change.
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We're going to look at five things.
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You're going to learn key terminology,
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some advanced collocations, some useful verbs,
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some nice phrasal verbs, and five, some idiomatic expressions.
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It doesn't get any better.
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Let's do it.
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Right, let's dig in first with some terminology.
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First one, of course, climate change.
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Of course, this is the long-term change to the weather and the temperature in the world.
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We're getting more extreme weather,
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storms and flooding and so on.
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And of course, global warming as the planet gets warmer or hotter.
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Number two, CO2, not CEO.
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CO2 is carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide.
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Carbon dioxide is one of the gases.
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It's one of the greenhouse gases that contributes to global warming and climate change.
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It's kind of seen as the baddie,
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the not good gas, that is part of the problem.
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The next one, carbon emissions.
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Difficult to say, carbon emissions.
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Can you say it?
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Great, so carbon emissions is how much carbon we put into the atmosphere.
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So when we burn fossil fuels,
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like oil, gas, coal, then what happens is we're putting CO2 into the air.
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This is the damage we do.
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Of course, there are also natural carbon emissions,
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for example, from breathing or decomposition as well.
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Next one, carbon footprint.
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You know when you walk on the sand,
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you leave a footprint in the sand and you can see where you've been.
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Carbon footprint is the same idea.
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It's how much CO2 you put into the atmosphere.
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And from your activities like using electricity,
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maybe taking a plane somewhere or driving your car,
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we can see how much CO2 you're putting out.
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That's your carbon footprint.
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It can apply to a person,
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to a company, to an event, the carbon footprint.
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Next, carbon neutral.
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The idea here is that
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when the CO2 we put into the environment is the same as the CO2 we take out of the environment,
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then it's carbon neutral, it's level.
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So for example, if you're driving your car to your friend's house,
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you're putting CO2 into the atmosphere from your car,
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the fuel from the car.
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However, if when you get to your friend's house,
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you plant a tree, the tree will be taking in CO2 and that can balance out so you're carbon neutral.
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Clever, hey?
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Although your friend's gonna end up with a lot of trees in his garden.
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Next, net zero emissions.
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To be honest, it's the same as carbon neutral.
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So all of the big governments around the world are now striving to have net zero emissions
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so that at the end of the day,
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what they put out and what they bring in is gonna be the same.
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So there's no extra CO2 causing climate change.
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So you'll hear governments talking about net zero commitments.
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They have a net zero commitment to be carbon neutral in the near future.
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So we all have to reduce our carbon footprints.
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Well, there's things that governments can do,
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there's things individuals can do.
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That's the topic for another video.
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Finally, renewable energy.
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So we've got energy that comes from things like coal,
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gold, no coal, gas, these fossil fuels,
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that once we've used them, boom, they're gone.
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We can't renew them, we can't use them again.
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However, things like the sun,
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water, and the wind, we can get energy from these sources,
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and they are renewable because we can use them again.
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Renewable energy.
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So energy from the sun, we call solar energy.
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Energy from water, we call hydro energy.
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And energy from the wind, we call wind energy.
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There are others like geothermal,
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but without getting too complex.
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That's the main thing, renewable energies.
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That's what we're all talking about.
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That's what we're all striving for.
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Well, most of us.
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Great terminology, done.
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Let's move on.
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Okay, let's look now at advanced collocations.
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So when you listen to governments and activists and organizations talk about climate change,
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you're gonna hear these kind of collocations.
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They're used a lot, very, very important.
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First of all, let's look at some words and collocations that use the idea of big,
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something is big.
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Now, people don't say it's a big challenge, right?
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Because, well, you go, okay,
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well, passing IELTS is a big challenge.
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So in order to make people wake up and to capture their attention,
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often politicians and journalists use different words.
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They will say, climate change is an unsurmountable challenge.
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Unsurmountable means you cannot get over it.
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It's an unsurmountable challenge.
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Can you say that?
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An unsurmountable challenge.
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Great.
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People could say, well, it has a big impact, right?
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Deforestation, that's cutting down trees, has a big impact.
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Well, okay.
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Or it has a serious impact.
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Much more powerful.
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Deforestation has a serious impact.
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We could also say, there's a big need to do that.
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Well, yes, I mean, there's a big need to go running in the evening and get fit.
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But talking about climate change, there's an urgent need.
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You'll hear this all the time.
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There's an urgent need for us to reduce our carbon footprint.
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Can you say that?
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There's an urgent need for us to reduce our carbon footprint.
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Lovely, good.
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Another one for big is,
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well, a big change, right?
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We need to make a big change.
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Well, that's not very exciting.
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No, we need to make a drastic change.
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This sense of it's more than big,
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it has to be radical.
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We need to make a drastic change.
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Lovely, great.
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So we've looked at big, what about easy?
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Now, often we see other words for easy.
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I'm just gonna throw one at you.
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And instead of saying, there is no easy solution,
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you often hear, there is no straightforward solution.
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Straightforward solution.
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Can you say?
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Great, so there is no straightforward solution to climate change.
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Okay, there are some nice nifty collocations.
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Let's move on.
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Okay, let's look now at four useful verbs to talk about climate change with confidence.
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I'm going to test you first to see what you say,
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and then we'll look at the answer.
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There are different possibilities, so let's have a look.
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The first one is to blank a target.
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What would you say?
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Right, so the most common is probably to reach a target.
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Here's your target and you reach the target.
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If you listen to people talking at COP26,
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the big climate change conference,
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they're talking about the urgent need to reach the 1.5 target.
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That is to limit global warming of the planet's surface to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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So to reach a target,
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you can say to hit a target,
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to attain a target, or to achieve a target.
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All of those are fine.
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Number two, to blank solutions.
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Okay, now you may talk about to find solutions,
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but I'm thinking not only to find,
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but to implement solutions, right?
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So we talk about implementing solutions.
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You could also say to put into place solutions.
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Okay, so it's not only finding,
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but it's making it happen.
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That's the key thing.
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Next one, number three, to blank sustainable.
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Yeah, this one's a straightforward answer.
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to become sustainable, right?
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So we need our industries to become sustainable.
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We need our lifestyle to become sustainable.
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Something that can carry on for a long time without causing harm or damage.
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Okay, last but not least, to blank emissions.
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There are different possibilities, but if we're talking about climate change,
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then we're probably talking about to reduce emissions.
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You could say to lower emissions,
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to cut back on emissions.
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The other interesting one is to offset emissions.
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Do you remember the friend with all the trees in his garden, right?
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What's happening there is you're driving the car,
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You're doing something that's having a negative impact.
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You're planting the tree has a positive impact.
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So when you balance a negative and a positive,
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then you offset the negative with the positive.
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So there are lots of carbon offset schemes now where you can offset emissions by doing something positive
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for the environment, I mean.
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Okay, great, nice useful verbs.
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Let's move on.
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Right, next up, phrasal verbs.
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I've got four phrasal verbs for you.
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A phrasal verb, by the way,
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is a verb plus a particle or an adverbial particle or a preposition like in,
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on, out, under, away, from.
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And often the phrasal verb is a bit idiomatic.
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So the words don't mean exactly the same, right?
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For example, to cut down a tree, right?
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Is to cut down a tree.
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It's very clear what it means.
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But to cut down on smoking doesn't mean you're cutting your cigarettes.
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It's more idiomatic.
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It means to reduce how much you smoke.
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So that's the first one, right?
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The cut down on coal.
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We need to cut down on coal means to reduce.
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Cut down on how much coal we use.
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We need to cut down on our use of fossil fuels,
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for example, cut down on.
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Number two, very similar meaning,
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right, to reduce, cut back on.
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We need to cut back on coal.
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We need to cut back on coal production.
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Nice.
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Number three also means to reduce,
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but to do it slowly phase out.
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There's an urgent need to phase out our use of carbon, for example.
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Lastly, we've got to give up something,
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meaning to stop doing it or having it.
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We need to give up our way of life.
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Give up, give up.
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We need to give up our way of life.
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We need to give up our excessive use of coal,
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water and fossil fuels, for example.
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Okay, I said this was a whirlwind tour, a very quick tour.
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Let's move on next to some idiomatic expressions.
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So let's look at some idiomatic expressions.
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First of all, do your bit,
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to do your bit means to make your contribution,
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to do something that is expected of you, right?
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So when it comes to climate change,
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you can do your bit by eating less meat,
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by driving less frequently, by taking a bicycle instead.
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A similar expression is to play your part.
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You can play your part by turning off the lights when you leave the room.
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Next one, kick the can down the road.
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Now a can, maybe a can like this is a can of a drink.
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When you kick the can down the road,
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it means you're delaying making a difficult decision.
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When Greta Thunberg went into the UN climate change meeting and she said, How dare you?
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Because she knew that governments around the world were kicking the can down the road.
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They were delaying the decision to act on climate change.
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Kick the can down the road.
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Can you say that?
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Lovely.
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Next one, to grapple with an issue.
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We are grappling with this issue,
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but it's difficult to solve.
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So to grapple with an issue or a problem or difficulty is to try hard to solve it,
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but it's very difficult.
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So governments around the world are grappling with the issue of climate change.
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Nice.
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Next one, face a problem head on, head on.
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Here's the problem.
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So instead of looking kind of to the side,
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head on, face the problem head on,
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means to directly try to handle or deal with the problem.
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So you may find with problems that we often try to avoid them or ignore them.
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What we should do is face the problem head on and solve it, implement solutions.
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Next one, to put our heads in the sand or to put your head in the sand,
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or if it's me, I'm putting my head in the sand.
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It comes from the famous bird,
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the ostrich, who we think puts its head in the sand and it means to ignore a situation.
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I think you have this expression in several other languages.
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So sometimes governments are accused of putting their head in the sand when they refuse to talk about climate change.
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Don't put your head in the sand.
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Look up, face the problem head on.
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The last expression is to make a dent in a problem.
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To make a dent in a problem means to have a small impact, not enough.
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We often say, we can't even make a dent in this problem.
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We can't even make a dent in this problem.
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It means we can't have any impact, we can't reduce it.
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Again, let me take my can.
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Thank you Guinness, not sponsoring.
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But if I take a hammer and my can,
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then I dent the can, can you see that?
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But that doesn't solve the problem, right?
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It's just a very small impact.
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So I can't make a dent in the problem.
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I can't even have a small impact.
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I can't reduce it.
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If we don't do something,
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if we don't take drastic action to make drastic change,
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then we're not even gonna make a dent in the problem of climate change.
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That's it.
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Lots of expressions, verbs, collocations,
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and things like that to help you speak with more confidence on the topic of climate change.
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I hoped you enjoyed the video.
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If you did, please remember to click on subscribe,
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turn on the notifications to find out about new and upcoming videos in the near future.
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In the meantime, go and check out my website, Keith Speaking Academy.
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If you're preparing for IELTS,
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it's a gold mine full of interesting stuff.
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See you soon, my friends.
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Take care.
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Bye-bye.
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Thank you.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Learning how to discuss climate change in English is not just about vocabulary; it’s about confidence in speaking. This video is an excellent resource for English learners, especially those preparing for the IELTS speaking practice. By focusing on climate change, a relevant and urgent topic, you can engage in meaningful conversations that can impact your understanding of global issues.
Utilizing the shadowing technique with this video allows you to mimic the speaker's intonation, pace, and pronunciation, helping you to internalize both the language and subject matter. Practicing through shadow speech enables you to become more articulate, making your delivery smoother and more engaging during discussions on climate-related themes.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In the video, several key expressions and grammatical structures are used that can enhance your speaking skills:
- "We can see how much CO2 you're putting out." This structure emphasizes the active voice, encouraging learners to use direct expressions when discussing environmental impact.
- "The idea here is that..." This phrase is an excellent way to introduce concepts clearly, making it easier for listeners to follow. It's a useful tool in IELTS speaking to present arguments or clarify your thoughts.
- "It’s kind of seen as the baddie." Using informal language or idiomatic expressions can make your speech sound more natural and relatable, which is beneficial during conversations or when answering questions in an exam.
By incorporating these structures into your practice sessions, particularly through a shadowing site, you will be equipped to handle discussions on climate change more effectively.
Common Pronunciation Traps
Some words and phrases from the video can pose challenges in pronunciation:
- Carbon dioxide: Make sure to stress the second syllable of "dioxide" (di-OX-ide) to sound more fluent.
- Carbon emissions: The word "emissions" can often be mispronounced; focus on the "mis" and "sions" parts to articulate clearly.
- Carbon neutral: Many learners could overlook the linking sounds here; practice saying it as "carbon-neu-tral" and pay attention to the fluent flow.
Listening carefully and repeating key phrases will not only aid in overcoming these pronunciation traps, but will also increase your confidence in discussing climate change topics. Engage in shadowing to reinforce correct pronunciation and improve your overall speaking ability.
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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