Shadowing Practice: Ken Burns - Stanford Commencement 2016 - shortened - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
You know, it's terribly fashionable these days to criticize the United States government, the institution Lincoln was trying to save,
2
to blame it for all the ills known to humankind.
3
And my goodness, ladies and gentlemen, let's be honest, it has made more than its fair share of catastrophic mistakes.
4
But you would be hard pressed to find in all of human history a greater force for good.
5
From our Declaration of Independence to our Constitution and Bill of Rights, from Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th,
6
14th, 15th, and women 19th Amendments, to the Land Grant College and Homestead Acts,
7
from the Transcontinental Railroad and our National Parks to Child Labor Laws, Social Security, and the National Labor Relation Acts,
8
from the GI Bill and the Interstate Highway System to putting a man on the moon and the affordable Care Act,
9
the United States government has been the author of many of the best aspects of our public and personal lives.
10
But if you tune in to politics, if you listen to the rhetoric of this election cycle,
11
you you are made painfully aware that everything is going to hell in a handbasket,
12
and the chief culprit is our evil government.
13
Part of the reason this kind of criticism sticks is
14
because we live in an age of social media where we are constantly assured that we are all independent, free agents.
15
But that free agency is essentially unconnected to real community,
16
divorced from civic engagement, duped into believing in our own lonely primacy
17
by a sophisticated media culture that requires you know desperately needs you to live in an all-consuming disposable present,
18
wearing the right blue jeans, driving the right car, carrying the right handbag, eating at all the right places,
19
blissfully unaware of the historical tides that have brought us to this moment blissfully uninterested in where those tides might take us.
20
Our spurious sovereignty is reinforced and perpetually underscored to our obvious and great comfort.
21
But this kind of existence actually ingrains in us a stultifying sameness that rewards conformity,
22
not courage, ignorance and anti-intellectualism, not critical thinking.
23
This wouldn't be so bad if we were just wasting our own lives.
24
But this year, our political future depends on it.
25
And there comes a time when I and you can no longer remain neutral, silent.
26
We must speak up and speak out.
27
For 216 years, our elections,
28
though bitterly contested, have featured the philosophies and characters of candidates who were clearly qualified.
29
That is not the case this year.
30
One is glaringly not qualified.
31
So before you do anything with your well-earned degree,
32
you must do everything you can to defeat the retrograde forces that have invaded our democratic process,
33
divided our house, to fight against, no matter your political persuasion,
34
the dictatorial tendencies of the candidate with zero experience in the much malign but subtle art of governance.
35
Who is against lots of things, but doesn't seem to be for anything,
36
offering only bombastic and contradictory promises and terrifying Orwellian statesman.
37
A person who easily lies, creating an environment where the truth doesn't seem to matter,
38
who has never demonstrated any interest in anyone or anything but himself and his own enrichment.
39
who insults veterans, threatens a free press, mocks the handicap, denigrates women, immigrants, and all Muslims.
40
A man who took more than a day to remember to disavow a supporter who advocates white supremacy
41
and the Ku Klux Klan.
42
An infantile, bullying man who, depending on his mood, is willing to discard old and established alliances,
43
treaties, and long-standing relationships.
44
I feel genuine sorrow for the understandably scared and they feel powerless people who have flocked to his campaign
45
in the mistaken belief that, as often happens on TV,
46
a wand can be waived and every complicated problem can be solved with the simplest of solutions.
47
They can't.
48
It is a political Ponzi scheme.
49
And asking this man to assume the highest office in the land
50
would be like asking a newly minted car driver to fly a 747.
51
As a student of history, I recognize this type.
52
He emerges everywhere and in all eras.
53
We see nurtured in his campaign an incipient proto-fascism,
54
a nativist, anti-immigrant know-nothingism, a disrespect for the judiciary,
55
the prospect of women losing authority over their own bodies, African Americans again asked to go to the back of the line,
56
voter suppression gleefully promoted, jingoistic saber-rattling, a total lack of historical awareness,
57
a political paranoia that predictably points fingers, always making the other wrong.
58
These are all virulent strains that have at times infected us in the past,
59
but they now loom in front of us again, all happening at once.
60
We know from our history books that these are the diseases of ancient and now fallen empires.
61
We know from our history books that these are the diseases of ancient and now fallen empires.
62
The sense of commonwealth, of shared sacrifice, of trust, so much a part of American life is eroding fast,
63
spurred along and amplified by an amoral internet
64
that permits a lie to circle the globe three times before the truth can get started.
65
We no longer have the luxury of neutrality or balance or even bemused disdain.
66
Many of our media institutions have largely failed to expose this charlatan,
67
torn between a nagging responsibility to good journalism and the big ratings a media circus always delivers.
68
In fact, they have given him the abundant airtime he so desperately craves,
69
so much so that it has actually worn down our natural human revulsion to this kind of behavior.
70
Hey, he's rich.
71
He must be doing something right.
72
He's not.
73
Edward R.
74
Murrow would have exposed this naked emperor months ago.
75
He is an insult to our history.
76
And do not be deceived by his momentary good behavior.
77
It's only a spoiled, misbehaving child hoping somehow to still have dessert.
78
This ...
79
And do not think that the tragedy in Orlando underscores his points.
80
It does not.
81
We must disenthrall ourselves, as Abraham Lincoln said, from the culture of violence and guns, and then we shall save our country.
82
This, ladies and gentlemen, is not a liberal or conservative issue, a red state, blue state divide.
83
This is an American issue.
84
Many honorable people, including the last two Republican presidents, members of the party of Abraham Lincoln,
85
have declined to support him.
86
And I implore those Vichy Republicans who have endorsed him to please, please reconsider.
87
We must remain committed to the kindness and community that are the hallmarks of civilization and reject the troubling,
88
unfiltered Tourette's of his tribalism.
89
The next few months of your commencement, that is to say your future, will be critical to the survival of the Republic.
90
The occasion is piled high with difficulty.
91
Let us pledge here today
92
that we will not let this happen to the exquisite yet deeply flawed land we all love
93
and cherish and hope to leave intact to our posterity.
✨ Recommend Video
C130
64 sentences
KenBurn 1
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
230 sentences
The Liberalism to Fascism Pipeline (Neoliberalism Explained)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
144 sentences
Toby Young | Woke Culture HAS Gone Too Far - 3/8 | Oxford Union
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B21
29 sentences
"Authoritarianism isn’t just policies, it’s an aesthetic.” Jon Stewart on Trump’s despotic decor
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
![Theodore Roosevelt "The Right of the People to Rule" Speech (1912) [AUDIO RESTORED]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kRaYxYTlGVM/mqdefault.jpg)
C13
43 sentences
Theodore Roosevelt "The Right of the People to Rule" Speech (1912) [AUDIO RESTORED]
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
384 sentences
President Obama Speaks at the General Assembly
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
60 sentences
Can You Say Why America is the Greatest Country in the World?
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C13
41 sentences
Finding Hope in a Fractured World | Joshua Luke Smith (Spoken Word)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C18
113 sentences
Climate Change Debate | Barry Gardiner MP | Proposition (3/8)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C19
193 sentences
Amartya Sen interview (1999)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1625 sentences
Harvard Law Library Book Talk | Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
B21
43 sentences
The difference between Trump and Obama
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Ken Burns - Stanford Commencement 2016 - shortened”. This video has 93 sentences and 1171 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:26. The speaker talks at a steady 112 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 77% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| blissfully adverb | /ˈblɪsfəli/ | In a blissful, happy or joyful manner. |
| underscore noun | /ˈʌn.dɚˌskoɹ/ | A line drawn or printed beneath text; the character _. |
| desperately adverb | /ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹət.li/ | In a desperate manner; without regard to danger or safety; recklessly. |
| insult noun | /ɪnˈsʌlt/ | Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect. |
| immigrant noun | /ˈɪmɪɡɹənt/ | A non-native person who comes to a country from another country to permanently settle there. |
| tide noun | /taɪd/ | The daily fluctuation in the level of the sea caused by the gravitational influence of the moon and the sun. |
| airtime noun | The duration during which a radio or television program (or part of one) is transmitted. | |
| amoral adjective | /eɪˈmɔɹ.əl/ | Done without consideration for morality or immorality. |
| amplify verb | /ˈæm.plə.faɪ/ | To render larger, more extended, or more intense. |
| bemuse verb | /bɪˈmjuːz/ | To confuse or bewilder. |
| bitterly adverb | /ˈbɪtəɹli/ | In a bitter manner. |
| bombastic adjective | /bɑmˈbæs.tɪk/ | showy in speech and given to using flowery or elaborate terms; grandiloquent; pompous |
| charlatan noun | /ˈʃɑɹlətən/ | A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit. |
| commencement noun | /kəˈmɛnsmənt/ | The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; the beginning. |
| conformity noun | /kənˈfɔːmɪti/ | The state of things being similar or identical. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| speak out verb | To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known. | |
| speak up verb | /ˌspik ˈʌp/ | To talk more loudly or clearly. |
| wear down verb | To cause (someone) physical or mental fatigue. |
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 | has made · has been · have brought |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are made · is reinforced · can be waived |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | person who easily · man who took · people who have |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as doesn't, can't, wouldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: charlatan /ˈʃɑɹlətən/, persuasion /pɚˈsweɪʒən/, revulsion /ɹɪˈvʌlʃən/, cherish /ˈt͡ʃɛɹɪʃ/, fashionable /ˈfæʃənəbl̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: desperately /ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹət.li/, conformity /kənˈfɔːmɪti/, contradictory /ˌkɑntɹəˈdɪktəɹi/, dictatorial [dɪktəˈtɔːɹɪəɫ], incipient /ɪnˈsɪp.i.ənt/
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 blissfully, underscore, desperately.
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.