Shadowing Practice: LA fires: Death toll from wildfires rises to 10, officials say | BBC News - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hello there, I'm Tighe Enright.
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Hello there, I'm Tighe Enright.
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We're starting in the United States,
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where at least 10 people have been killed in the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles,
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that death toll having been revised upwards just over an hour ago.
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Around 180,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes.
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Many neighbourhoods have been left unrecognisable.
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Residents have described the firestorm as apocalyptic.
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Officials say that thousands of homes and other structures have been damaged or destroyed.
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AccuWeather estimates the damage is expected to be worth at least $135 billion.
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It could go as high as $150 billion.
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And the National Guard has been deployed amid reports of looting.
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The biggest fires have been burning into a third night.
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Fierce winds have eased, giving firefighters some respite.
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Police say they believe one of the blazes in the west of the city We started deliberately.
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They're treating it as a crime scene.
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A suspect is in custody and will be questioned.
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Our North America correspondent, David Willis.
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Forgive me, we're going to go across live now or hear the latest from our correspondent, Helena Humphrey.
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I watched this house burn down live on the news.
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Yeah, this was a beautiful home.
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Had a lot of good times here.
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It's hard to put into words the level of devastation here.
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But the L.A.
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County Sheriff put it bluntly.
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In some areas, he said,
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it looks like a bomb had been dropped.
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So far, land more than twice the size of Manhattan lies in ruins.
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And still, these fires rage out of control.
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There is a new fire,
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unfortunately, in West Hills, pushing into Ventura County.
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and we are expecting this fire to rapidly spread due to high winds.
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This is a reminder that this is a very dynamic situation that can change quickly.
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On Thursday, a brief lull in those fierce Santa Ana winds allowed aircraft to streak across the skies,
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dropping water and fire retardant onto the flames.
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But there's no guarantee that that calm will last,
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with forecasters warning more winds could fan these infernos even further.
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The wind definitely played the biggest part,
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especially with the flying ambers.
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I mean, when we're seeing ambers,
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it's shooting over my head like,
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oh my gosh, that's somebody's house,
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that's someone's property, just balls of fire.
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Some residents have ventured back,
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bracing themselves for what they'd find,
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only to discover their homes reduced to little more than ash.
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Many told us they're simply too devastated to speak on camera.
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These fires don't discriminate, tearing through every kind of neighbourhood,
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from lavish mansions to humble bungalows.
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All of them wants a place of safety for someone.
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This looks like the apocalypse.
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It just doesn't feel like the normal things that happen in your life.
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This is something very unusual.
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And for others, the scope of this catastrophe confirms their growing fears about the changing climate.
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This is obvious that stuff like this is happening
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because of global warming and people
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that just want to deny it just don't know science and don't know how to research those things.
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So I think that humans are funny because they think anywhere they move in this world they'll be safe,
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but the entire world has global warming.
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I guess pick your disaster and live there.
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What disaster makes a human feel most comfortable?
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Because that's the world we're living in at this point.
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Here in Altadena, fire crews are out battling these hot spots.
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You can see that many homes like this one are still smouldering.
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And you can see here that this entire neighbourhood,
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this entire community has essentially been wiped out.
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We've been speaking to families here who have lived in these homes for generations
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and in just a matter of hours they've lost everything.
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And in some of the hardest hit areas a night time
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curfew is in place as some try to profit from the chaos.
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Looting has already led to multiple arrests.
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Meanwhile President Biden has pledged his support for all those affected.
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To the families who have been impacted by this disaster,
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you're living through a nightmare, I know.
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And I promise you, we're going to help you get through this and eventually recover and rebuild.
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But rebuilding is hard to imagine right now,
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when all these residents can do is wait,
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hoping and praying that the next gust of wind won't stoke the embers back into an inferno.
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Helena Humphrey, BBC News, Los Angeles.
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I spoke to our North America correspondent David Willis a short
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time ago who brought us up to date on what's happening where he is in Altadena.
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There is an eerie silence at this,
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the site of the Pasadena, Altadena fire.
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Behind me is all that remains of what was once a wood-framed family home.
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You can see, really, it is just the staircase leading to what was the upper floor.
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Over there is a family car that is completely burnt out
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and there is not a property on this street that has not been either completely destroyed or very badly damaged.
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Now earlier today another fire broke out,
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a very fast moving fire to the west of us here.
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That was very swiftly brought under control though after it spread
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to encompass about a thousand acres of land after firefighters used the dropping of water from helicopters and planes overhead.
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Now, police here are investigating the cause of that particular fire
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and they are questioning a man on suspicion of possibly committing arson.
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Now, the biggest blaze of all is,
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of course, the Pacific Palisades fire.
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That grew to about 17,000 acres or so.
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The good news there is that there is,
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I hear, some containment that's taken place.
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About 6% of that massive fire that,
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of course, destroyed hundreds of multimillion-dollar properties a few nights ago has now been contained.
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But there is a lot of work still to do there.
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And officials have been pinning their hopes on the fact
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that the winds were due to stay fairly calm for the next few hours before potentially whipping up again over the weekend,
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which could, of course, make their job all the more difficult.
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The disaster management efforts, these fires are burning into a third night.
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We've been hearing some firefighters have been struggling to get access even to water.
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How has that operation been ramped up?
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Well, it's going to ramp up considerably in the next few days.
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Indeed, it has over the last few hours and my colleague Ben is behind the camera at the moment,
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came here, traveled here from Nevada.
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He saw a convoy of fire trucks coming in from the state of Nevada,
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as indeed they are being drafted in from states all around here,
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Oregon, Arizona, Washington state, and so on.
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We're talking about mechanisms as well as machinery and mechanisms as well as manpower.
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400 additional firefighters have been brought in over the last few hours
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and the federal agencies and the White House are saying
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that whatever is needed here will be provided in order to get these sort of communities back on their feet.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

This video offers an urgent and dramatic context that can enhance your speaking skills as you engage with real-world issues. The coverage of wildfires in Los Angeles not only highlights the profound impacts of natural disasters but also provides opportunities to practice speaking about emergency situations, community responses, and human emotions. By discussing such topics, you can improve your fluency and vocabulary while practicing your pronunciation. Engaging with this content can lead to meaningful conversations about environmental concerns, resilience, and the human experience. Utilizing resources like a shadowspeaks platform can help you to improve English pronunciation while effectively mimicking the natural flow of the speakers in the video.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

In the video, several key grammatical structures and expressions stand out that can help English learners understand and articulate complex ideas with clarity. Here are a few notable examples:

  • Use of the present perfect tense: Phrases like "have been killed" demonstrate the use of the present perfect tense to discuss past actions that have relevance in the present, essential for conveying ongoing impact.
  • Passive voice: Expressions such as "have been ordered to leave" offer a chance to practice the passive voice, which is often used in reports to emphasize actions over the doer.
  • Imagery and descriptive language: The speaker uses vivid descriptions such as "apocalyptic" and "a bomb had been dropped," which can improve your ability to convey emotions and visualize situations effectively.
  • Reported speech: Phrases like "Officials say" or "Residents have described" encourage learners to practice reporting what others have said, a useful skill for discussions and storytelling.

Common Pronunciation Traps

When practicing speaking, it’s important to pay attention to specific pronunciation challenges highlighted in the video. Here are a few areas to focus on:

  • Words with silent letters: The term "firestorm" may be easy to read, but ensure you pronounce it clearly, focusing on each syllable to avoid blending the sounds.
  • Challenging consonant clusters: Phrases like "described the firestorm" may create difficulty for non-native speakers. Practice breaking down the sounds to ensure clarity when speaking.
  • Vowel sounds in "destroyed" and "devastation": These words contain specific vowel qualities that can be tricky; practicing them can significantly refine your pronunciation.
  • Intonation and stress: Listening to the shifts in the speaker's tone during dramatic parts of the report can help you develop a more natural rhythm in your speech.

Incorporate these elements into your practice sessions, perhaps using a shadowing app to repeat after the speaker, and you will find improvements in both your speaking abilities and your overall English proficiency.

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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