Shadowing Practice: Los Angeles braces for ‘explosive fire growth’ as high winds near | BBC News - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Firefighters in Los Angeles are warning that increasing winds could potentially result in explosive fire growth from the existing wildfires.
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Firefighters in Los Angeles are warning that increasing winds could potentially result in explosive fire growth from the existing wildfires.
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The mayor of Los Angeles,
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Karen Bass, said they were preparing for any eventuality.
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At least 24 people are known to have died and more than 20 are missing.
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Some fires continue to burn out of control.
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Emma Vardy reports.
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The debris still smolders.
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Thousands of acres of damage still untouched by recovery teams.
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Today, roadblocks and patrols by the National Guard have visibly increased.
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There have now been more than 60 arrests in evacuated areas,
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mainly for looting and burglary.
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The criminals have decided that this is an opportunity,
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and I'm here to tell you that this is not an opportunity.
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You will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be punished to the full extent of the law.
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Some have lost more than possessions.
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One of the victims of the Palisades fire was 32-year-old Rory Sykes,
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a child actor from the 90s British TV show Kiddy Capers.
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He lived with cerebral palsy and his mother says she escaped but could not save him.
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The biggest fear I had was that it might burn and hurt,
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because I think burning must be the most painful death.
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And the fire department chiefs said,
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no, he will have died of carbon monoxide poisoning first.
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I just can't believe my baby's not going to be here.
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The clean-up task is so vast it will stretch on for months.
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There have been promises by officials that the rebuilding process will be made as quick as possible
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by cutting red tape to help people put their lives back together.
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But there's frustration that in many places it's still too dangerous to start.
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And the job of rehousing people will take time.
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It will take months if not years.
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I know that in Hawaii it took at least temporary housing to occur for a year
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so we don't know what the situation will be here.
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All around signs of the trauma the city has suffered as the fires overwhelmed communities.
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As people try to escape from the oncoming flames in this part of Pacific Palisades many just abandoned their cars
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and you can imagine the sense of panic many just appearing to have crashed into each other as they tried to flee.
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you can see why they ran because here's what's left after the fire reached this spot not long after.
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23 people are still missing and many addresses are still to be searched for human remains.
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Well everyone in LA keeping a really close watch on the weather forecast.
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Let's look at that in more detail now and consider what it means for the firefighting efforts.
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I'm joined by Eric Holthaus,
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meteorologist and climate journalist at Currently Weather.
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Eric, thank you very much for joining us on BBC News.
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So what can LA expect as these winds strengthen again over the next couple of days?
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How strong will they get?
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Yeah, so thankfully, the winds won't be quite as strong as last week.
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But in Ventura County, which is a little bit north of Los Angeles,
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the winds might be a little bit stronger this time around.
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But in the areas where the fires are still burning,
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it won't be quite as bad as we saw last week.
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Yet, according to what we saw from the Daily Update,
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the news conference earlier today,
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the authorities clearly worried about what that could mean for the fire spreading potentially.
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And could it affect the ability of those aircraft,
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firefighting aircraft, to get up and drop loads of retardant and water?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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I mean, like, I should definitely say
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that last week was one of the strongest wind storms ever recorded in the Los Angeles area.
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So being not quite as bad as that is still pretty bad.
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I mean, and the exact words from the National Weather Service were,
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this is about as bad as it gets.
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So yeah, I think that the winds will be strong enough to keep some firefighting aircraft on the ground,
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unfortunately, and we'll continue to see no rainfall in the forecast looking out.
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So all these warm winds are just going to further dry the vegetation out for any spark
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that might happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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A combination of factors that really isn't good then for the firefighting efforts.
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I mean, beyond this next phase,
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Eric, of strengthening winds, is there any relief in sight for LA?
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Will the conditions become calmer at all?
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Unfortunately, looking out about as far as we can with weather and climate models,
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we are seeing no rainfall in sight,
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at least through the end of January and potentially into February as well.
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This is really unusual because this is the peak of the rainy season in Southern California normally.
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So there has never been a year in the last 150 years of records
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that has not had at least a little bit of rainfall up to this point in mid-January
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and we are right now the driest start to the rainy season on record
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so we're seeing a little bit of those climate change signals coming through in this week, unfortunately.
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So obviously that has a huge impact in terms of filling up reservoirs and so on that the public need,
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that firefighters need.
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Yeah, I mean, I think that in this case,
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the amount of water that is available for firefighters is there.
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I mean, if needed be,
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they can use the scoops from the Pacific Ocean to drop to drop water.
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But but I think it's more about the the actual vegetation,
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the landscape, the trees and brush that are just drying out with this very dry air,
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making it almost like matchstick kindling to burn.
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OK, so obviously everyone keeping a very close eye on whether the conditions then are in place for future fires,
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which inevitably will come to burn as ferociously.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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I think that that what we're seeing right now is kind of a sign of,
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you know, we've had 15 of the 20 most destructive wildfires in California history within the last 10 years.
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We're seeing that trend towards larger and more destructive fires as more people live closer into the mountains,
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into the brush.
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So unfortunately, this mix of really unusually dry weather and people being in the path,
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unfortunately, will likely continue at least for the next several weeks.
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OK, Eric, thank you very much.
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Eric Holthaus there, meteorologist.
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and in the next hour here on The Context we'll be talking to a captain with the LA Fire Department
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about what he and his colleagues might be facing over the next couple of days.
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Around the world and across the UK, this is BBC News.
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About This Lesson
This lesson allows you to practice speaking and listening skills by engaging with real-world news content. You will focus on the recent fires in Los Angeles, understanding the impact on the community, and improving your English pronunciation. By using techniques such as shadowspeak and shadowing, you'll enhance your awareness of vocabulary, context, and emotion associated with the narrative. This is a perfect exercise for those preparing for IELTS speaking practice, as it incorporates both informative content and conversational tones.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Explosive fire growth: A rapid and uncontrollable increase in the size and intensity of a wildfire.
- Evacuated areas: Zones from which residents have been temporarily removed for safety reasons.
- Carbon monoxide poisoning: A dangerous condition caused by inhaling carbon monoxide gas, often occurring in fire situations.
- Rehousing: The process of providing housing for people who have lost their homes.
- Community trauma: Significant emotional distress experienced by a community as a result of disaster.
- Roadblocks and patrols: Measures taken by authorities to restrict access to certain areas for safety and security.
- Recover teams: Groups of professionals working to clean up and stabilize affected areas after a disaster.
Practice Tips
To maximize your learning experience, try the following tips during your practice:
- Shadowing: Listen to the transcript at a moderate pace, then repeat phrases immediately after hearing them. Focus on mimicking the intonation and emotion of the speaker to improve your English pronunciation.
- Break it down: Start with shorter segments of the video. Pause frequently to repeat and absorb challenging vocabulary, gradually increasing the length as you become more comfortable.
- Record Yourself: Use your phone or a recording device to capture your voice. Listen back to identify areas where you can improve your tone and diction.
- Practice with a partner: Engage with a fellow learner or teacher in conversations based on the transcript's content. Discuss the implications of the news story and share your thoughts to enhance speaking fluency.
Incorporating these strategies into your routine on a shadowing site or during IELTS speaking practice will significantly aid your journey towards mastery of English. Remember to take your time, enjoy the process, and celebrate your progress!
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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