Shadowing Practice: Maintaining bird’s nest harvesting tradition | Vietnam Today - Learn English Speaking with Video
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28 sentences
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Now along Vietnam's south-central coast, where the Blue Ocean embraces rocky island clusters, Khánh Hòa province has long been home to a small little bird with electrical swiflet.
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And in particular, their nests harvested from a steep sea cliff reflect generations of courage, skills and expertise.
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And behind this remarkable profession is traditional knowledge that continues to be preserved today.
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For nearly 700 years, since the first bird's nest was discovered and harvested,
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the craft of bird's nest harvesting in Khanh Hoa has been preserved through knowledge passed down from generation to generation.
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With no formal training, every harvester learns by following their elders, reading the terrain, understanding swiftness behavior, and mastering the necessary skills through years of practice.
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Among them is Võ Văn Kam, a master harvester who has devoted his life to preserving this centuries-old craft.
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Bird's nest harvesting is a family tradition passed down through generations.
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There are no schools that teach this profession.
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To continue the trade, you learn directly from your parents and grandparents.
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Entering a swiflet cave requires skill, physical strength and courage.
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Behind every harvest lies a wealth of techniques passed down through generations.
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The harvesting equipment includes bamboo scaffolding, ropes, specialised knives, stainless steel harvesting tools and collection bags.
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To reach the caves safely, we build temporary walkaways and platforms,
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allowing us to move through the caves while minimizing risks from waves and strong winds.
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A typical harvest requires around 30 to 40 workers. In larger caves,
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we build bamboo scaffolding to reach the nests in narrow caves where people cannot enter who use long poles to collect them.
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In caves where scaffolding cannot be installed, workers rely on ropes and rope ladders to descend from the cliffs above.
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They must cling to the cave walls and use long poles to collect the nests.
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The knowledge passed down through generations is not only about harvesting techniques.
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It also includes principles for protecting the swiflet's natural habitat.
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This is an essential part of sustainable harvesting that helps preserve the species and its ecosystem.
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When entering the caves, we avoid bringing anything that could affect the swivelet's habitat.
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Harvesters carry only essential clothing and flashlights.
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Once harvesting is complete, we clean the caves and restore the environment to ensure a healthy habitat for the swivelets.
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Every bird's nest is more than a natural delicacy.
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It is the result of courage, skill and generations of knowledge.
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Today, the people of Khayng Hoa continue to preserve and pass on this unique maritime tradition, ensuring it lives on for generations.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Maintaining bird’s nest harvesting tradition”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cave, generation, harvesting, nest, skill. This video has 28 sentences and 425 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:04. The speaker talks at a steady 139 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 67% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| harvest noun | /ˈhɑɹ.vəst/ | The process of gathering the ripened crop; harvesting. |
| cave noun | /keɪv/ | A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside. |
| nest noun | /nɛst/ | A structure built by a bird as a place to incubate eggs and rear young. |
| preserve verb | /pɹəˈzɝv/ | To protect; to keep from harm or injury. |
| harvester noun | A machine that gathers the harvest (harvests the crop). | |
| scaffold noun | /ˈskæf.əld/ | A structure made of scaffolding for workers to stand on while working on a building. |
| habitat noun | /ˈhæb.ɪ.tæt/ | Conditions suitable for an organism or population of organisms to live. |
| rope noun | /ɹoʊp/ | Thick strings, yarn, monofilaments, metal wires, or strands of other cordage that are twisted together to form a stronger line. |
| courage noun | /ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/ | The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate. |
| bamboo noun | /bæmˈbu/ | Any of the fast-growing grasses of the Bambusoideae subfamily, characterized by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem. |
| cliff noun | /klɪf/ | A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face. |
| profession noun | /pɹəˈfɛʃ.ən/ | A promise or vow made on entering a religious order. |
| pole noun | /pəʊl/ | Either of the two points on the earth's surface around which it rotates; also, similar points on any other rotating object. |
| craft noun | /ˈkɹæft/ | Ability, skillfulness, especially skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs, adroitness, practical cunning… |
| delicacy noun | /ˈdɛlɪkəsi/ | The quality of being delicate. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pass down verb | To hand over, pass through or transfer to a lower level, next generation, etc. |
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 | be preserved · was discovered · has been preserved |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been preserved · has devoted |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: profession /pɹəˈfɛʃ.ən/, flashlight /ˈflæʃˌlaɪt/
- Long words — get the stress right: delicacy /ˈdɛlɪkəsi/, ecosystem /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/, sustainable /səˈsteɪnəbəl/
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 harvest, cave, nest.
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.