Shadowing Practice: National Geographic Reading Explorer 2 Unit 3 Walking with Giants - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, is best known for its ancient statues, the Moai.
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For some, these giant statues are evidence that aliens once visited Earth,
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and that these aliens made and moved the Moai.
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Scientists, however, have more Earth-bound theories.
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Most scientists agree that the stone statues were built far away from where they were eventually placed.
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The question is, how were they moved?
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In 1955, Norwegian adventurer and scientist Thor Heyerdahl suggested that the moai were perhaps dragged on top of tree trunks.
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This would have been very hard work, but it's possible.
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In 1970, William Malloy, an American researcher,
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theorized that the Rapa Nui people used a giant V-shaped frame to carry the Moai.
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However, others suggested this was unlikely.
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Traditional stories say the statues walked,
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so perhaps they were moved in a way that looked like walking. In 1986,
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Czech engineer Pavel Pavel worked with Heyerdahl to come up with a way of moving a statue with a twisting motion.
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And a year later, Charles Love stood his moai upright and rolled it forward on a sled on top of wooden logs.
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But for many, this still didn't look like walking.
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So, in 2011, Terry Hunt and Carl Lippo tried a new approach.
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They looked at the shape of the Moai statue standing along Rapa Nui's ancient roads, and found that their bottoms were not flat.
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As a result, they suggested another possible way the statues were moved.
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Perhaps three small groups of Rapa Nui moved the statue.
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Two groups to walk the statue forward, and one from behind to keep it standing.
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Hunt and Lippo tested their theory using a team of 18 people and a specially created 3 meter high statue.
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It was a great success.
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While no single theory has solved the puzzle of the walking Moai,
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they have provided interesting new ideas about this ancient mystery.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 25 sentences and 310 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:27. The speaker talks slowly, about 90 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 75% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| statue noun | /ˈstæt͡ʃu/ | A three-dimensional work of art, usually representing a person or animal, usually created by sculpting, carving, molding, or casting. |
| scientist noun | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research… |
| mystery noun | /ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/ | Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| log noun | /lɔɡ/ | The trunk of a dead tree, cleared of branches. |
| wooden adjective | /ˈwʊdn̩/ | Made of wood. |
| unlikely adjective | /ʌnˈlaɪkli/ | Not likely; improbable; not to be reasonably expected. |
| drag verb | /dɹæɡ/ | To pull along a surface or through a medium, sometimes with difficulty. |
| twist verb | /twɪst/ | To turn the ends of something, usually thread, rope etc., in opposite directions, often using force. |
| trunk noun | /tɹʌŋk/ | The usually single, more or less upright part of a tree, between the roots and the branches. |
| specially adverb | /ˈspɛʃəli/ | For a special purpose, person, or occasion. |
| puzzle noun | /ˈpʌzəl/ | The state of feeling confused or mystified because one cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; bewilderment, confusion; (countable) often in… |
| researcher noun | /ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/ | One who researches. |
| metre noun | /ˈmiːtəɹ/ | The basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Système International d'Unités), equal to the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in… |
| bind verb | /ˈbaɪ̯nd/ | To tie; to confine by any ligature. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
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 statue, scientist, mystery.
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 | were built · were moved |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has solved · have provided |
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.