Shadowing Practice: New Tesla Bot Optimus Gen 3 Revealed! - Learn English Speaking with Video

In this episode, Starship finally makes it to orbit, Tesla accidentally leaks Optimus Gen 3,

and drone footage shows the TerraFab coming together at a shocking pace.

I am not the usual voice for this channel, that's done by our friend Sean, and he and his wife are welcoming a new baby into the world right now,

so we're giving him a day off and I'm going to take over here for today.

Let's start with the big one, because this week SpaceX did something it's been working towards for years.

In the morning of September 28th, Starship lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on its 14th flight.

All 33 engines on the super -heavy booster lit up, putting out about 18 million pounds of thrust.

On the three -hour mission that followed, the ship reached orbit, released 26 brand -new Starlink satellites, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

Here is a fun bit of timing, though.

That launch came 10 years and one day after Elon first presented the design that would become Starship.

Now, I want to explain why reaching orbit is such a big deal, because this might surprise you.

You have probably seen a few Starship launches over the years.

Some went great, and some, well, turned into very expensive fireworks.

So you might assume that Starship has been trying to reach orbit this whole time and just kept falling short.

That is not what actually happened.

Every single Starship flight before this one has intentionally been suborbital.

SpaceX deliberately flew the ship on what's called a passive safe path.

Once the engines shut off, the ship will naturally fall back down into a safe landing zone over the ocean, no matter what else happened.

Think of it like a pilot practicing takeoffs and landings before attempting a cross country flight.

Going to orbit is a whole different ballgame.

Once you're in orbit, you stay up there until you fire an engine to bring yourself back down.

And Starship isn't like normal space junk that burns up on the way down.

It's built to survive re -entry, and it is so tough that it comes down in one piece. So

if a Starship ever got stuck in orbit with no other

way to steer itself home it would eventually come back down somewhere in south america africa

or asia that's why spacex waited until they were confident everything

would work flight 14 was the first time spacex actually aimed for orbit

and it got there on the first try it wasn't easy

though this one was a real nail biter the ship has

six engines three with big nozzles built for the vacuum of space and three smaller ones.

About seven and a half minutes into the flight, one of those big vacuum engines shut down early.

SpaceX's rule for this mission was simple.

The ship would only commit to orbit if the team was confident it could safely bring itself back down afterwards.

So, for a moment, SpaceX actually announced it would not go for orbit.

Then, the flight team ran more checks, confirmed the engines it needed for the rest of the mission were healthy, and reversed to that call.

About 25 minutes into the flight, one of the ship's small center engines relit for just a few seconds.

That little kick was all it took to push Starship into orbit, about 170 miles above the Earth, moving at more than 16 ,000 miles per hour.

Then came the part SpaceX really cared about.

About 35 minutes into the mission, right over the southern tip of Africa,

the ship opened a slot -like door on its side and started pushing out Starlink V3 satellites one after another.

A bit like a candy from a PEZ dispenser.

It kept it to blowing across the Indian Ocean and over Indonesia.

As the ship crossed into the night side of the Earth, its cameras caught a string of bright dots trailing behind.

And the last two satellites even switched on lights so we could watch them drift away.

All 26 made it out, and SpaceX confirmed it made contact with everyone.

These satellites are a much bigger deal than they might sound.

Starlink's V3 satellites are monsters.

Each weighs in around 2 ,000 kilograms, about twice as heavy as the older ones,

and they're so big that they don't fit inside the SpaceX workhorse rocket Falcon 9.

Starship is the only vehicle that can launch them.

The real story is what they can do.

Each one can handle about 1 terabit of data, roughly 10 times more than the current generation.

Here's the kicker, though.

26 satellites is only about half of what Starship can carry.

A full load of up to 60 V3s would add about

as much network capacity as 20 Falcon 9 launches with the older satellites.

And unlike the satellites on Flight 13, which were deliberately sent to burn up in the atmosphere after testing, these ones are staying up there.

They're expected to start serving real Starlink customers within the next few weeks.

That makes flight 14 the first Starship mission to actually make

SpaceX money Then SpaceX had one more decision to make how long to stay up

The full plan called for six trips around the planet before landing off the coast of Chile.

That longer stay would have shown how well the Starship keeps its super -cold fuel from boiling away in space,

something that it will need to master before any trip to the moon or Mars.

But with the engines already acting up, SpaceX chose to come home early, to a backup landing zone north of Hawaii.

Over the tip of South Africa, a single engine relit again for just a few seconds and the ship began its fall back to earth.

It re -entered over Asia straight into a gorgeous sunrise above the clouds, steering itself with its flaps like a skydiver and flipped upright for its landing burn.

Now, in fairness, the mission was not perfect.

The booster lost one engine on the way up and only relit 31 of its 33 engines for its re -entry burn,

although it still came down under control into the water just off the coast.

The ship's mission was cut short from about 10 hours to just over three, and after a soft touchdown in the Pacific, the ship exploded.

That's not really a big deal, though.

Flight 13's ship tipped over and floated, and honestly, that was probably just luck.

But none of that changes the headline.

SpaceX set two main goals for Flight 14.

Get Starship to orbit and put working Starlink satellites into space.

It did both and brought the ship home under control.

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Speaking of Elon's big bets, let's talk about the Optimus robot.

Because this week, Tesla may have accidentally shown us something Elon has been deliberately keeping under wraps all year.

Optimus Gen 3.

Here is how it happened.

A well -known Tesla community member named Whole Mars was digging

through the files inside a recent version of the Tesla Android app.

He found 3D models of Optimus labeled Gen 3, sitting right next to the older Gen 2 .5 version.

He posted the images on X late one night, then he deleted them.

By then, though, it was too late.

The leaked images had already been re -shared and spread across the internet.

So, what is the difference?

Honestly, it's quite a lot.

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If you've seen previous Optimus, you probably remember its exposed mechanical parts and the gold plating on its knees and shins.

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That is all gone.

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Gen 3 has matte black covers on its lower legs and a smoother, more sculpted champagne gold body.

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The panels fit tighter together, and flexible covers now seal the area where the torso meets the upper thighs, keeping dust and debris away from the moving parts.

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And the hands, which Tesla has said have 22 degrees of freedom, look a lot more refined than before.

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The simple way to describe it is this.

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The old Optimus looked like a prototype built in a lab.

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This one looks like a product built in a factory and designed for customers.

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And that's exactly the point.

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What makes this leak so funny is that Elon has been intentionally holding this design back.

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Earlier Earlier this year, he said Optimus 3 was already walking around, but still needed some finishing touches before it could be shown.

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Later, he said Tesla would keep the design hidden until closer to production, partly so competitors couldn't copy it.

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And then it shows up inside Tesla's own app.

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Now, these are 3D models built for the app interface, not an official reveal.

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So the Optimus 3's final design could still change, but this is by far the clearest look we've had at Gen 3.

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The fact that it's in the app at all tells us something.

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Back in July, code inside the Tesla app hinted at features like a phone key for your robot, a consent screen for Optimus while it works collecting video in your home,

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and alerts for low battery or mechanical problems.

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Based on these, it seems like Tesla is already hard at work building the whole experience of owning one of its Optimus robots.

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The factories are coming together too.

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Tesla tore out the old Model S and Model X lines at its Fremont plant to make room for Optimus.

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With a planned capacity of 1 million robots per year, and at Giga Texas, a dedicated Optimus factory is targeting a 2027 start,

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with Elon talking about building tens of millions per year.

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If Optimus is going to need millions of AI chips, Tesla and SpaceX are going to need somewhere to build them.

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That brings us to the TeraFab.

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Here is a quick refresher.

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TerraFab is a giant chip factory that Tesla and SpaceX are building together.

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It's designed to make the AI chips for Tesla cars, its Optimus robots, and SpaceX data centers in orbit.

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The main production complex is going up in Grimes County, Texas, northwest of Houston.

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And when it's done, it's planned to cover more than 100 million square feet.

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That is around 10 times the size of Giga Texas, which is already one of the biggest factories on Earth

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and this week we got a look at how fast things are moving.

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Drone pilot Joe Tegmeyer, who's been flying over Tesla's Texas projects for years,

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took new footage of the site and compared it with the previous flight on September 11th, just two weeks earlier.

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The difference is pretty remarkable.

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Back in August, the story was mostly land clearing.

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Crews were cutting down trees and burning brush.

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Now there is real foundation work being done.

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On one large rectangular section of the site concrete footings are mostly poured

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and more steel rebar is already set in place just waiting

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for concrete the cleared area to the north has widened significantly

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on the south side an area joe described as a small

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postage stamp of cleared land has grown many times larger even

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the starlink ground station antennas on the site have been moved

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to make room now let me explain why footings matter before

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you can put up a building especially one this massive you have to give it something solid to stand on.

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Footings are the concrete anchors buried in the ground that carry the weight of everything above them.

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So once you start seeing footings go in, it means a project has moved beyond clearing land into actually laying the groundwork for the building itself.

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Now, Tesla and SpaceX haven't announced an official opening date, and a factory this size will take years to build.

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But if there's any team on Earth

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that can build something this massive this fast it is this

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one just look at giga texas tesla broke ground on an empty patch of land outside austin in mid 2020

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and by spring 2022 it was already building model y's there

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less than two years for one of the biggest factories in the world

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and look at starbase spacex turned a quiet stretch of the

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texas coast into a full -blown rocket city complete with the factory, launch pads, and towers, and just sent a starship into orbit.

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Most companies would treat a project like TerraFab as a once -in -a -generation undertaking.

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For Tesla and SpaceX, it's starting to look like just another giant build.

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And judging by the last two weeks, they are not wasting any time.

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So before we go, if you enjoyed this episode, do yourself a favor and click on the link on screen to sign up for our free newsletter.

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Right now, for a limited time, everyone who signs up through that link gets a special bonus, a little mystery gift from us, just to you.

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I won't spoil what it is, but if you want the full story behind everything Tesla's been up to lately, you're going to want to grab it.

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It's completely free, it takes about 10 seconds, so click that link and get your bonus.

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We'll see you in the next one, and Sean will be back to voice that one for you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 163 sentences and 2377 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:30. The speaker talks at a natural 176 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 80% 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
tesla noun	/ˈtɛslə/	In the International System of Units, the derived unit of magnetic flux density or magnetic inductivity.
orbit noun	/ˈɔɹ.bɪt/	An elliptical movement of an object about a celestial object or Lagrange point, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
satellite noun	/ˈsætəlaɪ̯t/	A moon or other smaller body orbiting a larger one.
robot noun	/ˈɹoʊ.bɑt/	An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal.
footing noun	/ˈfʊtɪŋ/	A ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on.
concrete adjective	/ˌkɑnˈkɹit/	Real, actual, tangible.
chip noun	/t͡ʃɪp/	A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material.
leak noun	/liːk/	A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
deliberately adverb	/dɪˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹət.li/	Intentionally, or after deliberation; not accidentally.
bonus noun	/ˈbəʊ.nəs/	Something extra that is good; an added benefit.
confirm verb	/kənˈfɝm/	To strengthen; to make firm or resolute.
mechanical adjective	/məˈkænəkəl/	Related to mechanics (the branch of physics that deals with forces acting on matter).
footage noun	/ˈfʊtɪd͡ʒ/	An amount of film or tape that has been used to record something, or the content of the recording.
rocket noun	/ˈɹɑk.ɪt/	A cylindrical projectile that can be fired to a great height through combustion, (specifically) a type of firework of this form, typically exploding with light…
asset noun	/ˈæsɛt/	A thing or quality that has value, especially one that generates cash flows.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
stay up verb		To remain awake; to not go to bed.
back down verb		To take a less aggressive position in a conflict than one previously had, or has planned to have.
act up verb	/ækt ˈʌp/	To misbehave; to cause trouble.
check out verb		To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
come back verb		To return to a place.
come down verb		To descend, fall down, collapse.
come together verb	/ˈkʌm tʊˈɡɛðɚ/	To assemble; to congregate; to combine.
cut down verb		To cut downward.

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	have probably seen · has added · has been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was cut · are headed · is sponsored
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Texas, which is · everyone who signs

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 16 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, they're, couldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: smooth /smuːð/, northwest /nɔɹθˈwɛst/, thrust /θɹʌst/, thigh /θaɪ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/, shock /ʃɔk/, brush /bɹʌʃ/, champagne /ʃæmˈpeɪn/, splash /splæʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: deliberately /dɪˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹət.li/, mechanical /məˈkænəkəl/, accidentally /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like tesla, orbit, satellite.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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