Shadowing Practice: Rock Cycle | Igneous | Metamorphic | Sedimentary Rock - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Rocks are all around us, and every rock you see used to be different.
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Over time rocks change.
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They break down, wear away, or even mount, but never disappear.
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How do rocks transform from this to this?
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Let's find out together in this episode all about the rock cycle.
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There are three types of rock found on Earth.
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Metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous rock.
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We can classify each type of rock by how it was formed.
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Sometimes rocks form quickly, like when an erupting volcano spews molten rock into the air.
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And sometimes they change slowly, like when a rock is heated and compressed below
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Earth's surface for thousands or even millions of years.
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When you're looking at a rock, you're looking at history.
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Rocks may all seem the same at first, but they're all different and complex.
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The rock cycle shows how each type is formed in a different way, or how Earth's materials, driven by energy flow, change over time through melting,
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crystallization, weathering, erosion, and deformation.
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Within the Earth's crust and beneath the surface is molten rock
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or magma that can cool and solidify and turn into igneous rock.
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Let's take a look at Earth's layers to help us understand how this is possible.
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The Earth is made up of several layers that go all the way down to its core.
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The top layer of the Earth is slowly moving and shifting and is called the lithosphere.
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This layer consists of the Earth's crust and part of the upper mantle and makes up the tectonic plates, sometimes called lithospheric plates.
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These tectonic plates are being pushed together, pulled apart, or sliding past each other along surface faults.
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These movements are what create mountain ranges, seafloor trenches, and volcanoes.
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On the west coast of the United States, two plates are converging.
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The Pacific Plate is going underneath the North American Plate and begins to melt as it moves farther and farther down,
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eventually forming Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens, which are active volcanoes.
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Old Oceanic Crust is constantly being recycled in the subduction zones.
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This is where Oceanic Crust, being more dense, is subducted or sinks below the continental crust where it melts and is recycled into the mantle.
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Volcanoes like this are a great place to find molten rock and igneous rock.
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You can see this action modeled here.
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At the bottom of this beaker, I have wax to represent magma under the crust.
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A layer of sand is resting on top to represent a thin layer of oceanic crust.
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As the magma rises, it cools and solidifies.
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When magma comes to the surface, it makes brand new rocks.
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Any new rock that has changed from molten to solid is an igneous rock.
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Igneous rocks make up about 90 % of Earth's crust, though you may not notice because they are covered up by other rocks, soil, or ocean.
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One common kind of igneous rock is granite.
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Behind me is enchanted rock.
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A massive 425 5 foot high, 1 .1 billion year old pink granite dome.
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Here is an exfoliated piece for us to get a closer look.
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Another type of igneous rock is this obsidian, which is smooth and glassy.
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Both of these rocks were made of molten rock, so why do they look so different?
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Depending on whether magma cools above or below
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Earth's surface will determine the type of igneous rock that is formed.
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When magma cools and solidifies beneath
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Earth's surface, it forms intrusive igneous rock.
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This granite is intrusive igneous rock.
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It has only been exposed by erosion or the removal of the surrounding rock.
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Intrusive rocks like this cool slowly so they have more time for larger mineral crystals to form,
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which is why granite looks coarse -grained and we can see the crystals even without a microscope.
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When magma erupts to the surface, we call it lava.
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After lava cools and solidifies, it becomes extrusive igneous rock.
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This obsidian is volcanic glass formed when lava cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth.
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If you're still here liking this video, let us know
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And hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode.
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Once an igneous rock like granite is created, its journey isn't over.
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The rock begins to change through a process called weathering.
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Weathering wears away at exposed surfaces over time.
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It's the breakdown of rocks and minerals into smaller pieces or sediments.
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Brushing water in rivers can wear down sharp edges on rocks over time.
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High temperatures cause rock to expand, and falling temperatures cause rock to contract.
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As this cycle happens over and over again, the structure of the rock weakens.
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Eventually, the outer layers flake off in thin sheets, a process called exfoliation.
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That's what is happening here.
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You can see the curved cracks in peeling sheets.
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Looks a bit like a giant rock onion.
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All this sediment can be moved around or eroded by wind and water.
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Eventually, it will be deposited somewhere, joining sediment from other rocks at the bottom of a riverbed, lake, or ocean.
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Under the right circumstances, sediments can form into sedimentary rock.
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All the material in this sandstone once belonged to other rocks.
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These sedimentary rocks behind me were formed over 250 million years through the deposition of sediments in ancient seas and rivers,
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creating layers of red shale, sandstone, and gypsum.
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Rocks like these are formed when sediments undergo lithification.
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Before lithification can occur, we need sediments.
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So I'm going to create some candy sediments.
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This is taking a long time, so let's speed it up.
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That's better.
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The first step to lithification is called deposition.
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This is when sediment is deposited in a new location and it spreads out to form a layer.
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As more and more layers are created, the layers underneath them become pressed together.
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This is called compaction.
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Minerals settle between the sediment particles which makes everything stick together.
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This is called cementation, like cement.
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This is now our candy sedimentary rock.
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You can see the layers we started with the white and ended with the green.
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With enough heat or pressure, a metamorphic rock can be formed from any other type of rock,
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igneous, sedimentary, or even other metamorphic rocks.
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All of the minerals in the original rock recrystallize without having to melt down back into molten rock.
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The new metamorphic rocks are typically harder, more compact, and more resistant to weathering.
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Metamorphic means it's changed.
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We can create metamorphic rock with our sedimentary candy rock by adding heat and pressure.
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First, I'm going to use an old hairdryer to heat things up.
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Now, squishing action.
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Pressure!
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Squish!
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Pressure!
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Our sedimentary rock is now a metamorphic rock.
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These pink rock islands jutting up through the limestone are metamorphic rocks called valley spring gneiss.
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Intense heat and pressure applied to the original rocks over millions of years formed gneiss.
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The original rocks were sedimentary and igneous, likely granite.
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Rocks really never go away.
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They're changed and reused over time.
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This metamorphic rock can be heated up until it becomes like liquid lava.
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Once it cools, it's now an igneous rock.
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Back to the beginning.
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There are many pathways through the rock cycle.
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Metamorphic rocks and sedimentary rocks can become igneous rocks when they're melted and then cooled.
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Igneous rocks and sedimentary rocks can become metamorphic rocks when they're exposed to high heat and pressure.
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Igneous and metamorphic rocks can become sedimentary rocks if they're broken apart into sediments and go through lithification.
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So the next time you spot an interesting rock, see if you can tell.
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Is it sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic?
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And if you want to learn more science you can check out this video next.
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Pressure!
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Squish!
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Pressure!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
The speaker keeps coming back to these words: rock, igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, layer. This video has 115 sentences and 1278 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:01. The speaker talks at a steady 142 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 74% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| layer noun | /ˈleɪ̯ɚ/ | A single thickness of some material covering a surface. |
| melt verb | /mɛlt/ | To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat. |
| crust noun | /kɹʌst/ | A more solid, dense or hard layer on a surface or boundary. |
| granite noun | /ˈɡɹæn.ɪt/ | A group of igneous and plutonic rocks composed primarily of feldspar and quartz. Usually contains one or more dark minerals, which may be mica, pyroxene, or… |
| mineral noun | /ˈmɪn.ə.ɹəl/ | Any naturally occurring solid material that has a (more or less) definite chemical composition and characteristic physical properties; especially, an inorganic… |
| volcano noun | /vɑlˈkeɪ.noʊ/ | A vent or fissure on the surface of a planet (usually in a mountainous form) with a magma chamber attached to the mantle of a planet or moon, periodically… |
| lava noun | /ˈlɑvə/ | The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth. |
| mount verb | /maʊnt/ | To get upon; to ascend; to climb. |
| crystal noun | /ˈkɹɪstəl/ | A solid composed of an array of atoms or molecules possessing long-range order and arranged in a pattern which is periodic in three dimensions. |
| candy noun | /ˈkæn.di/ | Crystallized sugar formed by boiling down sugar syrup. |
| expose verb | /ɪkˈspoʊz/ | To reveal; to uncover; to make visible; to bring to light. |
| thin adjective | /ˈθɪn/ | Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. |
| sheet noun | /ʃit/ | A thin bed cloth used as a covering for a mattress or as a layer over the sleeper. |
| beneath | /bɪˈniːθ/ | Below. |
| deposit noun | /dɪˈpɑ.zɪt/ | Sediment or rock that is not native to its present location or is different from the surrounding material. Sometimes refers to ore or gems. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| break down verb | To stop functioning. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| cover up verb | To conceal or disguise. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| go away verb | To depart or leave a place. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| heat up verb | To heat, to cause to become hotter. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
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 | was formed · is heated · is formed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | Helens, which are · obsidian, which is · particles which makes |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has changed · has only been exposed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thin /ˈθɪn/, beneath /bɪˈniːθ/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, smooth /smuːð/, pathway /ˈpæθˌweɪ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: sheet /ʃit/, erosion /ɪˈɹəʊʒən/, deposition /ˌdɛp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, brush /bɹʌʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: deposition /ˌdɛp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/, metamorphic /ˌmɛt.əˈmɔɹ.fɪk/, sedimentary /ˌsɛd.əˈmɛn.tə.ɹi/, lithification /ˌlɪθɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, solidify /səˈlɪdɪˌfaɪ/
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 layer, melt, crust.
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.