Shadowing Practice: She Can Speak Chimpanzee - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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This woman has studied animals for 60 years.
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This woman has studied animals for 60 years.
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And she can speak like them.
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Hello, Nurse Daily.
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I'm Jane Goodall.
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I'm 88 years old, and I have always loved animals.
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She has studied animals longer than any person in the world.
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And today, I'm going to tell you her incredible story.
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60 years ago, Dr.
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Jane did something crazy.
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She spent a month traveling by boat from England to Africa.
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She lived in a tent in the jungle all by herself, just so she could study these.
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Chimpanzees are our closest relatives, and so finding out about them helps us understand human evolution.
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She discovered that humans and chimpanzees are very similar.
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They cry, fight, hug, and kiss just like humans.
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They use tools and they even have their own language.
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Dr.
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Jane became so close to the chimpanzees that they accepted her as family.
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I was following him.
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He was allowing me to follow him.
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So I sat down near him and the ground between us was a ripe red palm nut which chimpanzees love.
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So I picked it up and held it out towards him.
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He turned his face away.
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I moved my hand closer.
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He turned.
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He looked directly into my eyes.
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He reached out, didn't want the nut, dropped it, very gently squeezed my fingers, which is how chimpanzees reassure each other.
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So in that moment, we understood each other perfectly.
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Nearly 40 years after she first went to the forest, science finally discovered that human DNA and chimpanzee DNA were nearly identical.
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Yes, 99% of our DNA is the same as chimpanzees.
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Dr.
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Jane won tons of awards for her discoveries, until one day she saw a big problem.
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The chimpanzees were dying.
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The chimpanzee population went from 1 million to just 300,000.
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The chimps' forest homes were being destroyed.
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Chimpanzees were being stolen and sold as pets.
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And they were being locked up in cages for medical testing.
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This broke her heart, so she left the forest to become an activist.
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She started two foundations that are now saving chimpanzees, protecting forests, and teaching youth about how to protect animals, people, and the environment.
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In seven African countries, chimps are living who would not have been there if we hadn't arrived.
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And in order for this to be successful in the long run, we have to work with the young people.
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Dr.
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Jane is incredible.
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She spent 60 years of her life living with animals.
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And what she learned from a tent in the jungle has changed the science community forever.
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And this is her message to the world.
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Every individual matters, has a role to play, and that every individual makes an impact every day.
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So if we choose wisely, then we're really working together to make a better world for the future.
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There's not much difference between humans and animals.
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So if we care so much about humankind, why not care about animals too?
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Why practice speaking with this video?

Engaging with the video titled "She Can Speak Chimpanzee" provides an excellent opportunity for English speaking practice through a unique and captivating narrative. The story of Dr. Jane Goodall, a pioneering figure in animal research, not only captivates the audience but also enriches their vocabulary and enhances their speaking abilities.

When you practice speaking in tandem with the video, you can adopt the shadowing technique. This technique involves repeating what the speaker says in real-time, helping you improve your fluency and intonation. As you echo Dr. Goodall's words, you enhance your ability to express complex ideas clearly and confidently. Additionally, the content focuses on themes of empathy and connection with nature, making your practice meaningful and relatable.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

The speaker employs several impactful grammatical structures that you can incorporate into your own speaking practice:

  • Present Simple Tense: "Chimpanzees are our closest relatives." This structure is essential for stating facts and general truths, making it useful for discussions about nature and sciences.
  • Past Simple Tense: "She spent a month traveling by boat." Using the past tense effectively can help you narrate experiences or stories, allowing for a richer conversation.
  • Conditional Sentences: "If we choose wisely, then we're really working together." This type of sentence is powerful in expressing hypothetical scenarios and outcomes, which can be useful in persuasive speaking or making suggestions.

Incorporating these structures into your speech can significantly improve your conversational skills and help you articulate your thoughts more effectively.

Common Pronunciation Traps

When engaging with the video, you may encounter certain words and phrases that are tricky to pronounce. Here are a few challenges to be mindful of:

  • Chimpanzees: The pronunciation may vary, so listening to the context can help. Pay attention to the 'ch' sound and the stress on the syllables.
  • Deception: This word could be challenging in terms of syllable stress and the vowel sounds. Practice enunciating each part clearly.
  • Compassion: Notice how the speaker emphasizes the 'a'—this brings out the emotional weight of the message, so practice this intonation to convey feelings accurately in your speech.

By focusing on these pronunciation aspects, you can improve your English pronunciation and make your spoken English clearer and more engaging. Utilize this video as a tool, practicing regularly to refine your skills and connect deeply with the subject matter.

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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