Shadowing Practice: Something Feels Off About 2026... - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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2025 felt like the economy and markets were playing a giant game of financial chicken.
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On one side, bears were yelling about a recession on the horizon, and on the other side, bulls were buying AI stocks like it's the last Pokemon pack on the shelf.
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But over the last year, unemployment remained relatively low.
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Consumers kept swiping credit cards like it wasn't real money, and anyone who shorted NVIDIA aged a decade.
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It was a weird year, a confusing year, and now we're stepping into 2026 and things are only getting more chaotic.
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Rate cuts?
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Maybe.
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The AI bubble pops?
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Perhaps soft landing, hard landing, or no landing like my dating life, all possible.
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This is the year we could see markets blow the top off.
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Or it could be the year where you look back and think, "I should have just bought treasuries and shut the fk up." And,
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after getting flooded with messages asking what I think about the markets going into 2026, I realized something.
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Instead of answering hundreds of messages one by one, I could just make a video.
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And I know it's already 2026, and I'm a little late.
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But hey, at least we're here.
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And to be transparent, I see a few possible scenarios playing out.
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I see the bear case, the bull case, and the uncomfortable gray area in between that nobody seems to be talking about.
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So here's my 2026 market outlook and what I could see possibly happening.
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And because I'm emotionally wired for disappointment, let's start with the bear case.
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It's only right to start with the elephant in the room, because whether you think AI is going to reshape the global economy,
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or that it's the most overhyped technology since the Apple Vision Pro.
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One thing is clear: we may have gotten ahead of ourselves with the AI story.
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Because the numbers don't lie: NVIDIA trades at around 47x earnings, Palantir sits around 400x earnings, and Datadog?
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Well, try over 430x earnings.
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At this point, there's no investing on fundamentals.
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You're just pre -ordering hope.
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And the problem is, AI stocks are dragging the entire market up with them, because when NVIDIA goes up, it pulls semiconductors up, which pulls the tech sector up,
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which pulls the S &P up.
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And suddenly you look around and realize the S &P is trading at nearly 31 times earnings, which is nearly double the long -term average of around 16.
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And if these trading multiples normalize back to historical averages, it's not just AI stocks that take a hit, it's the whole market.
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And we haven't even talked about the circular spending problem or
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that 95 % of companies are realizing zero return in generative AI.
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But that's a whole different video for a whole different day.
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So for now, we'll move along to the next point in the bear case.
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Because there's another issue that goes hand in hand with the stretched valuations in the market.
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And that issue is, the market is top heavy.
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Because the S &P 500 isn't being lifted evenly by the 500 different companies.
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It's being dragged higher by a small handful of tech stocks.
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Some people call them "big tech." Some call them the Magnificent Seven.
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Wait, not that one.
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Anyways, I just call them 35 % of the entire S &P 500.
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That's right, over a third of the entire index's total market cap, and an even larger share of its returns, come from just seven companies.
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Because through the first three quarters of 2025, the MAG -7 accounted for over 41 % of the S &P's total returns.
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And if you swap Tesla with Broadcom and the MAG -7, that contribution increases to over 55%.
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This means the index that's supposed to represent broad diversification across industries is quietly turning into a very concentrated bet.
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And that's something to worry about because it's starting to look like a group project where two people do all the work, and everyone else still gets the credit.
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And the explosion in passive investing is quietly pouring fuel on the fire.
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Because most index funds and ETFs that track major benchmarks are market cap weighted,
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meaning a stock's influence in an index is directly proportional to the market cap of that company.
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Basically, the bigger the company, the more weight it receives in the index, and the more impact it has on how the index performs.
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So, as these tech stocks grow larger, they naturally take up a larger share of the index, and when new capital flows into these funds,
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it disproportionately gets allocated to those same tech names.
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It's a feedback loop that's beautiful.
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right up until it isn't.
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Because when indices become this top -heavy, small moves can turn into big problems.
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For example, a 10 % pullback in Nvidia's stock doesn't stay isolated in Nvidia.
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It bleeds into the NASDAQ, the S &P 500, and then creates broader market pressure.
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And suddenly, what you thought was a "diversified portfolio" is reacting to the mood swings of a handful of stocks.
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So, while everything appears to be fine right now, all it takes is the MAG7 stocks to stumble, for the whole market to slip.
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Which brings us to the final point in the bear case.
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I'm not saying a crash is imminent, and I'm not predicting financial Armageddon, but statistically speaking, we're overdue for a down year.
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Nerds would call this a reversion to the mean.
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Because markets, especially U .S equities, go through cycles, and since 1954,
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the S &P 500 has averaged a pullback of at least 10 % about once every three years.
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And after several years of outsized returns, history tends to tell us we need to pump the brakes.
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Because corrections aren't anomalies, they're actually normal and healthy.
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However, as Michael Burry showed us recently, going short the market because of a gut feeling is probably not the best strategy.
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because as famous economist John Maynard Keynes once said, markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.
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And that's the uncomfortable truth about the bear case.
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You can be right on valuations, right on unhealthy concentrations and indices, and right on overextended rallies.
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But still be wrong.
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because being right too early is indistinguishable from being wrong.
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Which brings us to our bull case.
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Because what if markets continue to rip?
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What if they don't care about historical averages?
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And what if markets continue to remain irrational?
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So let's start with the fundamental tailwind that bulls are clinging to.
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Because whether you trust the Fed, or you think Jerome Powell runs monetary policy decisions through a magic 8 -ball, one thing is clear: interest rates are coming down.
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2025 ended with the Fed delivering three consecutive 25 basis point cuts.
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And going into 2026, the median expectation is at least one additional cut.
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And lower rates means cheaper capital.
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And cheaper capital means higher valuations.
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And higher valuations means investors are more comfortable paying premiums for future earnings.
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And that's why rate cuts don't just matter to borrowers, but also to valuations and trading multiples.
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Because liquidity loosens, financial conditions ease, and risk on assets that's come alive.
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And that's how you can see markets grind higher, even when underlying economic data may feel mixed, confusing, or slightly uncomfortable.
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But just because the broader macro picture may feel uncomfortable, it doesn't mean that you also have to be.
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Which brings us to the sponsor of today's video, Flexispot.
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Because 2026 will probably be a year in which you're spending more time at your desk reading 10Ks, looking at charts, and tracking news flow.
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Which is why investing in a quality setup matters.
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Because while traditional desks lock you into one position all day, standing desks on the other hand encourage movement, support flexible work styles, and adjust to match daily preferences,
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And the Flexispot E7 Pro delivers all that and more.
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With a height range from 25 inches all the way up to nearly 51 inches, you'll have more flexibility than other desks on the market.
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and it's also built with stability as a priority.
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The E7 Pro uses a dual -motor, three -stage, semi -C leg structure, which allows it to support a static load capacity of up to 440 pounds,
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meaning stability is never really a concern, even in those very ambiguous, unnecessary use cases.
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FlexiSpot also backs the E7 Pro Desk, with a 15 -year warranty and 30 -day risk -free return policy.
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If you're interested in the E7 Pro, I'll leave a link below and you can use my code to get $30 off.
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And now back to markets, because the monetary policy backdrop I previously covered is only half the story.
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The other half is fiscal policy, which brings us to the next point in our bull case.
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Because while the Federal Reserve argues over quarter point cuts, the U .S government is doing something far more impactful: spending.
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Which is why the United States now runs on a more than trillion dollar deficit annually.
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And I've made videos on this channel about how the deficit is becoming a serious problem, and the potential long -term damage it will cause.
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But the reality is, in the short term, it brings some benefits as well, because government spending puts money directly into the system.
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It supports consumer demand, props up corporate revenues, and keeps economic activity high.
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And unlike monetary policy, fiscal policy is slow to change, because programs don't get shut down overnight, budgets don't just get suddenly slashed,
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and politicians don't win elections by campaigning on frugality.
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So even if growth cools, the fiscal backdrop remains supportive in the short term, and that matters.
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But that's also where the confusion begins.
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Because when fundamental tailwinds collide with real structural risks, markets rarely move in clean, predictable ways.
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Which brings us to the final point in today's video: the most likely outcome is the one nobody's positioned for.
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On one side, you have the optimists, the people talking about rate cuts, continued government spending, and how AI is the best thing since sliced bread.
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These are the people expecting the market to rally through 2026.
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And on the other side, you have the pessimists, the people talking about an AI bubble, a top -heavy market, stretched valuations, and how we're overdue for a correction.
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These are the people expecting 2026 to finally be the year things break.
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But here's the scenario I have yet to see anyone talk about.
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Not a melt -up, not a crash, but a market somewhere in the middle.
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The kind of market where headlines flip every two weeks, rallies stall just as confidence rises, and dips feel scary without ever bringing real opportunities.
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I'm talking about a long, choppy, sideways price action year.
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And it's these markets that are often the hardest to survive.
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It's where impatience destroys portfolios.
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It's this gray area in between a bull and bear market that is so dangerous.
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It's a market where every stock feels eerie, every decision feels wrong, and capital just rotates between asset classes.
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And when markets feel like this, it's a good reminder that nobody actually knows what the hell is going to happen next.
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And if anyone tells you they do, well, they're either lying, trying to sell you something, or both.
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Because the best thing you can do is absorb as much information as possible, and then come to your own conclusions.
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And now that I've laid out some of the different scenarios I see for 2026, I want to hear where you land on things.
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Do you think 2026 is the year things start to break?
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Do you think it's the year we rally higher?
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Or do you think something else is going to happen?
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Drop your take in the comments, and let's see how split everyone really is.
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Oh, and before I go, if you want a pretty sweet desk, remember to check out FlexiSpot below.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Something Feels Off About 2026..”. This video has 132 sentences and 1965 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:17. The speaker talks at a natural 174 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 79% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| valuation noun | /ˌvæ.ljuːˈeɪ.ʃən/ | An estimation of something's worth. |
| uncomfortable adjective | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | Not comfortable; causing discomfort. |
| monetary adjective | /ˈmʌnɪtəɹi/ | Of, pertaining to, or consisting of money. |
| scenario noun | /sɪˈnɛəɹioʊ/ | An outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events. |
| overdue adjective | /ˌoʊ.vəɹˈdu/ | Late; especially, past a deadline or too late to fulfill a need. |
| pullback noun | The act or result of pulling back; a withdrawal. | |
| irrational adjective | /ɪˈɹæʃ.(ə.)nəl/ | Not rational; unfounded, nonsensical or wrong-headed. |
| backdrop noun | /ˈbæk.dɹɑp/ | A decorated cloth hung at the back of a stage. |
| confuse verb | /kənˈfjuːz/ | to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand |
| deficit noun | /ˈdɛfəsɪt/ | Deficiency in amount or quality; a falling short; lack. |
| handful noun | /ˈhæn(d)fʊl/ | The amount that a hand will grasp or contain. |
| quietly adverb | /ˈkwaɪ.ɪt.li/ | Producing little or no noise. |
| portfolio noun | /pɔːtˈfəʊ.liˌəʊ/ | A case for carrying papers, drawings, photographs, maps and other flat documents. |
| bubble noun | /ˈbʌbəl/ | A spherically contained volume of air or other gas in a liquid, commonly a soapy liquid. |
| allocate verb | /ˈæl.ə.keɪt/ | To set aside for a purpose. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. | |
| get ahead of verb | To take preemptive action before a potential development becomes reality. | |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| go up verb | To move upwards. | |
| lay out verb | /ˌleɪ ˈaʊt/ | To expend or contribute money to an expense or purchase. |
| look around verb | To inspect a building or area. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- You're just pre -ordering hope.
- What if they don't care about historical averages?
- Do you think it's the year we rally higher?
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 | haven't even talked · has averaged · I've made |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being lifted · being dragged |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | anyone who shorted · earnings, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 32 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: valuation /ˌvæ.ljuːˈeɪ.ʃən/, irrational /ɪˈɹæʃ.(ə.)nəl/, disproportionately /ˈdɪs.pɹəˌpɔɹ.ʃən.ət.li/, diversification /daɪˌvɜːsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, impatience /ɪmˈpeɪʃəns/
- Long words — get the stress right: valuation /ˌvæ.ljuːˈeɪ.ʃən/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, monetary /ˈmʌnɪtəɹi/, irrational /ɪˈɹæʃ.(ə.)nəl/, portfolio /pɔːtˈfəʊ.liˌəʊ/
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 valuation, uncomfortable, monetary.
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.