Shadowing Practice: Stem Cells - Learn English Speaking with Video
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34 sentences
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The human body contains organs such as bones, the brain, heart, and reproductive organs.
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The basic cells that give rise to all of the different cells in these organs are called stem cells.
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One type of stem cell is an egg cell from a woman that has been fertilized by a sperm from a man.
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This single cell, called a zygote, is the first cell in a developing human being.
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It's also called a totipotent stem cell because it can form any type of cell in the body,
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as well as the umbilical cord and placenta.
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After a zygote has divided a few times, it becomes an early-stage embryo called a blastocyst.
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Embryonic stem cells come from the cells inside the blastocyst.
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Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent.
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This means they can form any cell in the body, but not the cells in the umbilical cord or placenta.
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In the lab, embryonic stem cells are donated from leftover embryos created during in vitro fertilization.
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In vitro fertilization is a procedure to help a woman become pregnant.
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Another type of stem cell is an adult stem cell.
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Small groups of these cells are found in some organs, such as the skin, after birth, and into adulthood.
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Adult stem cells are multipodent.
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This means they can only become a few different cell types related to the organ where they're found.
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For example, the skin contains a small number of adult stem cells that can divide to create new skin adult stem cells.
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Or, they can become more specialized skin cells to replace those that are lost due to cell aging or damage.
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In the lab, scientists can now induce or cause a regular body cell, such as a skin cell,
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to change into a pluripotent stem cell.
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Like embryonic stem cells, these induced pluripotent stem cells can become any type of cell in the body.
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Scientists study stem cells to learn how and why they become many different types of cells.
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In the future, these cells may be used to regrow tissues and organs that have been damaged by injury or disease.
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Stem cell therapy is a procedure that uses stem cells to treat a disease or condition.
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Currently, stem cell therapy only treats diseases and cancers of the blood.
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In leukemia, for example, the patient's bone marrow makes many abnormal white blood cells that can't do their job to fight infection.
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Over time, these abnormal cells crowd out the production of healthy white blood cells.
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In stem cell therapy for leukemia, called hematopoietic stem cell transplantation,
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a a doctor will take a sample of blood or bone marrow from the patient or a donor.
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In some cases, donor blood may come from a baby's umbilical cord after it's born.
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These tissue samples contain healthy hematopoietic or blood-forming stem cells.
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Then, doctors will give the patient chemotherapy drugs or use radiation to kill the abnormal white blood cells and their stem cells.
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Once the abnormal cells are gone, the doctor will transplant the healthy hematopoietic stem cells from the tissue samples into the patient.
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These healthy stem cells will make new blood cells, including normal white blood cells, which will allow the body to fight off infections.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 34 sentences and 536 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:39. The speaker talks at a steady 115 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 76% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| stem noun | /stɛm/ | The stock of a family; a race or generation of progenitors. |
| organ noun | /ˈɔːɡən/ | The larger part of an organism, composed of tissues that perform similar functions. |
| abnormal adjective | /ˌæbˈnɔɹ.ml̩/ | Not conforming to rule or system; deviating from the usual or normal type. |
| bone noun | /boʊn/ | A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates. |
| tissue noun | /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/ | Thin, woven, gauzelike fabric. |
| cord noun | /ˈkoɹd/ | A long, thin, flexible length of twisted yarns (strands) of fibre (a rope, for example). |
| procedure noun | /pɹəˈsiː.d͡ʒə/ | A particular method for performing a task. |
| infection noun | /ɪnˈfɛkʃən/ | The act or process of infecting. |
| 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… |
| divide verb | /dɪˈvaɪd/ | To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. |
| donor noun | /ˈdəʊnə/ | One who makes a donation. |
| induce verb | /ɪnˈduːs/ | To lead by persuasion or influence; incite or prevail upon. |
| marrow noun | /ˈmæɹəʊ/ | The substance inside bones which produces blood cells. |
| radiation noun | /ˌɹeɪ.diˈeɪ.ʃən/ | The shooting forth of anything from a point or surface, like diverging rays of light. |
| donate verb | /ˈdoʊˌneɪt/ | To make a donation; to give away something of value to support or contribute towards a cause or for the benefit of another. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| fight off verb | To succeed in defeating a challenge, or an attack. |
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 | are called · has been fertilized · are donated |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been fertilized · has divided · have been damaged |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/, infection /ɪnˈfɛkʃən/, radiation /ˌɹeɪ.diˈeɪ.ʃən/, specialize /ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/
- Long words — get the stress right: radiation /ˌɹeɪ.diˈeɪ.ʃən/, reproductive /ˌɹiːpɹəˈdʌktɪv/, chemotherapy /ˌkiːməʊˈθɛɹəpi/, embryonic /ˈɛm.bɹi.ɒn.ɪk/, pluripotent /plʊəˈɹɪpətənt/
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 stem, organ, abnormal.
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.