Shadowing Practice: The Attack on Pearl Harbor Changed Everything | WWII With Tom Hanks - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
In late 1937, the Japanese escalate their military campaign in China.
2
They already occupy Manchuria.
3
After three months of fighting,
4
they take Shanghai and move to the ancient Chinese capital and move to the ancient Chinese capital of Nanking.
5
The Japanese brutality that follows will shock the world.
6
They enter the city, and instead of just occupying it, they let the Japanese troops off the leash.
7
They raped, they pillaged, they burned, they steal.
8
The Japanese commanders ordered their soldiers not to take any prisoners, which meant executions.
9
The Japanese invasion does identify the Japanese as an aggressive power in the Pacific, that they are brutal in the way that they've treated the population.
10
And this starts to change people's perceptions with regards to the Japanese.
11
To counter continued Japanese aggression in China, Roosevelt orders the U.S fleet to move from San Diego to Pearl Harbor,
12
a naval base on Hawaii, 2,000 miles closer to the Japanese mainland.
13
This is a land that is an extension of the United States is the United States.
14
Roosevelt is sending a clear signal he hopes will deter Japan.
15
The Pacific is America's sphere of influence.
16
He wants the fleet to be positioned far enough forward that the Japanese will take it seriously,
17
but at the same time not to be overtly provocative by moving it to a place like the Philippines or maybe Singapore.
18
Pearl Harbor is now the front line of American naval power in the Pacific.
19
The Pearl Harbor Naval Base is perfect
20
because it's got a narrow channel into a wide harbor with an island right in the middle.
21
So it looks like a fortress.
22
In the summer of 1941, The United States takes its strongest stand yet against Japan's territorial ambitions.
23
The United States has been concerned about Japanese expansion and aggression in Asia for some time.
24
Roosevelt has stopped short of a military response, but there's been a series of embargoes.
25
Embargo on weapons, an embargo on scrap iron.
26
Japan is almost entirely dependent on oil imported from the U.S.
27
So FDR imposes an embargo on the Japanese.
28
In the summer of 1941, America essentially turns off the tap.
29
The embargo becomes a disaster for the Japanese economy and military.
30
By installing an oil embargo, we have basically said, we are going to control your future.
31
Although meant to deter Japan,
32
FDR's order to move the Pacific fleet base from California to Pearl Harbor means it's now within striking distance.
33
Roosevelt doesn't really understand that by moving the fleet this far forward, it now becomes a potential target for the Japanese because the Americans in general don't understand
34
the sophistication and level of capability that the Japanese now have.
35
December 7th, 1941.
36
183 Japanese planes descend on Pearl Harbor in the first wave of the attack.
37
Their target, the airfields.
38
The result is going to be this concentrated bombing attack to
39
try to put as many American planes out of business at the outset of the attack.
40
At 7.55 AM, the first bombs hit.
41
When you hear the airplanes overhead, you're like, oh, boy, they sure are doing training early today.
42
And then when all of a sudden things start to explode, you're like, oh, man, somebody's really gonna get in trouble, because this training event's way out of hand.
43
Another formation of Japanese aircraft dive on the ships anchored along Battleship Row.
44
Torpedo planes at low level and overhead bombers.
45
It's not until ships actually start exploding, bullets start ripping through the decks that they realize, oh my god, this is really real.
46
The Oklahoma and the West Virginia are very heavily hit.
47
Oklahoma ends up capsizing, trapping hundreds of men in this overturned ship.
48
After two waves of attack, The Japanese withdraw.
49
188 U.S aircraft are destroyed.
50
1,178 servicemen and civilians are wounded.
51
2,403 are dead.
52
The America that wakes up on December 8, 1941, is a different country.
53
The country's being tested.
54
Are we up to this?
55
Can we meet this challenge?
56
We are being put in the balance, and would we be found wanting or not?
57
At 12.30 p.m., Congress assembles.
58
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.
59
A state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
60
Look very carefully at what Franklin Roosevelt said on the 8th of December.
61
We are declaring war against the Empire of Japan.
62
He does not mention Germany.
63
The 8th goes by, the 9th goes by, the 10th goes by.
64
And not until the 11th, when Hitler decides to declare war on the United States,
65
did the United States then in turn declare war on Germany.
66
America now faces a global war on two fronts.
67
We were dragged into this.
68
Let's be very clear.
69
The United States of America did not wake up in the middle of the 20th century
70
and decided it was going to defeat tyranny.
71
Tyranny had to force us into a struggle that we now recognize to be the great existential struggle, arguably of the last millennium.
72
But it was not a quick or easy date with destiny.
73
We are now in this war.
74
We're all in it, all the way.
75
Every single man, woman, and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history.
76
It will not only be a long war, it will be a hard war.
77
We are going to win the war, And we are going to win the peace that follows.
📺 Same Channel
B21
What’s Really Hidden Beneath the Pyramids of Giza? | The UnXplained
University StudentsWorking Adults
B21
Adolf Hitler: Leader of the Third Reich - Fast Facts | History
University Students
B21
Spooky Encounter in the Amazon Jungle (S5) | The Proof Is Out There
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points | History
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
B23
George Washington: Father of His Country | From British Soldier to Victorious General
Cambridge Exam PrepHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B22
Who Was Ho Chi Minh? | History
IELTS PrepUniversity Students
B27
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" Speech | History
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
C1Is There Life In the Stars? | Ancient Aliens
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
✨ Recommend Video
B22
33 sentences
Roosevelt - A Day Which Will Live In Infamy
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B2291 sentences
Why did white men conquer the world?
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B2341 sentences
Iran War Ceasefire Explained (2026) | US, Iran & Israel Peace Talks | English Listening Practice
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B2561 sentences
Как мир сходил с ума | История Второй мировой (Eng sub)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B21
58 sentences
Sept. 20, 2001 - Bush Declares War on Terror
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
71 sentences
Will China Attack Taiwan? | Ask The Professor
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
319 sentences
This 'Ugly' Jet Could Strike in Any Weather – And Nothing Could Replace It
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B2145
14 sentences
EVERY SACRIFICE MATTERS | Obama & McRaven
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C13
37 sentences
The Megatsunami That Struck the Entire Planet
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B25
93 sentences
The Gold Nugget That Changed America Forever
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B2271 sentences
The Vietnam War Explained In 25 Minutes | Vietnam War Documentary
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B236 sentences
The reason Japan attacked Pearl Harbor
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Attack on Pearl Harbor Changed Everything”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Japanese, harbor, embargo, Roosevelt, Pearl. This video has 77 sentences and 905 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:35. The speaker talks slowly, about 94 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 80% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| embargo noun | /ɪmˈbɑɹɡoʊ/ | An order by the government prohibiting ships from leaving port. |
| harbor noun | /ˈhɑːbə/ | Any place of shelter. |
| declare verb | /dɪˈklɛɚ/ | To assert or announce formally, officially, explicitly, or emphatically. |
| deter verb | /dɪˈtɝ/ | To prevent something from happening. |
| tyranny noun | /ˈtɪəɹəni/ | A government in which a single ruler (a tyrant) has absolute power, or this system of government; especially, one that acts cruelly and unjustly. |
| explode verb | /ɪkˈsploʊd/ | To fly apart with sudden violent force; to blow up, to burst, to detonate, to go off. |
| aggression noun | /əˈɡɹɛʃən/ | The act of initiating hostilities or invasion. |
| overhead noun | /ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/ | The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided. |
| occupy verb | /ˈɑkjəpaɪ/ | To fill. |
| airfield noun | An open field designated for the taking off and landing of aircraft, but which, unlike an airport, does not necessarily have terminals or paved runways. | |
| capsize verb | /ˈkæpsaɪz/ | To overturn. |
| escalate verb | /ˈɛs.kə.leɪt/ | To increase (something) in extent or intensity; to intensify or step up. |
| existential adjective | /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃl̩/ | Of or relating to existence. |
| infamy noun | /ˈɪnfəmi/ | The state of being infamous. |
| outset noun | /ˈaʊtsɛt/ | An onset; the beginning or initial stage of something. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| turn off verb | To power down, to switch off, to put out of operation, to deactivate (an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Are we up to this?
- Can we meet this challenge?
- We're all in it, all the way.
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 | be positioned · has been concerned · are destroyed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | they've treated · has been concerned · has stopped |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, doesn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: aggression /əˈɡɹɛʃən/, existential /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃl̩/, sophistication /səˌfɪs.tɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, ambition /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/, perception /pɚˈsɛpʃ(ə)n/
- Long words — get the stress right: provocative /pɹəˈvɒk.ə.tɪv/, sophistication /səˌfɪs.tɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, brutality /ˌbɹuːˈtælɪti/, undertaking /ˈʌndə(ɹ)ˌteɪkɪŋ/, territorial /ˌtɛɹ.əˈtɔɹ.i.əl/
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 embargo, harbor, declare.
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.