Shadowing Practice: The Queen’s speech at the COP26 Evening Reception - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Thank you, Prime Minister Holness, for your kind words of introduction.
2
I'm delighted to welcome you all to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference.
3
And it is perhaps fitting that you have come together in Glasgow, once a heartland of the Industrial Revolution,
4
but now a place to address climate change.
5
This is a duty I'm especially happy to discharge as the impact of the environment on human progress
6
was a subject close to the heart of my dear late husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
7
I remember well that in 1969 he told an academic gathering,
8
if the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment,
9
it is as certain as anything can be that the situation will become increasingly intolerable within a very short time.
10
If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.
11
It is a source of great pride to me
12
that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to
13
protect our fragile planet lives on through the work of our eldest son, Charles, and his eldest son, William.
14
I could not be more proud of them.
15
Indeed, I have drawn great comfort and inspiration from the relentless enthusiasm of people of all ages,
16
especially the young, in calling for everyone to play their part.
17
In the coming days, the world has the chance to join in the shared objective of creating a safer,
18
stabler future for our people and for the planet on which we depend.
19
None of us underestimates the challenges ahead,
20
but history has shown that when nations come together in common cause there is always room for hope.
21
Working side by side we have the ability to solve the most insurmountable problems and to triumph over the greatest of adversities.
22
For more than 70 years I have been lucky to meet and to know many of the world's great leaders,
23
and I have perhaps come to understand a little about what made them special.
24
It has sometimes been observed that what leaders do for their people today is government and politics.
25
But what they do for the people of tomorrow, that is statesmanship.
26
I, for one, hope that this conference will be one of those rare occasions
27
where everyone will have the chance to rise above the politics of the moment and achieve true statesmanship.
28
It is the hope of many that the legacy of this summit, written in history books yet to be printed,
29
will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity, and that you answered the call of those future generations.
30
That you left this conference as a community of nations with a determination,
31
a desire, and a plan to address the impact of climate change,
32
and to recognise that the time for words has now moved to the time for action.
33
Of course, the benefits of such actions will not be there to enjoy for all of us here today.
34
We, none of us, will live forever.
35
But we are doing this not for ourselves, but for our children and our children's children, and those who will follow in their footsteps.
36
And so I wish you every good fortune in this significant endeavour.
📺 Same Channel
✨ Recommend Video
C17
119 sentences
ENGLISH SPEECH | QUEEN ELIZABETH II: The Spirit Of Democracy (English Subtitles)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1212
46 sentences
Leonardo DiCaprio (UN Messenger of Peace) at the opening of Climate Summit 2014
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepBusiness English
C11
336 sentences
HRH Ambassador Reema Bandar Al Saud Speaks at Aspen Ideas Festival 2023
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
127 sentences
FULL SPEECH: Cambodia FM Sokhonn Takes Thailand Border Dispute to UN General Assembly | AC1G
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1118
24 sentences
Nature Is Speaking – Julia Roberts is Mother Nature | Conservation International (CI)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
80 sentences
THB that the Monarchy Died with the Queen - Hugo Vickers - Opp
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B219
7 sentences
Shadowing Obama speech learn english by Shanilka
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
C11
130 sentences
Climate Change Debate | Kriti Joshi | Opposition
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
46 sentences
(Vietsub) Phần thi “Head To Head Challenge” của Hoa hậu Bảo Ngọc tại Miss World lần thứ 73
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B27
242 sentences
Burnham: National Security ‘Can’t Come at Expense of Social Security’ at PMQs
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B22
25 sentences
Helen Mirren winning an Oscar® for "The Queen"
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
384 sentences
President Obama Speaks at the General Assembly
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 36 sentences and 539 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:08. The speaker talks at a steady 130 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| eldest adjective | /ˈɛldɪst/ | (of a player) Receiving cards from the dealer first, before any other players. |
| stable noun | /ˈsteɪ.bəl/ | A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses. |
| encourage verb | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| comfort noun | /ˈkʌm.fət/ | Contentment, ease. |
| inspiration noun | /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/ | The drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm, as part of the act of breathing. |
| increasingly adverb | Increasing in amount or intensity. | |
| occasion noun | /əˈkeɪ̯ʒən/ | A favorable opportunity; a convenient or timely chance. |
| legacy noun | /ˈlɛɡəsi/ | Money or property bequeathed to someone in a will. |
| objective noun | /ɒbˈd͡ʒɛk.tɪv/ | A material object that physically exists. |
| fortune noun | /ˈfɔːtjuːn/ | Destiny, especially favorable. |
| summit noun | /ˈsʌmɪt/ | The highest point of a hill, mountain, or similar geographical feature. |
| gather verb | /ˈɡæðɚ/ | To collect normally separate things. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| pollution noun | /pəˈluʃən/ | Physical contamination, now especially the contamination of the environment by harmful substances, or by disruptive levels of noise, light etc. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pass up verb | /pɑːs ˈʌp/ | To refuse (not accept); forgo. |
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 | have come · have drawn · has shown |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been observed · be printed |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, enthusiasm /ɪnˈθuziæzəm/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, occasion /əˈkeɪ̯ʒən/, pollution /pəˈluʃən/, determination /dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, determination /dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən/, enthusiasm /ɪnˈθuziæzəm/, underestimate /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/, adversity /ædˈvɜː.sɪ.ti/
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 eldest, stable, encourage.
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.