Shadowing Practice: The real reason Boeing's new plane crashed twice - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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This is an airplane engine.
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It's sitting in a field in Beshaftu, Ethiopia, part of the wreckage of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which crashed on March 10, 2019.
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157 people died.
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This was just a few months after another flight, Lion Air 610, crashed in Indonesia and killed 189 people.
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These two flights were operating the same plane, the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
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And its engine is the key to understanding why this particular plane has caused so many problems.
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But there's nothing actually wrong with this engine.
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In fact, airplane manufacturers race to put them on their new planes.
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That's where the problems started.
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The two biggest airplane manufacturers in the world are Airbus and Boeing.
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And they have a fierce rivalry.
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If one of them can offer a better plane, the other could lose a lot of money.
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That's exactly what was about to happen in 2010.
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Airbus announced that they would update their most popular model, the A320, a single -aisle airplane that services many domestic flights.
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You've probably been on one.
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For this new plane, Airbus had a big update.
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It would have a new kind of engine.
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It was much larger than the previous engine, but it would make the plane 15 % more fuel -efficient.
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And just as importantly, this upgrade wouldn't change the plane that much.
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A pilot could walk into the new model with little additional training and be on their way.
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It was called the A320neo, and it would save airlines a lot of money.
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This was a problem for Boeing.
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To compete with Airbus, Boeing's obvious move was to upgrade the engine on their single -aisle plane, the 737.
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But there was one issue.
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Here's a sketch of the 737 next to the Airbus A320.
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Notice how the 737 is lower to the ground than the A320.
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This meant Airbus could slide a new engine under the wing of their A320, but there wasn't enough room under the wing of the Boeing 737.
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But a few months later, Boeing's product development head had big news.
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He said, Their solution was to move up the engine on the wing,
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so that it would be slightly higher, and it would fit on their 737s.
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Here's a promotional video of that updated 737 in the air.
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You can actually see that the top of the engine is above the wing.
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Boeing called this model the 737 MAX.
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And just like Airbus with the A320, Boeing said that their new plane was so similar to its predecessor that pilots would only need minimal additional training.
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The 737 MAX became the hottest selling plane on the market.
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And it helped Boeing keep up with Airbus.
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Except moving the engine up on the 737 had a side effect.
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When the 737 MAX was in full thrust, like during takeoff, the nose tended to point too far upward, which could lead to a stall.
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This was a problem because these planes were supposed to behave exactly like the old ones.
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So Boeing came up with a workaround.
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Instead of re -engineering the planes, they installed software that automatically pushed the nose downward if the pilot flew the plane at too high of an angle.
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They called it the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS.
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But because Boeing was selling the 737 MAX as pretty much the same plane as the 737, they didn't highlight the new MCAS system.
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Many pilots only got a two -hour iPad course before entering the cockpit for the first time.
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And the training material didn't mention the MCAS software.
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In 2018, several American pilots complained to the federal government that the 737 MAX was suddenly nosing down.
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On October 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 took off from Jakarta.
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In the flight report, which shows the plane's altitude over time, you can see that the plane was in full thrust during takeoff.
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But at a certain point, the nose of the plane kept lurching downward.
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The pilots couldn't figure out why this was happening.
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The captain asked the first officer to check the quick reference handbook.
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They couldn't find the solution.
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The pilots continued to fight with the MCAS.
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The plane struggled to gain altitude.
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Reports show it was likely because the computer was getting incorrect sensor data, pushing the plane toward the Earth below.
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12 minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed into the Java Sea.
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In the Ethiopia crash, the report shows that the pilots were actually able to disable the MCAS, but it was too late to overcome the malfunctioning MCAS sensors.
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For now, nearly every 737 MAX 8 in service has been grounded.
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And the Federal Aviation Administration is facing scrutiny over how they rushed this plane through certification.
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Boeing's response has been to apply a software update that makes the MCAS less aggressive, while also saying they'll increase pilot training on how to turn it off.
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This problem started with the company's race to compete with its rival.
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It pushed them to pretend like their new plane behaved exactly like their old one, Even when it didn't
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 62 sentences and 820 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:34. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| airplane noun | /ˈɛɹˌpleɪ̯n/ | A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor. |
| compete verb | /kəmˈpiːt/ | To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend. |
| upgrade verb | /əpˈɡɹeɪd/ | To improve, usually applied to technology, generally by complete replacement of one or more components. |
| manufacturer noun | /ˌmænjʊˈfæktʃəɹə/ | A person or company that manufactures. |
| airline noun | /ˈɛɹˌlaɪn/ | A company that flies airplanes to transport people and goods. |
| behave verb | /bɪˈheɪv/ | To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform. |
| altitude noun | /ˈælt.ɪˌtjuːd/ | The absolute height of a location, usually measured from sea level. |
| sensor noun | /ˈsɛn.sɚ/ | A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner. |
| thrust verb | /θɹʌst/ | To make advance with force. |
| aisle noun | /aɪ̯l/ | A wing of a building, notably in a church separated from the nave proper by piers. |
| downward adverb | /ˈdaʊnwɚd/ | Toward a lower level, whether in physical space, in a hierarchy, or in amount or value. |
| rush verb | /ɹʌʃ/ | To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully. |
| efficient adjective | /ɪˈfɪʃənt/ | Making good, thorough, or careful use of resources; not consuming extra. Especially, making good use of time or energy. |
| installed verb | /ɪnˈstɔːld/ | readied for use |
| angle noun | /ˈæŋ.ɡəl/ | A figure formed by two rays which start from a common point (a plane angle) or by three planes that intersect (a solid angle). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| keep up with verb | To manage to remain beside or just behind someone or something that is moving away from one. |
| move up verb | To promote, put onto a higher level. |
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 | has caused · You've probably been · has been grounded |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was called · has been grounded |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 9 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, couldn't, they'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rush /ɹʌʃ/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, certification /ˌsɜː.tɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, promotional /pɹəˈmoʊʃənəl/, malfunction /ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: manufacturer /ˌmænjʊˈfæktʃəɹə/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, certification /ˌsɜː.tɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, promotional /pɹəˈmoʊʃənəl/, predecessor /ˈpɹɛd.ə.sɛs.ɚ/
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 airplane, compete, upgrade.
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.