Shadowing Practice: The Story of Us - Learn English Speaking with Video
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35 sentences
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The story of us began long ago with a lifeless rock.
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A long rain turned wasteland into ocean.
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Algae breathed oxygen into the air, fueling an explosion of life.
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And when the hot, humid planet finally cooled, Our primate ancestors came down from the trees,
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explored the new savannah, harnessed fire and raised the civilization from the dirt.
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But as we prospered, we plundered the land, polluted the air, disturbed a balance four and a half billion years in the making.
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Now we have a cosmic nanosecond, less than one decade to reverse course.
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MUSIC PLAYS Conservation International was founded on a simple principle.
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Humans and nature are connected in profound ways.
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So we work alongside communities in more than 100 countries,
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putting science into practice and protecting the irreplaceable.
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Since 1987, we've been about big, bold ideas.
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Ideas that others might consider impractical or difficult to implement.
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Perhaps unproven, certainly unusual, a little bit out there.
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But our purpose has always been about how we redefine conservation.
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To change how we do it and for whom.
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With that mentality, Conservation International and our partners have protected 1.5 billion acres of land and sea over 35 years,
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benefiting millions of people.
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And in this decisive decade, we have big goals.
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First, use the miracle of photosynthesis to slow climate change.
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By conserving one-of-a-kind places like the Amazon rainforest and the Congo basin,
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we can store away billions of tons of planet-warming carbon.
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Second, double the area of ocean under protection to secure food, jobs and marine life for generations to come.
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And third, develop new economic models that replenish our natural wealth instead of looting it.
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Industry by industry, we're transforming how humans produce and prosper, starting with farming, fishing and fashion.
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There's no precedent for what we are trying to do, but we're not doing it alone.
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We work with thousands of partners around the world to heal our planet and protect our future.
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Somos pueblos indígenas liderando nuestras comunidades, protegiendo nuestros bosques y agua, conservando nuestra herencia.
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We are Rangers bringing old wisdom and new science to revive the savannah.
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We are policy makers trying to do right by our people and our planet.
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We are government leaders working across borders, languages and cultures to protect the planet we share.
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We are business leaders proving that good business means doing right by the planet
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and centering communities in the solutions to protect it.
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We are the future!
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And together, we write humanity's next chapter.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 35 sentences and 417 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:55. The speaker talks slowly, about 106 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 78% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| conservation noun | /ˌkɑnsə(ɹ)ˈveɪʃən/ | The act of preserving, guarding, or protecting; the keeping (of a thing) in a safe or entire state; preservation. |
| alongside | /əˌlɔŋˈsaɪd/ | Side by side with. |
| unusual adjective | /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/ | Not usual, out of the ordinary. |
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| reverse noun | /ɹɪˈvɝs/ | The opposite of something. |
| principle noun | /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/ | A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief. |
| explore verb | /ɪkˈsploɹ/ | To examine or investigate something systematically. |
| wisdom noun | /ˈwɪzdəm/ | An element of personal character that enables one to distinguish the wise from the unwise. |
| ton noun | /tʌn/ | The short ton of 2000 pounds (about 907 kg), 20 hundredweights of 100 pounds avoirdupois each. |
| bold adjective | /ˈbəʊld/ | Courageous, daring. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| oxygen noun | /ˈɑksɪd͡ʒən/ | The chemical element (symbol O) with an atomic number of 8 and relative atomic mass of 15.9994. It is a colorless and odorless gas. Sometimes called elemental… |
| dirt noun | /dɝt/ | Soil or earth. |
| maker noun | /ˈmeɪk.ɚ/ | Someone who makes; a person or thing that makes or produces something. |
| explosion noun | /ɛkˈsploʊ.ʒən/ | A violent release of energy (sometimes mechanical, nuclear, or chemical); an act or instance of exploding. |
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 | we've been · has always been · have protected |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was founded · are connected |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, we've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, photosynthesis /ˌfoʊ.toʊˈsɪn.θə.sɪs/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: conservation /ˌkɑnsə(ɹ)ˈveɪʃən/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, explosion /ɛkˈsploʊ.ʒən/, civilization /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, replenish /ɹɪˈplɛn.ɪʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: conservation /ˌkɑnsə(ɹ)ˈveɪʃən/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, civilization /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, mentality /mɛnˈtæləti/, impractical /ɪmˈpɹæktɪkəl/
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 conservation, alongside, unusual.
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.