Shadowing Practice: The Truth About Bisexuality - Learn English Speaking with Video
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54 sentences
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1
Gay genes exist.
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Genetic hotspots on chromosome 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, and the X chromosome XQ28 region have all been linked to sexual orientation.
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But gay men and women have significantly less kids than straight people, so how come these gay genes continue to persist in humans?
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The answer is insane.
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New research finds bisexual men play a fascinating role in the evolution of gay genes, but before we get to that,
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we need to understand the biological reasons why gay people exist.
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You're more likely to be gay if you have older brothers.
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Studies show that for each additional older brother you have,
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there is an increase in the odds that a younger brother will be gay by 33 to 34%.
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For example, if the oldest brother had a 2 % chance of being gay, the probability rises to 2 .6%,
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3 .5%, and 4 .6 % for each successive brother.
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The biological reason older brothers make you gay is because when the male fetus grows,
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certain proteins derived from the father's Y chromosome are foreign to the mother's immune system.
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Her body will respond by producing antibodies, which with each successive male pregnancy becomes more sensitized,
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the response increases and turns on gay genes.
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The interaction of the fetus to the environment causes the mother's body to go through biological processes of methylation
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and phosphorylation that changes how gay genes are decoded and expressed.
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The mother's antibodies subtly alter the next male fetus's genes to allow them to express potentially more gay genes.
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Yes, it's true, a mother will more likely have a gay son the more sons she has.
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It's an insane sentence, but it's true.
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The reason this happens could be due to kin selection,
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a biological theory that you yourself don't need to reproduce in order to ensure the survival of your genes.
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Gay men and gay women on average have less kids themselves, but are statistically more likely to be caring,
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compassionate, and look after their immediate family members.
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By investing time in nieces, nephews, siblings, and the extended family, gay people are spreading their genes by ensuring that their larger family's genes continue.
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In a way, you achieve the same result as personal reproduction.
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Gay genes exist due to something called the gay uncle hypothesis.
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Posited by scientists
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that it is biologically advantageous for a mother to have a
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gay kid as gay people are more likely to help the immediate family and not leave to procreate with another person.
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And finally, what about bisexual men?
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Well, Bisexual men have an evolutionary advantage.
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Bi men who have genetic markers for homosexuality and heterosexuality have also been found to be more likely to take risks.
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A study from the UK Biobank posits
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that the genetically bisexual men who happen to take more risks
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would have had a huge biological advantage in hunter -gatherer and pre -modern societies.
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Bi men who were taking risks might have spread their seed further
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and wider than straight men and had more reproductive success in the past.
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This is part of the reason why some of the gay genes
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that these bi men have would have continued to be prevalent in human populations up until now.
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Yes, so one of the reasons why, as gay guys and our gay genes may still be here, is thanks to the bi men.
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Sup, boys?
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These are a few of the thousands of biological processes that are linked to gay genes in humans.
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In fact, depending on how it is measured, surveys find that 2 to 10 % of the human population is gay.
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But it's not just us.
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Gayness is all over the animal kingdom and has been found in every branch of the evolutionary tree.
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There are thousands of species that have been studied to show homosexual traits, but due to past homophobic concepts
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and how the evolution of science like kind of grew at a time when homophobia was quite rich,
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there's even more and more research coming in now as we expand our minds towards the animal kingdom.
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Essentially it's been understudied for years, but there are gay genes all over every animal on earth.
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I think it's important to remember that our gayness is heavily linked to our biology.
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We'll put a podcast here for even more information if you want to learn more.
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Thank you so much for watching and we will see you soon for a new science video.
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I suppose
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Truth About Bisexuality”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: gay, genes, biological, brother, likely. This video has 54 sentences and 728 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:49. The speaker talks fast, about 191 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 80% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| gene noun | /d͡ʒiːn/ | A theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms which may take several values and (in principle) predetermines a precise trait of an organism's form… |
| biological adjective | /ˌbaɪ.əˈlɑ.d͡ʒɪ.kəl/ | Of or relating to biology. |
| bisexual adjective | /baɪˈsɛk.ʃ(əw).əl/ | Of flowers: having both pollen and seeds. |
| evolution noun | /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/ | A manoeuvre of troops or ships. |
| insane adjective | /ɪnˈseɪn/ | Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad. |
| genetic adjective | /d͡ʒəˈnɛt.ɪk/ | Relating to genetics or genes. |
| successive adjective | /səkˈsɛsɪv/ | Coming one after the other in a series. |
| evolutionary adjective | /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/ | Of or relating to the biological theory of evolution. |
| fetus noun | /ˈfiːtəs/ | An unborn or unhatched vertebrate showing signs of the mature animal. |
| uncle noun | /ˈʌŋ.kl̩/ | The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent. |
| essentially adverb | /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/ | In essence: by nature. |
| odd adjective | /ɑd/ | Differing from what is usual, ordinary or expected. |
| potentially adverb | /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/ | In a manner showing much potential; with the possibility of happening in a given way. |
| hunter noun | /ˈhʌntɚ/ | One who hunts game for sport or for food; a huntsman or huntswoman. |
| survival noun | /sɚˈvaɪ.vəl/ | The fact or act of surviving; continued existence or life. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
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 | been linked · are decoded · been found |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have also been found · has been found · have been studied |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | men who have · men who happen · men who were |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, we'll, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/, methylation /ˌmɛθɪˈleɪʃən/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: bisexual /baɪˈsɛk.ʃ(əw).əl/, evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/, evolutionary /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/
- Long words — get the stress right: biological /ˌbaɪ.əˈlɑ.d͡ʒɪ.kəl/, bisexual /baɪˈsɛk.ʃ(əw).əl/, evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n/, evolutionary /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like gene, biological, bisexual.
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.