Shadowing Practice: The worrying rise of Europe's hard right - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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What's really going on with Europe's hard right?
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What's really going on with Europe's hard right?
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This is Elon Musk, the world's richest man.
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And this is Alice Weidel,
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the co-head of Germany's hard right party,
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The Alternative for Germany, or AFD.
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On January the 9th, they chatted on an ex-livestream for over an hour.
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I think only AFD can save Germany.
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And I just want to be very clear about that.
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Only AFD can save Germany.
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It seems that Elon Musk has a particular interest in Europe's hard right.
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He's discussed donating to Britain's anti-immigration reform party.
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He has endorsed the AFD in Germany's upcoming election.
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It's unlikely that Musk will have much effect on support for these parties,
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but the hard right's growing strength in lots of parts of Europe has got many people worried.
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Take a look at this map and you can see how widespread support is.
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In these EU countries, the hard right is either in national government or propping up a coalition.
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And in many other countries,
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hard-right outfits are coming closer to winning power.
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In Austria, the center-right People's Party recently agreed to enter coalition talks in
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which it would serve as the junior partner to the hard-right Freedom Party.
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Austria is now on course for its first far-right leader since 1945.
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So what's going on?
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For decades in most countries in Europe,
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you had what's called a cordon sanitaire around extremist parties.
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What that meant is
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that centrist mainstream parties would agree to keep the extremists out of government by working together across party lines if necessary.
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For decades this proved pretty effective in most European countries.
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More recently it started to break down as these parties have got stronger and stronger.
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One of the first breaks in the Cordon Sanitaire was in Austria in 2000
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when the People's Party agreed to form a coalition with the Freedom Party.
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This move sent shockwaves across Europe.
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Other EU countries put Austria in the deep freeze for months.
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But today, such coalitions are much more common and the reaction much less extreme.
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The two Austrian parties formed another coalition in 2017 and no one batted an eyelid.
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The rise of the hard right in Europe is worrying.
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Some of these parties are corrupt.
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Some of them even harbour anti-democratic tendencies.
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Some of them favour illiberal policies that could undermine the rights of minority groups, of immigrants.
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And many of them are opposed to the support that Europe has been providing Ukraine in its defence against Vladimir Putin's aggression.
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— Moscow!
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— So Viktor Orban in Hungary,
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for example, the nationalist prime minister,
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he's repeatedly held up important votes in the EU for supplying money or a military aid to Ukraine.
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Now one thing that almost all of these parties share in common is a hostility to Brussels,
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to the European Union.
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And so for some people,
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there's a concern that the growth of Eurosceptic parties could threaten the future of the European project itself.
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If Marine Le Pen in France,
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for example, wins the presidential election in 2027,
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that will have huge consequences for the EU.
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Some people think it could even lead to it falling apart.
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I think it's important to remember that although the rise of the far right is worrying,
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their opponents are not powerless and often mobilise against them.
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A good example is in France,
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where voters who are hostile to Marine Le Pen's national rally
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often agree to vote for mainstream candidates that they dislike to keep the hard right from power.
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It's a safe bet that European summits will see more leaders from the far right around the table in future.
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But that does not mean that Europe itself is on the verge of a takeover by the hard right.

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Why practice speaking with this video?

This video, titled "The worrying rise of Europe's hard right," presents an excellent opportunity for English learners to engage with contemporary political discourse while practicing their speaking skills. By adopting the shadowing technique, you can improve your pronunciation and fluency by closely mimicking the speaker. This method not only helps with language acquisition but also familiarizes you with the rhythm and intonation of English, particularly in the context of discussing complex topics such as political ideologies.

Engaging with this content can enhance your IELTS speaking practice as it encourages critical thinking and the ability to articulate nuanced viewpoints. Additionally, understanding the vocabulary and expressions related to political contexts can significantly benefit learners aiming for advanced discussions or debates in English.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

The speaker in the video employs several key structures that provide valuable learning opportunities:

  • Conditionals: Phrases like "If Marine Le Pen in France wins..." are useful for discussing hypothetical future scenarios. Practicing this structure can help you articulate your own opinions on future events.
  • Present continuous tense: The speaker uses constructions like "is growing" and "is propping up" to convey ongoing actions. This tense is essential for discussing current events and trends.
  • Descriptive adjectives: Terms such as "hard right" and "anti-democratic tendencies" enrich your vocabulary and enable you to describe subjects more precisely. Learning to use such phrases in different contexts can enhance your overall speaking ability.

Integrating these structures into your spoken English will allow you to express complex ideas clearly and effectively, especially when using the shadow speak method.

Common Pronunciation Traps

As you engage with the video, pay attention to some tricky words and phrases that may pose pronunciation challenges:

  • Eurosceptic: Be mindful of the ‘eu’ sound at the beginning, which is often mispronounced by non-native speakers.
  • Austrian: Note the stress on the first syllable to avoid sounding unnatural.
  • Coalition: This word can be tricky due to its complex vowel sounds; practice can help you articulate it more fluently.

Utilizing a shadowing app can assist you in repeatedly practicing these terms and phrases, ensuring you not only understand them but can also articulate them confidently.

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.

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