Shadowing Practice: To Scale: THE SOLAR SYSTEM - Learn English Speaking with Video

If you look up an image of the Earth and Moon, you're gonna get a picture where they're quite close together.

Something like that.

But in reality, the Earth and Moon are about,

About that far apart, that is the Earth and the Moon to scale.

Taking the same concept but for the solar system, every single picture of the solar system that we ever encounter is not to scale.

If you put the orbits to scale on a piece of paper, the planets become microscopic and you won't be able to see them.

There is literally not an image that adequately shows you what it actually looks like from out there.

The only way to see a scale model of the solar system is to build one.

Welcome to Black Rock Desert.

This is Alex.

I'm Wiley.

He's going to be behind the camera.

I'm going to be probably making a lot of mistakes on camera.

We have 36 hours to measure the distances, trace out the orbits, and set up a time -lapse shot from up on top of a nearby mountain.

To create a scale model with an earth only as big as this marble,

you need seven miles of empty space so that's why we're here why did you guys come I don't have a job

at this scale the Sun is a meter and a half so about about that big around

So we are driving right now to Mercury, and we've arrived.

Venus is the same size as Earth.

I have the world in my pocket somewhere. And Earth.

And this is Mars, got a couple of robots rolling around on that one.

Once the time lapse is ready, we'll drive each orbit with a light.

Hopefully you'll be able to tell just how big they really are.

Onward to the outer planets,

Jupiter, Saturn,

that tiny light out there is our sun just over a mile away.

The sun is way, way out there now. So this is it.

This is the edge of the solar system.

So right now it's about 7 a .m.

We just woke up right before the sun's about to rise.

We are on Earth's orbit.

Wiley is over there holding our sun.

Cue the dramatic sunrise music.

So if we've made our model correctly,

your perspective from where Earth is on the model will match your perspective from standing on the real Earth.

So if you look back at the sun, you will see that the model sun and the real sun are the exact same size.

And that's how you can tell that the proportions are correct.

There are 24 people in the entire history of the human species,

billions of people who have actually seen the full circle of the Earth with their own eyes.

Following the breakfast, the astronauts went to the soup room where they donned their spacesuits.

This is man's attempt to get to the moon.

Zero.

We have liftoff.

Liftoff at 751.

In Earth orbit, the horizon is just slightly curved.

When you head on out to the moon, that horizon slowly curves around and upon itself, and all of a sudden, you're looking at something that is very strange, but it is very, very familiar.

Oh, my God, look at that picture over there.

Wow, that's pretty.

You can put your thumb up, and you can hide the Earth behind your thumb.

everything that you have ever known, all behind your thumb.

Not any bigger than that, way up there.

It's really beautiful.

You can cry.

That's what I really wanted to try and capture.

We are on a marble, floating in the middle of nothing.

When you sort of come face to face with that, it's staggering.

Thank you.

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143 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 57 sentences and 626 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:36. The speaker talks slowly, about 95 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
orbit noun	/ˈɔɹ.bɪt/	An elliptical movement of an object about a celestial object or Lagrange point, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
thumb noun	/ˈθʌm/	The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
curve noun	/kɚv/	A bend, such as in a road.
horizon noun	/həˈɹaɪ.zən/	The visible horizontal line (in all directions) where the sky appears to meet the earth in the distance.
marble noun	/ˈmɑɹ.bəl/	A metamorphic rock of crystalline limestone.
pocket noun	/ˈpɑ.kɪt/	A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items.
capture verb	/ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/	To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem.
dramatic adjective	/dɹəˈmætɪk/	Of or relating to the drama.
sudden adjective	/ˈsʌd.ən/	Occurring quickly with little or no warning or expectation; instantly.
arrive verb	/əˈɹaɪv/	To reach; to get to a certain place.
encounter verb	/ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/	To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly.
robot noun	/ˈɹoʊ.bɑt/	An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal.
correctly adverb	/kəˈɹɛk(t).li/	In a correct manner.
trace noun	/tɹeɪs/	An act of tracing.
soup noun	/sup/	Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
close together adjective		Near each other in time or space.
look up verb	/ˌlʊk ˈʌp/	To have better prospects.
set up verb	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	To make ready for use.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 13 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we've, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, proportion /pɹəˈpɔɹʃən/

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 orbit, thumb, curve.

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 arrived · we've made · have actually seen
Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction	won't be · we'll drive · you'll be
Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming	gonna get · He's going to be · I'm going to be
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	are driving · you're looking

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: To Scale: THE SOLAR SYSTEM - Learn English Speaking with Video

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