Shadowing Practice: Trump holds off 'planned' Iran attack amid 'serious negotiations' - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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President Trump says he's holding off on a planned military attack in Iran that he says he was planning to launch tomorrow.
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President Trump says he's holding off on a planned military attack in Iran that he says he was planning to launch tomorrow.
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The president's saying that serious negotiations are happening now.
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Let's get right to CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House.
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Kristen, what are you hearing about this?
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Has there been a substantial shift in the tenor of negotiations?
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Well, that's really what's unclear at this moment,
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particularly given that we were just learning from a U.S official
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that the U.S does not believe that Iran's latest proposal goes far enough,
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that Iran has made enough concessions,
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particularly when it comes to enriching uranium.
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But what we're hearing now is President Trump essentially saying that his Gulf country partners,
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including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates,
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have essentially asked him to hold off on this planned military attack that he says was scheduled for tomorrow.
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And this is the quote,
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in that serious negotiations are now taking place,
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in that in their opinion,
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as great leaders and allies,
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a deal will be made which will be very acceptable to the United States of America,
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as well as countries in the Middle East and beyond.
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Then it goes on to talk about no nuclear weapons.
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And then it goes on to say that he's instructed his department of,
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et cetera, that he will not be doing the scheduled attack.
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But I do want to read one line.
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It says,
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I have further instructed them to prepare to go forward with
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a full large scale assault of Iran on a notice in the event that an acceptable deal is not reached.
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Now, of course, we have been reporting that President Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated by the negotiating that Iran is doing,
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essentially feeling as though it's not moving quickly enough.
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I will remind you that a couple of weeks ago,
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I asked President Trump if he believed Iran was slow walking this process.
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He said he really wasn't sure at that point,
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but that was still weeks ago and we seem to be in the exact same place.
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And this is also happening as President Trump has expressed this frustration to aides, to U.S officials as well.
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It's not just about the negotiating,
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but it's also about the Strait of Hormuz and this extended closure,
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which is having a ripple effect throughout the global economy,
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the global oil industry, and of course sending prices here in America skyrocketing.
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There is a real concern that gas could go above $5 a gallon in some places.
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So right now we are hearing President Trump saying
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that he's having these conversations with these Middle East partners that they're telling him to hold off.
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We've heard this kind of thing before,
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where he says he's not going to do something because there's a peace deal in the works.
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It's just unclear now what is happening behind the scenes in the moments after they're telling us one thing,
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that this latest deal didn't go far enough.
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And this post, which came again moments later with President Trump saying,
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we're going to not attack because there's a deal that might take place soon.
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Yeah, a deal will be made.
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That is their opinion, meaning Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to this post.
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Kristen, thank you so much.
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Let's bring in former Republican Congressman of Illinois, Adam Kinzinger.
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He's back now with reaction on this.
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The president has this habit of making these threats about essentially,
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not even essentially, about destroying Iran and then not following through on them.
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There's obviously questions about whether he should have made the threats in the first place,
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but I wonder what your reaction is to him again finding an off-ramp from his threat.
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Yeah, that's the whole thing.
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This is so damaging.
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You know, regardless of let's just be,
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you know, agnostic on whether he should attack again or not for the moment.
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When you make threats and then you're eager to back down from those threats,
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which he has been every single time.
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I mean, he's gone from we will destroy an entire civilization to we have a deal,
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which we never actually had,
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by the way, claiming the straits open,
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claiming it's closed, claiming he was going to pull the trigger on May 19th.
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And now everybody wants him to deal because we're about to like you lose all of your strategic like strength.
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One of the greatest things the United States had is our ability to say we will do something.
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The enemy knows that.
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And then hopefully we won't have to do that.
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This has just been like threat back off, threat back off.
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And I haven't seen the Iranians move in any way here.
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And we find ourselves in the worst case scenario,
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which is a closed strait, this nebulous future.
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And gas is now having to price in and futures are pricing in the uncertainty.
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I wonder if you think
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that there is a path for the U.S to somehow exit this situation in a better position than it went in.
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Is the only way out of this essentially to have this new Persian Gulf Strait authority
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that Iran has installed in the Strait of Hormuz intact and to essentially find some form of concession
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that Iran will accept in order to reopen the strait to their liking?
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Yeah, I mean, that's what's crazy is we did go in with overwhelming military power,
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and now in the White House,
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they are trying to figure out what Iran needs to be satiated, to be pleased.
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And I mean, this is why they should have thought this through.
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You either, if you're going to do something like attack Iran,
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you have to know what the contingencies are.
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And honestly, those contingencies, you have to be willing to do them.
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Otherwise, you probably should not have gone to this fight in the first place.
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And so what does the future here look like?
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You You know, I don't know.
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Are they going to find something that Iran wants?
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Maybe.
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Are they going to actually denuclearize them or whatever?
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I don't know.
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Is there going to be an Iranian,
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you know, toll on every ship that passes?
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But I know this much.
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I know that my kid,
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who's four and a half years old,
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is going to probably be in a country
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that has a worse situation based on what's going on because of this war than had we done nothing.
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I think Donald Trump needs to figure out if we resume hostilities with Iran,
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you need to have a plan in place to reopen
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that strait and stick to the use of the military until it's done
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or quit these threats because it's just making it worse.
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Tomorrow marks 80 days since the U.S and Israel launched the war with Iran.
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But today, how it ends is anything but clear.
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Iran says it did send a new response to Pakistani mediators about U.S criticisms of its latest 14-point peace proposal.
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President Trump rejected that offer last week,
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saying he stopped reading it after the first sentence.
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Impatient over the impasse, the president is again threatening to destroy Iran,
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saying on Sunday, quote, the clock is ticking and they better get moving fast or there won't be anything left of them.
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Let's talk more about all of this with Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.
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He's a member of the House Intelligence Committee.
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Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.
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We've seen threats like this before.
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Do you think the president is ready to make good on this threat this time?
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Well, obviously, I won't predict what Donald Trump's going to do,
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but he did say that he's going to be meeting with his natural security team in the Situation Room tomorrow.
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We also know what appears to be the response to the latest from Iran on a proposed deal,
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which seems like, according to reports,
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more words and not a lot of substantive action on their nuclear program.
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So between, you know, obviously what we're looking for,
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progress we're looking for from Iran on their nuclear program,
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plus lack of action on scaling back their ballistic program or their terror programs from,
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you know, one of our key enemies, the regime there.
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It seems to put forth a lot of question marks about Iran taking things seriously
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when it comes to action on our side.
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And add to that what's going on in the Straits,
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Hormuz, where you're looking at a thousand ships or so that are still stranded there,
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stuck there, which of course is leading to much higher gas prices for Americans back home.
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In Jersey, where I live,
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average now $4.50 as we head into Memorial Day weekend, right?
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You can imagine that's weighing pretty heavily.
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On the closure of the strait,
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Iran has launched this new entity,
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the Persian Gulf Strait Authority,
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to manage the strait as they're trying to really cement their control over this critical passageway.
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Is it possible that Iran retains control of the strait in perpetuity?
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And certainly it appears that are going to try to do that for several months here in the near term.
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Is there any scenario where that could go on in perpetuity?
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I mean, I don't think that's anything that we could accept as a country.
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You can't have more 20 percent of the world's oil passing through this key artery,
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one of our top adversaries holding the keys, right?
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That seems unacceptable to me,
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you know, both in terms of what that would do to global oil pricing and also impact on our allies as well.
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Let's remember what we're dealing with here.
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The Iranian regime flies under the banner of death to America,
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calls us the great Satan America and has attacked and killed our service members and attacked our bases,
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killed our allies.
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These are no friends of the United States of America.
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But what's been continuing to be unclear is what our ultimate strategy is in the region
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and what our progress has been through the conflict.
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As much as I want to crush Iran,
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I also want to understand what our goals are.
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And so far, what we're seeing is very high oil prices.
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And at least according to public reporting,
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Iran still maintains massive missile and drone capabilities and capacity,
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as well as significant nuclear capacity,
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and has the resources, and I think this is a big issue,
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whether they have the resources to fund their proxy terrorist program,
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Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
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So you have a lot of questions that are still hanging out there,
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not a lot of answers,
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but we'll see what's next.
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The Iranians appear right now not to be concerned about our threats.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
This video offers a unique opportunity to enhance your English speaking skills through the context of diplomatic negotiations. President Trump's dialogue features authentic language use among leaders discussing serious international matters. By practicing with this video, you not only improve your vocabulary but also gain insight into the nuances of political discourse.
Engaging with this content can boost your confidence in speaking about high-stakes topics, which is particularly beneficial for learners aiming to excel in conversations related to current events. Using a shadow speech approach, learners can mimic the speaker's rhythm and intonation, which in turn fosters better fluency and allows for an immersive experience in conversation style.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In this video, several key grammatical structures and expressions are highlighted:
- Passive voice: The phrase "the U.S does not believe that Iran's latest proposal goes far enough" illustrates the passive voice, a common construction in formal contexts.
- Conditional statements: Expressions like "if an acceptable deal is not reached" help learners understand how to express hypothetical situations and their consequences.
- Direct quotes: The frequent use of quotations, such as "a deal will be made which will be very acceptable," showcases how to accurately report speech in discussions, which is vital for effective communication.
Practicing these grammatical structures through repetition can significantly improve English pronunciation and comprehension when discussing similar topics, and utilizing a shadowing app for practice can make this process more engaging.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you practice with this video, be mindful of certain tricky words and phrases that may challenge your pronunciation:
- “Iran”: This word is often mispronounced; focus on the correct emphasis on syllables.
- “Proposals”: Pay attention to the stress on the second syllable, as this can change its intelligibility.
- “Negotiations”: This longer word can be difficult; try breaking it down into smaller parts as you practice shadow speaking.
Shadowing helps learners navigate these pronunciation challenges effectively. By listening closely and mimicking the speaker, you can enhance your clarity, making it easier to communicate your thoughts. Using a shadowing site or app can further assist you in mastering these tricky pronunciations, enabling you to speak with greater confidence.
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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