Shadowing Practice: Walking and Talking in a Great Place for Comprehensible Input - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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I'm on the go again.
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I'm on the go again.
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I'm Joseph.
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This is Input English.
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I'm at a county park and there'll be a lot to show you.
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You might wonder why I go to parks like this.
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Of course, I enjoy the atmosphere and it allows me to create an informal atmosphere for you.
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This is not didactic learning of grammar and vocabulary.
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Hopefully you're not studying anything.
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But if you listen, listen carefully to what I'm saying,
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and if you understand what I'm trying to communicate,
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then you will absorb the language.
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This is a magnificent way to overcome the barriers in language learning.
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Our brain is actually designed for this approach.
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Our brain is not designed to absorb boring rules of grammar and memorize long lists of vocabulary.
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My experience over decades tells me that that traditional method simply doesn't work.
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but listening to clearly spoken language that's a little slower does work.
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So welcome to this episode.
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In the United States we have lots of different kinds of parks.
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We have national parks.
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They are run by the U.S federal government.
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The next level down is the state park and that's run by each of the 50 states.
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Here in California we have many state parks.
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This is not one of them.
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The next tier down from the state park would be a county park and then indeed there are also city parks.
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This is a county park.
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We are in Santa Cruz County.
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We're on the Pacific Coast.
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I'm up on the top of a cliff.
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I'm up on a bluff and I can look down and see the Pacific Ocean below me.
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So here is the Pacific Coast.
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As you can see, I'm up on the cliff at the top of the cliff looking down at the surf.
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The surf is breaking on the beach.
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There's no obvious way to get down to the beach.
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However, I did my homework.
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I did a little research and I have some information.
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We should be able to get down to the beach.
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This county park in Santa Cruz County is called greyhound rock.
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Why would we call something greyhound rock?
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Perhaps there's a grey rock down there.
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Indeed.
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It's a descriptive term.
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It was a name applied to a monolith,
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a big piece of stone in the ocean.
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And when you see its shape, you'll understand the name.
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So I'm going to walk from here down toward the beach and hopefully get you up close and personal with Greyhound Rock.
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You might notice that I'm wearing a different hat.
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That's because it's very windy here.
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This hat has a better fit to be less likely to blow off.
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My Panama hat has a large rim that would catch the wind
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and it doesn't fit tightly enough that I would be secure that I would not lose it.
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So I'm wearing this hat today because it's less likely to blow off.
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It also has a feature that may be useful.
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It has a chin strap.
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I consider a chin strap on a hat like this a bit of a fashion What's that?
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A fashion crime is a casual expression that refers to some style that one is displaying that is not in fashion,
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is not satisfactory.
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So I think that wearing a chin strap on this hat would be a fashion crime.
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It's a lighthearted expression.
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No real crime is being spoken of.
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Here's our first glimpse here on the trail of Greyhound Rock.
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Greyhound Rock, you could construe,
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is shaped a bit like a dog laying on the floor.
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It's longer than it is wide.
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So someone decided that that should be called Greyhound Rock.
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The trail is amazingly good.
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Compared to my most recent hike in this area, this trail is amazing.
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It is paved with asphalt.
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It's a little uneven.
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There are areas where the asphalt has been damaged or destroyed.
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But in general, this is a very satisfactory hiking trail.
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One could almost bring someone down here in a wheelchair.
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I don't recommend that.
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It's a little too steep for that.
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But they have put effort into making this accessible for people.
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People could easily bring their family down here.
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This trail is not dangerous.
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From this vantage point, you can see the beach.
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We're quite a bit lower than we were.
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I was up on the bluff to the left when I started this video,
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and now I'm getting down close to the beach.
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I made it down to the beach.
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It was not difficult at all.
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There are very few people here.
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I'm here on a Thursday around noontime.
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Sometimes when you go to the beach,
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you might want to time your visit based on the tide.
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The level of the ocean rises and falls,
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and there are charts, there are ways of looking up whether it will be low tide or high tide.
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Looking at the vegetation on the beach and the way the waves are breaking,
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this does not appear to be low tide
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because the waves are coming up nearly to the level that the vegetation is deposited it.
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As you look here, you can see the waves are breaking on the beach
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and the vegetation that was deposited at the recent high tide is only slightly further up on the beach.
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Based on that, I believe it's nearly high tide.
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It's certainly not low tide.
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That's important here because of a feature in this park.
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I will show you.
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This was part of the trail that I did not come down.
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You can see that the hillside has eroded and the trail is falling apart.
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That handrail has collapsed down toward the ocean.
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Above this level, an informal trail has developed
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and people have walked on this smaller trail to get down here to the ocean.
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It looks like the county government will need to do some repairs to this trail if it's going to be usable.
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Here you can see the hillside.
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It is heavily eroded.
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My scientific training is not strong in geology.
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I've always been interested in geology,
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but I did not take a lot of courses and develop much expertise in geology.
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In the United States, if someone is interested in geology as a hobbyist,
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they might collect stones.
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They might collect interesting stones.
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And someone who does that as a hobby in the United States is called a rock hound.
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I went through a phase when I was a teenager that I was a bit of a rock hound.
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When we traveled on summer vacations,
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we would collect a lot of stones.
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But we didn't do so as scientists.
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We didn't do so with a great deal of expertise.
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We did so as hobbyist enthusiasts.
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So the house where I grew up actually had stones that we brought home from all over the country,
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and they were used as decorations in the garden.
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When we sold that family house,
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those stones conveyed with the house.
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The new owner has custody of those stones
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that we laboriously collected from all over the United States and Canada to decorate that yard.
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Now we are down at the level of Greyhound Rock.
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The reason I was talking about the tide is you can see
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that the water between the beach and Greyhound Rock is not very deep.
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It would be easy to understand that if the tide were to go out and the water level were to drop,
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that it would be easy to walk out to Greyhound Rock.
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If you tried to do that today,
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you would get rather wet.
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However, when the tide is low,
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I think that is a very realistic goal.
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This material here on the beach is the remnant of mollusks,
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which have washed up on the shore and died.
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This is all that remains of them.
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This is a more recent arrival that has not decayed yet.
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A moment ago I referred to these as mollusks,
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but I did not feel right about that.
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I was not certain that they were mollusks.
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Unfortunately, that was a guess, and I guessed wrong.
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These are cnidarians.
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They're more closely related to jellyfish.
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and the specific organism that washed up here is called by the wind sailor.
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It floats on the surface of the ocean,
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feeds on small marine animals,
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but these met their demise by washing up on the shore,
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being stranded on the shore,
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and dying in the sun.
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These are related to jellyfish.
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This is the view to the north.
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It's an absolutely gorgeous view on the Pacific coast.
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In the distance, the land projects out into the ocean,
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and that is the state park, Año Nuevo State Park.
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I made a video at that location last year.
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Today on the Pacific Coast,
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it's a windy and cold day.
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I'm glad I brought a jacket and I'm glad I brought a hat.
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When I was growing up,
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we didn't put much emphasis on sun protection.
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Solar protection is important because human skin exposed to the UV rays of the sun can be damaged.
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Sun exposure can give us risk of several different types of skin cancer
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and can cause a lot of changes in the skin that we associate with aging.
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When I went on scuba diving trips,
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it quickly became clear that I needed solar protection because we were exposed to the sun during our surface intervals.
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And without sun protection we would all be badly burned.
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One of the things I noticed as I applied sunscreen was that they were frequently very irritating.
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They were irritating to my skin.
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So as I'm trying to be responsible and apply sun protection,
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I've had a difficult time finding sunscreens that suit me.
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There's no easy answer.
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It's trial and error.
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In general, the sunscreens that are mineral-based are less irritating,
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but that's not a certainty.
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The sunscreens that I have used that have chemical filters rather than mineral filters seem to be more irritating to me.
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From this vantage point, one can see Greyhound Rock here in the foreground.
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And then as I pan around to the left,
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you can see the beach and how it extends on to the south.
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The direction you're looking right now is to the south.
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In the United States, we have a lot of coastal locations where people can visit the ocean.
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These beaches and coastal locations around the country are very different.
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I grew up on the East Coast and spent a lot of time in Florida.
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The beaches in Florida could be the Atlantic Coast,
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the Gulf Coast, or the Florida Keys.
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The Atlantic Coast of the United States and Florida tends to have bigger waves like this,
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and the water may be a little cooler.
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Conditions obviously vary based on the weather,
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but we think in terms of the bigger waves on the East Coast being from the Atlantic Ocean.
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In contrast, if you go to the Gulf of Mexico,
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the waves are much smaller most of the time,
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and the water is usually warmer.
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If you go further down to the tip of Florida,
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to the Florida Keys, the water tends to be very warm and the waves not very large.
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You could say that the Florida Keys are rather Caribbean.
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The atmosphere in the Florida Keys suggests the Caribbean rather than the rest of Florida.
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When I arrived in California,
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I had a preformed idea that perhaps I would go swimming in the Pacific Ocean.
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That idea was very short lived because the Pacific Ocean in California is very cold.
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I have never gone swimming in this Pacific Ocean because it's too cold.
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I did go scuba diving in Monterey Bay.
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That was with several layers of wetsuit,
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and it was still uncomfortably cold.
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If you look at the map of the United States,
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you can see that population centers tend to gather around or near water.
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Certainly there are large cities inland,
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but the population disproportionately concentrates near the water.
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My wife used to say that she really needed to live close to the water.
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She had no intention of living far inland.
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When one comes here to the beach and sees this natural beauty,
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you can feel that draw of the ocean.
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It's very inviting.
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I hope you enjoyed this short video.
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I invite comments below.
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And if you like videos like this,
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be sure to click on this one next.
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See you soon!
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Practicing speaking through engaging videos, like the one featuring Joseph in a scenic county park, provides an informal and relaxed atmosphere ideal for language acquisition. By immersing yourself in comprehensible input, you will boost your confidence in English speaking practice. As you listen carefully to Joseph’s commentary about his environment and experiences, you naturally absorb the language, which is a far more effective method than rote memorization of grammar rules.
The context of walking and talking allows you to hear language used in real-life scenarios, where vocabulary and phrases are linked to visual and situational cues. This method helps improve English pronunciation as you mimic and practice the fluidity of the spoken language. By watching and listening actively, you can also apply the shadowing technique, repeating phrases after the speaker to refine your accent and pronunciation.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Joseph utilizes various linguistic structures that are beneficial for learners:
- Descriptive Language: "This county park is called greyhound rock." This structure provides useful phrases for naming and describing locations.
- Present Continuous Tense: "I’m on the go again." This tense conveys ongoing actions and can enhance fluency when discussing current activities.
- Spoken Contractions: "There’ll be a lot to show you." Recognizing contractions helps you understand natural speech patterns and improves listening comprehension.
- Contextual Vocabulary: Words like "surf," "bluff," and "monolith" introduce geographic terminology, enriching your lexicon suited for discussing nature and outdoor activities.
These elements are vital for IELTS speaking practice, as they prepare you for discussing a variety of topics fluently and confidently.
Common Pronunciation Traps
In Joseph's dialogue, several pronunciation aspects could pose challenges for non-native speakers:
- The word "greyhound" may confuse learners due to its combination of sounds. Focus on breaking it into syllables: "grey" and "hound."
- Joseph mentions "cliff" and "bluff," which have similar consonant endings that can be tricky. Practice saying them in succession to differentiate the sounds.
- Pay attention to the phrase “county park.” The emphasis on the first syllable of “county” is crucial for clear articulation.
These pronunciation pointers will enhance your overall speaking skills and assist in your quest to learn English with YouTube as a powerful resource in your language journey.
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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