Shadowing Practice: War Expert Reveals BRUTAL Truth About Iran’s Power Grab - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

102 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

And how does the Strait of Hormuz play into all this, right?

Maybe outside of just, let's say, gas prices.

I know I looked it up right before our chat here, and I think gas prices have went up around 40, 50 percent since February 28th.

But outside of that, how important is that region?

Well, there's two ways the Strait of Hormuz is important, Will.

You put your finger on one and then said, let's not talk about that, but let's talk about that way just a little bit it.

The thing that's important to know about those gas prices going up, and you just pointed out,

gone up 40 % for six months, so a long period of time,

not just a week or two or a few days where we had a scare.

That has not happened in that 35 -year period called the post -Cold War period,

where we fought a war and American gas prices went up.

Now, we fought a war against Saddam Hussein, Iraq, 1991.

We fought, we intervened in Bosnia in 1995.

We intervened in Kosovo, 1999.

These are in the Balkans against essentially Serbia.

Then Afghanistan, we topple the Taliban, 2001.

That touches off a 20 -year forever war in Afghanistan.

Then, 2003, we invade, occupy, conquer Iraq, an oil -rich country, by the way, in 2003, touches off a forever war.

And for most of America, they barely knew that happened except for the opening days

and weeks of those wars because they were on TV for a while.

Then they fell off of television because very little cost hit America in their pocketbook.

And if you were to look from 1991 to today on an annual basis and look at America's GDP,

whether it's been up those years or down, you would see in the years of all those wars I just laid out,

we grew, and sometimes quite well.

Well, the times we went down 2007, the great housing crisis, the time we went down, COVID took us down.

This may ultimately end up looking more like the housing crisis and COVID.

It certainly doesn't look like those other wars.

So that first dimension of Hormuz being disruptive, that has touched

Americans in ways the other wars, forever or not since 1991,

have not that's a very big change so that that

so I don't want to overlook that because you put your finger on it that's how people it's touching

Americans and that's special

and it might get worse in fact I think

there's a good chance it'll get worse before it gets better over the next not just week

or two but between now and January but the second point on Hormuz is with respect to Iran's power.

So the Strait of Hormuz has been there for pretty much forever in history, right?

That is a geographic fact of life.

But what's changed is up until February 28, that strait, you could say,

was an international waterway or was under the control of the United States.

Either of those would be a fine interpretation of events.

What changed starting on February 28 and changed within a day, literally a day, was Iran shut down the Strait of Foremost.

Iran decides who goes through the Strait of Foremost.

And it shut it down, well, not in a crude, blunt way where nobody can pass through the Strait of Foremost.

Essentially, it's a selective blockade.

Iran decides on a daily basis which ships it's going to allow without threatening them

and which ships it's going to threaten or actually attack.

And that's happening literally in the last few days.

So this is ongoing.

It's not that Iran attacks a ship every day, but it doesn't need to attack a ship every day.

One a week, one every couple of days, that's plenty in order to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz.

That is a big change.

It's a change not just in the status of Hormuz,

but it's a change in the latent power of Iran because Hormuz is that choke point that's got its,

it's like a hand on the throat of 20 % of the world's oil.

It's almost like a hand on your carotid artery.

It's that important.

The biggest artery of oil and energy in the world is the Strait of Hormuz.

That's like our carotid artery, the biggest, most important artery in our body. And Iran...

now has control of that, which is future wealth, future income.

It's not that it makes so much money on that today.

It's that if we let that stand, and right now it looks like we can't stop it.

I don't think we can stop it.

But if we let that stand, Iran will gain $100 billion a year,

maybe more year after year within a short period of time it'll be more wealthy than the richest of the Gulf states

Saudi Arabia within a short period of time it will have the military wherewithal to extend its influence

and influence the nature of the governments in those

Gulf states It will be able, within a short period of time,

to extend its military influence and reach to shut down the Red Sea,

the Suez Canal, to control the other arteries.

So we talk about the carotid artery.

Well, there are other arteries.

Think about the big artery in your leg, in the femoral artery.

Iran will be able, over time, to be able to control all of those arteries in the Middle East.

That's an enormous, and more wealth will come from that.

That's an enormous amount of power.

Guys, we've been so passionate about finding the biggest geniuses.

And this is just one of the many episodes.

If you want to make sure you don't miss the next one, make sure to subscribe.

All right, let's get back to the episode.

That means if that were to stand, just the control of Hormuz,

it will expand like a set of concentric circles until Iran becomes the fourth center of world power.

Wow that's a stunning change america will likely still be uh

at least on paper the strongest country in the world followed by china followed by russia

but now iran will be elevated from a weak state

and maybe declining state in the middle east to the fourth center of world power more powerful than India,

more powerful than Pakistan, more powerful than Brazil.

This is quite a shift in world power,

and it all happened from February 28 to March 1.

Think about that.

That's never happened in history.

We've seen other powers go from being regional or modest -sized powers to large powers.

We've seen geography play a role.

We've seen technology play

But to have it happen in a snap like that?

Stunning.

The whole reason I started

Dakota Genius was to learn from extraordinary people and give back by sharing these conversations with you.

So if you've got something from this, anything at all, please do me a favor.

Hit like, subscribe, and tell me in the comments what stuck with you.

100

And most importantly, share this with someone who could benefit from it.

101

Thank you so much for spending your time with me.

102

I don't take it for granted.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

222 sentences

Does Rent Control ACTUALLY Work? Obama’s Chief Economist Breaks it Down | The Brief

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

233 sentences

Metal Gear Rising - Raiden & Armstrong Legendary Dialogue (no gameplay)

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “War Expert Reveals BRUTAL Truth About Iran’s Power Grab”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Hormuz, iran, strait, artery, period. This video has 102 sentences and 1199 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:14. The speaker talks at a steady 146 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
artery noun	/ˈɑɹ.təɹ.i/	Any of the muscular- and elastic-walled blood vessels forming part of the circulation system by which blood is conveyed away from the heart regardless of its…
strait noun	/stɹeɪt/	A narrow channel of water connecting two larger bodies of water.
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
essentially adverb	/ɪˈsɛnʃəli/	In essence: by nature.
extend verb	/ɛkˈstɛnd/	To increase in extent.
enormous adjective	/ɪˈnɔː.məs/	Extremely large; greatly exceeding the common size, extent, etc.
subscribe verb	/səbˈskɹaɪb/	To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
threaten verb	/ˈθɹɛt.n̩/	To make a threat against someone; to use threats.
intervene verb	/ˌɪntəˈviːn/	To become involved in a situation, so as to alter or prevent an action.
decline verb	/dɪˈklaɪn/	To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
extraordinary adjective	/ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/	Out of the ordinary; exceptional; unusual.
expand verb	/ɪkˈspænd/	To change (something) from a smaller form or size to a larger one; to spread out or lay open.
genius noun	/ˈd͡ʒin.jəs/	Someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art…
ongoing adjective	/ɒnˈɡəʊ.ɪŋ/	Continuing, permanent, lasting.
throat noun	/ˈθɹoʊt/	The front part of the neck.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go up verb	To move upwards.
go down verb	To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one.
shut down verb	To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or temporarily.
touch off verb	To start (something); to set off traps; especially used for unstable situations that may magnify if disturbed.
end up verb	To bring to a conclusion.
get back to verb	Return to (an activity)
give back verb	To return, restore (a thing to its original owner or location etc.).
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Maybe outside of just, let's say, gas prices.
It's almost like a hand on your carotid artery.
I don't think we can stop it.
All right, let's get back to the episode.
We've seen geography play a role.

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	has not happened · it's been · has touched
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	that, which is · someone who could

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 14 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, we've, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/, wealthy /ˈwɛl.θi/, wherewithal /ˈwɛɚ.wɪ.ðɔl/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, interpretation /ɪnˌtɜːpɹəˈteɪʃən/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, dimension /daɪˈmɛn.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, extraordinary /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/, interpretation /ɪnˌtɜːpɹəˈteɪʃən/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, geography /d͡ʒiˈɑɡɹəfi/

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 artery, strait, finger.

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: War Expert Reveals BRUTAL Truth About Iran’s Power Grab - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

How the Worst Oil Crisis in History is Backfiring

Trita Parsi: Trump’s Iran Strategy Is A CATASTROPHE

Who Are the Houthis — and Why Can't Saudi Arabia Defeat Them? | Times Radio

Marco Rubio on Iran War, Soaring Gas Prices, AI, Media Ban, More

The REAL Reason Trump Started The Iran War

Iran’s $60B Oil Machine: How Millions of Barrels Reach the USA

Sept. 20, 2001 - Bush Declares War on Terror

Is War Over? — A Paradox Explained

Iran's crumbling economy

'VIRTUALLY ALL' US Missiles USED In Iran War