Shadowing Practice: We’ll Never Beat the Houthis - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hello, this is John Mearsheimer.
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As you know, I am now answering questions from channel members.
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And today I have a question that comes from someone who self -identifies as Ed Hod App 6465.
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And Edhadap6465 asked me this question,
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should we go to war against the Houthis, not Iran?
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In general, do you think damaging the Iranian proxies in the region is a worthwhile strategy?
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Let me start by just describing to you what I think
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the basic situation is in the region with regard to the United States, the Houthis, and the Iranians.
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The United States is obviously at war with the Houthis.
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Excuse me.
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The United States is obviously at war with Iran.
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But it's very important to understand that the two sides are not shooting at each other at the moment.
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There's no fighting taking place at the moment between the Iranians on one side and the Americans on the other.
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But we are at war.
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There's just a lull in the fighting.
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With regard to the Houthis, the United States is not at war with the Houthis.
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And the United States is not fighting against the Houthis.
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the houthis are fighting against saudi arabia
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and those people in yemen who are associated or allied with saudi arabia
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so in a very important way we have two different wars taking place here one is a war between iran
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and the united states and the other is a war between the houthis and Saudi Arabia.
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Now, very importantly, you want to remember that after President Trump came to office in January 2025,
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he said that he was going to defeat the Houthis in ways
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that would take them out of the fight in the Middle East.
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So what happens in March of 2025, a few months after president trump is back in the white
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house as he starts a fight with the houthis by may of 2025
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roughly two months later president trump ends the war he declares victory of course
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but the fact is we don't win we were incapable of defeating the houthis this cannot be emphasized enough
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so the point i'm making to you is that
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when you think about fighting against the houthis today you want understand
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that the United States went up against the Houthis once before in Trump's second term in office.
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And we effectively quit that fight because we were losing that fight.
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So the question that I'm being asked to address is whether the United States, which is already at war with Iran,
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although we're not fighting with the Iranians at this juncture, whether we should also go to war against the Houthis.
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And what this means, given that the Houthis and the Saudis are fighting each other,
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is whether or not we should join with the Saudis against the Houthis.
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Now, there's no question that the Houthis are very important strategic actors in the Middle East,
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and they are a threat to the united states
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and the principal reason is that the houthis
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because of the damage they can do to saudi arabia
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and the fact
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that they control the bab al mandab strait puts them in
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a position where they can throttle the flow of oil out of the persian gulf and the red sea
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so it's very important to understand that the houthis are a threat to the united states But again,
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the question on the table is whether we should go to war against the Houthis.
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My response to that is no. The fact is that the United States has no way of defeating the Houthis militarily.
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We went to war against the Houthis once before.
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We couldn't beat them then, and we certainly can't beat them now.
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You want to remember
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that one of the principal reasons President Trump ended the war with the Houthis in May of 2025 is
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because he felt
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that we were expending too many precious munitions fighting against the Houthis in what was ultimately proving to be a lost cause.
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Well, today, after this long war, with iran
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that has been going on since february 28th of this year
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we have even less munitions available to fight against the houthis than we had back in the spring of 2025.
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so if we pick a fight with the houthis two things happen one is we don't win
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and number two we expend more precious munitions.
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So you see, in a very important way, the reason that we're not fighting against the Iranians today,
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we're at war with the Iranians for sure.
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And at some point down the road, the shooting may start again.
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But we're not engaged in a shooting match with the Iranians at the moment
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because we have no way of militarily defeating the Iranians. And furthermore,
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we have a huge shortage of precious munitions well the same basic logic applies to the houthis we don't have
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the munitions that we need to attack the houthis
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and produce victory we also don't have the munitions we need to defend their allies
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and here we're talking mainly about saudi arabia if the houthis retaliate
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so we have no war -winning strategy against the houthis
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but to make matters worse it's very important to understand
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that the houthis have the ability to hit critically important targets in saudi arabia in fact there are reports today
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that that saudi arabia's principal oil line
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that goes from the eastern side of saudi arabia to the
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western side of saudi arabia where oil is then put in the red sea
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and shipped to global markets that
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that pipeline has once again been shut down by the houthis now it's not absolutely certain
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that that's the case
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because one can never be certain about news reports uh coming out of the middle east these days
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but there is good reason to believe
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that the houthis have shut down this pipeline all of this tells you
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that the houthis have the ability to do significant damage to critical saudi infrastructure
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so the point i would make is that if we up the ante against the Houthis.
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We try to defeat them once again.
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We're not likely to succeed.
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And furthermore, we're likely to make a bad situation worse
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because the Houthis will retaliate against targets in Saudi Arabia
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that matter enormously in terms of the flow of oil out of the Gulf
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and into world markets i'd make one final point on this
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if the united states working with the saudis is successful at damaging the houthis military capability
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and it looks like the houthis are on the ropes in other words
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if i'm wrong that when i say that i don't think the united states can bring the Houthis to their knees.
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If I'm wrong, I believe that what would then happen is
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that the Iranians would join the fight with the Houthis against the United States.
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The Iranians have a deep -seated interest in making sure the Houthis don't lose.
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So if we are moving in a direction where it looks like we're going to be successful against the Houthis, I think the Iranians would then come in.
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And we're back to square one
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because the United States does not have military capability to defeat the iranians
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and it would be almost impossible for us to prevent the
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iranians from doing significant damage to saudi oil infrastructure all this in conclusion is a way of saying
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that the united states has no winning strategy in the middle east or in the Persian Gulf region.
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It has no winning strategy against Iran.
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It should be manifestly clear at this point in time.
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Remember, the war started on February 28th, and most of it was supposed to last three or four weeks.
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Here we are many months later, and the United States is not on the verge of achieving victory.
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If anything, the United States is in desperate straits vis -a -vis the Iranians
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and the idea that we can now pick a fight with the Houthis
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and do to the Houthis what we have been unable to
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do with with regard to the Iranians I think is a pipe dream
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and in fact as I've said we fought the Houthis once before
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and the Houthis won and I think that would happen again
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but even if I'm wrong I don't think that solves our problem
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because I think the Iranians would come to the rescue of the Houthis.
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That's really all I have to say on this sad situation.
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Once again, it becomes manifestly clear
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that the United States has gotten itself into a well of a lot of trouble in the Middle East, and it has no easy way out.
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In fact, I think it has no way out, period.
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Thank you very much for listening to this episode, and I look forward to answering the next question from a channel member.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “We’ll Never Beat the Houthis”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: houthis, Iranian, saudi, arabia, fighting. This video has 115 sentences and 1483 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:37. The speaker talks at a steady 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| regard noun | /ɹɪˈɡɑːd/ | A steady look, a gaze. |
| gulf noun | /ɡʌlf/ | A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin. |
| infrastructure noun | /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/ | An underlying base or foundation for a building, organization, or system. |
| furthermore adverb | /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/ | In addition; besides; further; what's more (i.e. to denote additional information). |
| ally noun | /ˈæl.aɪ/ | A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a friend. |
| capability noun | /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/ | The power or ability to generate an outcome. |
| pipeline noun | /ˈpaɪpˌlaɪn/ | A conduit made of pipes used to convey water, gas or petroleum, etc. |
| strait noun | /stɹeɪt/ | A narrow channel of water connecting two larger bodies of water. |
| rescue verb | /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ | To save from any violence, danger or evil. |
| defend verb | /dɪˈfɪnd/ | To ward off attacks against (something or someone). |
| strategic adjective | /stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/ | Of or pertaining to strategy. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| conclusion noun | /kənˈkluːʒən/ | The end, finish, close or last part of something. |
| associate noun | /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/ | A person united with another or others in an act, enterprise, or business; a partner or employee. |
| engage verb | /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/ | To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| shut down verb | To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or temporarily. |
| go up against verb | To challenge someone. |
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. |
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 | have shut · have been · I've said |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are associated · cannot be emphasized · being asked |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who self · States, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 25 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: furthermore /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/, throttle /ˈθɹɔ.tl̩/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, shortage /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/, munition /ˌmjuˈnɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, capability /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, associate /əˈsoʊʃi.ət/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, critically /ˈkɹɪt.ɪ.kə.li/
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 regard, gulf, infrastructure.
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.