Shadowing Practice: What does Visa do? The answer might surprise you - Learn English Speaking with Video
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46 sentences
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Almost everyone knows the Visa brand.
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One of the most trusted and recognizable in the world.
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But not everyone knows what Visa does.
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A credit card company.
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Not a credit card company.
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Is it a bank company?
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Nope.
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They loan money.
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Try again.
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They lend the money to you and then they charge your bank account later.
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Sorry.
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I have no idea.
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Oh!
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Can I have a clue?
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Visa is a payments technology company that facilitates commerce around the world.
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Whether you are making a purchase, sending money to a friend, or part of a business moving money to another business.
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Visa pioneered the electronic payments business more than 60 years ago, envisioning a world in which paying for something could be translated into electrons
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and photons that move across the globe at the speed of light.
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The consumer may access an infinite range of goods and services whenever he chooses, he chooses, wherever he may be.
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Today, there are more than 3 billion Visa accounts around the world, in more than 200 countries and territories.
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During fiscal year 2019, more than 200 billion payments in cash transactions were made with the Visa brand,
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representing more than 11 trillion in payments and cash volume, from the largest cities to remote communities across the globe.
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Each transaction made on the Visa network represents a packet of data that moves across a massive telecommunications network, more than 10 million miles in length end to end.
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The network is made up of fiber, ethernet, wireless, satellite, and virtual connections,
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linking consumers, businesses, governments, and financial institutions.
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The journey of each transaction starts with you.
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When you click, swipe, dip, or tap to pay, data about the transaction travels from the store owner to their bank or processor,
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which captures the information and sends it to Visanet.
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Visanet uses artificial intelligence technology to analyze every aspect of the transaction to determine the level of risk for fraud.
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VisaNet routes the information to the bank that issued the customer's credit or debit account.
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The bank decides whether to approve or decline the transaction based on Visa's risk score and its own data about the account.
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Traveling back through VisaNet, the approved request returns to the store owner, where where the transaction is completed.
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Later on, Visa makes sure the money is transferred.
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This authorization all happens in less than one second, whether you're in Miami, Madrid, or Mumbai.
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Making sure that every transaction flows instantly are several global data centers synchronized in real time
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so that if one system experiences issues, another picks up.
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Software developers and other partners can use Visa's developer tools to build innovative ways to pay.
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As a payments leader, Visa is extending the boundaries of our network and the potential of billions of connected devices,
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bringing the security and reliability of our brand to customers across the entire payments ecosystem.
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Digital commerce can extend to even the most remote regions, where people who don't typically bank can access the benefits of mobile technology.
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Despite the growth of digital payments, about 1.7 billion people still lack access to formal financial services,
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and consumers spend nearly $17 trillion in cash and checks.
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Meeting this opportunity is the mission of Visa's more than 19,000
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employees committed to accelerating the global migration to digital payments to enable individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive.
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You might not know what Visa does because the inner workings of our network are not visible when you're making a payment, and they shouldn't be.
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Speed, security, and convenience are what drive our business, so you can get on with yours, no matter how, when, and where you choose to pay.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 46 sentences and 601 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:02. The speaker talks at a steady 149 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- transaction /tɹænˈzækʃən/ (noun) — The act of conducting or carrying out (business, negotiations, plans).
- remote /ɹəˈməʊt̞/ (adjective) — At a distance; disconnected.
- commerce /ˈkɑ.mɚs/ (noun) — The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; especially the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended…
- extend /ɛkˈstɛnd/ (verb) — To increase in extent.
- globe /ɡloʊb/ (noun) — The eyeball.
- developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/ (noun) — A person or entity engaged in the creation or improvement of certain classes of products.
- approve /əˈpɹuːv/ (verb) — To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory.
- formal /ˈfɔɹməl/ (adjective) — In accordance with established forms.
- capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/ (verb) — To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem.
- aspect /ˈæspɛkt/ (noun) — Any specific feature, part, or element of something.
- institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/ (noun) — A long-established organization or type of organization, particularly one involved with education, public service, or charity work.
- decline /dɪˈklaɪn/ (verb) — To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
- visible /ˈvɪzɪb(ə)l/ (adjective) — Able to be seen.
- connect /kəˈnɛkt/ (verb) — To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object.
- fraud /ˈfɹɔːd/ (noun) — The crime of stealing or otherwise illegally obtaining money by use of deception tactics.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- get on with (verb) — To proceed with; to begin or continue, especially after an interruption.
- make with (verb) — To give, to bring, to produce, to show.
- pick up (verb) — To lift; to grasp and raise.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, shouldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: authorization /ˌɔːθəɹaɪˈzeɪʃən/, thrive /θɹajv/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: transaction /tɹænˈzækʃən/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, migration /maɪˈɡɹeɪʃ(ə)n/
- Long words — get the stress right: developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, innovative /ˈɪn.əˌveɪtɪv/, facilitate /fəˈsɪlɪteɪt/
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 transaction, remote, commerce.
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.