Shadowing Practice: What is a calorie? - Emma Bryce - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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We hear about calories all the time.
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We hear about calories all the time.
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How many calories are in this cookie?
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How many are burned by 100 jumping jacks,
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or long-distance running, or fidgeting?
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But what is a calorie really?
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And how many of them do we actually need?
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Calories are a way of keeping track of the body's energy budget.
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A healthy balance occurs when we put in about as much energy as we lose.
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If we consistently put more energy into our bodies than we burn,
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the excess will gradually be stored as fat in our cells and will gain weight.
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If we burn off more energy than we replenish, we'll lose weight.
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So we have to be able to measure the energy we consume and use,
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and we do so with a unit called the calorie.
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One calorie, the kind we measure in food,
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also called a large calorie,
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is defined as the amount of energy it would take to
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raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius.
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Everything we consume has a calorie count,
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a measure of how much energy the item stores in its chemical bonds.
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The average pizza slice has 272 calories.
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There are about 78 in a piece of bread,
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and an apple has about 52.
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That energy is released during digestion
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is stored in other molecules that can be broken down to provide energy when the body needs it.
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It's used in three ways.
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About 10% enables digestion, about 20% fuels physical activity,
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and the biggest chunk, around 70%,
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supports the basic functions of our organs and tissues.
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That third usage corresponds to your basal metabolic rate,
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the number of calories you would need to survive if you weren't eating or moving around.
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Add in some physical activity and digestion,
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and you arrive at the official guidelines for how many calories the average person requires each day,
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2,000 for women and 2,500 for men.
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Those estimates are based on factors like average weight,
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physical activity, and muscle mass.
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So does that mean everyone should shoot for around 2,000 calories?
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Not necessarily.
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If you're doing an energy-guzzling activity,
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like cycling the Tour de France,
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your body could use up to 9,000 calories per day.
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Pregnancy requires slightly more calories than usual.
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And elderly people typically have a slower metabolic rate.
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Energy is burned more gradually, so less is needed.
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Here's something else you should know before you start counting calories.
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The calorie counts on nutrition labels measure how much energy the food contains,
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not how much energy you can actually get out of it.
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Fibrous foods like celery and whole wheat take more energy to digest,
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so you'd actually wind up with less energy from a 100-calorie serving of celery than a 100-calorie serving of potato chips.
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Not to mention the fact that some foods offer nutrients like protein and vitamins,
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while others provide far less nutritional value.
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Eating too many of those foods could leave you overweight and malnourished.
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And even with the exact same food,
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different people might not get the same number of calories.
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Variations in things like enzyme levels,
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gut bacteria, and even intestine length means that every individual's ability to extract energy from food is a little different.
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So a calorie is a useful energy measure,
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but to work out exactly how many of them each of us requires,
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we need to factor in things like exercise,
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food type, and our body's ability to process energy.
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Good luck finding all of that on a nutrition label.
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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will explore the concept of calories, their significance in our daily lives, and the way they affect our body and energy levels. By watching the engaging video, you will enhance your understanding of nutrition while simultaneously improving your English speaking practice. This lesson aligns perfectly with the shadowing technique, which will allow you to mimic the speaker's pronunciation and expression, helping you to improve your English pronunciation while discussing a relatable topic.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Calorie - A unit of energy used to measure how much energy food provides.
  • Basal metabolic rate (BMR) - The number of calories required to maintain basic bodily functions at rest.
  • Digestion - The process by which food is broken down to release energy.
  • Physical activity - Any movement that requires energy expenditure, affecting calorie burning.
  • Nutritional value - The content of essential nutrients that a food item contains.
  • Energy budget - The balance of calories consumed versus calories burned.

Practice Tips

To make the most of this lesson and truly enhance your English speaking practice, try using the shadowspeak method while watching the video. Here are some helpful tips:

  • Focus on Speed: The speaker has a clear yet conversational pace. Start by listening carefully without speaking. Then, pause the video frequently to repeat phrases. This will help with your overall fluency.
  • Use Tone Variation: Pay attention to the speaker's intonation and emotion. Try to replicate this when you practice your shadow speech. It’s important not just to mimic words, but also to grasp the speaker’s feelings.
  • Record Yourself: After practicing shadowing, record your speech. Listening to your recordings will highlight areas for improvement and boost your confidence.
  • Engage with the Content: Discuss the topic with others or write about what you've learned. This will reinforce your vocabulary and the context in which those terms are used.
  • Repeat Regularly: Shadowing works best with repetition. Make it a habit to revisit this video and engage with the content several times. The more you practice, the more natural it will feel!

By integrating these tips into your practice routine, you will maximize your ability to articulate thoughts clearly and effectively, transforming your learning experience and boosting your confidence in English speaking.

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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