Shadowing Practice: What is Public Health?? - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello and welcome to this video where we're going to talk about public health.

Public health has made a significant impact on the health of populations, making people healthy and saving lives.

For example, in the United States, between 1900 to 1999, people's life expectancy has increased by over 30 years.

Did you know that 25 of these extra years gained are due to public health interventions?

So in this video, we're going to take a look at what public health is, how it's different to clinical medicine, who's responsible for doing it, and how it's done.

First of all, let's have a look at what health is.

The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well -being,

rather than a mere absence of disease or infirmity.

This is a pretty bold and ambitious definition

that prompts people to look beyond diseases and focus not only on the physical aspect of health, but also on the mental and social aspects as well.

and public health well public health is the science

and art of preventing disease prolonging life

and promoting health through the organized efforts of society okay

so how is it different to clinical medicine let's take a

look at an example let's say someone has an accident

and has a broken leg a clinician's main focus is the

immediate health problem fixing the fractured leg clinicians focus on the individual the public health approach would be holistic

and would focus on figuring out how and why this person had an accident so

that actions can be taken to prevent it from happening again

for example why did he have the accident was there a

problem with his vision was it poor knowledge of driving skills

or bad attitudes towards driving was he under the influence of alcohol

or drugs when he was driving are there laws against this

and resources to enforce it what are the community expectations

or attitudes towards driving does he have a good social support network

that will help in his recovery

or prevent this from happening again was the road he was driving on safe was he driving a safe car

that was well maintained if not why not could he not afford it

if not why could he not afford it does he have a job

that doesn't pay well why is that is it

because he did not have access to good education was there good access to health services

which would determine his treatment and recovery?

As you can see from this example, health is determined by a complex interaction between many different factors or determinants of health.

These include individual characteristics, lifestyle and behaviors, and also the physical, social and economic environments, the social determinants of health.

In order to make a difference in health, there's action needed across all the different determinants.

Public health focuses on these upstream factors to make changes that can benefit the health of the population as a whole.

This seems like a very broad and complex task, doesn't it?

So, who's responsible for public health?

Ultimately, the responsibility of creating a healthy community rests with all sectors of society.

Health departments do have a central role in public health.

However, improving the health of a population requires the coordinated efforts of a broad range of stakeholders.

This includes other areas of government, the private sector, non -governmental organizations, international organizations, and communities, to name a few.

All united with a shared goal of improving the health of the public.

Now let's have a look at how public health works.

The World Federation of Public Health Associations has developed a useful framework to understand how public health is delivered.

There are three core service areas of public health

and a group of enablers that ensure that these services can occur effectively and efficiently.

The three core areas of public health are protection, promotion and prevention.

Protection is about protecting the health of the population.

This includes the control of infectious diseases, managing environmental hazards, ensuring a healthy workplace, and managing health emergencies.

Promotion is about improving the health of the population.

It covers a broad range of activities that not only focuses on the individual, like promoting health behaviours over a life course, it also focuses on improving the social determinants of health.

Prevention is about preventing health issues before they occur.

It includes activities such as vaccination and screening.

to enable these core areas to function there needs to be good governance advocacy to influence

and obtain support and commitment for actions

that support a health goal capacity having an adequate well -trained

and supported public health workforce

and having accurate timely information to support health actions such as relevant research surveillance monitoring and evaluation

so that's a quick introduction to the fascinating field of public

health we've had a look at what it is how it's different to clinical medicine who's responsible for doing it, and how it's done.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 61 sentences and 830 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:20. The speaker talks at a natural 156 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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
occur verb	/əˈkɜː/	To happen or take place.
aspect noun	/ˈæspɛkt/	Any specific feature, part, or element of something.
promotion noun	/pɹəˈmoʊʃn̩/	An advancement in rank or position.
prevention noun	/pɹɪˈvɛnʃən/	The act of preventing or hindering; obstruction of action, access, or approach; thwarting.
commitment noun	/kəˈmɪtmənt/	The act of sending a legislative bill to committee for review.
skill noun	/skɪl/	A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
obtain verb	/əbˈteɪn/	To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.
resource noun	/ɹɪˈzɔːs/	Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel.
monitor noun	/ˈmɑ.nɪ.tɚ/	Someone who watches over something; a person in charge of something or someone.
behaviour noun		British standard spelling of behavior.
absence noun	/ˈæb.s(ə)n̩s/	A state of being away or withdrawn from a place or from companionship
define verb	/dɪˈfaɪn/	To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly.
enable verb	/ɪˈneɪ.bəl/	To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to.
framework noun	/ˈfɹeɪm.wɜːk/	A support structure comprising joined parts or conglomerated particles and intervening open spaces of similar or larger size.
interaction noun	/ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/	The situation or occurrence in which two or more things act upon one another to produce an effect; the effect resulting from such a situation or occurrence.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
figure out verb	To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.

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 made · has increased · has developed
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	can be taken · is determined · is delivered

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 5 contractions and reduced forms, such as doesn't, we're, we've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: promotion /pɹəˈmoʊʃn̩/, prevention /pɹɪˈvɛnʃən/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, intervention /ɪntɚˈvɛnʃən/, evaluation /ɪˌvæljuˈeɪʃn̩/
Long words — get the stress right: interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, intervention /ɪntɚˈvɛnʃən/, evaluation /ɪˌvæljuˈeɪʃn̩/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, characteristic /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like occur, aspect, promotion.

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 →

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