Shadowing Practice: What's going on inside a baby's mind? - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello and welcome.
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Hello and welcome.
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We have a very special SGMD today from New York City in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative.
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And today we're talking about the science of success, investing in babies minds.
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Let me just tell you,
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there's something a little intimidating about doing a panel on intelligence.
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It's very hard to look good,
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I think, especially when you meet our guests in just a moment.
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But before I introduce them,
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I want you all to think for about a couple of points.
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What is intelligence?
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What is the value of intelligence?
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And how do we ensure that every child out there can reach their full potential?
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I'm a neurosurgeon and I'm fascinated with what I think is the most complex biological system in the world.
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So let's just take a moment to appreciate it.
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By the time a human embryo is five weeks old,
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it is just the size of an apple seed.
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But the brain has already begun to grow.
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By eight weeks the basic structure of the brain and central nervous system are in place.
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The neural networks are spreading out,
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and even now the nerve signals are traveling more than 150 miles an hour.
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At birth, nearly all 100 billion neurons of the human brain are already in place,
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but the brain only weighs about 25% of what it will later on.
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It's about to embark on its fastest growing period,
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quadrupling in size by the time a child finishes preschool.
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By age six, the brain is 90% of its adult size.
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During that burst of growth,
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700 new neural connections are formed every second as we gain the capacity to smile around two months,
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to talk usually around a year,
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and to dress ourselves, around the age of three.
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In those early years, in fact throughout our lives,
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the brain changes through experience,
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learning to speak, taking those first steps,
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understanding colors and shapes, forming novel thoughts.
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But as certain neurons are used more frequently,
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other unused neurons go away.
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It's a process called pruning and almost anything can shape us in those baby and toddler years.
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First words, first ice cream,
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first TV show, first argument, for better or worse.
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And here with me now, Dr. Rosemary Trullio.
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She's the Vice President of Education and Research for the Children's Television Workshop.
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Among other things, that means she's responsible for developing the curriculum that you see on Sesame Street.
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Also, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris,
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she's a pediatrician from Oakland,
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California, where she's founded the Center for Youth Wellness, which she runs.
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She's also an expert advisor to Too Small to Fail,
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an initiative which was launched by Mrs. Clinton
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and the Clinton Foundation to improve the well-being of kids from birth to age five.
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And I think you may recognize the woman right here to my left.
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Hi, Sanjay.
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Back about 40 years ago,
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I think the book was called Beyond the Best Interests of the Child.
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Ah, you've done your homework.
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Yes.
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40 years ago, you were about 10 years old.
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Yeah, I was.
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I was.
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A very precocious fifth grader.
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Yes.
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But, you know, it's interesting because we went back and looked at some of that research.
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And when you talk about educational achievements,
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we've certainly made progress in some areas.
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But over 40 years, I think most people agree,
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not nearly as much as we would have wanted as a country.
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Do you point to any particular things and say,
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here's where we sort of missed the boat?
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I think a couple of things,
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and in no particular order.
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I think that life was not as fast-paced or as stressful in many,
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many ways 40 years ago,
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and certainly even before that.
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Yes, were there problems?
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Did our parents and grandparents face a lot of difficulties?
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Absolutely.
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But income has stagnated people's economic futures don't seem as predictable and stable as they did perhaps to a prior generation.
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And that kind of stress and anxiety does affect how you interact with your children,
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and particularly your youngest children.
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I think also with the increasing ubiquity of television and now with screens of all kinds in our homes,
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I think too many people drew the wrong conclusion that,
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yes, talking, teaching your children words,
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singing to them, reading to them,
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all of that is great,
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but that people are talking on TV.
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So if we put them there or if we give them,
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you know, access to a computer or an iPad or whatever,
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you know, they're going to get that too.
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And what we now know from the brain research is that doesn't work that way.
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It's the human interaction and reinforcement.
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You talk a lot about adverse childhood experiences,
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as I read in your paper.
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Look, there are a lot of kids out there who have tremendously tough lives,
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and they face a lot of adversity.
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How do you stratify who is going to be able to rise through
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that and maybe even be better because of it and those who are just going to be really harmed by it?
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Yeah, so the term adverse childhood experiences comes from the seminal study
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that was done by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente and
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when they looked at 17 and a half thousand adults what they found was
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that folks who had greater exposure to these adverse childhood experiences including abuse
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and neglect or household dysfunction like parental mental illness or parental incarceration or domestic violence,
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those folks had dramatically increased risk of chronic disease.
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And when we look at individual susceptibility to that,
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what the science shows us is that it's a combination between nature and nurture.
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It has to do with our biology,
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but it also has to do with the environment.
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And frankly, we know that early detection makes a big difference.
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And particularly when we're thinking about young children,
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we know that children's exposure to adversity,
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the earlier we intervene, the better the outcome.
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Is it important, Secretary Clinton,
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for two parents to be involved?
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You wrote the book, It Takes a Village.
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I mean, two parents, one parent.
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Does it have to be a parent to provide some of these buffers that Dr. Burke Harris is talking about?
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Well, I think as the doctor said,
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there are other ways to provide that buffer.
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You know, sometimes it is a grandparent,
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sometimes it's an older sibling or an aunt or an uncle.
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You know, every child, though,
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needs a buffer, or as I like to say,
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every child needs a champion.
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And that champion has to,
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you know, really invest in that child,
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and to a certain extent,
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buffer and protect that child from whatever the other stresses are.
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Context & Background
In this enlightening session, a panel of experts discusses the fascinating development of a baby's mind and the significance of early childhood experiences on intelligence. The conversation delves into the rapid growth of the brain during the first few years of life and how this growth lays the foundation for lifelong learning. With insights from renowned professionals in neurology and pediatric care, the dialogue emphasizes the importance of nurturing a child's potential and understanding the biological mechanisms that contribute to intelligence. This background serves as a springboard for those interested in enhancing their English language skills, particularly related to topics concerning cognitive development and education.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- What is intelligence? - This foundational question opens discussions about learning and development.
- Reach their full potential - A phrase highlighting hopes for children's growth, applicable in various contexts.
- Fastest growing period - Useful in discussing stages of development, not just for kids but in any learning scenario.
- Neural connections - A scientific term that can enrich vocabulary and help explain complex ideas clearly.
- Learning to speak - A common phrase valuable for discussing language acquisition at any age.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively improve your English pronunciation and speaking skills using the insights from this video, follow these simple steps:
- Watch the Video: Start by watching the video with the sound on to grasp the context and tone.
- Listen for Key Phrases: Focus on the key phrases listed above. Take note of their pronunciation and context.
- Pause and Repeat: Use the shadowspeak technique to pause the video and repeat the phrases aloud. This will help reinforce your pronunciation and intonation.
- Record Yourself: Grab your smartphone or a recording device and say the phrases out loud. Listen to your recordings to identify areas for improvement.
- Practice Regularly: Make a habit of including these phrases in daily conversations or practice them during IELTS speaking practice. Consistent practice will refine your language skills and pronunciation over time.
By engaging with such content and incorporating targeted practices like shadow speaking, you'll enrich your vocabulary and enhance your fluency, which is crucial for academic and professional success.
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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