Shadowing Practice: What’s Hiding at the Most Solitary Place on Earth? The Deep Sea - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Sometimes the world feels.. hmm.. boring.
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We've visited all the remote islands, conquered the Arctic, and penetrated the deepest jungles.
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But there is still one place to explore.
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It's a wet and deadly desert inhabited by mysterious creatures living in total darkness.
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The deep sea.
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Let's dive down.
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The Earth's Ocean When we look at the sheer scale of the Earth's oceans,
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it's hard to believe that less than 2% of all biomass on Earth lives here.
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And of that small percentage, around 90% is located close to the surface in the first 200 meters.
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This is where we begin our journey.
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Here, light can still penetrate the water, which allows photosynthesis to occur.
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Phytoplankton, trillions and trillions of single-celled algae and bacteria, make up the foundation of the ocean's ecosystem,
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and they're consumed by bigger plankton who are consumed by other species.
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The sea floor at this depth is akin to the Amazon rainforest, and is often covered with coral reefs,
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algae and other sea plants that are home to a plethora of sea animals.
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So far we've focused most of our attention on this comparatively pleasant environment where we fish, swim, pollute and do science.
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So let's dive deeper.
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Moving from familiar coastal waters into deeper, more remote waters, we eventually reach the edge of the continental shelf, where we're confronted with the continental slope,
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long descent down to the deep sea.
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With every additional meter of water, light fades drastically, which means there are basically no more plants
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and the seemingly steep continental slope begins to remind us of the surface of the moon.
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Looking out, we're faced by what seems to be endless open water.
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Let's leave the slope behind us and enter what's known as the Twilight Zone, the portal to the deep sea.
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As we sink down further, the water pressure rises to deadly levels.
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The deepest scuba dive ever came in at 332 meters.
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At that depth, the pressure is like having 200 cars stacked on top of you.
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Yet we've only completed 3% of our journey.
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While this region seems pretty grim, many fish and other animals actually spend at least half their lives down here.
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During the day, it's a good place to to rest and recover, hidden from predators in the vast dark waters.
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At night, they can travel more safely into shallower zones to feed in the food-rich surface waters.
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In this transition zone between twilight and darkness, light becomes a powerful tool.
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Over 90% of the species indigenous to this deep environment use bioluminescence chemicals to create light.
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They do so as camouflage against the very faint sunlight to send signals to potential mates or to confuse and scare attackers.
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Or they use light to hunt.
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Another tool for survival in the dark is teamwork.
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At around 700 meters we encounter a colony of siphonophores.
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They can be up to 50 meters in length but are only as wide as a broomstick.
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To attract prey, a colony creates a tragically beautiful bright blue
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or red light and deploys a curtain of tentacles filled with toxic needles that kill anything that comes too close.
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But most species living down here have to rely on an unlikely resource, marine snow.
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White flaky stuff that constantly sinks from the surface to the bottom of the ocean.
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It consists of dead plant or animal parts, fecal matter, shells, sand or dust.
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Even though this doesn't sound very tasty, without this crucial resource, life in the deep sea would starve.
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It's in this area that the most fascinating battles between two unlikely enemies could happen.
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Sperm whales hunt and attack a giant squid the size of a house.
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While the squid fight back ferociously, they probably don't stand a chance, but they do leave permanent marks on their killer's skin.
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As we reach 1000 meters, deeper than the tallest structure built by humans, we need to be careful.
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This is the Midnight Zone, a place of utter darkness.
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A barely explored wet wasteland consisting of nothing but endless black open water.
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At these depths, it's harder for a human to take a swim than to take a walk in space.
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Eating food down here is really hard, so life had to adapt and become extremely energy efficient.
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Like the 30cm long vampire squid that floats through the water without motion, with long and slender catching arms extended.
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They're covered in tiny stiff hairs, which brush food from the water.
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This saves a lot of energy compared to actively catching food.
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For carnivorous fish, it's much harder to find food since living prey is quite rare down here.
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So the hunters have to get a perfect grip on their victim on first strike, otherwise it will escape into the dark.
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Many deep sea predators have several sets of long and deadly teeth.
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Like the viperfish, which uses its long fangs to trap even large prey and swallow it whole.
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Or the frilled shark, with its impressive set of 300 teeth, which are curved backwards to hook their victims in their mouths.
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We sink further, below the 3800 mark, as deep as the grave of the Titanic.
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We are now at abyssal depths.
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Here, life happens in slow motion.
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Preserving every last bit of energy is crucial for survival.
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Everything down here hovers motionless or swims in a slow, elegant fashion.
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The only time the animals living in this zone move fast is when they have to escape danger.
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Like the Dumbo octopod paddling with its ear-like fins or the Grenadier's fish with its slow eel-like tailbeats.
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At 4,000 meters, we finally reach ground again, the abyssal plain.
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It's covered in gray mud and rocks, dusted with the remains of marine snow, which is consumed by animals like sea cucumbers, shrimp, sea urchins and sea worms.
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In some regions of the sea floor, small dark mineral deposits can be seen.
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These are manganese nodules.
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Deep-sea corals and sponges use them to anchor themselves on the bottom of the sea.
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Though life is sparse on the deep sea floor, even down here there are oases.
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In the rift valleys, where tectonic plates are splitting apart, magma heats up seawater and creates dark jets of water
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and minerals as hot as 400 degrees Celsius that form elaborate chimneys and towers.
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Extremophile bacteria use the minerals to create organic substances that are the basis for unique ecosystems.
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As we descend further, we reach the deepest point of the abyssal plane at 6000 meters.
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For most of the seafloor, this is as deep as it gets.
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But if we want to get to the deepest point of the oceans, we're actually only halfway there.
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Let's enter the Hadel zone, the underworld of the sea.
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It consists of long narrow trenches that only make up around 0.25% of the oceans
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and are among the most extreme environments on Earth.
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Only extremophiles exist down here, like the ethereal snailfish that holds the record for the deepest living fish ever seen at around 8000 meters.
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We see spiky and sharp black rocks rush by as we sink down to more than 10,000.
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until we reach the final slope.
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A trench inside the larger Mariana Trench, with gently sloping sides that frame a valley about 1.6 kilometers wide.
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This is it.
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The deepest point.
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The Challenger Deep.
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11,000 meters below the surface.
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The water pressure here is 1,086 bar.
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Taking a swim here is like having to balance 1,800 elephants on top of you.
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But even here, life has found a way to thrive.
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Next to sea cucumbers, white and light pink amphipods wiggle their way through the water.
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Their size is astounding.
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While their shallow water cousins are merely a few centimeters long, the deep sea version can reach up to 30 centimeters.
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And there are other things floating elegantly through the water.
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Plastic bags that were found by scientists in 2018.
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Even the remotest place on Earth is not safe from human influence.
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There's nothing left to do now and our oxygen is running out, so we begin our ascent.
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After hours of travelling through dark nothingness, we finally see a glimpse of light.
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We arrive back at a calm surface.
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The oceans are so deep.
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There is so much of them.
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We owe it to ourselves and to our descendants to preserve them as well as we can.
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There are still so many wondrous things left to be discovered.
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This bird has magical powers.
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Let's see a demonstration.
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Bring in the latest scientific research.
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Wow, that's a lot of complicated stuff about the immune system and all its cells.
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How could someone possibly understand all of this?
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Incredible!
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This overview is delightful and easy to grasp, but still scientifically accurate.
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Let's make it a bit more difficult.
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Can she make all of evolution visible at a glance?
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This is brilliant!
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You can clearly see the relationships between species and how they evolved.
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And look at those illustrations!
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These posters are ready to be shared with the world.
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These very special pieces of Kurzgesagt are now available on our shop along with many other sciency products,
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all researched with care and created with love by the Burbs with magical powers.
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Every Kurzgesagt product you buy directly funds another moment we get to spend working on our videos.
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Thank you so much for being a part of our story and for making this channel possible.
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you
Why practice speaking with this video?
Exploring the deep sea offers an extraordinary context for English speaking practice, as it combines scientific knowledge with captivating storytelling. By shadow speaking and mimicking the speaker, learners can enhance their vocabulary and pronunciation while engaging with a fascinating subject. As you follow along, you will not only improve your English speaking ability but also gain insights into marine biology. This dual approach makes learning more enjoyable and practical, reinforcing critical listening skills while practicing shadow speech techniques.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Understanding the language structures used in the video can significantly enrich your English learning experience. Here are a few key grammatical structures and expressions:
- Comparative structures: The speaker contrasts the deep sea with other environments, using phrases like "less than 2%" and "more remote waters." This structure is useful for making comparisons, an essential skill in English conversation.
- Present continuous tense: Phrases such as "we're faced by" and "we're confronted with" demonstrate how to describe ongoing actions, which helps listeners connect with the spoken narrative more dynamically.
- Passive voice: The phrase "the pressure is like having 200 cars stacked on top of you" exemplifies passive constructions that focus on the experience rather than the subject performing the action. This is crucial for more advanced English learners to master.
- Use of conditional sentences: The video discusses hypothetical situations, such as "if you dive deeper." Practicing these structures can prepare learners for nuanced conversations about the future and possibilities.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While practicing your english speaking practice with this video, pay special attention to these pronunciation challenges:
- Bioluminescence: This scientific term can be tricky; focus on breaking it into syllables: bi-o-lu-mi-nes-cence.
- Siphonophore: Another complex word that requires careful articulation to avoid confusion; practice pronouncing it slowly: sy-pho-no-phore.
- Akin: This term may sound like "a kin," but it should be pronounced as /əˈkɪn/.
- Continental slope: Pay attention to the soft pronunciation of "continental" to sound more fluent.
Incorporating these elements into your shadowspeak practice will refine your pronunciation and speaking fluency, preparing you for more advanced English communication.
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.