Shadowing Practice: Why Do Floods Happen? | Weather Science | SciShow Kids - Learn English Speaking with Video
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42 sentences
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1
Look, Squeaks, it looks like it stopped raining!
2
It’s been raining here for a few days, and the news was saying that we might even get a flood.
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A flood is when there’s water all over, even where there’s usually land.
4
Floods can be small, and only cover a little space, or they can cover an entire city.
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Now that it’s stopped raining, that probably won’t happen here.
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But it is pretty weird to think about the ground suddenly being covered with water!
7
Normally, when rain falls, the water can go a few places.
8
The rain can fall into someplace already holding water, like a lake or river, or it can land on the ground, which soaks up the water like a sponge.
9
But have you ever tried pouring water on a sponge for a while?
10
Eventually, the sponge can’t hold any more water, and it starts to drip.
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If too much rain falls too quickly, something similar happens with the ground: it becomes completely full of water.
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The lakes or rivers holding the water can also become too full, and begin to overflow.
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If the ground is too wet to soak up the extra water, a flood starts to form, almost like a giant puddle.
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A normal puddle will slowly sink into the ground, but during a flood, there’s nowhere for puddles to go, so they keep growing, and growing.
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Sometimes, the floodwater will cover roads, cars, and even buildings.
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Everything looks so different during a flood; it’s like there’s a new pond or lake.
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You can even see which areas are higher up in a town, and which are lower.
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The high spaces stick out of the water like islands, and the low spaces get completely covered by the floodwaters.
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Even when the rain goes away, the floodwaters can take a long time to go back down — sometimes days or weeks.
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But eventually, it soaks into the ground, or evaporates and goes back into the air.
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Then, the flood is over.
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Squeaks wants to know if you can explore a flood, and that's a good question!
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Floods aren't for exploring!
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Even though it looks like a big pond, a flood can be dangerous.
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As the floodwater rises, it picks up everything it can along the ground.
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There can be tree branches, trash, and even cars hiding under the water.
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The water can also pick up germs and other things that can make people sick if they drink the water, or sometimes if they touch it at all.
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It’s definitely not a good place to go swimming.
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What /should/ people do during a flood?
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Well, it’s a lot like what people do for other big problems, like a hurricane or tornado: they make sure to be prepared.
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Lots of people have an emergency kit with plenty of food, water, and other supplies to stay safe until the flood is over.
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Exactly!
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We keep an emergency kit in the Fort’s closet.
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If a flood did happen, we would stay inside as long as it was safe and make sure not to go too close to the water.
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In some places, especially near really big rivers or where it rains a lot, big floods can happen more often.
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People who live in places like that might have a special location, like a flood shelter, to go if there’s a big flood.
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That way, they can stay out of the water if it gets too close to their homes.
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Luckily, floods don’t happen very often near the Fort, and this storm didn’t cause one either.
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But I bet there are some good puddles outside!
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We should go do some splashing!
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Thanks for joining us!
42
If you want to keep learning and having fun with Squeaks and me, hit the subscribe button, and we’ll see you next time here at the Fort!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 42 sentences and 639 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:31. The speaker talks fast, about 181 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% 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 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- flood /flʌd/ (noun) — An overflow of a large amount of water (usually disastrous) from a lake or other body of water due to excessive rainfall or other input of water.
- soak /soʊk/ (verb) — To be saturated with liquid by being immersed in it.
- sponge /spʌnd͡ʒ/ (noun) — Any of various marine invertebrates of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.
- explore /ɪkˈsploɹ/ (verb) — To examine or investigate something systematically.
- pond /pɑnd/ (noun) — An inland body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is smaller than a lake.
- trash /tɹæʃ/ (noun) — Useless physical things to be discarded; rubbish; refuse.
- nowhere /ˈnoʊ.(h)wɛɹ/ (adverb) — In no place.
- shelter /ˈʃɛltə/ (noun) — A place where a person or animal may find protection from the elements (especially rain, storms, or cold) sometimes as a place to sleep (such as a cave).
- sink /ˈsɪŋk/ (verb) — To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance.
- swim /swɪm/ (verb) — To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
- closet /ˈklɑzɪt/ (noun) — A small room within a house used to store clothing, food, or other household supplies.
- hurricane /ˈhʌɹɪkeɪn/ (noun) — A severe tropical cyclone; an intense storm rotating around a central eye.
- pour /poɹ/ (verb) — To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it.
- subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/ (verb) — To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
- luckily /ˈlʌk.ɪ.li/ (adverb) — In a lucky manner; by good fortune; fortunately.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- pick up (verb) — To lift; to grasp and raise.
- do for (verb) — To doom; to bring about the demise of someone; to injure or harm someone.
- fall into (verb) — To go into something by falling.
- go away (verb) — To depart or leave a place.
- go back (verb) — To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
- live in (verb) — To reside on the premises of one's employer (used especially of domestic staff such as nannies, cooks, maids, etc.)
- think about /ˈθɪŋk əˌbaʊt/ (verb) — To ponder.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 6 contractions and reduced forms, such as aren't, can't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: trash /tɹæʃ/, shelter /ˈʃɛltə/, splash /splæʃ/
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 flood, soak, sponge.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | stopped raining · keep growing · keep learning |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might even get · might have |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | won't happen · will slowly sink · will cover |
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.