Shadowing Practice: Working as a Fire Protection Engineer - First Six Months Experience - Learn English Speaking with Video
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It's now been half a year since I started working as a fire engineer
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and during that time I had a total of 53 projects ranging from smaller projects like sheds
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and offices to shopping centers and health clinics and here are some of my thoughts.
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For my first day at work I got a quick introduction to the basic commands in AutoCAD
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and the company's routines and was then handed the CAD drawings of a new building.
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I got a few minutes to look at it before having
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a meeting with my co-worker without really knowing anything about consultant
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work whatsoever where the drawings was for a new two-story shopping center with a two-story parking garage
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and this was going to be my first ever project.
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That specific project quite literally just started digging just around a month ago
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which got me understanding of how long the pre-building process of new buildings actually take.
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Now that I got quite a routine built I start every new project by going through the plans of the building, seeing a situation in comparison to other buildings,
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as well as a distance to the closest fire department.
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I then instantly start to sketch out the ideas of how
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the fire protection strategy can be made as efficiently as possible
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with my knowledge of the pre-accepted rulesets from the regulations before even writing a single word in the report.
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After sketching off the drawings, I get it up in the report, running down the criteria given for the specific risk category that the building is set in, using the regulation's 17 chapters on fire safety,
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ranging from a building's load-bearing capacity to securing the safety of the fire department in an emergency situation.
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If there's some parts of the regulation that seems a bit redundant for for the specific buildings or even hard to achieve, it might be needed to do some extra analysis,
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calculations or simulations to prove that the fire safety of the building is achieved without that specific criteria.
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So far during my 53 projects, there's been the need to do that for 60% of them.
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So it's quite a common practice.
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Doing this involves doing some other measures such as the installment of sprinkler systems where it's not technically a requirement, direct alarm to the fire departments,
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or just passive measures that will just secure a quick egress of the building.
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But I think I'll dive more into that in a different video.
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It gets quite hard to keep track of all the projects, as in a busy day you might work on up towards 10 different projects at the same time, so to stay organized I got a folder with shortcuts to all my projects,
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links from our work database, while also typing up the progress of each project onto my personal Notion page or OneNote.
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When I first started I was very afraid to do any mistakes, as a slight mishap from my part might result in an unsafe construction being built
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but luckily our internal quality control ensures
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that there's at least three engineers on each project where one creates the product one does a thorough quality control
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and a third person evaluates the quality control as the final
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step before the project is sent out to a customer
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if it's a more complicated project where some of the solutions
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are not amongst the regulations pre-accepted ones it might also require the separate quality control from a different firm
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which has their own multi-step quality control it really puts your mind to ease a little bit more than
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if you were the sole responsible person for each project.
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All in all, I really like my job.
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The fact that every building is different and
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that some buildings will require a totally new solution
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that needs to be simulated and documented to fit the regulations makes it that you're constantly learning something new.
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There's also different routes to take as a fire engineer, but becoming a fire safety advisor was most likely the best fit for me personally as I enjoy using my brain.
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And even though it's mainly an office job, you also get to go out on site and see what the sentences that you write in the report actually mean.
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Another route
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that I would personally consider doing is experimental fire research as
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you get to see more of what the different solutions Amongst other things actually does firsthand.
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So during my bachelor thesis we did multiple full-scale experiments and I had a lot of fun
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So we did experiments using water curtain sprinklers protecting windows towards an outdoor emergency path
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So you can watch this playlist next if you're interested in
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that it shows the whole process from gathering theory to finishing the actual experiments Anyways, thanks for watching and have a good one.
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What It’s Like to Be a Fire Protection Engineer: Insights from the First Six Months
The video shares a fire protection engineer’s journey through their first half-year on the job, covering everything from project variety—53 projects, including sheds, offices, and shopping centers—to daily routines and overcoming challenges. It’s a rich source of real-world English, with practical phrases and conversational tone that’s perfect for practicing shadowing, a technique that helps improve English pronunciation and fluency.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “pre-accepted rulesets”: Used when referring to standard regulations. Example: “We follow pre-accepted rulesets unless extra analysis is needed.”
- “passive measures”: Describes safety features like quick egress routes. Example: “Passive measures ensure people can exit quickly during a fire.”
- “internal quality control”: The process of checking work within a company. Example: “Our internal quality control involves three engineers per project.”
- “full-scale experiments”: Large, realistic tests. Example: “My thesis included full-scale experiments with water curtain sprinklers.”
- “quick egress”: A fast way to exit a building. Example: “Designs prioritize quick egress for safety.”
Step-by-Step Shadowing Guide for This Video
Ready to try the shadowing technique with this video? Follow these steps for quick wins:
- Listen and Repeat Short Clips: Start with 5-second segments (e.g., “It's now been half a year since I started working as a fire engineer”). Pause, then repeat, focusing on matching the speaker’s rhythm and stress. This helps with pronunciation and flow.
- Focus on Connected Speech: Notice how words link, like “got a quick introduction” (sounds like “gotta quick intro”). Shadowing these phrases trains your mouth to move naturally in English.
- Use a Shadowing App or Site: Tools like shadowspeaks or other shadowing sites let you slow down the audio, making it easier to keep up. Practice daily for 10 minutes to see progress fast.
- Mimic Emphasis: The speaker stresses words like “really like my job” and “constantly learning.” Copying this emphasis makes your speech sound more natural.
- Review and Record: After shadowing, record yourself and compare it to the video. Note differences in pronunciation—this helps you target areas to improve.
With consistent practice using the shadowing technique, you’ll not only master industry-specific vocabulary but also sound more confident in everyday English. Dive in, and remember: every repetition brings you closer to fluency!
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.