Shadowing-Übung: DO THIS with Unfamiliar Words on the SAT - Englisch Sprechen Lernen mit Video

So you're feeling pretty good because you just finished the first English module and you're pretty sure you got a hundred percent.

And then, on the very first question of the second module, this happens.

I don't know that word.

Knowing how to choose the proper word based on context is one skill, but what the heck are you supposed to do if you don't know the words?

In this video, I'm going to give you four tips for dealing with unknown words on the SAT.

Tip number one is to not eliminate the words that you don't know, at least not yet.

Let's use this passage as an example.

So first thing you're always going to want to do is read and actually try to find some context.

So go ahead and pause the video and do that.

But for me, as I read through, the big part of this that stands out as a possible restatement, these details embody his artistic philosophy.

These details would be the elaborate mosaics, flowing lines, and nature-inspired motifs.

So the blank space needs to mirror and embody his artistic philosophy.

So I would say shown in, something like that.

Shown in or seen in.

So that would be my prediction.

Now, as we go through, I'm trying to eliminate.

Let's say I don't know what insensible means.

I'm not gonna get rid of it.

I have to keep it.

When I get to scrutinized by, let's say again, I don't know what it means.

It's okay gonna keep it for now.

And then I see D complicated by.

I'm very familiar with the word complicated.

That does not work with shown in or seen in.

So I'm going to say goodbye to choice B.

We'll come back to this question in a second.

All right.

So let's say you've gone through your first step of elimination

and you've only eliminated one answer or you still have all four answers left.

My second tip is to hold on to opposites.

That is to say antonyms.

More often than not, the correct answer is going to have an antonym or a near antonym somewhere in the answer choices.

So let's say I'm working on this problem and I've already read, I'm looking for context, and I'm having a little bit of trouble because I don't know what prefiguring and entrenching mean,

but I know that negating means sort of counteracting or making something null and void.

And I know that substantiating is sort of providing support for or, you know, bolstering something, supporting something.

So I'm thinking these guys are sort of antonyms.

So I'm going to go ahead and get rid of the two

that I don't know because I noticed we have a couple of opposites here.

And in context here, you know, pause the video if you need to look at the passage, but it's saying certain passages that were supposedly by this guy,

Sophho, may have been interpolations, that is to say little bits that were added in by later authors.

So this would change our understanding of Sophho's authorship.

So it would negate it, right?

It would not support it, it would do the opposite of that, perhaps nullify it.

Now that little antonym trick is super helpful, but only if you actually know the two words that are opposite from one another.

So let's say you're going through elimination step.

You don't spot two words that seem to be opposites.

Now what are you supposed to do?

At this point, you're going to need to rely on your knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, and word roots.

So coming back to this question to demonstrate, if you remember, I was able to get rid of complicated by looking at my three remaining choices

and trying to decipher what's going on, I notice a couple of things with choice A.

First of all, we have in, and I know that in means not.

So I'm thinking the first part of this is not.

Then I see sense, and I know that sense has something to do with perceiving or feeling.

So I'm gonna say not feel feel slash sense

and then the last part is a bowl

and a bowl think about words like capable

or edible It means able to I put all of this

together I'm thinking this word's gonna mean something like not able to feel or sense

Does that work with Shonen or Seen in?

No, in fact that kind of seems like the opposite if you are unable to sense or feel his philosophy,

that's the opposite of it being shown in or seen in his philosophy.

So using word roots, such as sense, and prefixes and suffixes, such as in and able, or in this case, ible,

I can get rid of choice A.

Now this is definitely a skill that you need to develop, and if you have little or no knowledge of common prefixes, suffixes, and word roots on the SAT,

I've actually got a free resource for you that's going to help you out, just use the link in the description to download that for free.

Finally, let's talk about what happens when you are down to a couple of answers

and you still don't know one or both of the words.

Another issue that my students run into is they think to themselves, the SAT is real fancy.

They're going to want me to choose the fanciest word available.

That's not how the SAT works.

In fact, I would even consider some of these more advanced words to be distractor answers

because a lot of students aren't going to know them.

So they're just going to throw it in there as a completely out of place answer, relying on the fact that a lot of you guys just won't know the definition.

All right.

So we've eliminated two answer choices.

Now I'm feeling kind of nervous because I've got two answer choices that I don't know.

But then I remember, Ooh, I actually know the word scrutiny.

A phrase comes to mind faced scrutiny.

And I know that scrutiny is sort of like judgment.

So would I want judged by?

Would that go with shown in or seen in?

Absolutely not.

So now I have confidently eliminated three answer choices.

And even though I don't know what B means, I know it has to be my answer because all the other answers are now not an option.

And indeed, manifest in means like shown in or seen in.

Something that is manifest is clear and obvious.

If I would have thought back to history class, I might have thought about manifest destiny.

All right, now let's consider this question right here.

As usual, we need to get some context first, so pause the video and take a look.

But the big thing that I'm noticing is these methods were gradually replaced by, you know, standardized approaches.

So based off of that, my prediction is going to be out of date.

All right now moving on to my answer choices Defunct at first.

I don't recognize it, but then I remember

Defunct like not functioning this means that something is no longer

Functioning no longer in use so

that would fit out of date arcane I actually end up remembering

because I read fantasy and I remember arcane symbols and spells and And arcane basically means mysterious.

So that is actually not going to line up with out of date.

I would get rid of arcane.

100

Let's say I don't know what ubiquitous is.

101

I don't even know how to pronounce it.

102

So I'm going to keep that one.

103

And then extraneous.

104

Luckily, my teacher was just lecturing me last week about how I need to remove all the extraneous information from my essay.

105

So basically the stuff that is irrelevant and extra.

106

So irrelevant sort of lines up with out of date, but it's a little bit too extreme.

107

Just because something that's out of date doesn't mean it's completely irrelevant.

108

So if I'm left with defunct and this word I don't know, since defunct is the word that I do know,

109

now it's okay to go ahead and choose that since I was able to confidently keep it around.

110

So my answer is going to be A, defunct.

111

And indeed ubiquitous means sort of like ever present.

112

You can see it everywhere.

113

Think about cell phones.

114

Who do you know without a cell phone?

115

Nobody.

116

Cell phones are ubiquitous.

117

They're everywhere.

118

And I know what you're thinking.

119

But Robert, what the heck?

120

What if I don't know both words?

121

What if there's three words left over that I don't know?

122

Unfortunately, the words in context questions on the SAT are just a little bit luck of the draw,

123

depending on the vocabulary that you are familiar with and depending on your comfort level with prefixes, suffixes, and word roots.

124

The rest of the reading section, however, is a lot easier to nail if you have the proper strategies.

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And if you happen to be around tomorrow, I'm going to be hosting a free live webinar designed for students who are aiming for a 700

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or higher in the English section.

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If you're watching this video the day it goes live, go ahead and join me for that.

128

Otherwise, the replay is going to be available on my channel.

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Das Szenario: Unbekannte Wörter im SAT – und wie du sie meisterst

Stell dir vor: Du hast gerade das erste Englisch-Modul des SAT abgeschlossen und bist sicher, alle Fragen richtig beantwortet zu haben. Doch dann triffst du auf eine Frage mit einem Wort, das du nie gesehen hast. Panik? Nein! Das Video zeigt, wie du auch mit unbekannten Vokabeln umgehst – und das ist nicht nur für Tests nützlich, sondern fürs gesamte Englischlernen. Ob du dich auf Prüfungen vorbereitest oder einfach flüssiger sprechen willst, die Tipps helfen dir, Kontext zu nutzen und Unsicherheiten zu überwinden. Und das Beste? Du kannst diese Strategien sogar beim Englisch lernen mit YouTube trainieren!

Nützliche Chunks & Collocations

Eliminate the words – "Wörter eliminieren" (wichtig für Teststrategien)
Hold on to opposites – "An Gegensätzen festhalten" (hilfreich, um Kontext zu verstehen)
Prefixes, suffixes, and word roots – "Präfixe, Suffixe und Wortwurzeln" (Schlüssel zu unbekannten Vokabeln)
Provide support for – "Unterstützung leisten" (nützlich in Diskussionen oder Texten)
Change our understanding – "Unser Verständnis verändern" (häufig in analytischen Texten)

Deine Shadowing-Challenge

Probier's jetzt aus! Such dir ein kurzes YouTube-Video zu Teststrategien oder Alltagsenglisch aus (perfekt für Englisch lernen mit YouTube). Höre dir einen 30-sekündigen Abschnitt an, in dem jemand über unbekannte Wörter spricht. Wiederhole dann sofort hinterher – Englisch Shadowing nennt man das. Achte auf die Intonation und die Rhythmus. Wenn du einen Satz nicht verstehst, pausiere, analysiere die Wörter (Präfixe? Suffixe?) und versuche es erneut. Diese Übung, auch shadow speech oder shadowspeaks genannt, verbessert nicht nur dein Hörverstehen, sondern auch deine Sprechgeschwindigkeit. Für mehr Übung kannst du auch eine shadowing site besuchen, aber starte einfach mit dem Video – du wirst schnell Fortschritte sehen!

Grammatik in diesem Video

Die Strukturen, die der Sprecher am häufigsten verwendet, mit den genauen Worten aus dem Video:

Struktur	Im Video
Present Perfect have/has + Partizip Perfekt – eine vergangene Handlung, die jetzt noch wichtig ist	you've gone · you've only eliminated · I've already read
Passiv be + Partizip Perfekt – wichtig ist, was geschieht, nicht wer es tut	is read · were added · being shown

Was ist die Shadowing-Technik?

Shadowing ist eine wissenschaftlich fundierte Sprachlerntechnik, die ursprünglich für die professionelle Dolmetscherausbildung entwickelt und durch den Polyglotten Dr. Alexander Arguelles populär gemacht wurde. Die Methode ist einfach aber wirkungsvoll: Du hörst englisches Audio von Muttersprachlern und wiederholst es sofort laut — wie ein Schatten, der dem Sprecher mit nur 1–2 Sekunden Verzögerung folgt. Anders als passives Hören oder Grammatikübungen zwingt Shadowing dein Gehirn und deine Mundmuskulatur, gleichzeitig echte Sprachmuster zu verarbeiten und zu reproduzieren. Studien zeigen, dass es Aussprachegenauigkeit, Intonation, Rhythmus, verbundene Sprache, Hörverständnis und Sprechflüssigkeit signifikant verbessert — was es zu einer der effektivsten Methoden für die IELTS Speaking-Vorbereitung und reale englische Kommunikation macht.

Shadowing-Technik: die vollständige Schritt-für-Schritt-Anleitung lesen →