Shadowing Practice: Are Books Still Useful for Learning English? 📙📚📖 - Learn English Speaking with Video

So the other day I was wondering, are books still useful for learning English?

I mean, almost everything you need can be found on the Internet.

Are books like old fashioned books that you can open and flip the pages?

Are they still useful?

So I went online and I did a search for best books for learning English.

And I noticed that when the search results came up, books from a company called DK were often in the mix.

You would see a few of them.

And I remember when my kids were little, we would check out books from DK Publishing because they made really good kids picture books where they could learn new words and see the pictures.

So I thought, oh, cool, they have books for learning English as well.

And one book in particular stood out to me.

It was the book Everyday English.

And I thought, you know what, I should order this book.

I should order the book and then have a look at it for all of you and let you know what I think about it.

So I went to Amazon, I searched for DK Everyday English, I think.

And then I ordered the book and I waited for it to arrive.

This is the Amazon delivery person bringing us our book.

So let's go get it.

Hello, how are you?

Thank you very much.

Have a good night.

Okay, we got the book.

Hopefully it's good.

Well, here it is.

I have my trusty scissors and I have the package from Amazon.

Let's open this up and I'll give you my first impressions. In English, first impressions are the first thing you think of something when you first see it.

Oh, here it is.

English for everyone.

Everyday English from DK Publishing.

Learn and practice over 2,500 words and phrases.

And in the top corner it says with free online audio.

That's pretty cool.

I like that feature.

So my first impressions of the book.

It's a book.

Oh, there's a lot of illustrations and other things in it that will make it easy for you to understand what you are learning.

So first impressions.

It looks like a pretty cool book.

Nice table of contents outlining conversation skills, family and relationships, eating and drinking, free time and hobbies, stories and services, work and study, getting around, oh, the home, on vacation, health and medicine, media and communication.

So my first impression would be that this book covers some very valuable topics.

I would say when I look at the table of contents, there's a lot of value here.

So there are two things I wanted to mention before we get started.

Number one, this is not a sponsored video.

I used my own money to buy the book and I plan to donate it to the ESL department at my school when I'm done reviewing it.

And number two, you'll notice I'm not outside today.

It is extremely windy outside.

So windy that I would not be able to make an English lesson.

So today we're inside.

So my plan in this video is to kind of talk about six different ways this book can help you or maybe not help you practice your English.

So I'm going to talk about reading, writing, listening, speaking, learning new vocabulary, and learning and practicing your grammar.

So I'll take about one minute for each of those and let you know what I think.

Let's start by talking about reading.

I have my reading glasses on so I can, I can see the words that I can give you my opinion now. I'll say one positive thing and one negative thing about how well this book would help you practice your reading.

The positive thing is this.

The book will often show you pictures and then have the vocabulary word beside it so that when you go to read the phrases, you can understand the words that are being used.

When I look at the takeout and delivery section, there's a nice little vocabulary chart at the bottom.

And then the phrases above actually use those vocabulary words.

So there's a good connection there between learning some new words so that you can understand when you read the phrases.

However, when I flip to the at the restaurant section, that section isn't as well done.

In fact, they teach you some vocabulary.

But there's a lot of phrases here that you'll be reading where they haven't taught you all the words, like reservation, to book a table.

Could I, could I have... like they're, they're teaching phrases where they could have maybe done a little better job of teaching you the words that are in those phrases.

So overall, I would say I love the pictures.

Anytime you can have a picture beside a vocabulary word when you're learning a language, that's just awesome.

That gets that two thumbs up from Bob.

But maybe I'm being a little bit picky here.

I would like to see a little more vocabulary taught or at least an area where you can see what those words mean so you can better understand the phrases you are reading.

So let's talk about listening.

How will this book help you with your listening?

It's a book.

The book doesn't talk, does it?

Or does it?

Actually, if you go online, you'll see that there is free audio for this book.

So when you look at a page like the page I'm looking at at the supermarket, you'll notice there are little listening activities that you can do.

The first one 36.3.

Listen and circle the item you hear.

So it's going to say the word in English and you're going to have to check off or circle the one that you hear.

I think that is awesome. Oh.

36.2. Listen and number the sentences in the order you hear them.

So basically it's taking sentences that you read in the section above and kind of testing and quizzing you on them.

I think that's just great. So you can practice your reading.

But then once you've done some reading, you can do the free listening activities to practice your listening.

So what would I give it?

How would I rate it on listening?

Um, I have no negative comment for listening.

I think in terms of listening, I think this book does a really good job.

So let's talk about speaking.

How does a book help you with your speaking?

Um, really the only way that a book can help you with your speaking is if you say out loud the things you are reading or the things you are hearing with the free audio component.

I actually think this book does a pretty good job in terms of speaking.

When I'm looking at section 68 at the airport, it actually gives you some little mini practice conversation.

It says, our flight is delayed. Typical.

Oh, well, let's grab a coffee.

That's actually something you would hear at an airport.

Do you need any help?

How does the bag drop work?

I actually had this problem the last time I was at the airport. So I do like the idea that it's prompting you to practice these little mini conversations.

In terms of a negative, though, I would say this.

The audio portion I don't think makes you practice speaking enough.

A lot of the audio portion would be things like listen and number the pictures in order, listen and number the sentences in order.

100

But it doesn't always prompt you to say things out loud.

101

Although I'm noticing right now, section 68.11, match the sentences and say them out loud.

102

So I guess maybe that critique was a little too early.

103

So, overall, in terms of practising your speaking, I think this gets like a B+.

104

I think it's hard for a book to really help you practise speaking anyway.

105

So I think if you need to practise speaking, you should probably find a tutor or a speaking partner.

106

But certainly this book will help you practise the repetition, saying things out loud and those kinds of things.

107

So, yeah, what did I say? B plus.

108

B plus for speaking.

109

So let's talk about writing.

110

Does this book help you practice your writing?

111

Well, one critique I would have is that many of the practice exercises ask you to circle things or check things off.

112

It's not very often that the book asks you to write something.

113

So section 74, staying in a hotel.

114

We see you listen to person A and respond as person B.

115

So that's good for speaking.

116

Listen and circle the item you hear.

117

So you're just circling. Phrases: Match the sentences and say them out loud.

118

Listen and number the pictures in the order they are described.

119

Um, but here we have use the chart to create eight sentences and say them out loud.

120

I actually like that.

121

So again, maybe I was a little bit too negative too early.

122

They have a nice little chart.

123

74.12 starts with, could I have a club sandwich brought to my room, please?

124

So you can build a little sentence there.

125

Um, and I would make sure that you do actually write them.

126

It might be tempting here to just say them out loud, but I would write them down as well.

127

So maybe I will be a little critical there.

128

It probably should say there.

129

Use the chart to create eight sentences.

130

Write them down and say them out loud.

131

So just kind of going through the staying in a hotel section.

132

There's a matching.

133

So you're not practicing a lot of writing there.

134

Say sentences out loud.

135

Say the sentences out loud.

136

Filling in the blanks, using the words in the panel.

137

So that's pretty good.

138

You're actually writing a word.

139

But I would actually suggest you take it one step further and actually write the entire sentence in your notebook to practice your writing as well.

140

So I think in terms of writing, I.

141

I know I did I give a B plus for something and did I give, like a one up?

142

I don't know what my grading scale is here, but I would say B for writing.

143

I would say I'm going to give it a B for writing.

144

Okay, let's talk a little bit about how well the book will help you learn vocabulary.

145

I would say that in some sections it doesn't do a good job at all.

146

And in other sections it's amazing.

147

So in section 80, health and medicine, it basically shows you all the parts of the body.

148

It talks about illness and injury, and every word is clearly linked to an image.

149

So that is amazing.

150

Staying in a hotel.

151

Did that section have. Yes.

152

At the bottom of page 186, section 74.9, vocabulary at the hotel.

153

I love those little tidbits of vocabulary.

154

Just those little boxes that help you with the section that you are in.

155

And again, I love it when a word has an image beside it.

156

So vocabulary.

157

Sometimes it does it really well.

158

Sometimes it might leave you wanting more, but overall I would give it an A- for vocabulary. So grammar.

159

How well will this book teach you grammar?

160

Well, this book does not explicitly teach you grammar.

161

It's not meant to be a grammar book.

162

So what will happen is you will kind of learn grammar through immersion.

163

As you read the phrases and learn the phrases, the hope is that you will learn some grammar.

164

So I would say this is not the best book for learning grammar.

165

You will learn a lot of phrases and in those phrases you will see how the sentence is put together and that will help you a little bit.

166

My recommendation has always been buy a book written in your own language that teaches English grammar.

167

That can be very, very helpful.

168

So I would probably give this book like a C minus for grammar.

169

But I think I'm being unfair because this book isn't designed to teach you verb tenses and how to use phrasal verbs.

170

There's actually another book for that I think from the same company for phrasal verbs.

171

So anyways, not meant to teach grammar, so I feel like I'm judging it a little too harshly.

172

But yes, I would give it a C minus for grammar.

173

So here are my final thoughts on this book.

174

English for Everyone Everyday English from DK Publishing.

175

I would say overall this is a good book.

176

I do think books are still a useful tool when learning a language.

177

What I like about the book is that the topics it covers, remember when I read over the table of contents were just great topics.

178

You know, stores and services, work and study, on vacation, media and relations.

179

I think the power went out briefly there.

180

It's again it's quite windy outside today, so that's why I'm inside making this video.

181

But anyways, the topics it covers are quite well done.

182

Also losing my train of thought here as the lights go on and off a few more times.

183

But maybe you didn't believe me that it's too windy outside, but it's so windy it's affecting the electricity.

184

So anyways, the topics are good.

185

I think that if you look at it it has I think 96 different sections.

186

I think if you were to plan yes, 96.

187

If you were to plan to study this over 96 days, I think that would be quite manageable and it would be very worthwhile.

188

I should mention as well that it does have the answers at the back for all of the activities that you can do.

189

Again, this is not a sponsored video, but I do think this is a pretty cool book.

190

They do have a lot of other ones as well, but I like this one because it's everyday English and they do deliver on that.

191

It's definitely a good book to learn Everyday English, like section 72 on vacation just will teach you a whole bunch of really good words that you'll need to know.

192

Anyways, I'm Bob the Canadian.

193

This was my first book review.

194

I think it was a little rough.

195

I think I could have done a better job, but we'll see.

196

Maybe I'll do another one in the future, but thanks for watching.

197

If this is your first time here, don't forget to click that red subscribe button, give me a thumbs up and leave a comment below.

198

What do you think?

199

Are books still useful for learning English, or have they been replaced with the Internet as a great source of learning?

200

Anyways, thanks for watching.

201

I'll see you in a few days with another English lesson.

202

Bye.

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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación de nivel B1 se basa en el vídeo “Are Books Still Useful for Learning English? 📙📚📖”. Las palabras que más se repiten: English, word, section, phrases, vocabulary. Este vídeo tiene 202 frases y 2484 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 14:12. El hablante habla a un ritmo natural de unas 175 palabras por minuto, cercano a una conversación cotidiana. El 84 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
phrase sustantivo	/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/	frase
vocabulary sustantivo	/vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/	vocabulario
grammar sustantivo	/ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/	gramática
windy adjetivo	/ˈwɪn.di/	ventoso
verb sustantivo	/vɝb/	verbo
prompt verbo	/pɹɑmpt/	llevar a, concitar
critic sustantivo	/ˈkɹɪt.ɪk/	crítico
minus	/ˈmaɪ.nəs/	menos
thumb sustantivo	/ˈθʌm/	pulgar, pólice
sponsor sustantivo	/ˈspɒn.səː/	patrocinador, patrocinadora
flip verbo	/flɪp/	darle vuelta, voltear
immersion sustantivo	/ɪˈmɝʒən/	inmersión
manageable adjetivo	/ˈmænəd͡ʒəb(ə)l/	manejable, gestionable
repetition sustantivo	/ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/	repetición
takeout sustantivo	/ˈteɪkaʊt/	comida para llevar

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Palabra	Significado
check off verbo	puntear, tarjar
check out verbo	investigar, chequear
come up verbo	salir a relucir
go out verbo	salir
go through verbo	atravesar
put together verbo	construir, elaborar

Frases que vale la pena repetir

Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:

How will this book help you with your listening?
How would I rate it on listening?
How does a book help you with your speaking?
Do you need any help?
Does this book help you practice your writing?

Gramática en este vídeo

Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:

Estructura	En el vídeo
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace	can be found · is delayed · are described
Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora	haven't taught · you've done · has always been
Consejo con “should” should + verbo — decir qué es buena idea	should order · should probably find · should say
Verbo + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbos seguidos de la forma en -ing	practice speaking · practise speaking

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 42 contracciones y formas reducidas, como I'm, I'll, you'll. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

Los sonidos de “th”: thumb /ˈθʌm/, worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/
Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: harshly /ˈhɑːʃli/, immersion /ɪˈmɝʒən/, repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/, illustration /ˌɪləsˈtɹeɪ̯ʃən/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/
Palabras largas — cuida el acento: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, manageable /ˈmænəd͡ʒəb(ə)l/, repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/, supermarket /ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/, illustration /ˌɪləsˈtɹeɪ̯ʃən/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como phrase, vocabulary, grammar.

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.

Técnica de shadowing: lee la guía completa paso a paso →

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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Frases que vale la pena repetir

Gramática en este vídeo

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?