Shadowing Practice: DO THIS with Unfamiliar Words on the SAT - Learn English Speaking with Video
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So you're feeling pretty good because you just finished the first English module and you're pretty sure you got a hundred percent.
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And then, on the very first question of the second module, this happens.
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I don't know that word.
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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?
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In this video, I'm going to give you four tips for dealing with unknown words on the SAT.
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Tip number one is to not eliminate the words that you don't know, at least not yet.
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Let's use this passage as an example.
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So first thing you're always going to want to do is read and actually try to find some context.
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So go ahead and pause the video and do that.
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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.
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These details would be the elaborate mosaics, flowing lines, and nature-inspired motifs.
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So the blank space needs to mirror and embody his artistic philosophy.
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So I would say shown in, something like that.
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Shown in or seen in.
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So that would be my prediction.
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Now, as we go through, I'm trying to eliminate.
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Let's say I don't know what insensible means.
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I'm not gonna get rid of it.
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I have to keep it.
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When I get to scrutinized by, let's say again, I don't know what it means.
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It's okay gonna keep it for now.
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And then I see D complicated by.
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I'm very familiar with the word complicated.
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That does not work with shown in or seen in.
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So I'm going to say goodbye to choice B.
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We'll come back to this question in a second.
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All right.
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So let's say you've gone through your first step of elimination
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and you've only eliminated one answer or you still have all four answers left.
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My second tip is to hold on to opposites.
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That is to say antonyms.
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More often than not, the correct answer is going to have an antonym or a near antonym somewhere in the answer choices.
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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,
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but I know that negating means sort of counteracting or making something null and void.
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And I know that substantiating is sort of providing support for or, you know, bolstering something, supporting something.
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So I'm thinking these guys are sort of antonyms.
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So I'm going to go ahead and get rid of the two
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that I don't know because I noticed we have a couple of opposites here.
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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,
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Sophho, may have been interpolations, that is to say little bits that were added in by later authors.
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So this would change our understanding of Sophho's authorship.
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So it would negate it, right?
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It would not support it, it would do the opposite of that, perhaps nullify it.
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Now that little antonym trick is super helpful, but only if you actually know the two words that are opposite from one another.
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So let's say you're going through elimination step.
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You don't spot two words that seem to be opposites.
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Now what are you supposed to do?
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At this point, you're going to need to rely on your knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, and word roots.
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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
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and trying to decipher what's going on, I notice a couple of things with choice A.
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First of all, we have in, and I know that in means not.
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So I'm thinking the first part of this is not.
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Then I see sense, and I know that sense has something to do with perceiving or feeling.
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So I'm gonna say not feel feel slash sense
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and then the last part is a bowl
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and a bowl think about words like capable
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or edible It means able to I put all of this
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together I'm thinking this word's gonna mean something like not able to feel or sense
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Does that work with Shonen or Seen in?
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No, in fact that kind of seems like the opposite if you are unable to sense or feel his philosophy,
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that's the opposite of it being shown in or seen in his philosophy.
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So using word roots, such as sense, and prefixes and suffixes, such as in and able, or in this case, ible,
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I can get rid of choice A.
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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,
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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.
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Finally, let's talk about what happens when you are down to a couple of answers
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and you still don't know one or both of the words.
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Another issue that my students run into is they think to themselves, the SAT is real fancy.
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They're going to want me to choose the fanciest word available.
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That's not how the SAT works.
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In fact, I would even consider some of these more advanced words to be distractor answers
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because a lot of students aren't going to know them.
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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.
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All right.
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So we've eliminated two answer choices.
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Now I'm feeling kind of nervous because I've got two answer choices that I don't know.
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But then I remember, Ooh, I actually know the word scrutiny.
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A phrase comes to mind faced scrutiny.
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And I know that scrutiny is sort of like judgment.
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So would I want judged by?
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Would that go with shown in or seen in?
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Absolutely not.
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So now I have confidently eliminated three answer choices.
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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.
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And indeed, manifest in means like shown in or seen in.
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Something that is manifest is clear and obvious.
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If I would have thought back to history class, I might have thought about manifest destiny.
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All right, now let's consider this question right here.
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As usual, we need to get some context first, so pause the video and take a look.
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But the big thing that I'm noticing is these methods were gradually replaced by, you know, standardized approaches.
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So based off of that, my prediction is going to be out of date.
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All right now moving on to my answer choices Defunct at first.
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I don't recognize it, but then I remember
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Defunct like not functioning this means that something is no longer
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Functioning no longer in use so
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that would fit out of date arcane I actually end up remembering
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because I read fantasy and I remember arcane symbols and spells and And arcane basically means mysterious.
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So that is actually not going to line up with out of date.
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I would get rid of arcane.
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Let's say I don't know what ubiquitous is.
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I don't even know how to pronounce it.
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So I'm going to keep that one.
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And then extraneous.
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Luckily, my teacher was just lecturing me last week about how I need to remove all the extraneous information from my essay.
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So basically the stuff that is irrelevant and extra.
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So irrelevant sort of lines up with out of date, but it's a little bit too extreme.
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Just because something that's out of date doesn't mean it's completely irrelevant.
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So if I'm left with defunct and this word I don't know, since defunct is the word that I do know,
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now it's okay to go ahead and choose that since I was able to confidently keep it around.
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So my answer is going to be A, defunct.
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And indeed ubiquitous means sort of like ever present.
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You can see it everywhere.
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Think about cell phones.
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Who do you know without a cell phone?
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Nobody.
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Cell phones are ubiquitous.
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They're everywhere.
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And I know what you're thinking.
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But Robert, what the heck?
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What if I don't know both words?
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What if there's three words left over that I don't know?
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Unfortunately, the words in context questions on the SAT are just a little bit luck of the draw,
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depending on the vocabulary that you are familiar with and depending on your comfort level with prefixes, suffixes, and word roots.
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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.
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Otherwise, the replay is going to be available on my channel.
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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección
Esta lección de conversación de nivel B2 se basa en el vídeo “DO THIS with Unfamiliar Words on the SAT”. Las palabras que más se repiten: word, answer, choice, opposite, context. Este vídeo tiene 128 frases y 1578 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 8:34. El hablante habla rápido, unas 184 palabras por minuto, así que espera sonidos enlazados y reducidos. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| antonym sustantivo | /ˈæn.təˌnɪm/ | antónimo |
| eliminate verbo | /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/ | eliminar |
| arcane adjetivo | /ɑɹˈkeɪn/ | arcano |
| prefix sustantivo | /ˈpɹiːfɪks/ | prefijo |
| suffix sustantivo | /ˈsʌfɪks/ | sufijo |
| ubiquitous adjetivo | /juːˈbɪkwɪtəs/ | ubicuo |
| manifest sustantivo | /ˈmæn.ɪ.fɛst/ | declaración de carga, sobordo |
| scrutiny sustantivo | /ˈskɹuː.tɪ.ni/ | escrutinio, escudriño |
| irrelevant adjetivo | /ɪˈɹɛləvənt/ | irrelevante |
| pause sustantivo | /pɔːz/ | pausa |
| confidently adverbio | /ˈkɑnfɪdəntli/ | confidentemente |
| embody verbo | /ɪmˈbɒdi/ | corporeizar, corporizar |
| extraneous adjetivo | /ɛkˈstɹeɪ.ni.əs/ | ajeno, foráneo |
| negate verbo | /nɪˈɡeɪt/ | negar |
| module sustantivo | /ˈmɑd͡ʒul/ | módulo |
Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| go ahead verbo | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | venga, adelante |
| go through verbo | atravesar | |
| end up verbo | terminar, ir a parar |
Frases que vale la pena repetir
Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:
- I don't know that word.
- Let's use this passage as an example.
- Who do you know without a cell phone?
- What if I don't know both words?
- What if there's three words left over that I don't know?
Gramática en este vídeo
Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:
| Estructura | En el vídeo |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora | you've gone · you've only eliminated · I've already read |
| Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace | is read · were added · being shown |
Pronunciación a tener en cuenta
El hablante usa 59 contracciones y formas reducidas, como I'm, don't, you're. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.
- Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: elimination /ɪlɪmɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/, prediction /pɹɪˈdɪkʃən/, interpolation /ɪnˌtɜː.pəˈleɪʃən/, substantiate /səbˈstænʃieɪt/
- Palabras largas — cuida el acento: eliminate /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/, ubiquitous /juːˈbɪkwɪtəs/, irrelevant /ɪˈɹɛləvənt/, confidently /ˈkɑnfɪdəntli/, extraneous /ɛkˈstɹeɪ.ni.əs/
Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:
- s + consonante al inicio — sin añadir una “e” delante: scrutiny /ˈskɹuː.tɪ.ni/, scrutinize /ˈskɹutn̩ˌaɪz/
- /v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: irrelevant /ɪˈɹɛləvənt/, perceive /pɚˈsiv/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, void /vɔɪd/
- /z/ — sonora, no /s/: pause /pɔːz/, scrutinize /ˈskɹutn̩ˌaɪz/, mosaic /moʊˈzeɪ.ɪk/, supposedly /səˈpoʊ̯.zɪd.li/
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 antonym, eliminate, arcane.
¿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.