Shadowing Practice: English Fluency: The 3 Types of Speaking Practice You Actually Need - Learn English Speaking with Video

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How many years have you been working to become more fluent in English?

Two years?

¿Dos años?

Seven years?

¿Siete años?

24 years?

¿24 años?

And why is it that you can feel fluent in one conversation and then completely stuck in another?

¿Y por qué es posible que te sientas fluido en una conversación y te quedes completamente bloqueado en otra?

For example, perhaps you can answer simple questions easily, but when someone asks you to explain an idea for several minutes,

you lose your train of thought.

Or perhaps you can tell a clear story one-to-one.

But then when it's a group discussion and the conversation moves more quickly,

you can't find the right moment to speak up and all your thoughts become this kind of chaotic mess.

So you just stay silent.

These unexpected changes in the moment don't mean that your English level has suddenly changed.

It means that different speaking situations ask you to use different speaking skills.

A quick conversation, for example, with the neighbor is not the same as speaking for several minutes giving an update at work.

And neither of those is the same as joining a fast-moving group discussion.

To develop fluency for real life,

you need to understand the differences and the specific skills you need for each one of these speaking situations.

And once you know what those skills are, you can make sure that your speaking practice prepares you for the quick chats with a neighbor,

the moments when you want to tell a story, and the discussions that happen at the dinner table with all your English-speaking in-laws.

So in this lesson, you're going to learn what English fluency really means, particularly in those different situations,

and why you might feel fluent in one situation, but not another.

I'm also going to share the three kinds of speaking situations you need to prepare for

if you want to communicate with greater ease and clarity in your English.

So let's start with what fluency actually means.

The word fluency in language learning

and research has a specific meaning speaking fluently describes how smoothly

and continuously you speak this includes your speaking speed how often

and how long you pause how often you repeat restart

or correct yourself but fluency does not mean speaking as quickly as possible

And it does not mean never pausing or never making a mistake or always having the exact perfect word.

Fluent speakers pause.

They sometimes correct themselves in the moment.

And when they can't remember a word, they find another way to explain the idea.

The important question is whether those pauses and problems repeatedly stop your message

or make it difficult for someone to follow what you're saying.

So if your goal is to speak English fluently, then the focus should not be perfect, uninterrupted speech.

Instead, the goal should be speech that continues with enough ease and flow

for you to express your message and for your listener to follow it.

Now, here's where fluency becomes a little more complex.

You may be fluent in one situation and then struggle in another.

Again, because each speaking situation may require different speaking skills.

For real-life English, I think it helps to think about three broad kinds of speaking situations.

First, there are what I call everyday exchanges.

These are quick back and forth conversations.

The kinds of conversations you have with your neighbor when you're walking your dog, a coworker when having coffee before a meeting, someone you see at the grocery store,

or a person you meet while traveling.

And then second, there are moments when you need to speak at length.

You may need to tell a story, explain a problem, give an update, or share your opinion for several minutes.

And third, there are group discussions where several people are speaking, the conversation moves quickly, and you need to find the right moment to join,

respond, or return to a point that was shared earlier.

In each one of these, fluency describes how smoothly and continuously you speak

And getting the right speaking skills will help you know what to do in each of those situations.

For example, in those quick everyday exchanges,

it means knowing how much to say in the moment and if you should ask another question to continue the conversation.

When you speak at length,

it might mean organizing your ideas or finding another way to explain something when you forget a word in the moment.

And then in a group discussion, it might mean knowing how to join the conversation or how to respond when someone interrupts you.

And to do all of this fluently, you need two things.

You need the skills to handle the situation,

and you need the practice using those skills without long pauses that repeatedly interrupt your message.

In a moment, we're going to look more closely at what each one of those three speaking situations requires of you.

But if this already sounds like something you need for your English, I want you to know that this is the exact framework of my full Fluency School program.

I design Fluency School around the real speaking situations where you want to communicate with greater ease, clarity, and confidence.

taking part in everyday exchanges, speaking at length, and participating in discussions.

Throughout the program, you develop and practice the different speaking skills

that each situation requires so that you are better prepared to use your English fluently across those real-life conversations,

not just in one kind of speaking situation or not just when you're alone with one person.

Now, if that sounds like something you're looking for, I'll share a link in the notes below where you can learn more about Fluency School.

And now let's look more closely at the first of those speaking situations,

the ones I call everyday exchanges and the exact skills you need to be practicing.

So first, the everyday exchanges,

those super short, quick back and forth conversations that happen almost every day.

These are the conversations we have with our neighbors, our friends on the telephone when we just have a few moments, or when we're getting to know someone before a yoga class.

These are the same quick conversations we might have with a coworker just before our meeting starts.

This also includes those moments when someone you barely know makes a casual comment

and you're not really sure how to handle it in the moment.

What makes these conversations so challenging is that you usually have very little time to prepare.

You don't know what to expect.

So you need to understand in the moment what the other person means and then decide how much to say,

how to respond, and how to notice whether the conversation is supposed to continue or end.

And you need to figure all that out within just a few seconds.

In this case, the challenge is not speaking for a long time.

It's having the ability to move through several quick questions

and answers without becoming stuck at the very first moment or in the very first answer.

And this is why you might feel comfortable answering a question in English like,

how was your weekend, but then still feel unsure of what to say or ask next.

It's also why practicing longer answers about familiar topics does not always prepare you for these brief exchanges.

I want you to think for a moment about your own speaking practice.

Do you regularly practice short, unplanned conversations where you need to listen and respond immediately?

Do you practice continuing after your first answer?

And do you practice noticing when to ask more or when the exchange should naturally finish?

If most of your speaking practice gives you time to prepare or someone guides you from one question to the next,

you may not be practicing the specific skills you need for these everyday exchanges.

So what does that mean for your English fluency practice?

It means that you need to include brief, unplanned conversations.

You need chances to respond in the moment, to continue after the first answer, and to notice what is happening in the conversation,

what is expected of you at each moment.

But of course, these are not the only conversations we have in English.

Sometimes you do need to speak for a longer period of time.

100

Like when you want to tell a story about your last vacation, explain a problem that you're having among your team, give an update, or share an opinion.

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And that brings us to the second speaking situation, speaking at length.

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In these situations, you need to decide what information to include, what order to share it in,

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and how to connect one idea to the next.

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and at every step you need to make sure that your speech is smooth, that your statements are clear.

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And if in the moment you forget a word or lose your train of thought, you need to know how to smoothly recover.

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So once again, I want you to think about your current English speaking practice.

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Do you regularly practice talking about one topic for two or three minutes, adding on important details.

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Do you practice without reading or preparing the entire answer in advance?

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And do you practice continuing, even if you forget a word or lose your train of thought?

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For English fluency when speaking at length, your practice needs to include time to organize your ideas

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and speak about just one of them for several minutes without reading a prepared answer.

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And then, of course, there is one more challenge.

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Speaking up when several people are involved in the conversation.

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In a group discussion, you don't always get to control who speaks next, how quickly the conversation moves, or when the topic changes.

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And you need to listen to several other people.

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You need to follow their ideas and decide when to speak up.

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Of course, sometimes you have an idea, but then someone else speaks first.

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Sometimes the conversation moves to a new topic before you're ready.

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And sometimes you begin speaking, but someone else interrupts you.

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And this is why you might speak clearly in a one-on-one conversation, but then really struggle to take part in a group discussion.

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In these moments, there are more distractions.

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And the challenge is not only finding the words, but you also need to follow everything that's happening.

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Find those right moments to speak up and stay involved as the conversation changes.

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So if all your English-speaking practice happens with just one teacher or one partner,

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group discussions may still feel unfamiliar and difficult, even if your English is strong.

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To be more fluent in those group conversations, you need opportunities to practice with several people.

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You need to practice joining conversations,

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responding to different speakers, and continuing when the discussion doesn't go exactly as you expected.

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So I want to go back to the question I started with.

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How long have you been working on your English fluency?

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And does it feel like you've been working for years without making real progress?

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If so, the question is not simply, am I practicing enough?

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A better question is, am I practicing the kind of speaking I need for my real life?

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Maybe right now, you get a lot of practice answering questions just one-on-one.

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but you get very little practice with those quick everyday conversations

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where you have to make quick decisions respond in the moment

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and know what is expected of you should the conversation continue should you add more

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or should you allow the conversation to end

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or perhaps right now you can speak about a familiar topic like an area of expertise

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but you rarely practice explaining a new idea for several minutes,

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or having more casual conversations where we talk about favorite movies, podcasts, and vacations.

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If any of this is true for you, I want you to know that you don't need to go back and start over again.

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This isn't about relearning grammar you've already spent years learning, and it doesn't mean memorizing a whole new list of vocabulary.

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What I want you to do is think about to notice where you still get stuck in those English conversations,

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and then make sure that you practice speaking for those specific situations.

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Practice the kind of skills you need to succeed and be fluent.

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So think about this for a moment.

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Which of these speaking situations is most difficult for you right now?

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Is it those everyday exchanges that are super unexpected?

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Is it speaking at length, adding on details and explaining fully?

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Or is it being a part of those group discussions?

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Your answer gives you a much clearer idea of what you need to practice and focus on next.

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Even better, once you know the answers to those questions, your fluency becomes a much clearer goal.

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Now you're no longer simply trying to speak more.

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Instead, you can now focus on the conversations you actually need to have

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and the skills that are going to help you be a part of them fluently.

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Again, this is exactly what we do in Fluency School.

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You learn the speaking skills you need for everyday exchanges, speaking at length, and participating in those group discussions.

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and then you practice those real skills in real conversations

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so you are better prepared to use them when you need to in your daily life.

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If you're ready to build that kind of fluency, the kind of fluency you need for real conversations, I would love to have you join me inside Fluency School

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and I'll share a link with details for more in the notes below.

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As always, if you found this lesson helpful, don't forget to subscribe or follow wherever you're watching or listening from today.

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Thank you so much for joining me, and I look forward to next time.

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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación de nivel B2 se basa en el vídeo “English Fluency: The 3 Types of Speaking Practice You Actually Need”. Las palabras que más se repiten: speaking, conversation, practice, moment, situation. Este vídeo tiene 164 frases y 2320 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 15:59. El hablante mantiene un ritmo constante de unas 145 palabras por minuto, cómodo para el shadowing. El 89 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés, por lo que el vocabulario es fácil de seguir.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

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

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
fluency sustantivo	/ˈfluːənsi/	fluidez, fluencia
fluent adjetivo	/ˈfluənt/	fluyente, fluente
fluently adverbio		dominar, con fluidez
pause sustantivo	/pɔːz/	pausa
interrupt verbo	/ˌɪntəˈɹʌpt/	interrumpir, interromper
smoothly adverbio	/ˈsmuːðli/	suavemente, lisamente
neighbour sustantivo	/ˈneɪbɚ/	vecino, vecina
clarity sustantivo	/ˈklæɹ.ɪ.ti/	claridad
continuously adverbio	/kənˈtɪnjuəsli/	continuadamente, continuamente
organize verbo	/ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/	organizar
memorize verbo	/ˈmɛm.əˌɹaɪ̯z/	memorizar
uninterrupted adjetivo		ininterrumpido
listener sustantivo	/ˈlɪs(ə)nɚ/	oyente, escucha
unfamiliar adjetivo	/ˌʌnfəˈmɪli.ə(ɹ)/	no / poco familiar
chaotic adjetivo	/keɪˈɑtɪk/	caótico

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
speak up verbo	/ˌspik ˈʌp/	hablar más alto, hablar más fuerte
look forward to verbo		no ver la hora de, quedar a la espera de
start over verbo		volver a empezar, empezar de cero

Frases que vale la pena repetir

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

You don't know what to expect.
Do you practice continuing after your first answer?
Do you practice without reading or preparing the entire answer in advance?
If so, the question is not simply, am I practicing enough?
Which of these speaking situations is most difficult for you right now?

Gramática en este vídeo

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

Estructura	En el vídeo
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — una acción que empezó antes y continúa	have you been working · you've been working
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace	was shared · is expected · are involved

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 28 contracciones y formas reducidas, como you're, don't, can't. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

Palabras largas — cuida el acento: continuously /kənˈtɪnjuəsli/, unfamiliar /ˌʌnfəˈmɪli.ə(ɹ)/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/

Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:

/z/ — sonora, no /s/: pause /pɔːz/, organize /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/, memorize /ˈmɛm.əˌɹaɪ̯z/, expertise /ˌɛkspɜːˈtiːz/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
Haz shadowing frase por frase a velocidad normal, repitiendo cada una hasta que tu ritmo coincida con el del hablante.
Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como fluency, fluent, fluently.

¿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 →

Shadowing Practice: English Fluency: The 3 Types of Speaking Practice You Actually Need - Learn English Speaking with Video

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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?