Shadowing Practice: Why English is SO Hard to Learn! - Learn English Speaking with Video

Though, thought, through, tough.

Why do these words all sound so different when they look really similar?

Well, if you ask yourself this question while learning English, you're going to drive yourself crazy.

Because English spelling and pronunciation do not always match.

In fact, if you come across a new word in English, you cannot rely on the spelling to know how to pronounce this word.

Because English is not a phonetic language.

And that means just that.

We cannot know the phonetics just by how a word is spelled.

And this is just one of the reasons why English is such a hard language to learn.

Now, you might think compared to other languages, English is pretty easy.

We see English all over the world.

It has become the international language.

It's used globally, also for non-native speakers to communicate with one another.

So you may see English everywhere.

You understand that English is an important language to learn.

Otherwise, you wouldn't have clicked on this video.

But why is it so difficult?

It's not just that you are bad at learning languages.

English is in fact a really hard language to learn.

And although I'm a native speaker, so English was obviously not difficult for me to learn, but I do live in a different country.

I live in Germany.

I speak a different language in my day to day life.

So I understand the particular struggles that come with learning a second language.

So you're not bad at it.

English is hard.

Let's go over.

why in this video, and maybe this can help you understand some of the problems you're encountering

or overcome some of those hurdles in your English learning journey.

English made easy with Claire.

Okay, so I already covered that pronunciation and spelling do not always match in English.

Like, Why does tough rhyme with enough but not cough?

So something can be spelled with the exact same ending, the exact same letters, and it just is not pronounced the same at all.

And there's no reason why.

If you ask me why is this word cough and why is this word tough, there's no answer.

There's no reason that's just the way it is.

English is also really difficult because there are so many exceptions.

So you might learn a grammar rule like a verb in the past tense ends with ed,

but there are multiple verbs whose simple past tense form don't end in ed at all.

In fact, it made the word may change completely.

Like the past tense of go is went or the past tense of see is saw.

So they obviously don't follow the ed rule ending.

So there are lots of exceptions.

Same with plural words.

Normally you add an s to the end of a word or es.

If there are more than one of that noun.

That's the general rule.

But of course, there are always exceptions like one child,

two children, one person, two people, one sheep, two sheep.

Now, another reason why English is so difficult is that just one word can have so many different meanings.

Let's take the verb run.

Okay, so if you learn run in a textbook, run means to move really fast.

So not walk, but run, right?

If you had to define the verb run or use it in a sentence, you would take this meaning.

I run a mile every day.

But then what about the sentence, my nose is running?

My nose is running?

This use of the verb run means that your nose is, well, flowing, right?

Maybe you have a cold or you ate something spicy and you have mucus coming out of your nose.

Then we could say my nose is running.

Similarly, you could say the water is running.

Hey, you left the faucet on the water's running.

It means the water is coming out of the faucet.

But then you also have the use of this verb to be to run a meeting, run a business, run a program.

And that just means to operate those things.

So that's a completely different meaning.

You can say I'm running late.

That means I will be late or I am late.

Or if you run out of something, it means you no longer have it.

You could say, I ran out of milk this morning, so I don't have any more milk.

So you couldn't just translate those sentences by taking each individual word and translating the verb run to mean run.

You have to look at the wider context of the sentence,

of the situation, to understand which meaning of the verb run is being used.

And this goes for multiple words in the English language.

Which also brings me to my next reason why English is so hard to learn, and that is phrasal verbs.

If you've been studying English for a while, you have definitely come across phrasal verbs.

And if you aren't familiar, phrasal verbs are a verb paired with a preposition or a particle.

And it gives this phrase when they're used together, it gives it a specific meaning.

So I mentioned run out of something, that's a phrasal verb to run out of.

So the verb run doesn't mean what it means on its own, but when it is paired with out

and of it takes on a different meaning

and there are countless phrasal verbs in the english language i

couldn't possibly go over all of them in one video

but just to give you an example the verb get on its own another one like run

that has so many different meanings based on context.

It also has a ton of phrasal verbs.

To get up is to wake up.

To get over is to recover.

Get along is to have a good relationship.

We have get back, get away, get through.

You get the idea.

So if you're learning English, you may see a verb that you know, but it's paired with one little preposition and it's changed the meaning completely.

So that makes it so difficult to learn.

Now you've learned English from a textbook or an app.

You have the vocabulary.

You think you know the grammar.

And then you listen to native speakers.

Maybe you watch a movie or a TV show.

Or maybe you're talking to them in real life.

And you don't feel like you can understand anything.

100

And that's because native speakers don't pronounce words individually as you may have been taught.

101

So you may see this sentence and read it as, what are you going to do?

102

This is not wrong, but it's not how native speakers speak.

103

A native speaker would say, what are you going to do?

104

What are you going to do?

105

What are you going to do with it, Dani?

106

What are you going to do with it?

107

15 minutes.

108

And that's a lot of different sounds than what you were taught or what you see here.

109

Where did the T go at the end of what?

110

Where did the ING go at the end of going?

111

why is it not pronounced to?

112

And that's because you don't learn connected speech and you don't learn the unstressed pronunciation of little words like you and to.

113

And there's also something within the linguistic world when talking about speech called assimilations.

114

And that's when two sounds that appear next to each other form a completely different sound.

115

So you may pronounce this sentence, did you eat yet?

116

Did you eat yet?

117

Which again, is not wrong, but as a native speaker, I would never say this sentence like that.

118

I might say, do you eat yet?

119

Do you eat yet?

120

Or did you eat yet?

121

Did you eat yet?

122

Did you eat yet?

123

Did you eat yet, honey?

124

And you can hear that did and you together have created a completely new sound. Did you? Did you?

125

So we hear a jj sound in there.

126

But you don't see the letter J, right, that often has that sound in English.

127

Well, when you have the d sound next to a y sound, we have a case of this assimilation and it creates a new sound, jj.

128

Did you eat yet?

129

And you'll notice that I drop the T's at the ends of the words like eat and yet.

130

I don't aspirate those T's.

131

T, T, not like that, but the sound is stopped.

132

That's another concept we have within connected speech in English, this glottal stop.

133

So you can study the language, you can read it, you can learn the grammar as much as you want and learn the proper pronunciation of words.

134

and then native speakers will speak with connected speech,

135

creating all kinds of new sounds when the words are put together next to certain words.

136

And suddenly you cannot understand English.

137

And that can be really discouraging.

138

So I hope that so far in this video,

139

you are starting to feel validated for struggling to understand native speakers or struggle to take your English to the next level.

140

because it is so hard.

141

Now, I wouldn't want to explain to you why English is so hard and not offer you some kind of solution here.

142

And if this is your first time kind of hearing about connected speech and glottal stops and assimilation,

143

then check out my shadowing practice playlist right here on my YouTube.

144

You can get those videos for free.

145

And I explain in more detail how this can improve your pronunciation and improve your understanding of the language.

146

But I also run an online English community on the school app called Next Level English.

147

And I do live shadowing practices over in my community every single week.

148

So I know a lot of you have been asking if I can make shadowing practice videos every week consistently.

149

And I am definitely trying to create more consistent videos for you here on YouTube.

150

But if you do join my community, you will get a shadowing practice every single week.

151

And you can join live as a premium member.

152

You can also join our live group calls where you can practice speaking out loud with other learners and with me,

153

a native speaker, or with one of our other native speaker teachers.

154

And so you can start to make a habit of practicing speaking with a little bit of practice every single day,

155

you will see an improvement.

156

Okay, moving on to my next reason why English is so hard to learn.

157

And that is that English has so many different ways to say the same thing

158

or something that's very similar or with just a little bit of nuance.

159

Let's take the example, I'm tired.

160

You could say I'm tired in English, but maybe if you're really tired, you could say I'm exhausted or I'm worn out.

161

I'm beat.

162

I'm drained.

163

I'm wiped out.

164

I'm white.

165

Okay.

166

There are so many different ways to express in English that you're tired or exactly how tired you are.

167

As I mentioned, my second language is German, and I've had a couple times where I've wanted to say something,

168

but I wanted it to have a slightly different meaning or just a little bit of nuance.

169

And I came to find there's really only one German word for the situation that I wanted to describe.

170

There was only one option for me.

171

But in English, there seemed to be so many.

172

And this can be so tricky for non-native speakers, because if somebody says to you, God, I am starving.

173

You may have only ever used or learned the word hungry to describe that you're hungry,

174

but we have different words to choose from that have slightly different meanings

175

that enhance or make the word a little bit stronger in English.

176

Similarly, English can also be a little bit tricky because sometimes we use different language for different situations.

177

So maybe we might use more casual language when talking with a friend

178

or our family and we may use slightly more polite

179

or formal language when talking to our boss or an acquaintance

180

so for example if you are at work

181

and you are speaking with a client or a customer

182

or just someone that you work with

183

that you aren't super friendly with you might want to be a little bit more formal in

184

that situation and let's say you need to apologize for something you might say I apologize for the inconvenience.

185

But if you were with your friends you wouldn't speak like this you wouldn't say I apologize

186

but you might just say I'm sorry or I'm really sorry about

187

that even more casual something like my bad to express that you're sorry.

188

All right guys so English is difficult not

189

because you're bad at learning languages it's It's difficult

190

because learning the vocabulary and the grammar is really only one small part of mastering this language.

191

You also have to learn that correct pronunciation,

192

connected speech, phrasal verbs, different meanings of the same word

193

when they're in different contexts or they belong to a certain expression and how people use the language,

194

how people communicate in real life.

195

But don't be discouraged.

196

You don't have to learn everything at once.

197

You don't need to be perfect before you can start using English.

198

You just need to be consistent in your learning and keep practicing, stay focused.

199

Like I said, over in my community, I offer daily practice opportunities.

200

So even if you take 10 to 15 minutes a day to practice your English, whether that is through my community or watching a YouTube video,

201

doing a shadowing practice, speaking with a friend over a coffee,

202

just make sure that you're being consistent and that it becomes a habit in your life.

203

And then these things like connected speech and pronunciation and the nuance and which words to use in which context,

204

those things will start to come more naturally to you.

205

It will get easier.

206

You will start to understand the TV shows without subtitles.

207

You'll be able to have a conversation with friends without translating in your head or second guessing yourself.

208

So I hope this video is helpful.

209

I want to wish you guys the best of luck with your English learning journey.

210

I'm very happy to be a part of that.

211

And thank you so much for watching and supporting my channel.

212

Be sure to give this video a like and subscribe if you want to see more.

213

And if you do want to support the work I do just a little bit more, check out memberships on my channel.

214

You can learn more by clicking that join button below.

215

All right.

216

I'll see you next time.

217

Bye for now.

📺 Mismo canal

Past Participles & How to Use Them in English

Daily ConversationUniversity Students

Can vs Can’t: American English Pronunciation Trick You Need to Know | Shadowing Practice

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

352

✨ Recomendar Video

281 oraciones

Why You Didn't Learn English in School

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

427 oraciones

7 Ways You're Overcomplicating English Learning

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

253 oraciones

English Listening Podcast - Why is it Hard to Become Advanced?

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

723 oraciones

How to Remember Everything || Graded Reader || Improve Your English || Listen And Practice

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

277 oraciones

Why Your English Isn’t Improving (10 Real Reasons & Fixes) | English On The Way

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

6 oraciones

How to Improve Spoken American English - Sound like a Native Speaker

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

184 oraciones

Why You Can't Understand English Movies (And How to Fix It)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

258 oraciones

STOP Making These CRINGE English Mistakes

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

389 oraciones

How To Go From B1 To B2 Level of English (What ACTUALLY Works)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

209 oraciones

English Word Stress - 5 Reasons you MUST learn to stress words correctly.

Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

216 oraciones

English Podcast | Why You Should Stop Trying to Sound Like a Native Speaker

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

1072 oraciones

English Listening Practice You Actually Need | 40 Minutes of Real English Listening Practice (B1–B2)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Este vídeo tiene 217 frases y 2485 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 16:45. El hablante mantiene un ritmo constante de unas 148 palabras por minuto, cómodo para el shadowing. El 87 % 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

15 palabras menos comunes del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:

verb /vɝb/ (sustantivo) — verbo. A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being.
pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ (sustantivo) — pronunciación. The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken.
connect /kəˈnɛkt/ (verbo) — conectar, empalmar. To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object.
shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/ (sustantivo) — sombra. A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object.
grammar /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ (sustantivo) — gramática. A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general.
tense /tɛns/ (sustantivo) — tiempo. The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.
consistent /kənˈsɪs.tənt/ (adjetivo) — consistente. Of a regularly occurring, dependable nature.
exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/ (sustantivo) — excepción, salvedad. The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule.
apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/ (verbo) — disculparse [with con], pedir(le) perdón [with a]. To make an apology or excuse; to acknowledge some fault or offense, with expression of regret for it, by way of amends
spelling /ˈspɛl.ɪŋ/ (sustantivo) — deletreo, espeleo. The act, practice, ability, or subject of forming words with letters, or of reading the letters of words; orthography.
translate /tɹænzˈleɪt/ (verbo) — traducir, trasladar. To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another.
formal /ˈfɔɹməl/ (adjetivo) — formal. In accordance with established forms.
hungry /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ (adjetivo) — hambriento, tener hambre. Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.
spell /spɛl/ (sustantivo) — hechizo, conjuro. Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
similarly /ˈsɪm.ə.lə.li/ (adverbio) — similarmente, igualmente. In a like style or manner.

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

check out (verbo) — investigar, chequear. To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
come across (verbo) — pasarse a. To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition.
go over (verbo) — sentar, pasar. To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.
get along (verbo) — llevarse bien con, avenirse. To interact or coexist well, without argument or trouble.
get away (verbo) — alejarse. To move away (from).
get back (verbo) — regresar. Return to where one came from.
get on (verbo) — montar, cabalgar. To board or mount (something), especially a vehicle.
get over (verbo) — superar, sobreponerse a. To overcome.

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 54 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”: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/, casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/, sheep /ˈʃiːp/
Palabras largas — cuida el acento: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, similarly /ˈsɪm.ə.lə.li/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/

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 verb, pronunciation, connect.

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	you've been studying · have been asking
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace	is spelled · can be spelled · is paired
Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora	has become · have definitely come · you've learned

¿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: Why English is SO Hard to Learn! - Learn English Speaking with Video

Past Participles & How to Use Them in English

Can vs Can’t: American English Pronunciation Trick You Need to Know | Shadowing Practice

Ask For & Give Directions in English 📍🗺️

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing Practice: Verbs Ending in -ED

Asking For & Giving Directions | English Made Easy with Claire

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing: Assimilations

Swift Shadowing Practice!

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing Practice | Easily Confused Words in English

Practice Shadowing a Native Speaker 🇺🇸

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing Practice | Contractions with Would

Practice Shadowing the RIGHT Way!

10 Minutes of American English Shadowing Practice (Part 1!)

Repeat After Me + Shadowing Practice!

Shadowing Practice With Me! 🇺🇸

10 Minutes of American English Shadowing Practice (Part 2!)

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing Practice | 'TH' Sounds in English

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing Practice!

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing Practice: Contractions

Shadowing Practice: At a Restaurant or Cafe

Practice Shadowing a Business Presentation in English

Why You Didn't Learn English in School

7 Ways You're Overcomplicating English Learning

English Listening Podcast - Why is it Hard to Become Advanced?

How to Remember Everything || Graded Reader || Improve Your English || Listen And Practice

Why Your English Isn’t Improving (10 Real Reasons & Fixes) | English On The Way

How to Improve Spoken American English - Sound like a Native Speaker

Why You Can't Understand English Movies (And How to Fix It)

STOP Making These CRINGE English Mistakes

How To Go From B1 To B2 Level of English (What ACTUALLY Works)

English Word Stress - 5 Reasons you MUST learn to stress words correctly.

English Podcast | Why You Should Stop Trying to Sound Like a Native Speaker

English Listening Practice You Actually Need | 40 Minutes of Real English Listening Practice (B1–B2)

Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

Gramática en este vídeo

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?