Shadowing Practice: Why You Understand English But Can't Speak - Learn English Speaking with Video
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If you can understand English but you can't speak, this one's for you.
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This is probably the most common problem that students learning a second language face,
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and it has nothing to do with the language you're learning or your ability.
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The reason you can understand English
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but the words just don't come out of your mouth is entirely due to the system you're using to learn.
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And I'll be honest.
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The way you learned English was probably not the best.
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School curricula around the world tend to focus on vocabulary, grammar, reading, and writing.
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These are four important skills to have in a second language.
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But what's missing?
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Speaking.
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Speaking and verbal communication skills are not taught in many schools around the world.
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I can speak to this firsthand.
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I'm from Canada and in Canada we have two official languages, English and French.
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There are French -speaking parts of the country and there are English -speaking parts of the country.
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I'm a native English speaker and I was born in an English -speaking part of the country.
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Every English -speaking Canadian needs to spend roughly seven to ten years minimum learning French in school.
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I remember my French classes.
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We watched movies, we read, we learned grammar rules, but we didn't do much speaking.
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And as a result, most English -speaking
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Canadians don't speak French.
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It's not because they're bad at languages or because French is a hard language to learn, it's because they weren't taught the right way.
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Listening and speaking are two vastly different skills.
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Fluency in a language is made up of four primary skills.
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Listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
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There's a reason that standardized tests such as the IELTS test these four skills.
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You can't be fluent in a language if you haven't mastered all four.
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Your listening skills might be amazing, but your speaking skills could still be lacking.
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I like to compare this to sports.
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If you watch professional sports like soccer, basketball, or baseball, you might understand the rules of the game,
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you might understand how to play, but unless you've put in years or decades of practice,
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you're never going to be as good as a professional athlete.
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The difference is you've spent time watching, whereas they've spent time doing.
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Now it's true that your listening vocabulary, the passive vocabulary you have,
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will always be bigger than the active vocabulary or the speaking vocabulary.
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This is true of any language.
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It's also true of your native language.
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I'm sure there are words in your native language that you understand but don't use on a daily basis.
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How can you expand your active vocabulary and speak more fluently in conversations?
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It's not about the conversation itself.
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It's about how well you prepare for that conversation.
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Preparation is key.
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There's a quote that's often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the American inventor.
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By failing to prepare, you're preparing to fail.
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So how do you prepare for a conversation?
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The good news is that most conversations are actually predictable.
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Ordering a coffee, making small talk with a neighbor, making a reservation at a restaurant, going to the doctor's office.
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These conversations all follow similar patterns, so you can actually script them in advance.
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When I say script, I mean imagine you're an actor learning lines.
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Sit down for 20 minutes, take a notebook and script the lines that you'd actually use in these conversations.
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You can also use AI to help you.
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I think AI is actually quite good for this purpose, but ultimately you have to memorize these lines.
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When an actor first starts their acting career, all they do is memorize lines.
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And you might be thinking, well, Michael, why should I memorize lines?
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I want to speak spontaneously.
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But don't forget that actors also improvise.
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There's nothing wrong with improvising, but you can only afford to improvise later once you've mastered the foundations of conversation.
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Some of the best lines and scenes in film history are actually improvised.
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They're spontaneous.
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Experienced actors do this but not when they're first starting out.
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When they're first learning to act and getting experience, they follow the script to a T.
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If you keep scripting your conversations and preparing in advance,
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eventually you'll internalize so much vocabulary and so many different phrases that you won't need to do this.
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Learning a language is like completing a puzzle.
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All you're doing is fitting the different pieces of the puzzle together.
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Eventually, after you've completed the same puzzle over and over again, you'll be able to do it quickly without thinking.
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I'm a big advocate for scripting what you want to say in advance.
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memorizing those lines, and going into the conversation prepared.
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I want to share with you a brief anecdote about my experience learning piano.
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Learning an instrument is a lot like learning a language.
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I've been playing piano since I was five years old, and in my many years of playing piano, I also performed in many different recitals.
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A recital is a concert.
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It sounds obvious, but the recitals where I performed my best were also the recitals that I had prepared the most for.
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90 % of all the work was done before the recital.
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Before every recital, I would spend hours practicing the piece, learning the score, learning the melody,
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learning the harmony, and I had prepared so well that by the time I got on stage, everything clicked.
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I didn't have to worry about what I was going to play
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or how I was going to play it because I had already prepared.
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And I encourage you to do the exact same when speaking.
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Prepare your conversations as best you can in advance.
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So when it comes time to speaking with a native English speaker, at the doctor's office, at the hair salon,
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at a restaurant, you'll be prepared and you'll know what to say.
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Of course, conversation is spontaneous and you won't be able to script every single line perfectly
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but by preparing in advance you'll know which vocabulary to use
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and you'll have a structure and a guideline to help you in the conversation so you have less to worry about.
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Let me know in the comments, do you find speaking difficult?
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I hope today's video could provide you with some insight and motivation.
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Make sure to subscribe to English at the Ready, leave a like, and if you want to study English with me,
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click the link in the description below to learn more about our programs.
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I have several programs available to help you speak more fluently and yes we do a lot of speaking in every class.
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So make sure to have a look and join.
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Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección
Esta lección de conversación se basa en el vídeo “Why You Understand English But Can't Speak”. Las palabras que más se repiten: speaking, conversation, language, learning, English. Este vídeo tiene 92 frases y 1128 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 7:10. El hablante habla a un ritmo natural de unas 157 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
15 palabras del vídeo que vale la pena aprender, con su pronunciación y significado:
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| vocabulary sustantivo | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | vocabulario |
| skill sustantivo | /skɪl/ | destreza, habilidad |
| script sustantivo | /skɹɪpt/ | escrito, escripto |
| piano sustantivo | /piˈænɪː/ | piano |
| puzzle sustantivo | /ˈpʌzəl/ | enigma, rompecabezas |
| grammar sustantivo | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | gramática |
| spontaneous adjetivo | /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/ | espontáneo |
| soccer sustantivo | /ˈsɑk.ɚ/ | fútbol, futbol |
| compare verbo | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | comparar, parangonar |
| encourage verbo | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | alentar, arengar |
| whereas | /(h)wɛɹˈæz/ | mientras que (locution) |
| roughly adverbio | /ˈɹʌf.li/ | toscamente |
| expand verbo | /ɪkˈspænd/ | ampliar |
| preparation sustantivo | /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/ | preparación |
| phrase sustantivo | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | frase |
Frases que vale la pena repetir
Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:
- It's also true of your native language.
- It's about how well you prepare for that conversation.
- By failing to prepare, you're preparing to fail.
- Let me know in the comments, do you find speaking difficult?
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 | haven't mastered · you've put · you've spent |
| Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace | are not taught · was born · weren't taught |
| Posibilidad con “might / may” might/may + verbo — algo posible pero no seguro | might be · might understand |
| Superlativos the -est / the most … — lo más alto o lo más bajo de un grupo | the most common · the best · my best |
Pronunciación a tener en cuenta
El hablante usa 41 contracciones y formas reducidas, como you'll, you're, don't. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.
- Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/
- Palabras largas — cuida el acento: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, spontaneous /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, curriculum /kəˈɹɪk.jə.ləm/
Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:
- s + consonante al inicio — sin añadir una “e” delante: skill /skɪl/, script /skɹɪpt/, spontaneous /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/, spontaneously /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs.li/
- /v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, advocate /ˈæd.və.kət/, passive /ˈpæs.ɪv/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/
- /z/ — sonora, no /s/: puzzle /ˈpʌzəl/, whereas /(h)wɛɹˈæz/, phrase /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/, improvise /ˈɪm.pɹə.vaɪz/
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 vocabulary, skill, script.
¿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.