Shadowing Practice: Introducing Automations: always-on coding agents - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

C1
I'm Jack.
⏸ Paused
24 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
I'm Jack.
2
And I'm Jon.
3
And today we're launching Automation's Incursor.
4
As agents have gotten really capable at handling work autonomously, we found ourselves kicking them off over and over again for the same type of task.
5
So we thought, why not automate that?
6
It's been crazy to see the creative use cases that people have come up with.
7
For example, we have an incident triage that gets triggered every time a pager duty monitor goes off.
8
This one Jon loves especially because he hates getting woken up at 3 a.m.
9
Famously.
10
We give it the Datadog MCP, and then by the time he rolls out of bed all groggy, the agent has come back with a likely root cause.
11
So I just need to merge the PR, and then I can go back to sleep.
12
I have a personal automation just for myself.
13
It runs on a nightly cron schedule.
14
It looks at all my PRs from the last day and just cleans up dead code or bad patterns.
15
We're very fortunate to have this great community of users who are always suggesting new features to build, and we pipe those through from Twitter onto Slack.
16
And now we can just have an agent automatically kick off with every single one
17
and just put up a PR right away some of these features if they're simple or actually just getting implemented asynchronously.
18
The way we do software development has changed so much in the last nine months.
19
And with more software, with more output, you then have more stuff you need to review, more issues you need to triage, more things to manage around software.
20
But a lot of these things are automatable.
21
Thankfully because we kind of let the agent run free, if you want comments to be inline threaded comments on GitHub, just prompt your agent to do so.
22
If you want it to resolve its past comments, just prompt your agent to do so.
23
All of these things that people are used to configuring with checkboxes, you don't need to do that anymore.
24
Just prompt your agent.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Scan To Download
Scan To Download
Download on theApp Store
Get it onGoogle Play

About This Lesson

In this lesson, learners will focus on enhancing their English speaking skills through the shadowing technique, utilizing a YouTube video transcript about automation in coding. This practice will allow you to explore technical vocabulary related to software development while improving your fluency and pronunciation. By mimicking the speech patterns and intonation of the speakers, you will become more comfortable with complex sentences and industry-specific terms, which can be particularly beneficial for anyone preparing for the IELTS speaking practice.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Automation: The use of technology to perform tasks automatically.
  • Agent: A software program that executes tasks on behalf of a user.
  • Incident triage: The process of prioritizing and addressing technical issues.
  • Root cause: The primary source of a problem or issue.
  • Pull request (PR): A request to merge code changes into a main project.
  • Cron schedule: A time-based job scheduler in Unix-like operating systems.
  • Inline threaded comments: Comments that are connected to specific lines of code for better collaboration.
  • Resolve comments: Addressing or closing feedback or questions in discussions.

Practice Tips

To make the most of your learning experience, try employing the shadowing technique while watching the video or reading the transcript. Start by listening to a short segment and pause after each sentence. Repeat the sentences aloud, mimicking the speakers' intonation, speed, and rhythm. Given that the speakers may have a conversational tone and discuss technical subjects quickly, aim to speak at the same pace. Focus on clarity over speed initially, as this will help build your confidence. Additionally, pay attention to how the speakers emphasize key phrases and integrate industry jargon naturally.

To enhance your practice further, select specific sentences or phrases that challenge you, and practice shadow speech with those. Doing so will prepare you for situations where you may need to talk about similar topics, especially in contexts like interviews or presentations in software-related fields. Regular practice with such materials will not only improve your vocabulary but also refine your overall speaking skills, making you more adept in English conversations related to technology and coding.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

☕ Buy us a coffee