Pratique du Shadowing: How I got a First Class in EVERY Essay at Law School - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

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so i got over 70 in every single essay at uni

and i want to show you how i did it look the truth is i think

that the way

that most of us approach our essays is a joke it doesn't make any sense whatsoever

so i've decided to share my experience writing essays at uni

because i believe there's a more efficient reliable and systematic way to approach essay writing and achieve top grades

ultimately writing an essay should be a fun process as you're

literally given the best possible opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and explore ideas without limit.

So I've broken up my approach into five stages that I'm going to share with you today.

The first stage of anyone's essay writing process should begin with the goal in mind,

which I'm guessing for most of us is to get a first.

Now I'm always surprised by how many people literally have no idea what it takes to get a first,

especially as we're told every single year what the criteria is to get that grade.

And it's these criteria that we need to keep in mind whenever we're planning

and writing our essays as this is what we're going to be judged on.

Broadly, most people would agree that the basic elements of a first -class essay include four things.

Firstly, close attention to the question and answering that question with breadth and accuracy with no or almost no significant errors or omissions.

Secondly, detailed knowledge of the topic addressed as well as a deeper understanding of the context in

which that topic exists and also the greyer, less well -known and less obvious areas of the law.

Thirdly, we've got the presentation of theoretical arguments concerning the subject, significant critical analysis of relevant sources,

and also a thoughtful personal perspective on the debate.

Finally, we need a well -developed and compelling argument coupled with an excellent standard of writing.

So in short, then, all we really need to do is to one, understand the question, two, research the topic well,

three, have our own opinion on the topic, and then finally write a convincing argument on that topic

and with this goal in mind

and with this four -step process it becomes ridiculously easy to work through our essays in a systematic way

which essentially ensures a first class grade at the end of it.

So with all that in mind let's begin with step one of the process which is understanding the question.

So the key to successful our essays then is really the ability to understand and address the question at hand.

Now this may seem like stupidly obvious advice

but it's crazy how often students will simply just ignore the question they'll misinterpret the question

or they'll answer a completely different question simply

because it's easier for them to answer

that question instead for example let's say

we're faced with the essay question what is a constitution many

students in this situation will begin by outlining the nature

and sources of the british constitution but this isn't actually what the question is asking

and you know neither is asking us to list different categories

of constitution instead what it's really telling us to do is

to find different definitions of constitution such as i don't know a document containing the rules of government

or the fundamental and supreme laws of the state and

so on and so forth and then using those definitions to try

and find the fundamental concepts that make up a constitution the problem is

that we're just

so keen to demonstrate our knowledge we begin to answer the questions in a very general way to try

and prove how smart we are But this doesn't work at all.

So what should we do?

Well, the very first thing

that I like to do whenever I'm faced with an essay question is to write it down on a piece of paper,

fully deconstruct that essay question, and then try to understand the type of question that's been set.

So let's say, for example, we're given the following essay question.

The British constitution is unwritten, informal and flexible.

Indeed, it could be argued that there is no constitution.

Discuss.

First, then I'll think about the type of question that's being asked

and some questions are going to ask us about substantive legal topics like contract law, criminal law, tort law and so on.

Some questions are going to be about legal concepts like I don't know justice, the rule of law and things like that

and then we've also got questions around institutions like the courts

and the constitution for example and then we've also got those questions which are a bit more analytical and descriptive.

They want us to analyse specific areas of the law.

So this question here then is specifically asking us about our understanding of a particular institution, i .e the constitution,

and for us to analyse whether or not it actually exists.

So the first thing that I do

when answering this question is to begin by defining what a constitution is and what it should contain.

And I'm always sort of bearing in mind, what are the great areas of law

that this question is asking me to tackle

and in this particular question it's quite clear that they're asking me to tackle the concept of constitutionalism.

I'll then move on to discuss the term unwritten,

informal and flexible with respect to the British constitution and compare that to a constitution that is written,

rigid and more formal and sort of have a look at whether

or not you know the requirements of rigidity and formality are necessary components of a constitution too.

I could then at this stage provides some evidence

that the british constitution does in fact exist like we have a established

systems of government we have established principles of constitutional reform

and things like that but i also need to bear in mind that this is a discussion.

And we need to provide a discussion around the other side of the argument too.

So are there any reasons where the British constitution could be said to not exist?

And that could have arguments such as there is a lack of a fundamental supreme law, there's sovereignty of parliament instead of sovereignty of the constitution,

and so on and so forth.

Hopefully by deconstructing the essay in this way,

we begin to get a really nice high level overview of what our essay is going to look like

which gives us the perfect starting point to begin our research

and begin deepening our understanding of the topic right we're now ready to do some research

but to ensure we're not wasting any time reading useless material

there's some preliminary work we now need to do basically we need to get out a word document

or any other document that we use to do our research

and structure that page in a way that's going to help us do our research properly

and the way that we do this is to use something known as the minto pyramid principle

so the idea here is that ideas should form a pyramid under a single thought

and that single thought is essentially our thesis

or our answer to the question

and then under our single thesis we have supporting arguments

and under the supporting arguments we have pieces of evidence backing it up.

With that in mind then the way

that we want to structure our page is using the same headings as we find in the Minto pyramid.

So whenever we're doing our research we just slot that information into

and under the relevant headings on that page and gradually we're going to start developing a very comprehensive essay structure.

One thing I always try to do before I start researching the essay question is to write out a thesis statement.

I may not 100 % know exactly how I'm going to answer the question

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but I usually have a vague idea of the position I want to argue

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and I use this as my starting point to begin my research.

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So let's take a look at an example

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and here we got the question critically assess the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the British Constitution

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and this is probably the approach I'll take to this question.

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I'd start by reading my own notes and I'd also consult a textbook

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or two and basically try to understand as much as I can about the law and the relevant issues in that area.

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So for this particular question then I'll be thinking of the things like why the act was passed

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and how it changed the law,

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its central provisions and leading cases and more specifically the basic constitutional concerns and dilemmas that the act has impacted on.

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I'll also access

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and read the central provisions of the act to make sure it's all consistent with my knowledge

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and what the textbooks are saying.

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Now at this point I probably have a pretty good understanding of the different points

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I want to make in my essay having read everything I can about the topic

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so the point now is really to begin fleshing out each of the main substantial points

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I want to make in the essay using the further readings, finding critical evidence

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and also critical thought from other academics at this stage

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i guess i'll probably also want to consult some very specific texts about the topic

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that i'm discussing

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so i don't know probably a specific book on the human rights act a specific book on constitutional reform

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and that way i really do understand exactly what i want to talk about

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when i come to writing my essay

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and then i guess the final stage for me is really to boost my critical understanding and analysis of the law.

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And this really means consulting things like journal articles

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so I can see what academics are saying about that area of the law, as well as consulting a lot of primary sources too.

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So for this question, it'll be things like looking at the leading cases decided under the Act, the provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights,

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and I guess things like that.

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So this will really help me to find detailed supporting evidence and criticism of the main points that I want to make.

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The analysis stage doesn't take very long at all

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but for me this is the biggest difference between those

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that get a second class grade in their essays and those

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that get a first class grade so it's very much worth spending some time doing this properly.

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Now by this point

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we should have a pretty good understanding of the different arguments on both sides of the debate

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and we should also have a pretty good understanding of

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which side of the fence that we sit on to

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which hopefully supports the thesis statement that we made at the beginning of the process.

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The plan now then is to go through all the counter arguments

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that cropped up during our research phase

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and to inject our own thoughts into those counter arguments as to why we can reject them

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or why potentially they lack weight.

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Here we're not really expected to have the same level of knowledge

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or insight as a professor or lecturer

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but we are expected to appreciate the arguments that they make and then also make relevant observations and criticisms of their work.

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And to be honest with you we can be pretty clumsy in our analysis.

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The important thing is we're trying to make a decent attempt at analysing death statements and analysing the law too.

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So as long as we've done that we're going to be rewarded pretty well.

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Now I'm not going to go into too much detail here

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but the underlying point is

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that we should always finish the research phase by thinking deeply about the topic

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and determining what do we exactly think about the question at hand.

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Okay so by this stage we should have a really nice plan

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and we should be in a perfect position to begin writing our essay.

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And this all begins by starting with the introduction.

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And the whole point of the introduction is to answer the question

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and to make sure the examiner or the marker knows we understand the legal concepts.

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So we want to keep it brief.

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We want to address those legal concepts.

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And we essentially, and most importantly, want to make sure we make a very clear thesis statement.

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I think one of the biggest mistakes

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that a lot of students make is to try

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and keep the introduction as mysterious as possible and sort of leave their thesis to the conclusion.

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But this is a really bad way to write essays

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because it essentially means that we are putting our sort of evidence up front

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and then waiting to make the statement in the conclusion.

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But the way to make our writing as clear as possible is

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that we want to make the statement first and then show supporting evidence later.

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So we want to have a very clear thesis statement in the introduction

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which is backed up by supporting evidence throughout the essay and not the other way around.

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This is quite literally the hardest part of writing the essay.

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I probably spend like 25 % of my time writing the introduction

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because I know if I nail the introduction it sets the tone for the rest of the essay

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and it also makes sure that the point I want to make is really really clear.

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So once I've written the introduction the plan now is to write the main body of our essay

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and this is actually a really easy process once we've done our research.

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Now I know this video is about how to write essays

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but really 90 % of the writing process for an essay comes in the research phase

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because once we've made and done really good research all we're really doing is turning

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that research into full prose in the essay body.

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So what we want to do is take the main headings and the supporting arguments and put those into our essay structure.

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So we've got the main points that support our thesis

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and we've got the evidence that supports those main points and hey presto we have our main body sorted.

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Finally we finish up with the conclusion

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and all we're really doing here is giving a brief overview of the legal concepts

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that we covered and also restating the thesis statement

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that we made at the start

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and as a sort of insider piece of knowledge here I'll try to make this as good as possible

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because a lot of the time what markers

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and lecturers will do is they'll turn to the conclusion first

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before they've read the rest of the essay to make sure you really understood and answer that question properly.

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So yeah that's about it.

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If you want to see what a really good essay looks like with comments as to why that essay is so good,

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then make sure you check out the link in the description below.

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If you've got any questions about your own essays,

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then also drop questions and comments below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

196

And hopefully I'll see you next time.

197

Goodbye.

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Vocabulaire et conseils d’expression pour cette leçon

Cette leçon d’expression orale s’appuie sur la vidéo « How I got a First Class in EVERY Essay at Law School ». Les mots qui reviennent le plus souvent : essay, constitution, argument, begin, writing. Cette vidéo contient 197 phrases et 2590 mots à répéter en shadowing. La partie parlée dure 12:21. Le locuteur parle vite, environ 210 mots par minute : attendez-vous à des liaisons et à des sons réduits. 86 % des mots font partie des 3 000 mots les plus courants en anglais ; le reste mérite d’être vu avant de commencer.

Vocabulaire clé de cette vidéo

15 mots de la vidéo à retenir, avec leur prononciation et leur sens :

Mot	Prononciation	Sens
essay nom	/ˈɛs.eɪ/	essai, rédaction
topic nom	/ˈtɑpɪk/	sujet, thème
thesis nom	/ˈθisɪs/	thèse
essentially adverbe	/ɪˈsɛnʃəli/	essentiellement, en essence
conclusion nom	/kənˈkluːʒən/	conclusion, fin
consult verbe	/ˈkɑnsʌlt/	se concerter
heading nom	/ˈhɛdɪŋ/	titre
fundamental adjectif	/ˌfʌn.dəˈmɛn.təl/	fondamental
provision nom	/pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/	provision
pyramid nom	/ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/	pyramide
argue verbe	/ˈɑɹ.ɡju/	affirmer, débattre
institution nom	/ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/	institution
principle nom	/ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/	principe
demonstrate verbe	/ˈdɛm.ənˌstɹeɪt/	démontrer
tackle verbe	/ˈtækəl/	combattre, affronter

Les verbes à particule que vous entendrez

Mot	Prononciation	Sens
back up verbe		reculer
break up verbe		rompre, couper
check out verbe		mater, regarder
get out verbe		sortir
go through verbe		traverser
make up verbe	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	constituer, composer

La grammaire de cette vidéo

Les structures que le locuteur utilise le plus, avec les mots exacts de la vidéo :

Structure	Dans la vidéo
Present perfect have/has + participe passé — une action passée qui compte encore maintenant	i've decided · I've broken · that's been set
Voix passive be + participe passé — l’accent est mis sur ce qui arrive, pas sur qui le fait	be judged · been set · could be argued
Propositions relatives who / which + proposition — une précision sur une personne ou une chose	process which is · questions which are

Prononciation à surveiller

Le locuteur utilise 60 contractions et formes réduites, comme we're, I'll, I'm. Prononcez-les sous leur forme courte, telles que vous les entendez.

Les sons « th »: thesis /ˈθisɪs/, theoretical /ˌθi.əˈɹɛt.ɪ.kəl/, thoughtful /ˈθɔːtfəl/, breadth /bɹɛdθ/, thirdly /ˈθɚdli/
Les sons « sh » et « zh »: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, constitutional /ˌkɒn.stɪˈtjuː.ʃ(ə)n.(ə)l/, provision /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/
Mots longs — placez bien l’accent: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, constitutional /ˌkɒn.stɪˈtjuː.ʃ(ə)n.(ə)l/, fundamental /ˌfʌn.dəˈmɛn.təl/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, systematic /ˌsɪs.tɪˈmæt.ɪk/

Les sons difficiles pour les francophones :

/h/ — il se souffle, il n’est pas muet: heading /ˈhɛdɪŋ/, comprehensive /ˌkɑm.pɹəˈhɛn.sɪv/, whatsoever /ˌ(h)wʌtsoʊˈɛvɚ/
/tʃ/ et /dʒ/ — à ne pas adoucir en « ch » et « j »: institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, lecturer /ˈlɛkt͡ʃəɹə/, gradually /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəli/, rigid /ˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪd/, inject /ɪnˈd͡ʒɛkt/
/r/ anglais — langue recourbée, sans frotter la gorge: provision /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/, pyramid /ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/, argue /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/, principle /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/, demonstrate /ˈdɛm.ənˌstɹeɪt/

Comment s’entraîner avec cette vidéo

Écoutez la vidéo en entier une fois sans parler et notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas.
Commencez à la vitesse 0,75×, répétez phrase par phrase, puis revenez à la vitesse normale quand cela devient facile.
Enregistrez-vous et comparez avec l’original, en faisant attention à des mots comme essay, topic, thesis.

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

Technique du shadowing : lire le guide complet étape par étape →

Pratique du Shadowing: How I got a First Class in EVERY Essay at Law School - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

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