Pratique du Shadowing: How to Use Past Tense in English | Emily English Daily Podcast - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo
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Hello everyone and welcome back to Emily English Daily, where learning English is easy and fun.
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I'm Emily.
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Hello Emily.
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It's great to be back here with you and all our listeners.
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It's great to see you too, Tom.
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How are you today?
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I am very good, thank you.
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I had a really nice morning.
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And you?
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I'm wonderful, thank you.
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My morning was good, too.
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Very quiet.
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Ah, a quiet morning is a good morning.
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Yes, it is.
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Speaking of my morning, that is in the past.
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And that is our topic today.
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Oh, that's a great topic.
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The past.
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Talking about things that happened before, now.
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Exactly.
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Like yesterday, or last week, or even this morning.
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It's very important for conversations.
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Yes, it is.
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But before we travel to the past, let's talk about the present for one second.
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Good idea!
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To our fantastic listeners, if you enjoy our podcast, please take a moment to click the like button.
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And please subscribe to Emily English Daily and share this episode with your friends and family.
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It helps us a lot.
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Yes, thank you so much for your support.
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Okay, Tom, are you ready to talk about the past?
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I am ready.
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So, the past.
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When we talk about something that is finished, we use special words.
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That's right.
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Let's start with a very simple word.
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Was.
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Was, yes.
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It comes from is.
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So today I am happy.
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Yesterday I was happy.
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Perfect example.
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Am and is change to was.
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So I can say, Today the weather is sunny.
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What about yesterday, Tom?
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Yesterday the weather was cloudy.
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Ah, I see.
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So is for now, was for the past.
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What about a place?
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For example, where were you yesterday evening?
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Yesterday evening, I was at home.
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At home.
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And what about me?
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I can say, I was at the supermarket yesterday.
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At the supermarket.
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So you can say, I am at the supermarket for now, and I was at the supermarket for yesterday.
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Yes, exactly.
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It's simple, right?
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We just change the word.
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It is simple.
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What about are?
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You are here today.
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What about yesterday?
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Good question.
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Are changes to were.
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So you were here yesterday too.
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Ah, were.
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W-E-R-E, were.
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Yes.
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So, we are happy today, and we were happy yesterday.
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I see.
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Am and is become was, are becomes were.
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You got it.
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Let's try.
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Tom, where were you last Saturday?
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Last Saturday, I was at the park.
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Oh, nice.
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Was it fun?
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Yes, it was fun.
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The park was beautiful.
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Many people were there.
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Oh, that's great.
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Many people were there.
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Perfect use of were.
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Thank you.
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So, Emily, what about you?
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Where were you last weekend?
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Last weekend, I visited my family.
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So, I was at my parents' house.
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That's lovely.
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Were your parents happy to see you?
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Yes, they were very happy.
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We were all together.
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It was a wonderful day.
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That sounds so nice.
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Family time is the best time.
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It really is.
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So, listeners, was and were are for describing states or locations in the past.
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I was tired.
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You were at the cinema.
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The food was good.
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Okay, that is great for to be.
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But what about actions, things we do like walk or talk or cook?
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Ah, yes, action words or verbs.
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For many verbs in English, we just add ed at the end to talk about the past.
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ED.
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So, walk becomes walked.
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Exactly.
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So, today I walk in the park.
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Yesterday I walked in the park.
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See?
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Simple.
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Yes.
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Okay, so, today I talked to Emily.
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Yesterday I talked to my friend on the phone.
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Perfect.
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You are a natural, Tom.
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This is fun.
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Okay, another one.
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watch, like I watch TV in the evening.
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Yes.
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So for yesterday, you would say, I watched TV last night.
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Good job.
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What did you watch?
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I watched a movie.
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It was a comedy.
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Oh, fun.
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Did you laugh?
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Yes, I laughed a lot.
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Ah, laugh becomes laughed.
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Yes, you are discovering the secret.
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So many words just need ED.
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Cook becomes cooked.
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Clean becomes cleaned.
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Play becomes played.
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Okay, let me try a little story.
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Yesterday morning, I walked to the cafe.
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I listened to music on my headphones.
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That's great.
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Listened.
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Perfect.
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What happened at the cafe?
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I waited in line, then I ordered a coffee.
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Waited?
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Ordered?
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Yes, very good.
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Thank you.
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This ED is very useful.
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So, Emily, what did you do last night?
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Last night?
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Let me think.
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Ah, I cooked dinner for my friend.
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Ah, that's kind of you.
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What did you cook?
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I cooked chicken and vegetables.
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My friend liked it a lot.
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Liked.
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Another ED word.
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That's fantastic.
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It seems easy.
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It is.
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With practice, it becomes very natural.
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But there is a small challenge.
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Oh, a challenge?
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I like challenges.
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I know you do.
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Some verbs are special.
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They are irregular.
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They don't use ED.
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Irregular.
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So they change in a different way.
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Yes, they change completely.
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For example, the verb go.
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Today I go to work.
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We don't say go-ed.
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Go-ed sounds a little funny.
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Yes, so what is the past of go?
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The past of go is went.
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Went.
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W-E-N-T.
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Went.
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Okay, so yesterday I went to work.
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Exactly.
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Let me ask you, where did you go last summer?
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Ooh, last summer I went to the beach.
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The beach.
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Wonderful.
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I also went to the beach last year.
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It's a popular place.
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Okay, so go becomes went.
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What is another irregular verb?
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A very common one is eat.
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Today I eat an apple.
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Yesterday… Hmm, not eated.
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Maybe ate?
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Yes, you got it.
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Ate.
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A-T-E.
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Yesterday, I ate an apple.
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Fantastic.
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Okay, so last night you cooked dinner.
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Did you eat with your friend?
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Yes, we ate together.
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We ate the chicken and vegetables.
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That's nice.
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And I can say, for breakfast today, I ate toast.
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Perfect.
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So let's connect them.
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Last Saturday, you went to the park.
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What did you eat in the park?
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I ate a sandwich.
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I also drank water.
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Oh, is drink irregular too?
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It is.
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What do you think the past of drink is?
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Drink?
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Yes!
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Wow, Tom, you were so good at this!
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Thank you, Emily.
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So, go is went, eat is ate, drink is drink.
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This is like a fun puzzle.
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It is.
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Another one is see.
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Today I see a bird.
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Yesterday, I saw a bird.
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Saw.
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S-A-W.
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Okay, so at the park, I saw many dogs.
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They were playing.
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That sounds cute.
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And at the cinema, you saw a comedy movie.
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Yes, I saw a very funny movie.
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What about you, Emily?
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What did you see on your last holiday?
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On my My last holiday I went to the mountains.
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I saw beautiful trees and a big lake.
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Wow, that sounds peaceful.
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It was very peaceful.
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I took many photos.
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Oh, take is another one.
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Let me guess, the past of take is took?
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Yes, took.
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You are on a roll.
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I took many photos.
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I took a bus to the park last weekend.
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See, you can use it in many situations.
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What about have?
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Today I have a car.
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Ah, have is very common.
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The past is had.
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Yes, exactly.
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So yesterday I had a busy day.
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And I had a sandwich for lunch.
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And at your friend's birthday party last month, you had fun, right?
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Yes, I had a lot of fun.
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We ate cake and we sang songs.
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Oh, sing!
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Sing is also irregular.
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It becomes sang.
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We sang happy birthday.
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We sang loudly.
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This is great!
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The irregular verbs are different, but they are also very common.
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They are.
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The best way to learn them is to use them.
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Go went, eat ate, see saw, have had, take took.
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Let's try to make a bigger story with everything.
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Can I try?
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Of course, please do.
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OK.
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Last weekend was great.
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On Saturday, I went to the city with my friend.
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OK, you went to the city.
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What did you do there?
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First, we walked around and looked at the shops.
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I saw a nice shirt in a window.
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Walked, looked, saw, a mix of regular and irregular.
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Great!
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Did you buy the shirt?
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No, I didn't.
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But I bought a book.
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Oh, buy is bought.
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Yes, it is.
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Very good.
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Buy becomes bought.
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So you bought a book.
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Yes.
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After the shops, we were hungry, so we went to a small restaurant.
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You were hungry, so you went to a restaurant.
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Makes sense.
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I ate a big pizza, and I drank a lemonade.
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My friend had pasta.
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Mmm, pizza and pasta.
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Sounds delicious.
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Ate, drank, had.
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Fantastic, Tom.
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Thank you.
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The food was very good.
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We talked for a long time.
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Then we took the train home.
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What a complete story!
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You used was, regular verbs like walked and talked, and irregular verbs like went, ate and took.
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That was perfect!
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Thank you, Emily.
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It's really helpful to put it all together in a story.
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It makes more sense.
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It does.
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And that's how we talk in real life.
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We mix all these words together.
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OK, your turn, Emily.
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What did you do on your last holiday?
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Tell us a story.
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Okay.
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My last holiday was in the spring.
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I went to a small town in the countryside.
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Oh, lovely.
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Did you go alone?
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No, I went with my sister.
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We stayed in a small hotel.
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The hotel was very old but very nice.
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Went, stayed, was, great start.
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What did you and your sister do?
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Every morning we walked in the hills.
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The weather was beautiful.
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We saw many sheep and cows.
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That sounds very relaxing.
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It was.
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In the afternoons, we visited the small shops in the town.
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I bought some local cheese.
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You bought cheese?
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I bet it was delicious.
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It was.
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We ate it with bread for lunch.
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We also drank fresh juice.
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That sounds like a perfect holiday lunch.
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Ate and drank nice.
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In the evenings, we were usually tired, so we read our books.
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Oh, read.
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This one is tricky.
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Tricky?
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How?
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The spelling is the same – R-E-A-D – but the sound is different.
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Today I read.
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Yesterday I read – like the color red.
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That is a tricky one.
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So I read a book last night.
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Exactly.
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So we read our books and listened to the quiet sounds of the countryside.
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We had a wonderful time.
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Your holiday sounds amazing, Emily, so peaceful.
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And your story was a great example.
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Thank you, Tom.
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The key is just to remember which verbs are regular with ED and which are irregular, like went or saw.
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And it's okay if we make mistakes, right?
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People will still understand.
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Absolutely.
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Making mistakes is part of learning.
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The most important thing is to try.
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So if a listener wants to talk about their day, they can say, I woke up.
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Awake is woke.
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I ate breakfast.
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I went to work.
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I worked hard.
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I talked to my colleagues.
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I came home.
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Come is came.
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Yes, you are finding more irregular verbs.
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Wake, woke, come, came.
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That's brilliant!
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You just described a whole day in the past.
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It feels good.
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It feels like I can really share my experiences now.
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That's the goal, so you can tell your friends or family what you did last weekend or last week.
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Let's review the main irregular ones we talked about.
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Go to went, eat to ate, see to saw, have to had, take to took, buy to bought, come to came.
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That is a fantastic list.
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And for most other action words, just add ED – walked, played, watched, cooked.
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And don't forget was and were.
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I was happy.
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They were at home.
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Exactly.
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Wow, Emily, we covered a lot today.
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I feel like our listeners have some great tools now to talk about the past.
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I think so too.
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It was a very helpful conversation.
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I learned a lot myself.
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Me too.
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always good to practice.
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Well, our time for today is almost finished.
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That went by fast.
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It really did.
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So to all our amazing listeners, now it's your turn to practice.
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Yes, we have a question for you and we would love for you to answer in the comments below.
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The question is, what did you do last weekend?
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You can write something simple.
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I went to the park.
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Or I watched a movie.
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Or I ate pizza with my family.
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Yes.
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Tell us a little about your past weekend.
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We love reading your comments and seeing you practice your English.
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And of course, don't forget to subscribe to English Emily Daily so you don't miss our next episode.
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And please share this podcast with anyone who is learning English.
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Your support means the world to us.
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Thank you for listening today.
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Yes, thank you, everyone.
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It was fun talking about the past with you.
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See you next time.
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Goodbye for now.
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Bye.
Why practice speaking with this video?
Practicing speaking with Emily's podcast video on the past tense offers a fantastic opportunity for English learners to engage with everyday conversational contexts. By following along with the dialogue, you can enhance your English speaking practice in a natural setting. This video closes the gap between passive learning and active communication, allowing you to grasp the nuances of the language.
Moreover, as you mimic the speakers, you not only understand how past events are described, but you also gain confidence in your speaking abilities. This engaging interaction makes it easier to memorize verb changes and apply them in real-life conversations. Utilizing a shadowing technique while practicing can significantly boost your fluency, making the transition from theory to practice much smoother.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In the dialogue, several key structures are highlighted that are essential for expressing the past tense in English. Let's analyze a few:
- Was/Were: The verb “was” is used to describe states from the past, as seen when Emily says, “Yesterday I was happy.” In contrast, “were” serves as the past tense for plural subjects, for instance, “Where were you yesterday evening?”
- Time references: Phrases like “yesterday,” “last week,” and “this morning” clarify when these past events occurred. Incorporating these time markers into your sentences helps listeners understand the timeline of your experiences.
- Contextual usage: The example questions demonstrate conversational utility. For instance: “What about yesterday?” allows you to inquire about someone else's experience, facilitating a two-way dialogue.
Understanding and using these expressions will allow you to relate past experiences seamlessly during discussions. Consistent practice, especially focusing on the shadowing app or a suitable shadowing site, can aid in mastering these structures.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While engaging with this podcast, you may encounter some common pronunciation challenges that can hinder clear communication:
- Vowel sounds: The verb "was" may be pronounced differently depending on regional accents. Pay attention to how it's pronounced in the context of conversation to imitate this accurately.
- Linking sounds: Notice how words connect in speech. For example, “Yesterday evening” might sound more fluid as “Yesterdayevening.” Mastering these connections through the shadowing technique can significantly enhance your improve English pronunciation.
- Intonation: The rise and fall of your voice while asking questions is crucial. When asking, “What about yesterday?” the tone often rises at the end to indicate a question. Practicing this will help you sound more natural.
By identifying these traps and focusing on them during your practice, you will improve both your comprehension and speaking confidence. Regular use of shadowing methods will solidify these pronunciation skills, leading to more effective communication in English.
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.