Shadowing Practice: How I got a First Class in EVERY Essay at Law School - Learn English Speaking with Video

בחר מצב תרגול

כל מצב פותח חדר תרגול במסך מלא.

197 משפטים

אם המשפטים קצרים או ארוכים מדי, לחץ על ערוך כדי להתאים אותם.

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

100

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

101

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

102

So let's take a look at an example

103

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

104

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

105

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

106

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

107

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

108

and how it changed the law,

109

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

110

I'll also access

111

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

112

and what the textbooks are saying.

113

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

114

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

115

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

116

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

117

and also critical thought from other academics at this stage

118

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

119

that i'm discussing

120

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

121

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

122

when i come to writing my essay

123

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

124

And this really means consulting things like journal articles

125

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

126

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,

127

and I guess things like that.

128

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

129

The analysis stage doesn't take very long at all

130

but for me this is the biggest difference between those

131

that get a second class grade in their essays and those

132

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

133

Now by this point

134

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

135

and we should also have a pretty good understanding of

136

which side of the fence that we sit on to

137

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

138

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

139

that cropped up during our research phase

140

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

141

or why potentially they lack weight.

142

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

143

or insight as a professor or lecturer

144

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

145

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

146

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

147

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

148

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

149

but the underlying point is

150

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

151

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

152

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

153

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

154

And this all begins by starting with the introduction.

155

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

156

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

157

So we want to keep it brief.

158

We want to address those legal concepts.

159

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

160

I think one of the biggest mistakes

161

that a lot of students make is to try

162

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

163

But this is a really bad way to write essays

164

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

165

and then waiting to make the statement in the conclusion.

166

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

167

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

168

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

169

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

170

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

171

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

172

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

173

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

174

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

175

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

176

Now I know this video is about how to write essays

177

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

178

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

179

that research into full prose in the essay body.

180

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

181

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

182

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

183

Finally we finish up with the conclusion

184

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

185

that we covered and also restating the thesis statement

186

that we made at the start

187

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

188

because a lot of the time what markers

189

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

190

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

191

So yeah that's about it.

192

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

193

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

194

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

195

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.

הורד אפליקציה

כל מה שאתה צריך כדי לדבר בשטף

הגיית AIציון לכל משפט

תרגול IPAשלוט בכל צליל

אוצר מיליםבנה את מאגר המילים שלך

משחק אוצר מיליםלמד תוך כדי משחק

סרוק QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

FOR YOU

המלץ על סרטון

193 משפטים

Why You Should Write Personal Essays (Even If Nobody Reads Them)

Daily ConversationUniversity Students

277 משפטים

FINALS STUDY VLOG: productive 12hr study days, crashing out, & how to get A's on exams 📝

Daily ConversationUniversity Students

317 משפטים

אוצר מילים והערות הגייה לשיעור הזה

שיעור הדיבור הזה מבוסס על הסרטון “How I got a First Class in EVERY Essay at Law School”. המילים שחוזרות הכי הרבה: essay, constitution, argument, begin, writing. בסרטון הזה יש 197 משפטים ו-2590 מילים לתרגול Shadowing. הדיבור נמשך 12:21. הדובר מדבר מהר, כ-210 מילים בדקה, אז צפו לצלילים מחוברים ומקוצרים. 86% מהמילים נמצאות בין 3,000 המילים הנפוצות ביותר באנגלית; כדאי ללמוד את השאר לפני שמתחילים.

אוצר מילים מרכזי בסרטון הזה

15 מילים מהסרטון שכדאי ללמוד, עם ההגייה והמשמעות שלהן:

מילה	הגייה	משמעות
essay שם עצם	/ˈɛs.eɪ/	מַסָּה
topic שם עצם	/ˈtɑpɪk/	נוֹשֵׂא
thesis שם עצם	/ˈθisɪs/	תֶּזָה
conclusion שם עצם	/kənˈkluːʒən/	מסקנה
consult פועל	/ˈkɑnsʌlt/	התייעץ
heading שם עצם	/ˈhɛdɪŋ/	כִּוּוּן, מַסְלוּל
provision שם עצם	/pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/	אַסְפָּקָה, צֵידָה
pyramid שם עצם	/ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/	פִּירָמִידָה
argue פועל	/ˈɑɹ.ɡju/	התווכח \ הִתְוַכֵּחַ
principle שם עצם	/ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/	עִקָּרוֹן
demonstrate פועל	/ˈdɛm.ənˌstɹeɪt/	הפגין
flexible שם תואר	/ˈflɛk.sɪ.bəl/	גמיש
overview שם עצם	/ˈoʊ.vɚˌvjuː/	סקירה
sovereignty שם עצם	/ˈsɑv(ə)ɹənti/	סוּבֶרֶנִיּוּת, ריבונות \ רִבּוֹנוּת
textbook שם עצם	/ˈtɛkst.bʊk/	סֵפֶר לִמוּד

Phrasal verbs שתשמעו

מילה	משמעות
back up פועל	נָסוֹג
check out פועל	בדק

דקדוק בסרטון הזה

המבנים שהדובר משתמש בהם הכי הרבה, עם המילים המדויקות מהסרטון:

מבנה	בסרטון
הווה מושלם (Present perfect) have/has + past participle — פעולה שקרתה בעבר ועדיין יש לה חשיבות או השפעה עכשיו	i've decided · I've broken · that's been set
סביל (Passive voice) be + past participle — הדגש הוא על מה שקורה, לא על מי שעושה את הפעולה	be judged · been set · could be argued
משפטי זיקה (Relative clauses) who / which + clause — מידע נוסף על אדם או דבר	process which is · questions which are

הגייה ששווה לשים לב אליה

הדובר משתמש ב-60 קיצורים וצורות מקוצרות, כמו we're, I'll, I'm. אמרו אותם בצורה הקצרה, כפי שאתם שומעים אותם.

הצלילים של “th”: thesis /ˈθisɪs/, theoretical /ˌθi.əˈɹɛt.ɪ.kəl/, thoughtful /ˈθɔːtfəl/, breadth /bɹɛdθ/, thirdly /ˈθɚdli/
הצלילים של “sh” ו-“zh”: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, constitutional /ˌkɒn.stɪˈtjuː.ʃ(ə)n.(ə)l/, provision /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/
מילים ארוכות — שימו לב להטעמה: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, constitutional /ˌkɒn.stɪˈtjuː.ʃ(ə)n.(ə)l/, fundamental /ˌfʌn.dəˈmɛn.təl/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, systematic /ˌsɪs.tɪˈmæt.ɪk/

צלילים שדוברי עברית מתקשים בהם:

/w/ — שפתיים מעוגלות, לא /v/: reward /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/, requirement /ɹɪˈkwaɪɹmənt/, whatsoever /ˌ(h)wʌtsoʊˈɛvɚ/
/æ/ — פתוח יותר מה-“אֶ” העברית, לא כמו “a” ב-“cup”: tackle /ˈtækəl/, systematic /ˌsɪs.tɪˈmæt.ɪk/, substantial /səbˈstænʃəl/, accuracy /ˈæk.jɚ.ə.si/, gradually /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəli/
/r/ — הלשון לא נוגעת בשום מקום, לא ה-“ר” הגרונית: provision /pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/, pyramid /ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/, argue /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/, principle /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/, demonstrate /ˈdɛm.ənˌstɹeɪt/

איך לתרגל עם הסרטון הזה

הקשיבו לכל הסרטון פעם אחת בלי לדבר, ורשמו את המילים שאתם לא מכירים.
התחילו במהירות 0.75×, תרגלו Shadowing משפט אחר משפט, וחזרו למהירות רגילה כשזה מרגיש קל.
הקליטו את עצמכם והשוו למקור, תוך תשומת לב למילים כמו essay, topic, thesis.

מהי טכניקת השאדואינג?

שאדואינג היא טכניקת למידת שפה מבוססת מדע שפותחה במקור להכשרת מתורגמנים מקצועיים ופופולרית על ידי הפוליגלוט ד"ר אלכסנדר ארגואלס. השיטה פשוטה אך עוצמתית: אתה מקשיב לאודיו באנגלית ילידית וחוזר עליו בקול רם מיד — כמו צל העוקב אחרי הדובר עם עיכוב של 1–2 שניות בלבד. בניגוד להאזנה פסיבית או תרגילי דקדוק, שאדואינג מכריח את המוח והשרירים בפה לעבד ולשחזר דפוסי דיבור אמיתיים בו זמנית. מחקרים מראים שזה משפר משמעותית את דיוק ההגייה, האינטונציה, הקצב, הדיבור המחובר, הבנת השמיעה ושטף הדיבור — מה שהופך אותו לאחת השיטות היעילות ביותר להכנה לIELTS Speaking ולתקשורת באנגלית בעולם האמיתי.

טכניקת Shadowing: קרא את המדריך המלא שלב אחר שלב →

Shadowing Practice: How I got a First Class in EVERY Essay at Law School - Learn English Speaking with Video

בחר מצב תרגול

הורד אפליקציה

Why You Should Write Personal Essays (Even If Nobody Reads Them)

FINALS STUDY VLOG: productive 12hr study days, crashing out, & how to get A's on exams 📝

An HONEST review of my Ivy League education.

Academic Writing for 2026: How to Link Literature to Research Questions

This 1 Book Has Produced More Geniuses Than Any University in History

4 Steps to a Perfect English Paragraph: The P.E.E.L. Method

Essay Writing Tips | VinUniversity Admissions Application

Science Writing: Practice Makes It (Almost) Perfect

How I Study SMARTER, Not HARDER (10 Science-Based Tips)

What is being a Masters Student ACTUALLY like? | Masters degrees

How To Become Dangerously Self-Educated (complete plan)

The Lost Art Of The Intellectual Life