Pratica di Shadowing: Do This if You Understand But Can't Speak - Impara a parlare inglese con i video
Creazione lezione...
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Today, I want to talk about something that I hear quite often, and that is people who say, I understand well, talking about their ability in a foreign language,
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but I can't speak.
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And I hear that a lot.
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So I want to talk about what can be done
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and what can be some strategies in order to help people who claim to understand well, to help them to speak better.
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So it depends on your situation.
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Obviously, if you're in a situation where you need to speak, then this is quite important.
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If you're like me learning, you know, Arabic and Farsi as a dilettante or Turkish and I don't need to speak, then it doesn't bother me.
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I continue with my input activities, building up my capability in the language.
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But the reason I raised this is because the other day I met someone who is a Canadian politician who, while he's a local politician, but he lives in Ottawa for much of the year.
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He's involved in national politics therefore he should be able to speak French and he has an opportunity to speak French.
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But when I asked him about his ability in French, he said, well, I understand well, but I can't speak.
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So that's kind of my starting off point on this subject.
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So there's two sides to this.
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One is that person or people like him have an identity which says, I can understand well, but I can't speak well.
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That's kind of their vision of themselves.
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Let's look at the first part of that, which is the I understand well part.
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My first question is, you know, is that really so?
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I've always said, you know, in learning a language, I feel I have a good level of comprehension when I can read a book, paper book from cover to cover.
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When I can understand an audio book, when I can watch movies and understand most of it without subtitles.
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That's real comprehension.
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So my question is, first of all, the person, say this person who works as a political operative in Ottawa, he's familiar with certain themes,
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certain discussions, presumably, which he hears over and over again that are relevant to his work.
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So he says, I understand, but he doesn't really understand the language.
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And what I'm going to say here is that when it comes to ramping up your comprehension,
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which is extremely important, I've always said you need a solid base of comprehension you need a large passive vocabulary.
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That's your reservoir.
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That's your knowledge of the language that's going to enable you to ramp up your speaking ability.
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So the first thing I say about your stated, you know, ability to comprehend the language is broaden it.
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You have to have a wide level of comprehension.
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It's not enough to be able to understand a limited range of content with subjects that are familiar to you.
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You have to challenge yourself.
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And I mean, the extreme version of this is people who believe that, you know, the teachers who say we're going to teach these scenarios, how to be a clerk in a store.
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The thing is, it's been my experience that you cannot anticipate what kind of conversation will arise.
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So actually you need a broader level of comprehension than that narrow level that I'm assuming this person had.
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It's like I once met with some immigrants here in Vancouver who said, yes, I would like to be able to speak English better,
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just well enough to communicate with my child's teacher at school
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or if I get stopped by a policeman while driving my car.
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Okay, you can't, you cannot anticipate what that conversation will be.
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You cannot narrow your level of comprehension to such a small bit.
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You have to broaden your comprehension. And in
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that regard, you're better off to have an imperfect understanding of a broad range of subject matter where you miss 60,
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70% of the words, but you expose yourself to, you know, hours of listening and reading.
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And so you need that broad range of comprehension.
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That's absolutely important.
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Number one.
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However, my next bit of advice is a bit contradictory.
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And you'll see that when I talk about getting to speaking, you'll see I go the other way.
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So when it comes to comprehension, you have to have this broad range of comprehension.
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But then you have to deliberately narrow it down in preparation for speaking.
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Because when you speak, you're going to use a small subset of the words that you know of your passive vocabulary.
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And you need to have these handy that they come quickly.
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certain structures, certain words that get you speaking.
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You need a smaller subset.
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And that's why when I'm learning a language, while I listen to, you know, political podcasts in Arabic or Farsi, I also spend time with the many stories.
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I spend time even doing those political podcasts.
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I will slow down my listening
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and reading in order to get myself into sentence mode so that I can mine the material, pay more attention, focus more on specific words and structures.
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So broaden the base, but at the same time, spend some time focusing in on more specific bits and pieces.
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Maybe that's 20% of your time.
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And that's kind of been my strategy.
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And particularly if I'm getting ready to have a conversation in Arabic, I will then spend more time with the mini stories, even though I've heard them many, many times, because it's that repetition
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that enables me to start to grab a hold of some of the words that I'll be able to use, hopefully, in a conversation.
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So you say you understand and speak well.
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Well, you have to make sure that that base of comprehension is broad.
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Watch movies even if you only understand 60%.
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It's that exposure to massive, a wide range of content, even imperfectly understood, which is building up your capability.
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But then you have to go back in there and mine the nuggets, the bits and pieces.
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So that's with regard to the I understand well.
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Let's make sure you do understand well.
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Now, the second part of that person's identity is that he or she can't speak.
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We need to change that.
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If that's your identity that you can understand, but you can't speak, that's not useful if you're in a situation where you need the language,
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which is not my case as a dilettante language learner here in Vancouver.
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But if you need the language for your work or for your family relations or whatever, then you can't just continue to be a person who understands and can't speak.
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You have to change your image of yourself.
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So here again, the strategy in my view and in my experience is a little different.
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It's not so much a matter of starting with a widening of your range of material.
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It's more a matter of beginning with a narrower range.
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So when I start into speaking in, say, Persian, I will use the mini stories circling questions where I'm given the answer.
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And so I know what the answer is.
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I'm asked the question.
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I'm reading in Arabic and Farsi it's very difficult and I can answer the question because I've heard the answer.
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So it's not really a genuine, I'm not retrieving meaning.
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I'm responding to a prompt.
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So that's sort of the very first, that's your narrowest possible base.
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The next would be a question, a genuine question about the content that you just finished listening to or reading.
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And our AIBotItLink does this, asks you a question about the content that you just listened to.
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Or you could even have it ask a question about the sentence, the specific sentence in sentence mode.
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So you start narrow.
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So you're dealing with a limited range of material you have to answer the question.
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But then you want to move to where you're answering a broader range of questions.
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Alahe, my Persian tutor, she always saves 15-20 minutes where she asks me difficult questions of history and philosophy and environment, whatever it might be.
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And I have to really think for an answer and I have to find words to express my meaning.
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But it's a genuine, authentic conversation.
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So you'll progress from an almost automatic reflex answer to a question or
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interaction to one where you are now dredging your knowledge and trying to express your ideas in the language.
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So you go from narrow to broader.
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And then if you're able to do that, as you gradually build up your confidence using circling questions
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or using AI or using the sheltered conversation
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that you have with a tutor and you start to prove to yourself
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that actually you are a person who speaks the language now you have to change your habits you have
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that habit of accepting that your identity is i'm someone who understands
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but can't speak every time you conform to
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that image being in a meeting and not interacting not speaking you are confirming
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that identity and you have to break
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that through habit you have to start speaking difficult at first
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but gradually you start to create these habits where your identity becomes i'm someone who understands well
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and speaks somewhat less well but i'm also a person who speaks the language
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so you have to change your self-image
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so i think that's what i would suggest don't sort of with pride say well i understand
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but i can't speak that's not good enough you probably at some level would like to speak.
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So you need to make sure that this is your goal.
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I want to go through these various steps initially somewhat sheltered
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and eventually I'm going to speak because it's important to me to speak.
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It's important to the image that I want to have of myself in that language as someone who understands and speaks.
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And remember every time you speak and you make mistakes you are strengthening your knowledge of the language.
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You are engaging with the language.
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So the fact that you make mistakes is not a negative.
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You have to have that as a part of your identity.
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I am someone who understands the language, not perfectly, and who speaks the language, not perfectly.
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So I hope that's helpful.
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Bye for now.
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Vocabolario e note di pronuncia per questa lezione
Questo video contiene 123 frasi e 1735 parole da ripetere con lo shadowing. Il parlato dura 9:29. Chi parla va veloce, circa 183 parole al minuto: aspettati suoni legati e ridotti. Il 84% delle parole rientra nelle 3.000 più comuni dell’inglese; conviene studiare le altre prima di iniziare.
Vocaboli chiave di questo video
15 parole meno comuni del video, con pronuncia e significato:
- comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/ (sostantivo) — comprensione. A thorough understanding.
- narrow /ˈnæɹəʊ/ (aggettivo) — stretto, angusto. Having a small width; not wide; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.
- habit /ˈhæb.ɪt/ (sostantivo) — abitudine, consuetudine. An action performed on a regular basis.
- genuine /ˈd͡ʒɛn.juˌɪn/ (aggettivo) — genuino. Belonging to, or proceeding from the original stock; native.
- regard /ɹɪˈɡɑːd/ (sostantivo) — riguardo, considerazione. A steady look, a gaze.
- enable /ɪˈneɪ.bəl/ (verbo) — permettere. To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to.
- shelter /ˈʃɛltə/ (sostantivo) — rifugio, riparo. A place where a person or animal may find protection from the elements (especially rain, storms, or cold) sometimes as a place to sleep (such as a cave).
- gradually /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəli/ (avverbio) — gradualmente. In a gradual manner; making slow progress; slowly.
- politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/ (sostantivo) — politico, politica. One engaged in politics, especially an elected or appointed government official.
- podcast /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ (sostantivo) — podcast, audioprogramma. A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
- capability /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/ (sostantivo) — capacità, possibilità. The power or ability to generate an outcome.
- passive /ˈpæs.ɪv/ (aggettivo) — passivo. Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.
- vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ (sostantivo) — vocabolario. A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning.
- anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/ (verbo) — anticipare. To act before (someone), especially to prevent an action.
- tutor /ˈtjuːtəː/ (sostantivo) — istitutore, istitutrice. One who teaches another (usually called a student, learner, or tutee) in a one-on-one or small-group interaction.
I phrasal verb che sentirai
- build up (verbo) — accumulare. To erect; to construct.
- deal with (verbo) — fare i conti. To handle verbally or in some form of artistic expression; to address or discuss as a subject.
- go through (verbo) — attraversare. To travel from one end of something to the other.
- look at (verbo) — guardare. To observe or watch.
- slow down (verbo) — rallentare, decelerare. To decelerate.
Pronuncia a cui fare attenzione
Chi parla usa 44 contrazioni e forme ridotte, come I'm, can't, you're. Pronunciale nella forma breve, così come le senti.
- I suoni “th”: bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/
- I suoni “sh” e “zh”: comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/, shelter /ˈʃɛltə/, politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/, exposure /ɪkˈspəʊ.ʒə(ɹ)/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/
- Parole lunghe — attenzione all’accento: politician /ˌpɑ.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/, capability /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, automatic /ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/
Come esercitarsi con questo video
- Ascolta tutto il video una volta senza parlare e annota le parole che non conosci.
- Inizia a velocità 0,75×, fai shadowing frase per frase e torna alla velocità normale quando diventa facile.
- Registrati e confronta con l’originale, facendo attenzione a parole come comprehension, narrow, habit.
La grammatica di questo video
Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:
| Struttura | Nel video |
|---|---|
| Frasi relative who / which + frase — un’informazione in più su una persona o una cosa | people who say · people who claim · someone who is |
| Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adesso | I've always said · it's been · I've heard |
Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?
Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.