Shadowing Practice: 07 Not the normal news - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Unit 7.
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Not the normal news.
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Newspapers and television news programs always seem to report about the bad things happening in society.
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However, there is a place where readers can find some good news.
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That place is the website called Happy News.
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The man behind Happy News is Byron Reese.
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Rees set up Happy News because he thought other news sources were giving people an unbalanced view of the world.
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Rees said about Happy News, the news media gives you a distorted view of the world by exaggerating bad news, misery and despair.
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We're trying to balance out the scale.
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Not everyone agrees with Rees' view though.
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Many people think that news sources have a responsibility to provide news that is helpful to people.
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People need to know about issues or problems in today's society.
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Then people are better able to make informed decisions about things that affect their daily lives.
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Rees said that Happy News is not trying to stop people from learning about issues or problems.
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Happy News is just trying to provide a balanced picture of today's world.
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By the end of its first month online, Happy News had more than 70,000 unique readers.
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About 60% of those readers were women.
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Something else unique makes Happy News different from any of the other news or information websites that are on the Internet.
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Unlike many other websites, Happy News gets fan mail from its readers on a daily basis.

About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "07 Not the normal news" using the Shadowing technique — a method originally developed for professional interpreter training.

Focus on sounding like the speaker — not just repeating words. With 15–30 minutes of daily practice, you'll build real-world speaking confidence.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

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

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →