Shadowing Practice: 10 Bugs for sale - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Unit 10.
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Bugs for Sale.
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How often have you gone to a vending machine to get a bag of chips?
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What if you found a pair of live beetles instead?
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It may sound strange, but a company in Japan sells large beetles through vending machines.
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The vending machine company and nature conservationists disagree about selling beetles this way.
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Many school-age children in Japan collect beetles.
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Other people also enjoy this hobby.
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However, people are building houses where the beetles live.
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This destroys the beetles' homes.
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Now, it is difficult to find the beetles in the wild.
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Since 1999, the Mirei Seiko Company has been selling these beetles in vending machines.
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The company says that it wants to help people own these rare insects.
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It also says that it takes good care of the beetles in the machines.
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True or not, the machines are very popular.
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The machines sell more than 1,500 beetles per month.
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Sometimes, people buy all the beetles in a machine in just a few minutes.
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On the other hand, conservationists feel that the machines are harmful.
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Children may think that living creatures are like soft drinks or boxes of candy.
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Do you feel that the vending machines give people a rare experience, or that they give children bad ideas?
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Either way, they show how clever people can be.

About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "10 Bugs for sale" 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 →