Shadowing Practice: 2-4000-3-U17 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Unit 17 Word List Affection Affection is a feeling of liking someone or something.
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Amanda has a lot of affection for her little sister Sarah.
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Agency An agency is a business or service set up to act for others.
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I went to a travel agency to help me arrange a flight home.
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Ash Ash is the gray or black powder created when something is burned.
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The end of his cigar was full of ashes.
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Confine To confine something is to keep it in one place.
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The elephant is confined to a cage in the zoo.
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Dismiss To dismiss something is to say it is not important.
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He quickly dismissed my idea about the new project.
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Erupt To erupt is to explode or blow apart, especially a volcano.
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The volcano erupted for the first time in 10 years.
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Fate Fate is a power that causes things to happen.
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Some people believe that the lines on a person's hand can tell his or her fate.
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Lava Lava is the hot substance made of melted rock that comes out of volcanoes.
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The red-hot lava poured from the volcano.
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Miserable A miserable person is very unhappy.
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He was miserable after his dog died.
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Navigate To navigate something is to control the way it moves or goes.
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She navigated the ship across the ocean.
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Originate To originate somewhere is to start there.
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The idea of democracy originated in ancient Greece.
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Remainder The remainder of something is what is left.
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He took a bite of the apple and then gave me the remainder of it.
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Retrieve To retrieve something is to find it and get it back.
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She retrieved her mail from the mailbox.
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Shallow A shallow thing is not deep.
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The kids were playing in the shallow water.
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Slope A slope is ground that is not flat.
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The slope to the top of the mountain was very steep.
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SPAN To span is to spread across an amount of time or space.
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His work at the bakery has spanned 20 years.
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Superstition.
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A superstition is something magical that people believe is real.
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It is a superstition that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day.
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Sympathy Sympathy is a feeling of sadness for another person who feels bad.
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I felt sympathy for my sister, so I got her a balloon to cheer her up.
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Vibrate To vibrate is to shake very hard.
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The machine made his whole body vibrate as he broke up the ground.
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Wander To wander is to walk without going to a certain place.
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The boys like to wander in the woods and look at birds.
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The Magic Cup Paul and John were brothers.
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They fought all the time because they both wanted to be leaders of the agency they both worked at.
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There was a superstition in their town about a magic cup.
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People said the cup was in a volcano located far away.
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Anyone who retrieved the cup would have a wish come true.
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John and Paul both wanted to find it.
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Then, they could become the leader they both left to find
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the cup before their trip their mother said they should work together they dismissed that idea
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even though their trips originated from the same house each wanted to travel alone they were both miserable during the trip.
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They had to navigate small boats across shallow rivers and climb difficult slopes.
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Their journey spanned many days.
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When they finally got close to the volcano, the ground began to vibrate and the volcano erupted.
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Ash filled the sky and lava covered everything.
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John climbed to the top of a hill to keep from getting burned.
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A few moments later, his brother went up the same hill.
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They were confined to the hill until the lava cooled down.
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They talked about the things they had seen while wandering around the country.
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They felt more sympathy and affection for each other than ever before.
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They decided that fate had brought them together.
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The next day, they left to finish the remainder of the trip together.
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Everything seemed much easier.
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When they finally found the cup, they learned that it didn't make wishes come true It was only an ordinary cup
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But the trip to reach the cup taught them to work together and love each other

About This Lesson

This lesson focuses on enhancing your English speaking practice through an engaging narrative that incorporates essential vocabulary. By exploring themes such as affection, agency, and superstition in the context of a story about two brothers, you will not only learn new words but also see how they function within sentences. This enables you to grasp their meanings and applications in everyday conversation. Additionally, practicing with this lesson will strengthen your speaking abilities and boost your confidence in using English.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Affection: A feeling of liking someone or something.
  • Agency: A business or service set up to act for others.
  • Miserable: Very unhappy.
  • Retrieve: To find something and get it back.
  • Vibrate: To shake very hard.
  • Superstition: A belief that something magical is real.
  • Navigate: To control the way something moves.
  • Originate: To start somewhere or from something.

Practice Tips

To effectively use the shadowing technique in this lesson, listen closely to the pacing and tone of the narrative. Here are some tailored tips to enhance your practice:

  • Start by listening to the transcript a few times without speaking. Get a feel for the rhythm and pronunciation of the words.
  • Once comfortable, repeat sentences or phrases just after hearing them, mimicking the speaker’s tone and speed. This will help you improve your English pronunciation.
  • Pay special attention to challenging words like "miserable" and "retrieve." Shadow these as many times as needed until you feel confident.
  • To help with memorization, visualize the context in which the words are used. For instance, imagine the brothers in the story and their emotions during their journey.
  • Record yourself while shadowing and compare it to the original audio. This feedback loop will help you fine-tune your pronunciation and intonation.

By consistently practicing with this content, you will find your speaking skills improving, making you feel more adept in conversations. Use this lesson not only to learn new vocabulary but also to develop your ability to navigate various topics in English.

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.