Shadowing Practice: 2026 09 06 Reflection 127 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
22 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
I am blessed to have as my brothers in the Franciscan community several friars who are canon lawyers.
2
One aspect of the Church's canon law deals with penalties,
3
which might be incurred or imposed for very serious actions which break the unity of the Church.
4
One of these has been in the news lately, excommunication.
5
While popular opinion might see excommunication as the church condemning someone to hell, that is not the case.
6
The church never rejects any of its members.
7
Rather, it acts as a loving parent might in the face of a child who slams the door and leaves the house.
8
In the face of someone's serious violation of a church law,
9
the church names it through the penalty but then remains open to that person's return always.
10
The Church, in imitation of the father of the prodigal son, waits to embrace the prodigal's return with sincere affection.
11
In today's Gospel, Jesus spells out a process to address the situation where one community member hurts another.
12
Our Lord asks His followers first to keep the problem private with a one-to-one conversation between the one injured
13
and the one who inflicts the injury.
14
Only if that fails is the disciples to involve others as witnesses.
15
A third step after failure is to tell the church, that is, bring the issue before the whole community.
16
If nothing persuades the sinful disciple to listen, quote, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
17
Scripture scholar Father Ron Witherup writes that this extreme treatment, quote, may at first seem like making them outcasts,
18
but we should remember that Jesus called such outcasts to be members of his inner circle and his wider community.
19
These now public Christian sinners would become the focus of reconciliation, following Jesus' example in reaching out to tax collectors and sinners.
20
And so, in the church today, our Holy Father and our bishops
21
and pastors are called to foster unity with prayer for the return of those who have broken that bond of love.
22
When we act as Jesus has taught, we are ensured of the Father's generosity and the presence of Jesus in our midst as we gather.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
C113
84 sentences
“But you did it first!”: A defense of the whataboutism
British AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C14
186 sentences
Tradition and Scripture: Meeting the Identity Challenge
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B21
92 sentences
Russell Crowe Faces the Vatican’s Dark Side | THE POPE'S EXORCIST
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
26 sentences
Beyond Differences
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
110 sentences
Drinking the Blood of Christ - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C114
52 sentences
God gives us what we ask for — for better or worse. | John Lennox at UCLA
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
183 sentences
Will the Good of the Other – Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
302 sentences
How Bible Scholars Challenged my Christian Faith
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1303 sentences
폴워셔2
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepHigh School Students
C13
155 sentences
ENGLISH SPEECH | JD VANCE: Student's Immigrant Checkmate (English Subtitles)
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1891
23 sentences
Shadowing AFC22
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “2026 09 06 Reflection 127”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: church, Jesus, member, return, father. This video has 22 sentences and 367 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:33. The speaker talks at a steady 144 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| disciple noun | /dɪˈsaɪ.pəl/ | A person who learns from another, especially one who then teaches others. |
| excommunication noun | /ɛkskəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃən/ | The act of excommunicating, disfellowshipping or ejecting; especially an ecclesiastical censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is, for the… |
| outcast noun | /ˈaʊtkæst/ | One that has been excluded from a society or a system, a pariah, a leper. |
| sinner noun | /ˈsɪnɚ/ | A person who, by one particular action, has sinned. |
| collector noun | /kəˈlɛk.tɚ/ | A person who or thing that collects, or which creates or manages a collection. |
| cannon noun | /ˈkæn.ən/ | A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar… |
| imitation noun | /ɪmɪˈteɪ̯ʃən/ | The act of imitating. |
| inflict verb | /ɪnˈflɪkt/ | To thrust upon; to impose. |
| injure verb | /ˈɪn.d͡ʒɚ/ | To wound or cause physical harm to a living creature. |
| prodigal adjective | /ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/ | Wastefully extravagant. |
| sinful adjective | /ˈsɪnfl̩/ | Having sinned; guilty of sin. |
| follower noun | /ˈfɒləʊə(ɹ)/ | One who follows, comes after another. |
| amidst | /aˈmɪdst/ | In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. |
| generosity noun | /ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹɑ.sə.ti/ | The trait of being willing to donate money, resources, or time. |
| reconciliation noun | /ˌɹɛkənˌsɪliˈeɪʃ(ə)n/ | The re-establishment of friendly relations; conciliation, rapprochement. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| spell out verb | To form (a word) from letters; say the letters in a word. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been · have broken · has taught |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | might be incurred · are called · are ensured |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | one who inflicts · those who have |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: excommunication /ɛkskəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃən/, imitation /ɪmɪˈteɪ̯ʃən/, reconciliation /ˌɹɛkənˌsɪliˈeɪʃ(ə)n/, affection /əˈfɛk.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: excommunication /ɛkskəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃən/, imitation /ɪmɪˈteɪ̯ʃən/, generosity /ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹɑ.sə.ti/, reconciliation /ˌɹɛkənˌsɪliˈeɪʃ(ə)n/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like disciple, excommunication, outcast.
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.