Shadowing Practice: 술 마시려고 운동? 운동마저 열심인 한국인? | 솔직한 영국 이야기 #21 Going to the gym | 영국발음 팟캐스트 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hi Dahlia, how are you?
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Hello Stephanie, I'm very well, how are you doing?
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Yes, I'm very well, thank you.
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Trying to keep warm with my electric blanket because it's freezing today.
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Oh, I have mine on my lap too.
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Yes, it's necessary I think in this weather.
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Although this weather does make me kind of want to hibernate in the house and not go anywhere.
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What about you?
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Absolutely, that's why I've turned into a bit of a potato.
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No you haven't.
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Well I will do, ask me in spring.
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I'm definitely going to turn into a potato over the Christmas season coming up.
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Um, but yes, you know, tis the season, right?
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Tis the season to be fat.
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To be fat, yes.
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Which brings us into our subject of the day, which is basically, well, not being fat, ideally being healthy and going to the gym and exercising and all of that stuff.
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Hopefully.
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So as usual, guys, listen out for any useful words and phrases, which you're going to come back to at the end of this episode.
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Yes episode and just so students are aware becoming a potato is not an idiom
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no that's not a british expression it's just yeah just a dahlia ism i like it um
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so obviously we both work from home
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and um most most of our colleagues do as well a
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lot of people in the uk are working from home after
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the pandemic yeah um how do you still keep in shape Well, that's the million dollar question.
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I love swimming, but I don't know about you, but I find swimming is a little bit harder than going for a run,
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for example, because it's much more of a big deal.
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You have to have a lot more stuff and you have to have a shower and it takes longer.
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And then is your hair wet?
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You have to think about that.
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And when you've got lovely long hair like you, yes, it's a whole thing.
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I understand take your swimming cap and then if you forget your swimming cap and then if it breaks and
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see these are all just excuses who likes a swimming hat i mean literally
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so swimming caps are the worst you just end up looking like a complete egghead you do
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but it's worth it
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because whenever i see other people's hair in the pool i'm
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like no no no no no oh you mean floating around yeah
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that is kind of disgusting and it's aerodynamic apparently oh really well yes i guess it would be
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yeah um I think top swimmers
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and stuff don't they like shave every element every part of
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their body yeah yeah yeah to be a bit fast yeah I mean I'm not an Olympic swimmer
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so I think swimming cap
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or no swimming cap I'm still going to be one of the slowest yes neither am I um
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but I do like swimming um and I think
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that it's quite popular in the UK yeah um especially you know when we're
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when young our parents often take us for swimming lessons in
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a swimming pool it's kind of a very common kind of thing
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when you have children and well you know I go swimming sometimes at my local gym
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and I see people of all ages in the pool um
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including older ladies um especially kind of aqua class i don't know
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if that's a thing in korea
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but um doing um kind of like a like a dance class
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or aerobics class
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but in the water yeah um it's quite funny have you
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ever done it i have have you yeah i thought it was just uh you know for old ladies
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and it was gentle i did it once or twice and it was actually really hard
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oh really because of the resistance of the water yeah
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but that's the good thing about it you don't feel like you're sweating
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so much right but you must be because you're the resistance
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and everything are you thinking about the sweat in the pool I knew you were going to say that so it's alright
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and my students say that we've had quite a few conversations about this
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that it's the same in Korea that you always get the little old ladies trying not to get their perms wet
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swimming gently and slowly.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Well, I mean, swimming is quite a low impact sport, isn't it, really?
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It's quite gentle on the body.
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So I get why older people would want to do that.
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So, yeah, it's a great way to keep fit, but it does involve a lot of, yeah.
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I mean, equipment, I guess, having your goggles, your hat, your towel, blah, blah, blah.
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But also, like, I don't know about you, but in this sort of cold weather, I feel a bit scared, not scared, but apprehensive, let's say.
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Yeah, psychologically.
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About getting in.
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Yeah, when you're at home on your sofa, the idea of getting into a big pool of water is...
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Yeah, it's the last thing you want to do, right?
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Yeah, but we all live sedentary lifestyles now, so we have to make even more of an effort.
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Exactly, exactly, yeah.
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And if you are kind of fond of having a beer once in a while, you know, or something like that, if you don't want to get a beer belly,
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then, yeah, you kind of have to do these things, I suppose.
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Absolutely.
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Do some sit-ups.
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That's right.
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That's right.
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So lots of my students go to the gym.
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I think that seems to be, you know, a popular thing, like either with a personal trainer or maybe they just, you know, go to the gym regularly.
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But I'm always very impressed by my students, because the ones who do go to the gym,
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they go, they tell me that they go for like a minimum of like an hour and a half or something.
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And these are the same people that work till like 9pm, and I'm like, how do you sleep?
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Do you, how do you have time to clean your house and
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ring your mom yeah all those little in between things
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and scroll on Instagram and stuff right where's where's your time for that yeah
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but I think a lot of my students tend to stay
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up quite late yeah I think that's they all sacrifice sleep
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I think that's the that's a common I don't know
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if that's a culture cultural difference I mean obviously people are you know different in general But I mean, I don't know if that's a cultural thing,
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because a lot of my Korean students who I've taught at BritScent, they seem to go to bed very late and wake up quite early for work.
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Yeah.
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But I do like my eight hours, if I can.
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I'll try and get my eight hours of sleep.
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I think it's a modern thing, isn't it?
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And it's an age thing, often it's kind of hustle culture, if you will.
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But also there is actually a listening, which I sometimes give for homework on six minute English.
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I think it's called Sleepless in Seoul.
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According to some studies, Korea is the country where people sleep the least.
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I have heard that, actually.
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Yeah.
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That's why the pali pali culture, like quickly, quickly.
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That's how everything gets done.
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That's how you get your internet connected on the same day.
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That would never happen in the UK.
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People get their glasses on the same day, apparently, in Korea.
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What you mean they have their eyes tested?
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Get your glasses on the same day.
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Wow.
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Crazy, eh?
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The last time I did that, which was about a year ago, I remember I had to wait three weeks, something, to collect my glasses.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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If any of you are thinking of moving to the UK, guys, just leave that, what's it called, pali pali culture?
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Yeah.
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Leave it at home because it doesn't exist yet, I'm afraid.
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Some students have said that they've realised that, having come to the UK that they're quite impatient but some of them have said it's been beneficial
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because it's actually been very nice to slow down a bit really yeah yeah I can stop
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and smell the roses yeah yeah I can get
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that I think I was I on the up in you
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know in the opposite situation I would find it quite difficult I think
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if I was to move to a country um where everything
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was much faster than it is here I think I'd find it a little bit scary you say
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that but if you could get your, you know, apparently in Korea you can order your food, like you can order stuff the night before, as long as it's before 11.30pm, you can get it at like 6 in the morning.
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Now that is efficiency right there.
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See, you wouldn't be complaining about that.
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No, I wouldn't be complaining about that.
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No, no, no. No, only if I was the one who was expected to deliver by 6 in the morning.
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That would never happen.
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Well.
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Yeah.
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Well, should we go back to our words and phrases from today?
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Okay, so I think one of the ones we said a couple of times was sedentary, which is a great adjective.
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Yes.
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Sedentary.
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It often goes with the word lifestyle, but it could also go with the word job or occupation as well.
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Yeah.
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So what does sedentary mean?
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It means spending a lot of time sitting down basically.
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Yeah basically yeah.
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So you could say for example
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because I have a sedentary job I try to I try to go to the gym more regularly.
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I like the word try there.
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I try to, yeah I didn't want to say I don't.
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And another example you could say yeah a sedentary lifestyle isn't healthy.
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Indeed.
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What was the next one?
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Beer belly.
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Beer belly, yes.
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And it means a very fat stomach, especially one caused by drinking a lot of beer over a long period
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but the thing about a beer belly is
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that someone can be relatively slim right yeah they can be kind of in shape
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but then they've just got this randomly large belly yes you know
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when i think of a beer belly i always think of homer simpson yeah yeah
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so of course this phrase is uh informal
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and we could say he's only 20 but he's already got a beer belly
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or we can say not one man in a beer commercial has a beer belly
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which is very true that's actually a very good observation
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that is true just like the
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that is true women in the skincare adverts are all like 20
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and they've got perfect skin anyway
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so why do you need yeah yeah why do you need
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anti-wrinkle yeah yeah i guess their argument would be it's
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because I'm using this product yeah I don't know what the
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be the men could say in the beer commercials though like yeah don't drink beer don't drink beer
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if you want to look like me yeah
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okay the last one our final phrase is to stay
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or keep in shape and we use this for people
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and it basically means to stay or to get in good physical condition
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so you're fit basically physically fit
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so you could say you don't have to spend a fortune on gym membership to stay in shape
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or in the dead of winter die-hard swimmers use this pool
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to keep in shape indeed there we go all right well I promised myself
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that I would be going to the gym later on today.
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So now I've said it on air, I'm going to have to go on time. On air.
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Immortalised.
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Yeah.
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It's immortalising this recording.
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Checking on you next week.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Have a lovely rest of the evening.
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You two and I will see you then for our next episode.
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Bye-bye.
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Speaking Goals for This Clip
This video is perfect for English speaking practice focused on casual, conversational fluency. The dialogue mimics real-life interactions—discussing daily habits, weather, and hobbies—helping learners master the art of natural back-and-forth. It targets the milestone of maintaining a relaxed, engaging conversation without overthinking, which is key for building confidence in everyday settings.
Phrase Bank
- "Tis the season" – A playful way to refer to a time of year with common traditions (e.g., "Tis the season for hot chocolate and cozy nights").
- "Turn into a potato" – A lighthearted phrase for becoming lazy or inactive (not a formal idiom, but useful for casual chats).
- "A big deal" – Describes something that requires effort or planning (e.g., "Cooking a five-course meal is a big deal for me").
- "A whole thing" – Used when a task becomes more complicated than expected (e.g., "Getting my dog to the vet is a whole thing—he hates cars").
- "I find [activity] a little bit harder than [activity]" – A structure to compare habits or preferences clearly.
Fix Your Weak Spots
The dialogue’s relaxed rhythm makes it ideal for practicing the shadowing technique (also called "shadowspeak" or "shadow speak"). Listen closely to the natural pauses, intonation, and stress in phrases like "I'm definitely going to turn into a potato over the Christmas season"—notice how the speaker emphasizes "definitely" and "Christmas" to convey tone. Many learners struggle with linking words in casual speech (e.g., "kind of want to" instead of "kind of want to" with a break), but this video models smooth connections. Repeat lines aloud immediately after the speakers to mimic their pace and melody—this trains your mouth and brain to produce natural-sounding English. Focus on reducing "robot-like" delivery by copying the conversational flow, which is essential for sounding like a confident speaker.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | day, which is · ones who do · students who I |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've turned · I've taught · have heard |
| Comparatives -er than / more … than — comparing two things | harder than · faster than |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the worst · the slowest |
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.