Shadowing Practice: 2716 - This is Us Breaking Down English Grammar - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “2716 - This is Us Breaking Down English Grammar”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: leaving, Aubrey, emotion, productive. This video has 29 sentences and 3099 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:26. The speaker talks fast, about 201 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 73 of its 29 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| productive adjective | /pɹəˈdʌk.tɪv/ | Capable of producing something, especially in abundance; fertile. |
| emotion noun | /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ | A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| worker noun | /ˈwɝ.kɚ/ | One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor. |
| verb noun | /vɝb/ | A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being. |
| poison noun | /ˈpɔɪ.zən/ | A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested. |
| emphasis noun | /ˈɛmfəsɪs/ | Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important. |
| pineapple noun | /ˈpaɪnəpəl/ | A tropical plant, Ananas comosus, native to South America, having thirty or more long, spined and pointed leaves surrounding a thick stem. |
| salsa noun | /ˈsɑl.sə/ | A spicy tomato sauce of Mexican origin, often including onions and hot peppers. |
| impressive adjective | /ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/ | Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress. |
| curious adjective | /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/ | Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying. |
| hockey noun | /ˈhɑ.ki/ | Any of a family of sports in which hockey sticks are used to move a ball or puck into a goal. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| dive verb | /daɪv/ | To swim under water. |
| breakup noun | /ˈbɹeɪk.ʌp/ | The act of breaking up; disintegration or division. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| finish up verb | To complete the last details of a task. | |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| sit out verb | To decline to participate; particularly, to decline to dance. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How are you today?
- You know, it's been a week.
- Did you really have food poisoning?
- I'm also curious about curious about this structure.
- I've noticed this as well.
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 | it's been · I've had · haven't seen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is removed · might be used · being judged |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 106 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, unusually /ʌnˈjuːʒuəli/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, unusually /ʌnˈjuːʒuəli/, energetic /ˌɛn.əɹˈdʒɛt.ɪk/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like productive, emotion, phrase.
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.






























