Shadowing Practice: 3 Grammar Keys That Unlock Natural English - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Okay, welcome back to the English channel.

Today we have a special video because I'm going to be teaching you English tenses.

Yes, English tenses.

So, if you have a problem when you're studying English tenses, past perfect, past present, future, past.

If you have a problem with English tenses,

stay just to the end because I'll be going through all the most common problems with English tenses.

Are you guys ready for today's video?

Let's attack the lesson.

So, like always, I have some notes inside my phone. so

when we have to talk about english tenses there's one thing

we just have to there's one thing we need to start with we need to start with the

when so when let's talk about past simple versus perfect uh present perfect

so past simple we use for when an action is finished

so past simple the rules for past simple is you add ed two verbs

that are regular and if a verb is irregular you need to memorize the irregular verb

that is the structure for past simple

but some people have a problem understanding the difference between i did

and i have done

so let me break down the difference between the two for

you guys i did past simple you use i did for something action

that is completed that's started and completed in the past

so yesterday i did a video the video started in the past

and it finished the video the video finished in the past So when an action starts and finishes in the past, you use past simple.

But for present perfect, present perfect, there's two reasons why we use it.

The first reason is something recently just finished.

So I have done my homework.

If you say, I have done my homework, that means in the last five to ten minutes, you recently finished your homework.

You can say, I did my homework for past simple,

but the difference is when you use present perfect, it's recently just finished.

First reason why we use present perfect second reason why we use present perfect is

when you have um the best way to explain this is

with an example let's say someone um is someone's painting a wall

and their hands are very dirty and you see

that their hands are very dirty you ask them have you painted the wall

because there's information in the present that gives you information about the past

so you see his hands are dirty

so you ask have you painted the room

and he answers yes i have painted the room

because there's present information that gives you information about the past it's kind of complex

but this is the second

and the most used version most used way we use present perfect

so when you have present information

that tells you something about the past that's why we use present perfect another example you see someone

and they're they're breathing heavily you ask them

have you just ran and they say yes i have just ran

so present perfect number one reason we use it something recently

finished second reason we use it you have information in the present

that gives you more information about the past that is the second

that is the second reason why we use present perfect in

the comments below people have been asking me to go through basic english grammar

so today we're going through the the all the english tenses all right

so the first two we covered is past simple and past

and present perfect the next two we will cover is will so future um simple and be going to first is

both we use both tenses to talk about the future in

English however will is we use for a spontaneous decision

so let me give you another example I look inside my cupboard to see

if there's bread and there's no bread

but before I looked in the cupboard I didn't know

if there was bread or not I look in the cupboard

and see oh there's no bread spontaneous decision i will go to the store

and buy some bread see it's a spontaneous decision

if you have planned this future plan normally we use be

going to for an example i am going to liel at

the end of this month to see my son i already

bought the ticket i already booked the hotel it's planned it's going to happen 100

so if something's planned

and you know you're going to do it in the future you use be going to

and will is very easy to use

because you use will with all the subjects plus the verb

is in the infinitive i will go i will play I

will do she will do very easy be going to is you have to conjugate be depending on the subject

so I am going to the store she is going to the store

or they are going to the store so make sure you conjugate be

and that is how that is the two ways we speak in the future in English So now,

I've given you two tenses to speak in the present.

I've given you two tenses, past perfect and present, and past simple and present,

sorry, past simple and present perfect,

and perfect present, present perfect, sorry.

So I gave you those two.

And also, I've given you two tenses to speak in the future.

Now, let's talk a little bit about the words should, could, and would.

So these three words in English, the first thing I will tell you guys is the pronunciation there's an l in each word

but you don't pronounce the l

so wood sounds just like the wood like like wood like

um hold on like you see this my um here this

is my um cabinet it's a cabinet it's made of wood see w -o -o wood wood

and wood are pronounced the same way

so don't pronounce the l it's just like w o o d would first thing i'll tell you

and same thing with could should

and should it's not could we should pronounce you don't pronounce

the l first thing i'll tell you guys about should would

and could second thing is should would

and could are the way in english we speak in the conditional

so what is the conditional the conditional is

when you have um a word when you have two parts of a sentence

and the second part is on the condition of something

so for example if it rains outside

if it rains he um he would bring an umbrella boom

if it rains he would bring an umbrella so it's on the condition of something we use should would and could for.

100

So let's break down each one.

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We'll start with could because it's pretty much the easiest.

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First reason why we use could, it's the past of can.

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So past of can.

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He could speak English when he was younger, but he forgot how to.

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See, it's past possibility could.

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First reason why we use it second reason why we use it it's to be polite

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so you can always say can you give me a cup of milk

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but that's not as polite

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if you say could you give me a glass of milk it's automatically more polite

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so that's the second reason why we use could you can always replace it with can, but it's more polite

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if you use the word could second word we'll go through is we'll go through should

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because it's the second easiest so should is an obligation

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so you can give yourself an obligation i should eat more vegetables

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or you can give someone else an obligation he should eat more vegetables

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so should is an obligation you need to do it that's

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why we use the word should the first version next we will talk about the most complicated one

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and it is would and would is complicated because it's based on hypotheticals

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so what is a hypothetical a hypothetical is something that's not real it's imaginary

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so for example

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if i won the lottery i would buy a car you

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see how it's it's it's bull crap it's not it's not real it's imaginary it's imaginary

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i'm not i didn't win the lottery and i'm not gonna buy a new car a lot of

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people who are learning english mix up will and could

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so for example common mistakes people will say

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if i won the lottery i will buy a car no

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you see how it's on the condition of something you can't

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use the word will will is based in facts it's a

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factual word i will do something means you're going to do

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it it's it's it's a it's based on facts where would

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is based on the opposite of facts it's based on hypotheticals

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or imaginary situations so the first example i gave you

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if i won the lottery i would buy a new car

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or i would um travel the world it's not based in reality.

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So that is the third English grammar tip for today.

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So the first one, we'll go through it quickly so you guys can remember.

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I hope you guys are writing down in your English notebook or if you don't have an English notebook, get something to write down.

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Maybe you use your phone and you write notes in your phone.

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So the first thing we covered today was past simple versus present perfect

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and past simple is action started in the past

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and finished in the past boom past simple present perfect is

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when there's a connection between the past and the present

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so either something's recently finished you recently did something

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or you have proof in the present

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that gives you information about the past second we did is

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how to speak in the future in english we have two ways be going to

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and will remember be going to is based on plans something

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you've already you've already planned you've already bought the ticket i

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am going to rome you've already bought the movie ticket i

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am going to the movies see you you've started planning about this about a future action

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and you will do the future action whereas will is a

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spontaneous decision you see something on the floor ah i will

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pick it up spontaneous there was no plan it's just spontaneous

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then the next we covered was the conditional words should would and could So,

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remember, could is can in the past, or it can be a way to be more polite in English.

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Second one, should, obligation.

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I should eat vegetables, he should do exercise.

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Obligation.

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Third one, would, hypothetical.

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I would buy an island if I won the lottery. So, hypothetical.

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That's wood.

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So the last English grammar point for today,

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we're going to talk about the simple tenses,

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past, present, and future, and the continuous tenses, past,

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present, and future okay so i must look at my notes really fast

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and i'll tell you guys what i have written down here um all right

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so very good this is very very good so when you're

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when you're talking about simple versus the present or the continuous tense you need to think about permanent situations versus temporary situations.

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All right.

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What is a permanent situation?

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A permanent situation is I have a brother.

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It's permanent, right?

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He's always going to be here.

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Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

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So something that is permanent, you want to use the simple tense or

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so you want to use the simple tense something

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that is temporary you want to use the continuous tense

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so right now it's temporary i am making a video you

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see i'm making the video it started 15 minutes ago

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and it's going to end in about five minutes right

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and it's temporary but i live in Antibes it's not temporary that's a permanent situation

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or a long situation yes I could move

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but I live in Antibes right it's right now I live in Antibes

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and next week I'll live in Antibes yes I could move

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but yeah it's permanent situations

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that you use the simple tense for another example is

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another great example is um i teach english your job

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so your job is a permanent situation yes you could get fired

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but relatively speaking that is your job it's a permanent situation

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temporary situation i am walking on the beach

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or i was walking on the beach it was a temporary situation

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or i will be walking on the beach you see i just use present continuous past continuous

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and future continuous all of them are based on temporary situations

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so that is the number one rule to

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so you can understand the difference between the continuous tense

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and the simple tense one more time continuous tense is temporary situations whereas the simple tense is just permanent situations

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so just understand this very important

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and yeah those are um the three quick and easy english tenses for today Normally,

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we do our video walking around my city or going about my day,

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but I've gotten a couple comments asking me to do some grammar.

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So this is the grammar video.

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I hope you guys took some notes.

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I hope you guys wrote down, whether you wrote it down in your English notebook

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or you wrote it down in your phone i hope you

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guys um wrote down today's grammar lesson um thank you guys

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thank you everybody for watching the videos um we're almost at

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30 000 subscribers it's crazy yes almost um oh we'll do

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it we'll talk about this quickly before i go like i

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explained before i'll explain again we're doing an english challenge

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so me i have to post a video every day

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so i've been posting a video since october 1st

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so it's been almost two weeks now today's october 13th

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so you guys need to watch my video every day watch one of my vlogs every day

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and also do one thing outside of watching the vlog to

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learn english i gave you guys some examples some of my

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um my subscribers are doing a duolingo challenge also for 30 days

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so they're every day they go on duolingo for five minutes

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and they do some grammar another some of my um subscribers are doing a news challenge

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so they watch comprehensible input with me and then they watch the news after

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or some people are reading books so they're watching my video

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and they're also reading a book the challenge is to watch one of my videos

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and do something whether it's five minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes every day to improve your english

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so good luck with the challenge you guys we're already two weeks in

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if today is the first time you're seeing the video

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and you didn't know about the challenge the challenge has started

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so you can start now

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and finish in 30 days thank you guys for watching please subscribe to the channel

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and peace i'll see you guys tomorrow

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “3 Grammar Keys That Unlock Natural English”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: present, english, tense, simple, perfect. This video has 227 sentences and 2538 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:12. The speaker talks at a steady 126 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
tense noun	/tɛns/	The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.
continuous adjective	/kənˈtɪn.juː.əs/	Without stopping; without a break, cessation, or interruption.
grammar noun	/ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/	A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general.
hypothetical adjective	/ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl/	Based upon a hypothesis; conjectural.
spontaneous adjective	/spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/	Self-directed; happening or acting without external cause or instigation; proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or momentary impulse.
obligation noun	/ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/	The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie to someone.
pronounce verb	/pɹəˈnaʊns/	To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously.
polite adjective	/pəˈlaɪt/	Well-mannered, civilized.
lottery noun	/ˈlɑtɚi/	A scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, especially a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw prizes, the…
conditional noun	/kənˈdɪʃ.ə.nəl/	A conditional sentence; a statement that depends on a condition being true or false.
verb noun	/vɝb/	A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being.
imaginary adjective	/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪˌn(ɛ)ɹi/	Existing only in the imagination.
homework noun	/ˈhoʊmˌwɝk/	Exercises assigned by a teacher to a student which review concepts studied in class.
versus	/ˈvɝsəs/	Against; in opposition to.
cupboard noun	/ˈkʌb.əd/	A cabinet, closet, or other piece of furniture with shelves intended for storing cookware, dishware, or food; similar cabinets or closets used for storing…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
write down verb	To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something.
break down verb	To stop functioning.
mix up verb	To mix or blend thoroughly and completely.
walk around verb	To walk with no planned destination; to meander.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if it rains he um he would bring · if it rains he would bring · if i won the lottery i would buy
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	have been asking · i've been posting
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have done · have painted · have planned
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is completed · are pronounced · will is based

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 52 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, we'll, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: hypothetical /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl/, breathe /bɹiːð/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: obligation /ˌɑ.blɪˈɡeɪ.ʃn̩/, conditional /kənˈdɪʃ.ə.nəl/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: continuous /kənˈtɪn.juː.əs/, hypothetical /ˌhaɪpəˈθɛtɪkəl/, spontaneous /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/, conditional /kənˈdɪʃ.ə.nəl/, imaginary /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪˌn(ɛ)ɹi/

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 tense, continuous, grammar.

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 →

Shadowing Practice: 3 Grammar Keys That Unlock Natural English - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?