Shadowing Practice: 3 Speaking Exercises to Become Fluent in English - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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The only way to improve your English speaking skill and become fluent is to speak, speak, and speak.
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Teacher, I understand English, but I can't speak.
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Teacher, when I want to speak, my mind goes blank.
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Teacher, I don't remember the words when I want to speak.
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That's all because you haven't practiced speaking enough.
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And I am angry with you.
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so in this video i'm going to give you three exercises
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that will dramatically improve your english fluency
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and look i don't want to just give you the exercises
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and say exercise one two three go no you have to
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do them together with me in this video we're going to speak yeah
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and if you thought this is going to be a video that you can just watch and do nothing, you're wrong.
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If you don't want to speak out, don't go out.
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Stay.
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Watch the video until the end and try to speak.
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It's for your own good.
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By the way, my name is Maddy and welcome to my slow and sometimes fast English podcast.
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Before we start, if you want to experience learning English with me and our system For free,
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you can join our free English mini course.
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In this mini course, depending on your level, beginner, intermediate, advanced, you will receive five full lessons with videos,
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PDF files to download and review, exercises and activities with explanation, all of that for free.
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Through these five lessons, we will try to show you how we teach, how I teach, and how our system works and how you can become fluent with our system.
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If you want to join and try it for free, no payment, no credit card, nothing.
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If you want to try it for free, scan the QR code or the link above this video.
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Join and try it and see for yourself.
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Okay, back to the video.
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So the three exercises.
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I will first give you the exercise and we will do it together.
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then when we are done i will explain why this exercise is so helpful
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and why you should do it okay ready let's go with
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the first one a very fun activity the three second rule
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what's the three second rule i will give you a question
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and i will give you three seconds only three seconds to think about it.
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Not four seconds, not five seconds, three seconds.
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You have three seconds to think and then you have to start speaking.
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You have to answer the question.
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If you think for four seconds, you've lost.
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Only three seconds and then you answer the question.
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Let me give you an example of the question I'm going to ask.
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For example, I will say, what did you do yesterday?
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That's the question and then I will count to three.
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One, two, three, go.
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You have to answer.
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Right after counting to three, you have to start answering.
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You can say something like this.
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Yesterday I went to a restaurant with my friends and we had lunch.
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If you cannot make a grammatically correct sentence, that's fine.
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Just answer, even if your answer is wrong.
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Yesterday me, my friends, Thai restaurants, we spoke.
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This sentence is completely wrong, but that's fine.
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The point of this activity is not for you to give me a correct answer.
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It's for you to give me a fast answer, even if your answer is wrong.
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So again, I'll ask you a question.
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I will count to three.
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You will start answering.
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Okay, we're going to do this five times.
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Ready?
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Here's the first question.
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Where's the first question.
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Sorry.
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Oh, there it is.
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What did you have for breakfast today?
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Go.
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Excellent.
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What did you do yesterday?
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Go.
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Bravo.
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What do you usually do on weekends?
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Go.
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Very good.
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What's something you enjoy doing?
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Go.
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Bravo.
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And the last one.
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What's the last movie you watched?
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Go.
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Excellent.
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Now look, if you gave me any sort of answer, correct or wrong, that's fine.
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If you gave me one word only, that's not okay.
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If I say, well, it's the last movie you watched, Avengers.
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No, that's not acceptable.
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I watched Avengers about a month ago and I really enjoyed it.
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That's acceptable.
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Or me watch Avengers Endgame, very good movie.
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I really enjoyed.
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That's also good.
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Okay.
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I don't care if your answer was correct, but your answer should have been a sentence, not one word.
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Okay, now come back to me and let me explain why this three-second rule activity is so fantastic.
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Look, when you want to produce information, when you want to speak and make everything yourself,
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your brain connects to your mother tongue.
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Your mother tongue will make the sentence and send it to English.
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English will translate it and send it back to your brain.
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Here's the thing.
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Between your mother tongue and English, translation happens and that translation causes delay.
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And that delay kills your fluency.
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So a very good activity should be to remove your mother tongue and to connect your brain to English directly.
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How can you force this?
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Using the three second rule.
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If I only give you three seconds to think about your answer, your brain does not have enough time to send it to your mother tongue
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and from your mother tongue to English and then English translates them back to your brain?
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No. So what your brain does is it tries to connect directly to English and from English back to your brain.
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That's exactly how you start thinking in English.
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That's exactly why this activity is so freaking awesome because you can use it to train your mind
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to drop the mother tongue and connect directly to English.
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So after this video, if you want to practice using the three-second rule, you can ask AI to give you any random question,
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count to three and start answering.
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This is going to help you a lot.
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It's a very simple activity, but it's going to help you think in English.
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Okay, let's go to activity number two.
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Build the sentence.
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Again, we're going to do it together first, and then I will explain why it's so amazing.
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In this activity, I will give you one sentence.
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For example, I went to the supermarket yesterday.
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Then I will give you a clue Based on my clue,
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you have to change this sentence What do I mean?
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I give you this clue I say when My clue is when
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So look at the sentence Which word in this sentence talks about time?
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Yesterday
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my clue was when you have to find it
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and you have to change it so now you have to change the sentence
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instead of saying I went to the supermarket yesterday you should
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say something like I went to the supermarket last week then
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I will give you another clue I would say where in the sentence
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which one talks about location supermarket you have to change it my clue was where you have to change the sentence.
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I went to the gym last week instead of the supermarket.
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I'll give you another clue. With who?
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Now you have to add it to the sentence.
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I went to the gym this morning with my friend.
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I will give you another clue and I say why?
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And you would make the sentence like this.
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I went to the gym this morning with my friend because I want to stay fit.
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This is the building activity.
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Okay, build the sentence.
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Let's do it.
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Are you ready?
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I will give you a sentence.
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Then I will give you a clue.
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Here's a sentence.
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I went to a restaurant last night. When? When? Where? With who?
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Why?
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Fantastic.
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Bravo, guys.
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Your final answer should have been something like this, with any location or any time or any person that you intended.
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Let's do it again.
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Here's another example.
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I had dinner with my family.
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Are you ready?
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What? When? With whom?
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Why?
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Bravo.
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Your sentence can be something like this now.
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Excellent.
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Now come to me and let me explain why this is such a useful exercise.
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Look, when you are speaking English, you have to produce everything from zero.
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You have to make everything from scratch.
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The idea, the grammar, the vocabulary, the tone, the sentence itself, right?
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The linking words between sentences.
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You have to think about everything.
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That adds a lot of pressure to your mind.
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This pressure on your mind is called cognitive load.
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the amount of processes going on in your brain.
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And then when cognitive load goes up, what happens is your fluency comes down.
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There's a direct link.
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When your brain is working so hard, your fluency will come down.
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So if you want your fluency to go up, you need to make the cognitive load go down.
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How?
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instead of building everything from scratch every single time in this
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activity I already gave you a sentence you already had the
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sentence you didn't have to think about the sentence the sentence
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the grammar the structure the words everything everything was given to you
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You only had to change one piece of the sentence at a time.
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This reduces the pressure on your brain.
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This reduces the cognitive load.
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And so it will increase your fluency.
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This is a fantastic activity.
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If you want to do this activity after this video, go and use AI.
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Ask AI to give you any random sentence.
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Give it a few examples, like the examples we have right now.
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Ask AI to give you some random sentences.
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And then, when, where, with whom, why.
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One by one, start changing that sentence.
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This is going to help you a lot, guys.
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In the next activity, I will tell you why this cognitive load thing is so important for speaking.
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Are you ready for the next activity?
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Bravo.
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So give this video a thumbs up.
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excellent click subscribe if you're new to my channel very good go to the comment section
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and say I'm still watching so that I know you're still here
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and watching this video and you weren't lazy and close the video so go
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and in the comment say I'm still watching let's go to
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exercise number three this third activity is called same story three times you're going to tell the same story three times.
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Now this one is the best in my opinion
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and I used to use this technique to improve my own fluency
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and I will explain why this is amazing but first let's do it together.
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I will ask you a question.
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You will have to answer my question for 30 seconds.
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Give me a short story.
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Okay.
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That's it.
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That's all we have to do right now.
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I'll ask the question.
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You answer for 30 seconds.
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I have my timer right here.
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Okay.
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Ready?
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The question is, tell me about the last time you went to a restaurant.
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Ready?
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30 seconds.
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Go.
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Done.
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How was it?
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You gave me a story.
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Whatever the story is, keep it in mind.
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Let's go to round two.
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I want you to tell the same story to me again.
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30 seconds.
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I know this might sound boring to some of you.
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Trust me.
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Follow my lead.
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I will explain why it's so important.
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The exact same story.
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I don't want you to add anything.
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I don't want you to answer differently.
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the exact same story ready one two three go Perfect.
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All right, you've told the story twice now.
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Did you notice any differences between your second story and the first one in terms of how comfortable you are?
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You're getting the idea, right?
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Okay, okay, okay, wait.
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We're going for the last round, round three, the exact same story.
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Don't change a thing.
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Tell me the exact same story again, but this time, the third time,
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try to avoid saying uh um uh uh remove that hesitation try to be smoother
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but tell me the exact same story okay three two one go you
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Bravo!
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Time's up!
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How was the activity?
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All right, come to me, come to me, let me explain why this is the best thing you can do
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and why I did it and it worked for me.
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The first time you're telling me the story, your cognitive load, remember the pressure on your mind,
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your cognitive load is maximum because you're producing a 30-second story alone from zero.
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You have to think about the story, the idea, the answer.
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You have to think about the words, the grammar, the tense, the tone, the structure.
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You have to think about everything.
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Plus, I had a timer here.
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It added to your stress.
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It added to that mental load.
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So your cognitive load was quite high.
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You may have made a few grammar mistakes.
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You may have chosen a few wrong words.
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You may have used some words from your mother tongue, absolutely fine, right?
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You may not have been very satisfied with your answer.
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In round two, when you set the same answer exactly again,
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the cognitive load was lower because the idea was already there.
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So you didn't have to think about the idea, right?
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The tone was already there.
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You didn't have to think about the tone.
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The words and the grammar were almost there, not perfectly, but they were there
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so yeah there there was less for you to focus on
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and the cognitive load was around 70 remember lower cognitive load higher fluency i would guess
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that in your second effort you felt more confident
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and in the third one the context was their grammar vocabulary
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everything was there your only focus was on removing the ums and ahs so your cognitive load was on 50 60%.
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Lower cognitive load, higher fluency.
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And I would assume your third answer was the most fluent one.
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And that is the whole idea.
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Less pressure on your brain, more confidence, more fluency.
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The reason why some people speak very well when they are alone and studying,
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but in front of a classroom, they lose it.
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They lose everything.
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They think that they cannot find the words or they cannot make the simple sentences is exactly because of this.
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The anxiety in those situations would increase the mental load.
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It would increase the cognitive load.
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And when that cognitive load goes high, fluency comes down, accuracy comes down, performance comes down.
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This activity works wonders.
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And if you want to do it after this video, be my guest.
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Tell AI to give you one question answer three times three
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times the exact same way your third effort will be the
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best you can even record your voice on the third effort and on the first effort and then compare to see
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that what i'm telling you is actually correct
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and it really works i hope you've enjoyed this video
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if you want to join my free mini course again i'm putting the qr code here
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and the link above the video go ahead try it out
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it's completely free depending on your level you will get five
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lessons i hope you've enjoyed this one see you soon bye
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “3 Speaking Exercises to Become Fluent in English”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sentence, answer, english, load, activity. This video has 285 sentences and 2539 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:34. The speaker talks at a steady 123 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 89% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| cognitive adjective | /ˈkɑɡ.nɪ.tɪv/ | Relating to the part of mental functions that deals with logic, as opposed to affective which deals with emotions. |
| fluency noun | /ˈfluːənsi/ | The quality of smoothness of flow. |
| clue noun | /kluː/ | Information which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion. |
| bravo | /ˈbɹɑvoʊ/ | Used to express acclaim, especially to a performer. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| supermarket noun | /ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/ | A large self-service store that sells groceries and, usually, medications, household goods, and/or clothing. |
| fluent adjective | /ˈfluənt/ | That flows; flowing, liquid. |
| timer noun | /ˈtaɪmɚ/ | A device used to measure amounts of time. |
| vocabulary noun | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning. |
| translate verb | /tɹænzˈleɪt/ | To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another. |
| scratch verb | /skɹæt͡ʃ/ | To rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| acceptable adjective | /əkˈsɛp.tə.bəl/ | Worthy, decent, sure of being accepted or received with at least moderate pleasure. |
| grammatically adverb | In a grammatical manner. | |
| beginner noun | /bəˈɡɪnɚ/ | Someone who is just starting at something, or has only recently started. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. | |
| go up verb | To move upwards. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. | |
| speak out verb | To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What did you have for breakfast today?
- What did you do yesterday?
- What do you usually do on weekends?
- What's something you enjoy doing?
- What's the last movie you watched?
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 | haven't practiced · you've lost · you've told |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are done · is called · was given |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | start speaking · start answering · start thinking |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might sound · may have · may not have |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 38 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: supermarket /ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, acceptable /əkˈsɛp.tə.bəl/, hesitation /ˌhɛzɪˈteɪʃən/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/
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 cognitive, fluency, clue.
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.