Shadowing Practice: 35 Essential Vocabulary Words for Flying ✈️ - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Let's pack your bags and head to the airport
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because today I want to talk to you about words all related to flying.
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Hey everyone, my name is Wes.
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This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills.
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And today, this lesson is all about flying.
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If you have ever traveled on an airplane and you've been to an airport,
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then I want to talk to you about many different words that you are going to see, that you are going to hear,
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So this is very useful, especially for your comprehension.
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So the way that we're going to do this,
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I am going to teach you these words as though you and I are going on a trip,
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that we are going to depart from some location and then arrive at another location, and we're going to go through these words in order.
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And those are actually the first two words that I wanted to talk to you about, departures and arrivals.
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So when you go to an airport and you're driving in a car, you may actually see a sign that says,
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departures this way, arrivals this way.
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And what this means is that when you are departing, you are leaving from a place.
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And when you are arriving, you are getting to a place.
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But in this sense, they are used as nouns, departures and arrivals.
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So since we are leaving, we are going to go to the departures side of the airport.
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And if somebody is dropping you off at the airport, which is often the case for many of us,
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you can't just pull up there and park right in front.
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You can park temporarily in an area that is for loading or unloading.
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These are two other words that you may encounter if you are getting dropped off at an airport.
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You may even see a sign that says this area is for loading and unloading,
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which means that you can take the bags out of the car.
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You can say goodbye to somebody and you can do this quickly.
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You cannot park there permanently because it's just for loading and unloading.
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So the first thing that we need to do now that we're at the airport is we need to check in.
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Now this word can be used as a noun, a phrasal verb or an adjective.
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And I just used it as a phrasal verb because I said we need to check in.
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As a noun, you might hear somebody say, okay, where is the check-in? or as an adjective,
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you could say, well, we need to go to the check-in counter.
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So this word is very useful because you can use it with different parts of speech.
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There are typically three ways that you can check in.
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You can do an online check-in, which nowadays I think is pretty common.
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You could possibly do a curbside check-in, which sometimes you have that option, other times you don't.
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Or you can go to the check-in counter inside the airport.
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Many of you may be familiar with online check-in.
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You're just using your computer at home to check in and get your boarding pass.
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Now, if you're going to do a curbside check-in, which you might find at some airports, other airports, maybe they don't have this.
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But when you get dropped off and you unload the vehicle, there may be a counter right there on the curb.
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And the curb is just that stone edging along the side of the street.
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That is the curb.
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And if there's a counter there, then you might do a curbside check-in.
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You unload the car and then you can check in right there outside on the curb.
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Now, many people will go inside the airport to the check-in or the check-in counter.
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Either one, it has the same meaning.
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But this is the area where you will go talk to an airline representative.
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You will show your documents.
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You will tell them where you're going.
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And then they will issue you a boarding pass.
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Now, I've already mentioned this word several times, but that is another word that I think is very important when you talk about flying.
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The boarding pass is the document, it kind of looks like a ticket, and this is what allows you to get onto the airplane.
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You will get a boarding pass.
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Once you check in, you may have the option to check your bags.
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And when you check your bags,
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it means that you are giving your suitcase or luggage to the airline to take to the place that you are flying.
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They are going to take it to your destination and you are going to check your bags.
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We use it with that verb, to check bags.
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Many times people are just going to carry their bags with them.
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They are not going to check them.
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And if that's the case, then you can go straight to security.
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And security is the place where people will go
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and there are officials there that are just checking to make sure that everybody is safe,
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that you are not bringing anything dangerous onto the airplane.
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And that is what this area is called.
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So after you get your boarding pass, you need to go through security.
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And we often use it with that phrasal verb, go through.
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You go through security.
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And people might say an example sentence like, wow, we were waiting in such a long line when we had to go through security.
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We just wanted to go through security quickly, but there was a long queue and it took some time to go through security.
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When you are going through security, another verb that you will often hear is remove.
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That the officials that work there are going to tell people to remove things.
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They might say to remove your computer from your bag, or they might tell you to remove your belt,
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or in some cases, maybe remove your shoes.
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So the next time you are going through security, I want you to listen for that verb, remove.
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They will tell you to remove maybe a variety of different things.
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After you go through security, I just keep using that phrasal verb over and over.
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I told you, we use it a lot when talking about security.
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But after you go through security, there are two different types of flights that one person might take,
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and that is a domestic flight or an international flight.
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If you are taking a domestic flight, it means that you are traveling within the country, and that is a domestic flight.
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An international flight, it means that you are traveling to another country, international or domestic flight.
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Now it's time to start looking for our flight.
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We need to find where we need to go and you may need to find the correct terminal.
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So at some airports there will be different terminals
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and this is a building where different planes will either arrive or take off the terminal.
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And when you are flying you may need to find the correct terminal, the correct building, which is where your gate is located.
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At the terminal there are many different gates.
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So So we need to look for our specific gate
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because the gate is the location where an individual flight will either leave or arrive.
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So we need to go to our gate because that is where we are going to leave from.
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And often it may even say the gate on the boarding pass.
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Once you check in and get your boarding pass, it may even tell you the gate that you need to go to.
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At airports, there are different ways to get around.
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You will find elevators, you will find escalators, you may find buses or trams, but you may also see a moving sidewalk.
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Because at airports, sometimes people have to walk a long distance to get to their terminal or get to their gate.
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So you may find moving sidewalks at airports, and they mean exactly what they say.
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It's like a sidewalk, it's moving, it helps people walk a little quicker so they can get around an airport faster a moving sidewalk.
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Once you get to the gate, you may see your plane that's parked right there.
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Something else you may see is a gangway.
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This is the elevated platform that is connecting the plane to the gate.
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So once you give the airline employee your boarding pass,
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you are going to walk down the gangway in order to enter or board the plane.
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So as you are boarding the plane, the first person that you will probably see is the flight attendant.
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And this is the person who works on a plane and just helps the passengers.
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They may bring you food or drinks and or just assist you in any way that they can.
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You may also see the pilots.
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Now the pilots, they fly the plane, but they are flying in a compartment which is called the cockpit.
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So the pilots will fly the plane from the cockpit.
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When you're walking down the aisle to find your seat, you will see those large storage areas up top.
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They may be called overhead compartments or even overhead storage.
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And this is where people will put their bags during a flight, either in the overhead compartments or overhead storage.
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Listen for those words.
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They're very common.
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Once you sit down, you will find things such as an armrest.
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You will find that between the seats or even in front of you there will be a tray table.
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This is a small table that folds down and you can put food on it.
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You can put drinks on it.
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You could even put a baby on it if you wanted to.
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Sometimes people will put their heads down on the tray table and try to sleep.
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Again, very common word.
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Listen for it the next time you are flying.
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A tray table.
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Now that you and I are on the plane, we're getting ready to leave, the plane is going to go down the runway.
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This is the long stretch of smooth ground that a plane will go down before it takes off.
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It will take off down the runway.
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And take off, that is another phrasal verb that I wanted to highlight because we use that all the time.
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When a plane takes off, it means when it actually leaves the ground.
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You can also use this somewhat as a synonym for leave.
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So a person might ask, you know, hey, what time does the plane leave?
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You could also ask, well, what time does the plane take off?
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In this case, leave and take off they can be used interchangeably.
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But specifically take off is talking about the the point in which the plane is leaving the ground it takes off.
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After we take off the plane is going to ascend which means it's just going to rise.
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The opposite of
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that once the plane starts to land it's going to descend it's going to fall it's going to go down.
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So ascend is to go up to rise descend is to go down to fall
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it can also be used as a noun ascent and descent
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and when the pilot is talking to the passengers you may hear him
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or her say those words and they might refer to our ascent
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or our descent and they may often use it with the word altitude that's another word
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that you may hear the pilot talk about.
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And altitude just refers to the height at which the plane is above sea level, the altitude of the plane.
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Now that we're flying, we are up in the air.
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Typically at this point, the flight attendants will come on and make some announcements.
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They will talk about the need for people to stay seated.
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They will highlight the fastened seatbelt sign or the no smoking sign.
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They may also talk about the lavatory.
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And if they mention the lavatory, then they are just talking about the toilet that is located on the airplane, the lavatory.
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You may also hear them talk about the galley.
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The galley is often where these flight attendants are working.
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It is where they prepare the food or get the food ready to, or even get the drinks ready to come around and serve the passengers.
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That area is called the galley, and they may tell passengers not to congregate around the galley.
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and to congregate just means to kind of a group of people standing around and just hanging out.
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So on a plane, it's very small.
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You need these areas to stay open.
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So they may say not to congregate around the galley because people need to get to the laboratory.
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While flying, you may also experience turbulence.
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This just refers to a violent or unsteady wind that is basically going to shake the plane.
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It is called turbulence.
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And you may hear a pilot make an announcement and tell people, hey, we are going to experience a little turbulence so
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that people are aware that this is going to happen and they don't need to be nervous if the plane starts shaking,
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but if it does, that is called turbulence.
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Once the plane starts its descent, and we are now starting to descend, the flight attendant may come on
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and make another announcement for people to return their seats and tray tables to their upright position.
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And upright is the word that I wanted to mention because you will definitely hear that word on a plane.
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They will say return the seats, return the tray tables to their upright position.
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And upright just means that it is in a straight and vertical position, an upright position.
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So once the plane starts to descend and then it lands, then we are going to taxi to the gate.
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And taxi, I'm not talking about the yellow car that people use to go from one place to another.
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This is actually a verb, to taxi, and what it means is to move slowly on the ground after landing.
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Again, listen for this verb.
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This is something that pilots will say and they will say
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that we need to taxi to the gate so they want everybody to stay seated, to taxi.
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After we have taxied to the gate and we are sitting there, you may hear flight attendants make another announcement and And they will say,
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be careful when opening the overhead storage because the bags may have moved around during the flight.
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So again, you will hear them mention the overhead storage.
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Then once we get our bags, we are going to disembark the plane.
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That is leaving the plane.
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We often use that verb to disembark, to disembark the plane.
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Once people disembark, sometimes they're in a hurry.
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I know that sometimes I am, especially if I need to catch a connecting flight.
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And if you hear somebody talk about a connecting flight, what this means is that the person is not at their final destination.
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They need to disembark one plane and then get on another plane so that they can continue their trip.
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It is referred to as a connecting flight.
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Fortunately for us, we are at our final destination.
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So after we disembark the plane, because it is an international flight, it's not a domestic flight, we will need to go through immigration.
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And this is the area where government officials will just check your documents to make sure it's okay to enter the country.
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It's called immigration.
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We may also need to go through customs.
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This is the area where officials may check your bags
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or maybe they'll check any other things that you are bringing into the country.
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Customs.
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Then once we have gone through immigration and gone through customs, again, we can use it with that phrasal verb, go through.
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Then we will head to baggage claim and this is where we will collect our luggage or our suitcase.
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So at the beginning, if you checked a bag, we use that verb, check,
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to check a bag, you will need to collect that bag at baggage claim.
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So instead of saying suitcase or luggage, airports will use the word baggage.
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And you will see that on signs throughout an airport, baggage claim.
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It is the place where you will collect any check bag or suitcase or luggage, baggage claim.
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And then once we collect our suitcase at baggage claim,
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we're going to walk outside to the arrivals area and then find a way to leave the airport.
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And then that's it.
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Our flight is over.
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So I hope you enjoyed this lesson and found it useful.
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And if you learn some new words, please hit that like button down below.
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Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “35 Essential Vocabulary Words for Flying ✈️”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: plane, flight, airport, word, bag. This video has 207 sentences and 2856 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:48. The speaker talks at a natural 170 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gate noun | /ˈɡeɪ̯t/ | A doorlike structure outside a house. |
| verb noun | /vɝb/ | A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being. |
| terminal noun | /ˈtɚmɪnəl/ | A building in an airport where passengers transfer from ground transportation to the facilities that allow them to board airplanes. |
| taxi noun | /ˈtæksi/ | A vehicle that may be hired for single journeys by members of the public, particularly one with an automated meter to calculate the fare. |
| overhead noun | /ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/ | The expense of a business not directly assigned to goods or services provided. |
| tray noun | /tɹeɪ/ | A small, typically rectangular or round, flat, and rigid object upon which things are carried. |
| upright adjective | /ˈʌpɹaɪt/ | Vertical; erect. |
| attendant noun | /əˈtɛndənt/ | One who attends; one who works with or watches over someone or something. |
| suitcase noun | /ˈsutkeɪs/ | A large (usually rectangular) piece of luggage used for carrying clothes, and sometimes suits, when travelling. |
| refer verb | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | To direct the attention of (someone toward something). |
| arrival noun | /əˈɹaɪ.vl̩/ | The act of arriving (reaching a certain place). |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| passenger noun | /ˈpæs.ɪn.d͡ʒɚ/ | One who rides or travels in a vehicle, but who does not operate it and is not a member of the crew. |
| collect verb | /ˈkɑlɪkt/ | To gather together; amass. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| take off verb | To remove. | |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| get around verb | To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path. | |
| walk down verb | To continually advance (on an opponent) and punch (the opponent) in order to control the fight and dominate the opponent, while shrugging off the opponent's… | |
| come around verb | /kʌ.məˈɹaʊnd/ | To change one's mind, especially to begin to agree or appreciate what one was reluctant to accept at first. |
| drop off verb | To fall asleep. | |
| fold down verb | To downmix. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are used · can be used · is called |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | English, which is · airport, which is · building, which is |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have ever traveled · I've already mentioned · have taxied |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | may actually see · may encounter · may even see |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 22 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: immigration /ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, shoe /ˈʃu/, comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: immigration /ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, laboratory /ˈlæb(ə)ɹəˌtɔɹi/, permanently /ˈpɜː.mə.nənt.li/, temporarily /ˌtɛmpəˈɹɛɹəli/
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 gate, verb, terminal.
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.