Shadowing Practice: 5 Surprising Ways to Speak English Fluently - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

297 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

Everyone says practice makes perfect.

Yes, but what if you're practicing the wrong way?

Ha ha!

So let me show you five surprising but powerful ways to become a fluent English speaker.

Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy and the English, and the what?

And the YouTube channel, English Speaking Success.

Here to help you become a more confident speaker of English like me.

So listen, today I'm going to show you five awesome ways to become a fluent speaker of English.

Now, some of these may surprise you, but I think they will delight you.

And look out for number five, because it's something that I think most students don't do, but it works like magic.

So look out for that.

Also, if you're on the PDF of all of these tips, you can just click on the link in the description.

You can download that for free.

I do just ask for your email, and that's just to help me send you more tips and resources that can help you with your English.

I do spend time on my emails.

They are quality emails.

And listen, you can unsubscribe at any time if you want.

So it's a win-win.

Okay, with that, let's begin with number one.

It's a good place to start, right?

Number one?

Yes.

Okay, number one is read more.

Wait, what?

Read more?

To speak more fluently?

Yes, read more.

And by reading, I mean read things like news articles,

magazines, novels, graded readers, even cookbooks.

Because the thing is, when you're reading, Well, there are two ways of reading.

Read for fluency or read to build vocabulary.

I want you to read for fluency more.

Reading for fluency is where you're reading something, but you're not looking up the words.

You're maybe guessing the words, but you just keep on reading.

You're not building vocabulary, just reading for fluency.

Why is this important?

Because what happens is when you're reading, it's a bit of an internal dialogue with the book.

When you read, you're speaking without speaking the words.

You're saying the words in your head and you're starting to think in English.

It's the first step towards thinking in English as you read.

And if you read more, you're allowing yourself the chance to think more in English.

And if you're thinking in English, then when you're speaking, you're going to be more fluent.

Think about it.

If you're thinking in English, you're not translating.

Translating slows you down.

Thinking in English helps you become more fluent.

And reading for fluency is the first step to thinking more in English.

So read more.

Got it?

Great.

Number two.

Right.

Number two, speak more to yourself.

Why has he got a toothbrush?

I'll come back to that.

So the thing is, a lot of students think I need to speak to a teacher

or a native speaker to give me feedback, to correct me.

Actually, no. Actually, you don't need to be speaking to other people all the time.

You can speak more to yourself to get the practice.

Fluency is about producing language, okay?

Not just learning it, about producing it.

I mean, if you're a teacher, think of Swain's output hypothesis, speaking is going to help you with your fluency.

So in many ways, it's better to speak to yourself because you haven't got the pressure of speaking to somebody else.

You're not going to be afraid of making mistakes.

You'll be more relaxed.

Think of Cration's effective filter if you're a teacher, research-based.

And that's going to help you with your fluency.

So you could, for example, just talk to the mirror.

A classic example, in the mornings when you're brushing your teeth, right?

You can talk to yourself.

There's also a very simple three-point framework that you can use.

And it is basically, I have done this.

Now I'm doing this.

and after this, I will do that.

Okay, super simple.

I use it all the time when I'm trying to do this in Chinese or in French.

For example, sound effects.

Right.

I've had breakfast.

Now I'm brushing my teeth.

After this, I'll go to work.

Right.

Super simple.

Three-step framework.

Start using that right away.

And the great thing about all of this is you start to build a habit

and then you'll get that daily speaking practice.

Super simple.

That's it.

Let's move on to number three.

Okay, number three, stop learning new vocabulary.

Oh, all right.

Okay, I don't mean completely stop learning new vocabulary, but change your focus from collecting new words to practicing what you know,

using what you've learned already.

Fluency is not really about knowing new words.

It's about being able to use the words you've studied already.

So when you're practicing and speaking, don't be trying to use new vocabulary all the time.

Using new vocabulary is a high-level game.

Just practice the words you know.

100

It's a different game.

101

It's actually easier.

102

and just build up your fluency, activating the words you've already been studying.

103

I think we have a tendency as human beings to collect things.

104

We buy an online course and before we begin, we buy another one.

105

We go to the shop and we buy a book.

106

Good book, by the way.

107

Put it down.

108

Think, oh, that's interesting.

109

Yeah, I'll read that next week.

110

next week I'm at the shops again.

111

Ooh, I'll buy another book.

112

Great.

113

Put it down.

114

Haven't read them yet.

115

Why?

116

Because we like to collect things.

117

It's exciting when you buy something and you collect it.

118

But I haven't read them.

119

And it's the same.

120

You go on the internet and Facebook, Instagram, you're collecting all these 20 idioms, PDF of 100 IELTS words.

121

Great.

122

How many of them can you use?

123

Oh, not many, actually.

124

So stop collecting new vocabulary and focus on practicing the ones you already have, right?

125

How do you practice them?

126

I mean, very, very simple.

127

For example, if you watch my live lesson on a topic, you get a PDF, repeat the words, repeat the phrases, change a word,

128

change the tense, just practice.

129

Use chat GBT and just say, I'm going to have a conversation with you.

130

I'm going to use these five words and just reply to me and just start practice using them.

131

And then you'll start to activate them.

132

Later, you can think about collecting new vocabulary, but try and activate more the ones you have.

133

Other things you can do is you can mimic accents on the TV.

134

You can shadow podcast, video clips, shorts are very good for shadowing.

135

So that repetition, shadowing, mimicking, it's all good, good practice.

136

And that way you're focusing more on fluency and you will build your fluency.

137

Great, let's move on.

138

Number four, practice with strangers.

139

Now, I don't mean just walk up to people in the street and start talking to them.

140

Although you could do that if you're in an English-speaking country.

141

I don't recommend it, though.

142

However, it is easier online.

143

You can practice with people online.

144

There are lots of apps where you can do that.

145

Or if you're on a course, like the Gold course, you can speak to other students on the course.

146

The thing is you don't have to practice with a teacher or a native speaker.

147

You can just practice with other people.

148

I know I said earlier, practice with yourself.

149

That's good.

150

This is a compliment.

151

Goes together.

152

But practice with strangers, with other people.

153

And it's great because it prepares you for the unexpected.

154

You have to have a natural conversation where you just respond to the situation.

155

And here's the secret, right?

156

I think you need to balance prepared talks and impromptu talks.

157

So yes, you need a balance.

158

You need to practice where you've prepared something and you've thought about it and you've got some ideas and you're talking.

159

But you must also practice impromptu, improvised, without preparing, where you just speak out.

160

Because that's where you build the flexibility.

161

That's more difficult.

162

But if you're doing both of those, you will become more confident and flexible as a speaker.

163

Speaking to other students is a great way of doing it.

164

There's no pressure, but it's unpredictable, which is what you want, because that builds flexibility.

165

And with flexibility comes fluency, believe it or not.

166

It will help you enormously with your fluency.

167

Right.

168

Let's move on to the last one.

169

The one that most students don't do, but actually works like magic.

170

I think some of it is magic.

171

Let's have a look at number five.

172

OK, number five, use music to learn full chunks.

173

Now, chunks, of course, is just two or three words that typically go together.

174

Recently, I did a live lesson on leisure activities, and a lot of vocabulary, we just picked out chunks, right?

175

Leisure activity, that's a chunk.

176

Here are some more hang out, hang out with friends, do yoga.

177

What else?

178

A low budget activity.

179

All of these are simple chunks.

180

If you listen to songs, then it can help you learn these chunks.

181

And here's the real magic is that if you sing along, you can not only listen to the chunks and learn them,

182

but you're also going to improve your word stress, sentence stress and rhythm as you're speaking or singing.

183

Now, I know you're saying, well, Keith, I can't sing.

184

Well, hello, me neither.

185

I can't sing.

186

But it doesn't matter because sometimes in the privacy of my little room, I turn on a song and I sing along just like that.

187

Whatever the language, French, Chinese, English, and I sing along okay, I'm out of tune, but it doesn't matter.

188

It's not about perfect pitch.

189

It's about getting the chunk, getting the stress, getting the intonation, getting the rhythm.

190

And it's an amazing way of doing it.

191

Now, in the old days, you used to have to look for a song that was clear,

192

easy lyrics, relevant to your topic.

193

So maybe you're looking at the Beatles or Adele.

194

and it was quite, you had to do a bit of searching.

195

Now we have something magical called AI.

196

You can create your own song.

197

You can go to suno.com, put in some of these chunks and just create your own song and then sing along in the privacy of your room,

198

if you like.

199

And what I'll do, I'm going to show you how to do this.

200

Now, I don't know if this is going to work exactly as I think.

201

But let's try on the fly.

202

Let's take these over here, these chunks, right?

203

They're taken from the leisure activities topic that I want to practice, hanging out with friends, doing yoga and playing football and so on.

204

Follow me.

205

I'm going to put these into Suno and let's see what happens.

206

Okay.

207

So we've come into Suno.

208

You need to register an account.

209

I already have one.

210

And then you come into create.

211

Okay, we're going to create a song.

212

So yes, we're going to go into the auto tab.

213

Actually, simple, custom, go into custom, and where it's got auto, you're going to paste the phrases and just say,

214

make a song using these phrases.

215

Because you've got a limit of 200 words.

216

And it's going to create a song.

217

You can choose a style.

218

I can say maybe Brit, pop, singer, songwriter.

219

Depending on your.. you can have two or three different styles.

220

Put a name here.

221

Let's call it leisure time.

222

I put in already and let's just press create.

223

And let's see what it comes up with.

224

So in less than a minute it'll come up with a couple of versions, two different versions but with the same lyrics.

225

Right so these are the lyrics it came up with.

226

Interesting.

227

And it came up with two different versions of the song.

228

Let me play the first one for you.

229

See what you think.

230

Hanging out with friends.

231

We laugh and play.

232

Hanging out with friends.

233

Sing along.

234

Chasing sunlight till it fades away.

235

Doing yoga and playing football too.

236

It's a bit of a slow one that, right?

237

Let's try the second one.

238

That's better.

239

That's better.

240

Doing yoga and playing football too feels like freedom wrapped in sky

241

so blue so you can sing along obviously I can't sing

242

but great for you stress intonation rhythm and you know what it's just a bit of fun as well.

243

Make it quite enjoyable.

244

I think the secret is also in the whole creative process, creating your own materials that you can then use in any way you want.

245

You can just listen, you can sing along, but learning full chunks with music, great idea.

246

And now it's so easy.

247

Go and check it out.

248

Go and try some things yourself.

249

Maybe in the comments, leave some links and, you know, if you make your own song and let us all listen together.

250

I'll play those songs as we go out at the end of the video.

251

Stay with me.

252

Next.

253

So there you've got it.

254

Five surprising ways that can help you become more fluent in English.

255

I have a bonus tip for you and it's called the fake accent challenge.

256

And this is something I try and do sometimes is when you're repeating English or whichever language, try and imitate the accent.

257

So try and pretend to be American or Australian or British or Scottish, whatever it may be.

258

When you listen, just try and see where the sound comes from.

259

Is it coming from the mouth?

260

Is it coming from the throat? and pick up that because when you try and listen to an accent,

261

pause and repeat.

262

It's great for kind of muscle practice and throat practice, sound practice, if that exists.

263

But most of all, it's just a bit of fun

264

and it can really be a nice way of picking up natural intonation and rhythm as well.

265

So have a go.

266

The fake accent challenge.

267

So I'm curious, which of these tips always surprised you the most?

268

Let me know down in the comments.

269

And also, if you go away and try and make a song, leave a link in the comments below.

270

Let us share the song and listen to it as well.

271

Remember, for the PDF, you can download this in the description below

272

and start practicing or trying out some of these ways to help you become not only a more confident speaker,

273

but a more fluent speaker of English.

274

If you want to practice speaking more, come and join us on the IELTS Speaking Gold course.

275

We have daily speaking practice rooms where you can practice speaking with other students.

276

For everybody else, watch the next video because coming up is a great video all about how to think in English, right?

277

How to really think in English watch that video.

278

It's coming up soon.

279

In the meantime, let's play out with that song again about the leisure activities.

280

And listen, thank you so much for watching.

281

As always, it's great to spend this time with you.

282

And I'll see you in the next video.

283

Here we go.

284

Ooh.

285

Remember to subscribe.

286

Turn on notifications.

287

I'm on the offbeat.

288

Sing along.

289

The links to the songs are down below.

290

Go and check them out.

291

I need to start reading.

292

Stop collecting.

293

Start activating.

294

Thanks so much for watching.

295

Take care everybody.

296

See you next time.

297

Bye bye.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Same Channel

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

156 sentences

5 things to practise every day to improve your English communication skills

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

224 sentences

Fluency in 5 minutes a day (with the chunking method)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

117 sentences

7 Habits To Speak English Better In 30 Days

Business EnglishInterview EnglishDaily Conversation

335 sentences

How to Speak Like a Native 🇺🇸 | English Listening & Conversation Practice for Fluency and Confidence

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

75 sentences

5 Ways on How to Achieve English Fluency

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

344 sentences

Why You Understand English But Can’t Speak? Slow English for Fluency & Shadowing | Easy Podcast

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

150 sentences

How to Think in English (Stop Translating in Your Head)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

72 sentences

Speak Fluent English Without Memorizing Grammar Rules

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

359 sentences

Improve Your English FASTER by Reading (It really works!)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

88 sentences

7 Listening Methods That Will Make You Fluent in English

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

287 sentences

SPEAK ENGLISH FLUENTLY | 3 Ways To Respond In English

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “5 Surprising Ways to Speak English Fluently”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: practice, English, speaking, word, song. This video has 297 sentences and 2611 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:00. The speaker talks at a steady 131 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
fluency noun	/ˈfluːənsi/	The quality of smoothness of flow.
chunk noun	/t͡ʃʌŋk/	A part of something that has been separated; a generally squat, thick, irregular piece of something, e.g. wood or stone.
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.
fluent adjective	/ˈfluənt/	That flows; flowing, liquid.
leisure noun	/ˈlɛʒə(ɹ)/	Freedom provided by the cessation of activities.
accent noun	/ækˈsɛnt/	A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to…
activate verb	/ˈæktɪˌveɪt/	To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate.
distress noun	/dɪˈstɹɛs/	Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature.
rhythm noun	/ˈɹɪð.əm/	The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter.
yoga noun	/ˈjoʊ.ɡə/	Any of several Hindu or Buddhist disciplines aimed at training the consciousness for a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquillity; especially a system…
intonation noun	/ɪntəˈneɪʃən/	The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
flexibility noun	/ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/	The quality of being flexible, whether physically or metaphorically.
phrase noun	/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/	A short written or spoken expression.
impromptu adjective	/ɪmˈpɹɑmp.t(j)u/	Improvised; without prior preparation, planning, or rehearsal.
mimic verb	/ˈmɪm.ɪk/	To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come up with verb		To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
come up verb		To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
go together verb		To be in a relationship.
pick up verb		To lift; to grasp and raise.
build up verb		To erect; to construct.
go away verb		To depart or leave a place.
look up verb	/ˌlʊk ˈʌp/	To have better prospects.
pick out verb		To remove by picking.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Yes, but what if you're practicing the wrong way?
You're not building vocabulary, just reading for fluency.
When you read, you're speaking without speaking the words.
How many of them can you use?
How do you practice them?

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	have done · I've had · you've learned
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	stop learning · stop collecting · start talking
Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain	may surprise · may be
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	you're practicing · you're reading · you're speaking

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 87 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: rhythm /ˈɹɪð.əm/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/, toothbrush /ˈtuːθ.bɹʌʃ/, hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: leisure /ˈlɛʒə(ɹ)/, intonation /ɪntəˈneɪʃən/, brush /bɹʌʃ/, repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/, toothbrush /ˈtuːθ.bɹʌʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, intonation /ɪntəˈneɪʃən/, flexibility /ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/, automobile /ˈɔː.tə.məˌbil/, repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/

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 fluency, chunk, vocabulary.

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: 5 Surprising Ways to Speak English Fluently - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

Improve Your Spoken English in Just 15 Minutes

English at the Airport | Easy English Conversation for Beginners

How to Understand Native English Speakers: Advanced Listening Skills

IELTS Speaking Part 2: Band 9 TEMPLATES - #2. PEOPLE

3 Simple Steps to Become Fluent in English

Don t Give Up

IELTS Speaking: How to Introduce Yourself - Tips and Tricks

How to Keep Talking in English Without Getting Stuck

Don't Waste Your Time Learning English Like This

How Squeezed Pronunciation Can Help You Sound More English

10 Advanced Phrasal Verbs to Understand Native English Speakers

Fluency in 10 Minutes a Day

IELTS Speaking Band 7: Five Tips

English Made Simple Podcast: Episode 11 - Families

How to talk about CLIMATE CHANGE in English

How to Answer Any IELTS Question Fluently

Linking Words to Get Fluent in English

What Do You Do in Your Free Time?

An EASY Way to Improve your English (for busy students)

Can You Pass This English PRONUNCIATION Test?

5 things to practise every day to improve your English communication skills

Fluency in 5 minutes a day (with the chunking method)

7 Habits To Speak English Better In 30 Days

How to Speak Like a Native 🇺🇸 | English Listening & Conversation Practice for Fluency and Confidence

5 Ways on How to Achieve English Fluency

Why You Understand English But Can’t Speak? Slow English for Fluency & Shadowing | Easy Podcast

How to Think in English (Stop Translating in Your Head)

Speak Fluent English Without Memorizing Grammar Rules

Improve Your English FASTER by Reading (It really works!)

7 Listening Methods That Will Make You Fluent in English

SPEAK ENGLISH FLUENTLY | 3 Ways To Respond In English

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?