Shadowing Practice: 50+ Advanced Phrases For English Conversations - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello, I'm Emma from mmmEnglish.

This video is perfect for intermediate to advanced English learners who want to improve their skills in English conversations.

So I'm going to share the exact phrases and expressions that you need to do things in English conversations.

Like when you want to interrupt someone or you want to change the topic.

Maybe when you need to end a conversation and lots of others as well.

In fact, I'm sharing 50 useful phrases that will help you in English conversations.

All useful expressions that you need to improve your speaking skills and to help you maintain conversations for longer.

So I hope you're ready.

Let's get into it.

Music Now a lot can happen during a conversation.

Talking about the topic is one important part but to speak fluently and to speak with ease,

you need to have a range of conversation tools up your sleeve

because there are lots of other shifts and changes that happen during a conversation depending on who you're talking to,

what's going on around you and whether or not you're interested or not.

Right now, we're going to focus on the tools that you need to move around in your conversations easily and naturally.

Alright and if you make it through to the very end of this video, I'm going to share some advanced expressions to help you talk about controversial topics,

to help you express your ideas when you know that not everyone's going to agree with you, right?

And you want to prepare them for that.

Now if that sounds a little too intense for you

and maybe you want to start by focusing on simpler conversation strategies about just starting a conversation with someone,

then I recommend that you first watch this lesson up here.

So conversations are always two ways, right?

That's what makes a conversation.

So as you give your opinion or you share something, it's always nice to invite the other person's opinion, right?

And this is a really important strategy to help you extend your conversations, asking for other people's opinions.

So what do you say when you're asking for other people's opinions?

Well quite simply, you could ask, do you agree?

Very basic.

It's quite closed that question.

So what about if you opened up that question to get a more interesting answer?

What do you think about that?

What's your opinion?

Or how do you feel about it?

If you want to make it a little more polite, you might say, I'd like to hear your thoughts on that.

Or I'm interested to hear your opinion about this.

And more formally, Maybe if you were at a meeting at work, you know, you might ask would you like to add anything?

And this is just, you know, a nice sort of polite way of inviting other people into the conversation to share their opinion.

So what about what to say when you want to interrupt?

When someone else is talking and you want to interrupt them, well there are definitely ways to do it rudely but of course there are many ways to do it politely as well.

Sometimes you have to interrupt in conversations.

So of course you could say sorry, excuse me is a little more polite

and then you can actually lead straight on with your different idea or your opinion there.

No it's just a little brief interjection to help you share a different opinion or a different thought.

Now you can informally interrupt someone to add an idea to a conversation by saying

Do you mind if I add to that?

Or Can I jump in here?

And that literally means can I jump into the conversation right now at this point?

I've got something to share.

I want to say it.

Now there are some more polite ways to express this as well.

You might say Sorry to interrupt but I've got something to say or sorry for interrupting.

Now there's not a lot of difference between those two.

I would just say that

sorry to interrupt

is probably used more when you're speaking directly to the person that you're interrupting

and then maybe if you're stepping into a room full of people talking,

a meeting room or something like that then you might say sorry for interrupting, I just needed to share something with you.

Now to go even more formal than that, perhaps if you're working in a hotel and you need to interrupt a customer,

you might say, Sorry, may I interrupt you for just a moment?

Or If I may interrupt you for a minute, I'd like to share something with you.

Oh actually, if you don't mind me interrupting for a moment, I'd love to tell you a little bit about the ladies project.

If you're a woman wanting to develop the confident English-speaking version of yourself that's just as expressive,

as intelligent and interesting as you are in your own language, then you should definitely check out The Ladies Project.

It's a lively online community that helps women around the world to meet and practise speaking English together.

We have real conversations about the things in life that are most important.

We can help you to quickly find reliable speaking partners offer you guidance from native teachers,

build your conversation skills and overcome your fears and your frustrations about speaking English fluently.

So if you want to keep improving your English conversation skills

or maybe you're looking for a way to maintain the skills that you've already developed, then I hope you'll come and check it out.

We're accepting new members right now but only for another week.

So to find out more, click the link in the description below.

Okay, where was I?

Ah, that was a good example of what to say when you've gone off topic.

If you go off topic, it means that you started talking about something.

So for example, apples.

But while you were talking, you started to talk about something else.

You know, maybe you got distracted or you got excited and went off telling a different story.

Or even the other person that you're talking to has gone off topic and you're thinking

how on earth did we end up talking about potatoes?

You've got to get your conversation back on track, right?

And it really is just that simple shift in the conversation.

So here's how to do it.

So anyway, getting back to my story.

As I was saying, where was I?

Ah yes!

You can also combine some of these expressions together.

So anyway, where were we?

Ah yes, you were talking about apples.

What to say when you think you understood but you need to double-check.

These are really important expressions to learn to help you as you're listening

so that you can feel more confident about your answers, You know when you're answering someone else's question,

this is just a little check to make sure you're answering it accurately.

So if you didn't quite hear perfectly,

you could say So what you're asking is and then repeat back what you heard.

So what you want to know is... and then repeat. Do you mean...

and then paraphrase what you heard?

Or you could say, in other words, what you're saying is...

And this is a really natural part of conversation.

Native speakers are not going to care

100

if you ask them to confirm what they said because it just makes it much easier to continue the conversation, right?

101

If you're working in customer service, maybe at a hotel or at a restaurant or something like that,

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then using the verb confirm is a little more formal.

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You might say I'd like to confirm what you said or excuse me,

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can I just confirm that or what you said?

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Naturally, we agree and we disagree with people all of the time, right?

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And there are so many different ways to do this in English.

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Agreeing is pretty simple, right?

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You can just say yes, absolutely to say that you agree.

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I completely agree with you.

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And we have this really fantastic expression which is I couldn't agree more.

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I couldn't possibly agree more.

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I really strongly agree with you.

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But what to say to somewhat disagree?

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Now all of these examples are ways to say

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that you accept some of the ideas that the other person has shared but you don't completely agree with them.

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Okay so you might say I see what you mean but...

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and then express, you know, a different opinion.

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I understand your point of view but...

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I can see where you're coming from but...

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I agree with you up to a point.

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However, I've got a different opinion.

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So then what to say when you disagree completely?

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I don't feel the same way.

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Actually, I don't quite agree.

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or I disagree.

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I'm afraid I don't agree with you on that or about that.

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Now this is quite an interesting English expression.

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I'm afraid.

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We use it when we're trying to make a statement more polite, not just to say that we're worried or we're scared.

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I'm afraid I can't help you.

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I'm afraid we've run out of sausages.

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So it's just a way of making those statements a little more polite

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and you can do the same thing when you're disagreeing.

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I'm afraid I don't agree with you.

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So to be quite formal when you disagree, then try to add a word like respectfully.

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Respectfully, I have to disagree.

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And then if you feel like your conversation isn't going anywhere, maybe there's a bit of tension,

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people are getting frustrated and annoyed and you want to change the topic, Well we'll have to agree to disagree then.

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It's a way to end the discussion, especially when it's getting a little heated and change the topic a little.

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Now of course in English, you can be quite rude with your body language when you're disagreeing with someone.

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So in formal situations or when you want to be really polite, try to be aware of what your body is doing.

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So avoid shaking your head or rolling your eyes or sighing.

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Unless you really want that other person to see that you're frustrated or you're annoyed with them.

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Speaking of changing the topic, what do you say when you want to do that in English?

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What to say to change the topic?

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Now this is useful.

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You might want to change the topic for a few different reasons.

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It could be as simple as you've run out of things to say about the topic.

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So instead of ending the conversation, you can simply change the topic and change direction.

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Ah that reminds me.

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Or it's speaking about or speaking of that.

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You know this is a really useful expression or way of you know kind of linking two ideas in a conversation.

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Speaking about your holiday to Greece, did I tell you that I've got a trip planned later in the year?

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But maybe you just want to introduce something completely different.

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So then you could try Oh by the way, did I tell you about this?

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Or While I remember or before I forget, I've got something I want to say.

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This has nothing to do with what we're talking about but I've got to share it anyway.

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I know this is completely changing the topic but I've got to tell you.

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Ah so what to say when you're talking about a controversial topic?

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Now this is more advanced conversation skills but maybe you want to talk about politics, religion, social issues.

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I quite enjoy learning about these topics and having discussions about these things

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but I know that my views will not always be the same as everyone else's

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but that doesn't mean that you need to avoid it, right?

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You just need a few tools and a few tips to help you keep the conversation open and positive.

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So when you're introducing an idea that you feel like not everyone's going to agree with, then you could try saying

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I know not everyone agrees with me but this is what I think or I know this is a contentious issue.

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Contentious.

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And then go on to explain it.

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It might be an unpopular opinion but I strongly believe...

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I don't see eye to eye with everyone on this matter but I think it's really important to discuss this.

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Whilst you may not agree with my views, I'm definitely interested in hearing yours.

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I'm not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers here.

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This is a fun little idiom to say I'm not trying to make anyone upset or angry.

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You know, I'm just sharing a different opinion.

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I'm not intending to ruffle anyone's feathers.

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So having one of these simple expressions on hand will help you to politely end a conversation and move on, right?

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We don't want to get stuck in a conversation.

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Well I'd best be off.

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It's been great chatting.

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Anyway, I better get back to it or I better get back to work.

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I'm so glad I ran into you.

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It's been great catching up.

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I'll see you soon.

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So there you have it!

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That was over 50 common phrases to help you have more advanced English conversations and help you to maintain those conversations

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even longer.

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Now all of these tools are ones that native English speakers use all the time in conversations.

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So listen out for them in movies and podcasts, try to hear them in context.

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Now definitely don't try and learn all of them at once, okay?

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Not all 50 phrases at once

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but definitely choose a couple of them from each category

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and really start to get familiar with them and how to use them.

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You guys know that you can catch me over on Instagram

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and on Facebook and make sure you take a look at The Ladies Project too.

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I've linked to it up here.

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You can catch The Ladies Project on Instagram as well and as always, you can keep practising with me right now,

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right there in that lesson.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “50+ Advanced Phrases For English Conversations”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: conversation, agree, topic, English, opinion. This video has 197 sentences and 2369 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:32. The speaker talks at a steady 143 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. 35 of its 197 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
interrupt verb	/ˌɪntəˈɹʌpt/	To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.
disagree verb	/dɪsəˈɡɹi/	To fail to agree; to have a different opinion or belief.
polite adjective	/pəˈlaɪt/	Well-mannered, civilized.
annoy verb	/əˈnoɪ̯/	To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds.
contentious adjective	/kənˈtɛn.ʃəs/	Marked by heated arguments or controversy.
fluently adverb		In a fluent manner, as expressing oneself easily, especially in a foreign language.
frustrate verb	/ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/	To disappoint or defeat; to vex by depriving of something expected or desired.
politely adverb	/pəˈlaɪtli/	in a polite manner
respectfully adverb	/ɹɪˈspɛkt.fə.li/	In a respectful manner.
ruffle noun	/ˈɹʌfəl/	Any gathered or curled strip of fabric added as trim or decoration.
feather noun	/ˈfɛðə/	A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.
expressive adjective	/ɪkˈspɹɛsɪv/	Effectively conveying thought or feeling.
informally adverb		In an irregular or informal manner; without the usual forms.
interjection noun	/ˌɪn.tɚˈd͡ʒɛk.ʃən/	An exclamation or filled pause; a word or phrase with no particular grammatical relation to a sentence, often an expression of emotion.
learner noun	/ˈlɜɹnəɹ/	One who is learning; one receiving instruction.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go off verb	To explode.
get back to verb	Return to (an activity)
catch up verb	To pick up suddenly.
check out verb	To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
end up verb	To bring to a conclusion.
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
open up verb	To open.

Sentences worth repeating

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

What do you think about that?
Do you mind if I add to that?
I've got something to share.
As I was saying, where was I?
Ah so what to say when you're talking about a controversial topic?

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 83 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: contentious /kənˈtɛn.ʃəs/, interjection /ˌɪn.tɚˈd͡ʒɛk.ʃən/, frustration /fɹʌsˈtɹeɪ.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: respectfully /ɹɪˈspɛkt.fə.li/, interjection /ˌɪn.tɚˈd͡ʒɛk.ʃən/, accurately /ˈæk.jə.ɹɪt.li/, 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 interrupt, disagree, polite.

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 →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?