Shadowing Practice: A (AN), THE: how to use articles in English - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hey guys, welcome to my channel.
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Today I'm going to teach you the most common mistake in English, which is articles.
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And I forget them, I omit them, because I'm originally from Russia and in Russia we don't have articles.
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It's easier for Germans because you guys have articles, Italians have articles.
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By the way, let me know in comments below what language is your native language and whether you have articles or not.
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Because if you do, it's easier for you.
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But again, there are two articles a and the
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and we use a we use it to talk about objects
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that we encounter for the first time in our speech for the first time in this conversation
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and we use the we mean something specific so let's start with the first rule something specific is always the for example
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Marina where did you get the dress
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that you wore yesterday this is a very specific dress I only have one dress
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and I'm pretty sure she means the dress that I was wearing yesterday
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and that was the specific white dress whatever
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so this is a very specific thing but
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if I'm asking somebody can you get me a dress
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when you go shopping I'm not asking for a particular dress I just need a dress
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and whatever dress you can find that suits me just get it
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so could you get me a dress when you go shopping
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so see the differences in the first example
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when with specific dress i wore yesterday i meant the dress that i wore yesterday when i'm asking to buy
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a random dress uh this is a dress another thing to remember we only use a uh
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when we talk about single objects we cannot say a dresses this is wrong don't do
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that but um if a word starts with the vowel, A, E, O, U, okay, you know vowels, right?
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We replace A with N.
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An apple, an eggplant, an elephant.
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Another general rule is when you talk about something for the first time, you say A.
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When you mention it in your conversation, for the second time, you use the.
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For example, yesterday I went to a party.
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I mentioned it for the first time, but in the second sentence, i would say the party was amazing because i've already stated
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that i will be talking about a specific party
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and in the second sentence i'm referring to that specific party
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so it's the body now okay
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or another example yesterday i bought an apple you know just a random apple
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that apple turned out to be rotten
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so i'm taking him back to the store today okay
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so first i'm not mentioning a particular apple i just bought an apple doesn't matter
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which apple doesn't matter if it's big doesn't matter
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if it's small just an apple but then when i'm talking
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that it's rotten i already mean that apple that it's in my fridge
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so the apple okay however if we're talking about an object
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that is one of a kind we always use the the moon the sun the black sea the simpsons
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so we know that there is only one moon that's why we always say the moon we know
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that there is one sun so say that sun again we only know
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that there's just one family when we're talking about we know
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that we're talking about the simpsons right this is the movie
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so whenever it's something one of a kind
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it's the uncountable nouns what are uncountable nouns porridge oatmeal milk uh whatever you cannot count
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because when we're talking about porridge you cannot really count all the C's
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that are there and
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when we're talking about milk you cannot really count the cells yes you can measure volume
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but that's different we're talking about counting
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so uncountable nouns means you cannot count them right
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so with uncountable nouns we don't use any articles it's always
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I like oatmeal can you get me some oatmeal can you make some porridge for breakfast use some right
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Can I have some milk?
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I drank milk for breakfast.
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The only way you would be able to count milk is by adding glasses.
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So can you give me a glass of milk?
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And then you have this A, okay?
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But this A refers to glass, not to milk.
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And the second scenario when we don't use an article with nouns is when we have plural countable nouns.
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Bicycles, computers, cameras, bloggers.
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So whenever these words appear in a sentence.
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We do not use any articles.
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I have three computers at home.
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I like watching bloggers.
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I love bicycles.
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But why articles are so confusing?
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Because there are always, always, always exclusions. For example, there is a store in your house and they sell specific milk
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and you want to highlight that you like the milk from that store because it's one of a kind.
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You really mean that milk
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and you cannot get it anywhere else then you can say oh my god I love the milk from
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that store because you're being specific and again I just mentioned
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that with milk we don't use any the
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but we don't use any the or a
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when we don't mention specific milk we just mention milk as food
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but if we mean some kind of milk
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that it's only sold in a store that's uh one block away
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or in your house say the same applies to countable nouns in plural forms
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if that shop also sells apples
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that you love you can say oh i love the apples from
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that store they are the best in the world and people realize
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that you mean specific apples that are only sold there
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and they're one of a kind okay please remember that
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and feel free whenever you're watching this video
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if it's confusing feel free to stop feel free to open your exercise book rewind the video
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and write everything down again because i know it's super confusing
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and i know even like super advanced students make mistakes in articles
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so this topic is very important it's crucial
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but i'm here to help there's a quite similar rule for abstract nouns
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and when you're talking about something in general you don't need an article for example
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information on the internet is very useful
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so information is this abstract noun you don't mean any specific information you just mean
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that information that's available to everyone on the internet is very useful
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but again just to compare um when you use particular information
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that you received the information
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that i read on wikipedia regarding youtube is super useful then you need to insert uh the definite article the
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because you mean some specific information but when you're talking about information in general you don't use articles at all okay
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never use articles with proper nouns tuesday monday new york uh
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you can distinguish those proper nouns by the capital letter that they start with new york is with capital letters Washington DC,
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Russia, London, Tuesday, Monday, Wednesday, February, March, all of those nouns do not require an article.
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Okay never use articles with the names of the countries.
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Demetri makes this mistake all the time and I keep correcting him.
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Russia, France, Monaco, all of those countries do not require an article but of course there are exclusions to this rule.
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If a country's name consists of several words the united kingdom
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because the refers to kingdom here so the united kingdom the united states of america
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so whenever the name consists of several nouns you use the also no articles
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when you speak about languages
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and remember at the beginning of this video i asked you to write a comment below what language you speak
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and if you have articles in that language
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so you can say i speak french
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and there is no article i speak russian
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and there are no articles in russian
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so we don't have any article before the name of the language
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and the last but not the least
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when you're talking about meals don't use articles i've already had lunch today
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i've already had breakfast let's head out to dinner
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but again uh we're just talking about non -specific meals just you know stating
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that we had meal but if you want to say
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that you are sick from the dinner you had yesterday then you need definite article
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because you uh mean that specific dinner we probably ate uh sushi
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and you got food poisoning so uh
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when you mean a specific dinner it would probably be something in the past uh you use the
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that was it for me guys i hope it wasn't too confusing
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i know it's like articles are super confusing feel free to re -watch the video feel free to save
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it feel free to download it or whatever and re -watch it later
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because you know you're gonna get back to this topic over
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and over again because again there are so many exclusions to the rules
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that i've given you uh there are so many specific situations um
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and you just have to you know know about them
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but thank you so much for watching this i'm looking forward to reading your comments
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and if you're not yet subscribed to this channel the red button is below
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if you're not following me on instagram you're missing out on daily practice of english because i post everything in English there.
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It's lingua marina.
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Thank you so much and I will see you soon in the next videos.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “A (AN), THE: how to use articles in English”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: article, specific, milk, dress, noun. This video has 136 sentences and 1613 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:11. The speaker talks at a natural 176 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 |
|---|---|---|
| noun noun | /naʊn/ | A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, word, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea… |
| confuse verb | /kənˈfjuːz/ | to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand |
| meal noun | /ˈmiːl/ | Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity. |
| refer verb | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | To direct the attention of (someone toward something). |
| exclusion noun | /ɪksˈkluːʒən/ | The act of excluding or shutting out; removal from consideration or taking part. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| abstract noun | /ˈæbˌstɹækt/ | An abridgement or summary of a longer publication. |
| bicycle noun | /ˈbaɪsɪk(ə)l/ | A vehicle that has two primary wheels, one behind the other, a steering handle, and a saddle seat or seats and is usually propelled by the action of a rider’s… |
| consist noun | /kənˈsɪst/ | A lineup or sequence of railroad carriages or cars, with or without a locomotive, that form a unit. |
| blogger noun | /ˈblɔ.ɡəɹ/ | A contributor to a blog (from weblog) or online journal. |
| marina noun | /məˈɹinə/ | A harbour for small boats. |
| rotten adjective | /ˈɹɑtn̩/ | Of perishable items, overridden with bacteria and other infectious agents. |
| definite adjective | /ˈdɛfɪnɪt/ | Having distinct limits. |
| plural noun | /ˈplʊəɹəl/ | The plural number. In English, referring to more or less than one of something. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get back to verb | Return to (an activity) |
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. |
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 | i've already stated · i've already had · i've given |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most common · the best |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm asking · I'm not asking · i'm referring |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | I'm going to teach · gonna get |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 50 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: exclusion /ɪksˈkluːʒən/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/, distinguish /dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/, sushi /ˈsuːʃi/
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 noun, confuse, meal.
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.