Shadowing Practice: a normal day at home in the UK - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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We just rinse all of this off.
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The cover.
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We have, oh, we have one of those like robotic hoovers,
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which goes around the house.
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I just turned that off but this is...
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I wanted to welcome you to possibly a really boring video.
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I thought that today we could just have a normal day together.
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I think recently I've been really trying to make videos
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that are very different and hopefully interesting to watch but I was like you know I've not made a video
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about me just doing really normal boring things
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so today is just a really chill kind of relaxed day
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at home for me I have a few jobs I have to do
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and also I have to walk the dog Wilson my dog it is now 11 o'clock in the morning
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and I have still not had a coffee so we're going to start with an iced latte because I need one.
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I typically use this like Nescafe it's like espresso concentrate made for iced coffee.
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It's new in the UK but I love it and some caramel syrup just a dash.
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then I add some ice cubes
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and some milk I'm here in my office I've got my coffee I've not tried it yet
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so good today is going to be a day that's kind of like I feel like my alpha looks
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today is going to be like kind of a mix between a work day
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and also like a day off I have been working like a lot more on the channel this month
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and on my other social medias so honestly it's kind of weird
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because my work day and my days off kind of like blend into one
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which is super cool and you know I'm very lucky
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but also it can sometimes be like is today a work day
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or is it a day off I don't know I wanted
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to give you guys like a bit of a haul because the other day I went into town
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and I went to a bookshop and I bought like a few books, not many, but I bought a few.
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So I wanted to show you some of the books that I bought.
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Here they are.
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I bought a few.
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I bought one like classic crime book.
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You guys know Agatha Christie?
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She's a very, very famous British murder mystery writer.
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She's like considered the grandmother of true of British murder mystery or murder mystery in general.
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Like who done it?
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Who did it?
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Novels.
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I picked up this one.
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This one is And Then There Were None.
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And I have never read this book.
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I have read loads and loads of Agatha Christie's books, but I've never read And Then There Were None.
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but there was a TV show version back in like the 2010s on the BBC like on the British
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like around Christmas time they made a TV show
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and I was blown away like it was amazing
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so I wanted to have a go at the book I
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bought The Secret Barrister The Cutthroat Trial I love a thriller
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um a thriller book you know one of the kind of an interesting crime novel things like this
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and this is by who wrote this oh my god it
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doesn't say oh bro I think the secret barrister is the writer oh
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so the secret barrister is the author it says here that the secret barrister is a junior barrister specialising in criminal law.
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They write for many publications and are the author of the award-winning blog of the same name.
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So this is somebody who works in the legal field and is writing a book from that perspective.
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That is so cool.
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And I really liked this because it kind of was going from, when I looked through the book, it was going from different perspectives. So
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you would read one page that was by the prosecutor
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so the person who is the person prosecuting is the person
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who is trying to protect the person who was the victim the prosecutor protects the victim
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that was difficult for me to explain um
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and yeah each chapter is from a different perspective and I thought
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that was really interesting so I picked up this one
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and the final book I was honestly just
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so interested in the cover they do say never judge a book by its cover
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but how beautiful is
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that this is Hooked by Asako Yuzuki apparently this book came out in Japan in 2015
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but it was only translated into English this year in 2026 Basically,
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I believe it's about like a woman who becomes obsessed with another woman that she sees online.
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And I think they kind of start some kind of, you know, friendship, which then becomes an obsession.
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This is my book haul.
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I'm going to start my morning by replying to some comments on my recent video.
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and I also recently joined like a I recently started Spanish class with a new teacher
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and she gave me some really really useful notes Wilson.
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He needs to go for a walk,
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so we We are going to take him out now and honestly I'm gonna get another coffee.
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As we drive we are going to listen to the new Olivia Rodrigo album.
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It's so good.
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My favourite song is The Cure by the way.
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We are taking Wilson for a walk in a nearby estate.
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I really wanted to show you like the house a little bit because we can't go in.
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I don't know if people actually live there
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but something super common here in the UK is we used to have all of these manor houses
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but eventually they got too expensive to maintain, expensive for the families to like repair
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so they often donate them to a company called the national
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trust who then like open the spaces up to the public
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so right now for example i'm in a walled garden
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that was built in the 1770s
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so originally this place would have grown all of the vegetables for the manor house
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and the stables which is right next door has been turned into a cafe
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so you can stop here get a coffee walk your dog um
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and yeah it's it's all open to the public so
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if you come to the uk you can try
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and look for like a national trust property
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if you want to see like the old English manor houses and things like this.
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That looks like a swamp.
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What are you standing in, Wilson?
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oh my god
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okay my camera is like about to die
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but we've just finished our walk Wilson stinks that little
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that little swamp that he was in stinks so we're gonna head home and um I am gonna have some lunch because I'm hungry.
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I'm really hungry.
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I did not have a very big breakfast.
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So let's head home.
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Wilson right now seriously smells like an old swamp.
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He smells like an old swamp because that little puddle of water that he went into
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like just smells like shit so I'm gonna give him a bath.
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This was not my plan for today.
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He's looking at me.
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He doesn't look like a boy that smells like a swamp does he?
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okay I'm gonna just run some water in here the water is very shallow it's um it's not very deep
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because well Wilson only has little legs I'm gonna put stinky in there I have a a jug and
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I just pour the water over his back.
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Let me, there you go.
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Ignore all these cleaning cloths.
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I just pour the water, good boy, over his back.
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The water is not hot.
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It's like, we call it, it's lukewarm.
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So it's a little bit warm.
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This is like a shampoo and conditioner for dogs
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so I literally I just put this on Wilson a bit like a a bit like a hot dog
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and um this will make him smell a bit better Wilson
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likes this he likes this part he likes a scratch
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and then now what we do is we just rinse all of this off to rinse something it's just to like
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remove any soap with like clean water so good
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boy every time that Wilson has a bath he gets the the zoomies afterwards
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where he starts like he runs
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he runs around
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a lot what
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do you want? boy gently gently oh fucking hell gently
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It is now quarter to seven and I think I'm gonna go out for a drink.
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Wilson has been so chill since his bath.
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He has just been sleeping here in his bed all afternoon.
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He's so cute.
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What?
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This is fabulous.
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312 and a corner like that.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 135 sentences and 1471 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:13. The speaker talks at a steady 111 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| swamp noun | /ˈswɑmp/ | An area of wet (water-saturated), spongy (soft) land, often with trees, generally a rich ecosystem for certain plants and animals but ill-suited for many… |
| mystery noun | /ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/ | Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown. |
| bath noun | /bɑːθ/ | A tub or pool which is used for bathing: bathtub. |
| gently adverb | /ˈd͡ʒɛntli/ | Without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly. |
| manor noun | /ˈmænəɹ/ | A landed estate. |
| hungry adjective | /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
| chill verb | /tʃɪl/ | To lower the temperature of something; to cool. |
| pour verb | /poɹ/ | To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it. |
| prosecutor noun | /ˈpɹɑ.səˌkjuːˌtəɹ/ | A prosecuting attorney. |
| bore verb | /boɹ/ | To inspire boredom in somebody. |
| thriller noun | /ˈθɹɪ.lə/ | Something that thrills. |
| haul verb | /hɔl/ | To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle. |
| ignore verb | /ɪɡˈnɔː/ | To deliberately not listen or pay attention to. |
| stable noun | /ˈsteɪ.bəl/ | A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses. |
| publication noun | /ˌpʌblɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/ | The act of publishing printed or other matter. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. |
| blow away verb | To cause to go away by blowing, or by wind. |
| come out in verb | to be afflicted by (a visible disruption of the body) |
| go around verb | To move or spread from person to person. |
| look through verb | To take a view of the contents of; search in, either with the eyes or by hand. |
| run around verb | To be very busy doing many different things. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | have been working · has just been sleeping |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've been · I've not made · I've not tried |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was blown · is Hooked · was only translated |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | somebody who works · person who is · person who was |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 31 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: bath /bɑːθ/, thriller /ˈθɹɪ.lə/, grandmother /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/, cloth /klɒθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: publication /ˌpʌblɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/, friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, shallow /ˈʃæloʊ/, dash /ˈdæʃ/, obsession /əbˈsɛʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: prosecutor /ˈpɹɑ.səˌkjuːˌtəɹ/, publication /ˌpʌblɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/, conditioner /kənˈdɪʃənə/
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 swamp, mystery, bath.
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.