Shadowing Practice: A slow spring weekend in the Swedish archipelago - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Today is such a beautiful day, so I'm getting ready.
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We're going to Kragorden, the archipelago, to just walk around, be by the water,
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have a little fika, coffee, a little bit of a snack.
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I'm premiering a skirt today because it is going to be I believe 23 degrees today
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celsius which is definitely the warmest day of the year
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so far and you just cannot take that for granted
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but yeah because it's so warm I'm just doing a very light
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little makeup although I tend to just do
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that anyways definitely love a subtle no makeup makeup look
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but I've also been using this lanolin cream as a lip balm and lanolin from my understanding
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is a sort of fat that comes from underneath the wool of sheep
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but then when I got this one my sister was like actually this is not very good for you
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or it's not very good for the sheep
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so I don't know I don't know if it's bad
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that I'm using this and I want to show you a product
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that I got very recently I've been using this one for
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two weeks maybe it is a brow wax it's called the 24 hour brow setter
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and i've been using a few different brow gels
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and brow waxes they make your brows feel very stiff
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and also they've been creating these little white residue this one i love
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so far it's been two weeks it doesn't make your brows
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feel stiff it doesn't leave a white residue i have not experienced
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that at least and i love the brush and it just doesn't look
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or feel like you have anything on so I like to just make a little bushy beginning of the world.
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What's that?
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It's a little dark.
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It is such a beautiful day out here in Baxholm.
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We are going to a cafeteria where we go anytime we're here.
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It's really beautiful.
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I'll show you.
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And I can't remember what the name of it is, but I'll put the name here for you.
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In case you're ever here and want to give it a visit.
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Everything is much nicer in color.
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Oh, wow.
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Is this like a leg?
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I love this about April beginning of May because suddenly everything has
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so much color and everything is brought to life in a way that it really only does this time of year.
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Oh, my
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God.
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Mmm, delicious.
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So my sister forced me to wear this cap because she said that it looks like I have burned my forehead.
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I'm not a cap girl.
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But I'm gonna listen to her.
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What a beautiful head.
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Oh, these are the birds.
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Look at these.
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These are handmade...
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...in Sweden?
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Hand-made birds.
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But it's like they're bottles.
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Bulls.
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Look at these, what beautiful they are.
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Good morning, it's another day.
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We had such a lovely day yesterday and I cannot recommend you enough to go and visit Wachsholm.
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If you're around, it's quite touristy this time of the year, understandably, because it's gorgeous and no wonder people want to go there.
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If I was a tourist, I would go there.
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If I was a native, I would go there.
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I've spent the entire morning cutting off my white hairs.
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I started getting white hairs so early.
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I think I was 13 when I got my first one
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and then I got a couple more and then it's just been steady steadily increasing but now it is a lot.
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I cannot flip my hair over without like five of them appearing.
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It's not just the color, it is the texture, because white hairs are so stiff and rough.
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They don't lie flat on my head, they just kind of stick out all over the place.
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In the grand scheme of things, it's really not a big deal.
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It does take some getting used to.
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The skirt is secondhand from La Coste.
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It's a cotton skirt, soft and nice.
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This top is from Flor Floor, which is a brand that I really enjoy.
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They have a lot of good organic cotton, I believe, basics.
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And I'm doing a side part today, which I liked the way it looked in the mirror,
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but now looking at myself in the camera, I'm not as sure.
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Anyway, we'll see.
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I think I'm gonna do the side part going for a nice picnic
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and stroll in Madre de Friat
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which is about an hour from the city we're going by car
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so I'll take you with me on this beautiful sunny day and I hope you enjoy
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I'm sorry.
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I'm
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going to
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go to the next episode.
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The next day we are going to be at the
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And now I want to show you this place called Grepsholms Värtshaus here in Madalefried.
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It's a really old place dating back to 1609.
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You can really feel it when you step inside.
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It has this strong renaissance feel with a lot of wooden details,
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antique furniture and kind of dramatic rooms.
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They offer hotel stays and restaurants.
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I've never stayed here overnight and because we had a picnic today we didn't make any reservations here,
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but I've eaten at the restaurant a few times before and have really enjoyed both the food and the historic atmosphere.
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It's also right next to Grybsholms castle and overlooking Mälaren which only adds to its charm.
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I'm sorry.
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It's the day after
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and I had such a lovely time yesterday today is super cloudy it's been raining
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and i knew that that's why we made sure to make the most out of the weekend
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and it was such a lovely day i couldn't have hoped for anything more
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and now i just had a shower
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and i want to show you a bit of a drink
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that i've been enjoying so i'm someone who two drinks water with my food 10 out of 10 times.
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I mean, I almost never buy sodas or any other drinks.
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However, at night, I've been craving something sparkly, bubbly, this time of the year especially.
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I love these glasses, by the way.
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They're so nice to drink out of.
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I got them many, many years ago from a Danish brand.
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What is it called?
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I'll put it on the screen here summer they're quite sensitive
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I have broken majority of these I have two left I think it was five
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when I bought them so keep that in mind
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or just be careful but yeah I've been creating something sparkly at night
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and today I spiced it up even more I had something sparkling with my lunch
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spicing it up that's how peacefully we are living nowadays drinking something sparkly with your lunch
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that is spicing it up
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and it's not even alcohol i barely drink alcohol very very rarely there is just too much trauma in
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that category i have been trying this one however
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this one is a non-alcoholic rosé called galley bette i don't know
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if it's a swedish brand i have no idea i got at the grocery store
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and it's really really nice let me show you when i
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pour it up because that's quite satisfying hold on okay here we go
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and wait let me put the mic to the glass i
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hope you can see hold on let me just really make sure that you can get the full ambience here.
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Okay, I'm going to shut up now.
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Did the mic pick that up?
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I hope so.
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So, yeah, I'm feeling very wild.
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Young, wild, and free.
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having some non-alcoholic rosé just a random day out of the
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week instead of water although I'll always be a big water lover over anything but spicy things up .
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “A slow spring weekend in the Swedish archipelago”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: brow, beautiful, drink. This video has 127 sentences and 1294 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:21. The speaker talks slowly, about 90 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| brow noun | /bɹaʊ/ | The bony ridge over the eyes, upon which the eyebrows are located. |
| sparkly adjective | Giving off sparks, or small flashes of light; glittery | |
| stiff adjective | /stɪf/ | Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible. |
| spice noun | /spaɪs/ | Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavor food. |
| skirt noun | /skɚt/ | A separate article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower torso and part of the legs. |
| lanolin noun | /ˈlænəlɪn/ | A greasy yellow substance chemically akin to wax that is secreted from wooly animals, with a variety of uses from rust prevention, lubrication and… |
| residue noun | /ˈɹɛzɪduː/ | That which persists or remains following the removal or elimination of other elements. |
| picnic noun | /ˈpɪknɪk/ | An informal social gathering, usually in a natural outdoor setting, to which the participants bring their own food and drink. |
| alcoholic noun | /ˌæl.kəˈhɔ.lɪk/ | A person who is addicted to alcohol. |
| sheep noun | /ˈʃiːp/ | A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis. |
| ambiance noun | /ˈɑm.bi.ɑns/ | A particular mood or atmosphere of an environment or surrounding influence. |
| archipelago noun | /ˌɑɹkəˈpɛləˌɡoʊ/ | A sea or other body of water with many islands. |
| bubbly adjective | /ˈbʌbli/ | Full of bubbles. |
| cafeteria noun | /ˌkæ.fə.ˈtɪ(ə).ɹi.ə/ | A restaurant in which customers select their food at a counter then carry it on a tray to a table to eat. |
| galley noun | /ˈɡæli/ | A light, open boat used on the Thames by customhouse officers, press gangs, and also for pleasure. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| shut up | /ʃʌt ʌp/ | Stop talking (usually in the form of making annoying, irrelevant, or false comments, during a period of peace and quiet, or when one is not allowed to talk)… |
| stick out verb | To protrude. | |
| walk around verb | To walk with no planned destination; to meander. |
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 | I've also been using · I've been using · they've been creating |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If I was a tourist, I would go · If I was a native, I would go |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have not experienced · have burned · I've spent |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | celsius which is · Floor, which is · someone who two |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 51 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I've, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: sheep /ˈʃiːp/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/, brush /bɹʌʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: alcoholic /ˌæl.kəˈhɔ.lɪk/, archipelago /ˌɑɹkəˈpɛləˌɡoʊ/, cafeteria /ˌkæ.fə.ˈtɪ(ə).ɹi.ə/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/
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 brow, sparkly, stiff.
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.