Shadowing Practice: ADÉLA - Ain't In LA (Sub. Español + Lyrics) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “ADÉLA - Ain't In LA”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: baddest, bitches, lie, cigarette, stupid. This video has 27 sentences and 341 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:56. The speaker talks at a steady 116 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
13 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cigarette noun | /ˈsɪɡəɹɛt/ | A small cigar consisting of tobacco or another substance, wrapped up in a thin roll with paper, intended for smoking. |
| trunk noun | /tɹʌŋk/ | The usually single, more or less upright part of a tree, between the roots and the branches. |
| suck verb | /sʌk/ | To use the mouth and lips to pull in (a liquid, especially milk from the breast). |
| cocaine noun | /koʊˈkeɪn/ | An addictive drug derived from coca (Erythroxylum) or prepared synthetically, used sometimes medicinally as a local anesthetic and, often illegally, as a… |
| propane noun | /ˈpɹoʊpeɪn/ | An aliphatic hydrocarbon, C₃H₈, a constituent of natural gas. |
| escape verb | /ɪˈskeɪp/ | To get free; to free oneself. |
| stupid adjective | /ˈstjuːpɪd/ | Lacking in intelligence. |
| dream verb | /ˈdɹim/ | To see imaginary events in one's mind while sleeping. |
| ride verb | /ɹaɪd/ | To transport oneself by sitting on and directing a horse, later also a bicycle etc. |
| rain noun | /ˈɹeɪn/ | Condensed water falling from a cloud. |
| nobody noun | /ˈnoʊ.bə.di/ | A person dismissed as unimportant. |
| alive adjective | /əˈlaɪv/ | Having life; living; not dead. |
| unique adjective | /juːˈniːk/ | Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| run away verb | To flee by running. |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 25 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 cigarette, trunk, suck.
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.