Shadowing Practice: Advanced (C1) Phrases to Strengthen Your Vocabulary - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

If you want to greatly build your vocabulary,

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If you want to greatly build your vocabulary,

but sometimes you're unable to think straight,

this lesson is for you because I want to teach you some useful C1 phrases to help you develop your overall vocabulary.

And let's begin with a phrase that I just mentioned, not think straight.

This means to be unable to use your mind in an effective way.

And often you're going to use this phrase when talking about your inability to do something.

I could say, last night,

I didn't get any sleep,

so I just can't think straight.

Or this morning, I didn't have my cup of coffee,

so right now I'm unable to think straight.

You may also hear people use this in the continuous tense to talk about a specific time.

I could say, last night I made a mistake, I wasn't thinking straight.

Or perhaps I'm telling you,

you're too close to the problem,

You're not thinking straight for pronunciation

This phrase does have a couple of overlapping sounds with the final stop T

and not and then we can move right into

that Voiceless th sound in think because your tongue is going to be in the same position

Right up top behind your front teeth not think straight It

just allows us to say it a little faster to not think straight and for what it's worth She's not thinking straight.

I know not thinking straight But I don't want to think straight.

I think he's on drugs And he's not thinking straight.

The drinks, the flirting, I couldn't think straight.

Now, if you really want to build your vocabulary,

please subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications.

Otherwise, you may not be thinking straight.

But that way, I can become your teacher.

My name is Wes.

The channel is Interactive English.

It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals.

Let's continue with our next C1 phrase,

which is one that I really like, in any event.

It just means whatever happens.

So you use this when talking about something that could possibly happen and then basically you're commenting,

well, whatever happens, this is what we're going to do.

So let me give you some examples.

I could say the weather forecast looks bad,

but in any event, the concert will go on as planned.

Or I may not make it to the meeting,

but in any event, you can reach me by phone.

Or, the project is running a little late,

but in any event, we are committed to finishing on time.

One thing I want you to be aware of is that in British English,

you may hear someone say, at all events.

Now, people are also going to use,

in any event, and in the U.S.,

you are only going to hear, in any event.

But I want you to be aware of this.

For pronunciation, linking may occur.

This is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word.

so we can link the final consonant sound in in with the vowel sound in any.

In any.

I want you to repeat after me right now.

In any.

In any event.

Excellent.

I still don't know what you and your president said to her in that room to get her to sign.

In any event, she signed the treaty.

Oh, I didn't do anything.

In any event, he's back where he belongs.

There's no need for such formalities.

In any event, judging from the king's enthusiasm,

the queen mother will be a queen grandmother.

That'd be a lovely day.

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Chat later.

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and take your fluency to the next level.

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Let's get back to more useful and essential C1 phrases.

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And the next one that I have for you is in the event of something.

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This just means if something happens.

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Now don't confuse this with the previous phrase in any event because they do sound a little similar,

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but if we're talking about in the event of something I want you to know

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that the something is really bad news and there are some common collocations with this phrase in the event of an emergency,

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in the event of a disaster,

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in the event of bad weather,

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or in the event of a delay.

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And And really you're going to follow this phrase telling someone what should be done or what will happen.

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In the event of an emergency,

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try to find an exit door.

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Let me give you some more examples,

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some funny examples using this phrase.

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In the event of an apocalypse,

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I would spend the first 20 minutes wondering why my internet doesn't work.

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And I think this is probably true for many of us.

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In the event of a disaster,

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I have strategically placed rum in various locations.

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Good idea.

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For pronunciation, two things I want to mention.

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The word the has two different pronunciations, the and the.

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In this case, we're going to use the because the next word begins with a vowel sound, the event.

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We can also link the final consonant sound in event with the vowel sound in of,

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in the event of.

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Just listen for those two things.

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In the event of a crash,

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the driver always protects his side first.

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The doctor entrusted me with your contact details in the event of an emergency.

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In the event of fire,

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follow the older heavyset lady in just a t-shirt.

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Then we have of no consequence or of little consequence.

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You could use either phrase.

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They mean the same thing, which is not important.

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I could say my boss thinks that my opinion is of little consequence to her.

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Or the new information is of no consequence because we had already made a decision.

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Now, you could also use the phrases not of any consequence or not of much consequence.

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They all work.

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But if you're curious as to which phrase is more commonly used,

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we can check out Ngram Viewer.

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And as you can see,

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most of the time people are going to say of no consequence or of little consequence.

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To give you some more context using these phrases,

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I have some news headlines for you.

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brain size of little consequence.

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Iran government says US election results of no consequence.

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And AU vote to leave International Criminal Court of little consequence.

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And in this case, AU is referring to the African Union.

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For pronunciation, just keep in mind the word little,

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you're gonna hear me pronounce those T's as a flap T.

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It's gonna sound like a soft D,

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and this is a distinct part of the American accent.

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So I'm going to pronounce little with a flap T

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because the T's follow a vowel sound and then come before a dark L.

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Little, bottle, settle, battle.

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You hear all those flap T's.

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Here are some other examples.

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No, it is of no consequence.

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Legum will be king.

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Really don't mean to interrupt.

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It is of no consequence, Captain.

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Whether or not you care to act on this information is of little consequence.

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Next is from scratch.

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This just means from the beginning without using anything that exists.

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Maybe I ask you, do you like my lasagna?

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I made it from scratch.

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And this is not true.

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I'm not a very good cook.

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But I want you to be aware

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that there are some very useful collocations with this phrase and different verbs that are often used with this phrase,

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like to make something from scratch or to build something from scratch or develop something from scratch or start something from scratch.

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When pronouncing this phrase, I think it's pretty simple and straightforward.

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From scratch.

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We're building our house from scratch.

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We can put down whatever we want.

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We're starting from scratch.

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Yeah, from scratch.

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Great.

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Now, would you care to join me for an authentic frontier dinner made entirely from scratch?

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The last straw or the final straw.

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You could use either phrase.

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They both mean the same thing.

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And they refer to the last in a series of unpleasant events

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that makes you feel like you cannot continue to accept a bad situation.

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It's the last straw or it's the final straw.

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And you can really sense that emotion.

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Often you're going to use this as a standalone statement.

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I can't take it anymore.

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I've had enough.

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That's the last straw.

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We can go back to Ngram viewer if you want to see which phrase is more commonly used,

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and as you can see,

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more often people are going to say the last straw.

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For pronunciation, elision may occur.

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This is when sounds or syllables get removed.

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So the final T and last.

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It comes between two consonant sounds,

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so it's going to elide.

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You're not really going to hear it.

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The last straw or the final straw.

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Your complete lack of table manners was the last Just a haircut and some clothes.

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No, it's the last straw.

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I can't take any more.

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Yeah, Homer.

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Let your wife have a glimpse of success for once.

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Alright, that's the last straw.

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From the man who sells me my Marlboro Lights.

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The final straw.

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The next phrase is for all you food lovers out there,

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and that is out of season.

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Because this refers to fruits and vegetables that are not grown in an area during that time.

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This is a very useful phrase when talking about food because fruits and vegetables,

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they have a season in which they are grown.

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So I could say we cannot find strawberries right now because they're out of season.

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Or research has shown that frozen vegetables have more nutrients in them than imported fresh vegetables that are out of season.

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I don't know if this is true.

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It's just an example.

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But let's go ahead and talk about pronunciation because the final T in out,

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you're gonna hear me pronounce it as a flat T

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because it comes between two vowel sounds and then I can link that flat T with the vowel sound in of,

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out of, out of season.

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Remember, no prime cuts, no fancy size,

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no out of season vegetables, no market price.

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Then there's in no time.

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This means very quickly, very soon.

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This is a great phrase to add emphasis.

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And often you're going to use it either at the beginning or end of a statement.

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I could say, if you watch my video lessons,

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you will build your vocabulary in no time.

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And I could just emphasize that fact.

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To help you better understand how this phrase is used in context,

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I have some more news headlines for you.

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29 expert hacks to sell your home in no time.

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7 easy Stairmaster workouts that'll burn calories and melt fat in no time.

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And finally, gardens will be colorful in no time if you plant these five flowers now.

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For pronunciation, once again, there are some overlapping sounds with the final N sound in in

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and the beginning N sound in no. This just helps us easily transition from one word to the next.

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In no time.

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In no time.

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We'll be done in no time.

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She's going to be employee of the month in no time.

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Rape will have that 10,000 bucks in no time.

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Take it from me.

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This is actually the next phrase.

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Maybe you thought I was going to give you some advice,

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but it's a very useful phrase because you're going to say this,

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take it from me, when you want to tell someone,

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accept what I'm saying as true because I know or have experienced it.

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Now, often you will use this,

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maybe when you're giving advice,

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and it's typically going to come at the beginning of a statement.

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So let's talk about this in relation to building your vocabulary.

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I could say, take it from me.

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Learning these phrases will help you improve your speaking fluency.

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And take it from me.

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The more you practice, the more confident you will feel using these phrases in casual conversation.

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When pronouncing this phrase,

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more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in take with the beginning vowel sound in it.

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Take it.

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We also have overlapping M sounds from me.

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It almost sounds like one word, from me.

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Take it from me.

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These two things will help you say this phrase easily and naturally.

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Take it from me.

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You're always better off with a really good lie.

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Relationships are tough.

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Take it from me.

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I'm here to make your life better because life is complicated.

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Take it from me, I'm recently divorced.

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Then there's room for improvement.

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I really like this phrase,

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possibly because I use it quite often.

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And this just refers to a possibility or hope that someone or something will improve.

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And there's really the potential to become better.

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Really, it's a polite way to say that someone needs to get better

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or something can get better perhaps I tell you your English is great

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but there's room for improvement or commenting about myself my teaching skills are solid but there's still room for improvement.

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Here are some funny memes using this phrase because,

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yeah, it's important to have fun when learning a language.

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There is room for improvement.

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Now, politics aside, I personally have never really cared for how the Cybertruck looked,

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so yeah, I would agree with this.

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There is room for improvement.

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Or how about this one?

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Look at all this room for improvement.

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From the sound of music,

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you're surrounded by all this nature,

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but it's like, hey, we need more buildings.

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We need more malls.

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Look at all this room for improvement.

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For pronunciation, keep in mind that the word for often gets reduced,

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and that vowel sound's gonna change slightly.

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So instead of for, it's gonna sound like fur.

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It's a much softer sound.

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And then I can link the final consonant sound with the vowel sound in improvement.

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Fur improvement.

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Room for improvement.

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Saying that we can do better.

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I'm saying there's always room for improvement.

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And again, I think the offense has a lot of room for improvement,

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and all that starts with me.

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A few hours ago, we both loved this song.

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I still love it.

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I just think there's room for improvement.

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Then there's do your utmost or try your utmost.

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This means to do something as well as you can by making a great effort.

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Really, this phrase has a similar meaning to do your best.

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Now, of course, it's a lot more common to say do your best,

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but it's always good to get a little bit of variety.

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Now, often you may follow this phrase with an infinitive.

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I could say, I will do my utmost to help you build your vocabulary.

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Or she assured her boss that she would do her utmost to meet the deadline.

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Or perhaps I tell you,

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try your utmost to remain calm in a difficult situation.

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For pronunciation, I just want to highlight the word utmost.

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It's not the most commonly used adjective,

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but there are two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable.

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Utmost.

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Do your utmost or try your utmost.

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We must do our utmost to avoid shedding English blood.

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I shall do my utmost to help you form strong ideas.

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True repentance means you try your utmost,

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not to repeat the same mistake.

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Then there's to put your mind to something or to set your mind to something.

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You could use either verb,

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but this just means to decide that you're going to do something and put a lot of effort into it.

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And often you're going to use these phrases when you're trying to encourage someone.

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You can do anything if you put your mind to it.

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This is a common expression using this phrase.

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Or I could say, if you set your mind to achieving your goals,

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you'll find a way to succeed.

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Or you can reach your fluency goals if you put your mind to it and watch my video lessons.

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I like to think that that's true.

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For pronunciation, assimilation may occur,

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and the key word there is may.

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So assimilation is when two sounds blend together to create a new sound.

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In this case, the TNY may blend together and you create the slight ch sound.

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Put chur, set chur.

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So we have that stop T and then we're releasing into that slight ch sound.

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Now this may not always occur.

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Somebody may say that stop T and then you're gonna hear that yuh in your.

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Put your, set your.

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Here are some examples.

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It is plain to see that you're excellent at whatever you put your mind to.

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When you set your mind to it,

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you're one of the most charismatic people I've ever met.

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You can do anything you set your mind to.

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But if you're speaking a little faster,

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this is when I think assimilation will most likely occur.

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These sounds blend together and you get that slight ch sound.

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Put your, set your.

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Listen for it.

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You can find something to love about every man if you put your mind to it.

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Compared to everything you've already overcome,

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you can do anything you put your mind to.

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You can achieve anything you set your mind to.

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Now when it comes to building your vocabulary,

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there's always room for improvement.

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And I really hope that you don't think building your vocabulary is of no consequence.

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Because take it from me,

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learning new words and phrases like the ones today are going to help you be more precise when you're having a conversation.

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And if you would like to build your vocabulary in no time,

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you're going to have to try your utmost and spend some time and energy.

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but I think you can do it if you just put your mind to it.

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In any event, if you'd like to continue building your vocabulary right now,

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you can check out another one of my video lessons.

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And if you enjoyed this video lesson,

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you can let me know by hitting that like button.

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As always, thank you so much for watching,

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and I will see you next time.

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So long.

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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.

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Shadowing Practice: Advanced (C1) Phrases to Strengthen Your Vocabulary - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Key Vocabulary & Phrases

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What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing Practice: Advanced (C1) Phrases to Strengthen Your Vocabulary - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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About This Lesson

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Practice Tips

What is the Shadowing Technique?