Shadowing Practice: After Class English #15: What is Summer Break? | EXCLUSIVE RELEASE - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hi everyone and welcome back to the After Class English Podcast.

The podcast where we talk in slow, clear English for adult English learners to understand American English in real life context.

Today we are going to focus on the American school system and specifically something American students can all relate to, and that is summer vacation.

But we are also going to dive a little bit deeper.

We are going to talk about the history of the American school system as well.

We will answer questions like, why do American students get such a long summer break?

And is the school system the same everywhere in the United States?

Let's break it down step by step.

Don't forget to follow along to this episode with the practice packet down below.

You can always download it before you listen or after.

Okay, let's start here.

The American school system is divided into different levels.

Let's start here with elementary school.

Notice my pronunciation.

It looks like elementary, but it's not pronounced that way.

Well, you can say it that way,

but most Americans will pronounce it like elementary, tree school, elementary school.

I know it's weird.

Elementary school is from kindergarten to fifth grade, and in some states it's kindergarten to sixth grade.

Elementary school takes place when the students are five to eleven years old.

And note, many American students go to preschool or pre -K,

pre -kindergarten, where you are around three to four years old.

The students are around three to four years old, and it is there in preschool that the students start beginning to gain independence from their parents.

They're usually half days, like from 9am to 1pm or something like that, and they're usually only a couple times a week.

But it's for a student to practice going to school, taking care of their basic needs,

and learning to socialize with others before they go to elementary school, or in other words, start kindergarten.

So preschool, elementary school.

Inside elementary school, you have kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade,

fourth grade, and fifth grade.

And in some states, sixth grade.

It depends.

We'll get there later.

After elementary school, students go to middle school or junior high.

Again, Depending on the state, it's either called middle school or junior high.

Just depends.

Students in middle school are starting at around 11 and ending middle school around 14 years old.

And finally, we have high school from 9th grade to 12th grade,

where students start at 14 and end at 18 years old when they become a legal adult in the United States.

Most school days in the United States run Monday through Friday.

A normal school day is around 7 to 7 .30 start time with a 2 .30 finish time

or 8 a .m to 8 .30 start time with a 3 .30 to 4 end time.

American students study a lot of the same subjects as many people all over the world like history,

English, science, physical education like gym class and even art classes and foreign language classes too.

But school systems and what they offer really depends on the state and the school district.

A school district is like a territory of land, so to say, that is ruled by one governing party,

the district executives, or the people in charge of making the rules for all the schools in that territory or location.

Some districts are better off economically than others, and some schools just have different demands for different things.

For example, my town in the Midwest, I was lucky to have three foreign language options by the time I was in high school.

They offered Spanish, French, and German.

But other places in the United States start foreign language in middle school, and when I was in middle school,

they didn't offer foreign language until eighth grade, and they only offered Spanish, because where I lived, that made the most sense.

Our town really just had a population of mostly English and Spanish speakers, so there wasn't really a demand for a French teacher in middle school,

at least not in my district.

Another thing to point out is that some schools begin in September and some schools begin in August.

Again, this also depends on the climate of where you live.

For example, when I lived in Wisconsin, we would start school in middle to late September,

and then we would begin our summer vacation around the beginning or middle of June.

This is because where I lived, it was very cold up until like May.

So it didn't start getting warm outside until June anyways, and it could really only be like 60 degrees in June still.

But later in my life, I moved schools to a different state, and I realized we started school in August, but we ended school in May.

And the month made all the difference from where I moved from.

So my point is, is even though the United States is one country, education is not completely identical everywhere.

Now let's talk about summer break.

This is something you've probably seen on movies or tv shows right

when you're a kid you go through the whole school year just thinking about summer again

because summer feels like forever when you're a child i mean it's roughly three months

and that feels like a lifetime

when you're like eight in most u .s schools summer break is 10 to 12 weeks

but why does it exist we'll have to go back in history a little bit to answer that question.

So there is a common myth that it all has to do with farming.

All throughout the 1800s, many

Americans worked on farms and in rural areas.

Children were expected to help their families plant during harvest season.

So yes, the summer was a very useful time for farming.

But one important detail of this time is that there was no one system.

Not all schools had the same schedule back then.

Some rural schools were open in the winter and not the summer.

But you might think, after the Industrial Revolution, what about the cities?

Well, those schools had a problem with heat.

As you can imagine, before air conditioning, the classes became extremely hot in the summer, so it made learning very difficult and uncomfortable.

So to spare the students the agony, they just closed the schools for the summer.

But of course, over time and into the 1900s, the U .S education system became a little bit more organized.

Schools began adopting a standardized calendar.

Summer break kind of just became the default schedule, so both the rural farming schools and the city schools benefited from taking the summer off.

But let's talk about today's more modern debate, because not everybody takes long summer breaks anymore.

The modern debate surrounding summer break, though, is a little bit different.

Some educators argue that summer break needs to be a thing of the past.

They argue that students forget too much over the summer, which is unfortunately very, very true.

Also, some parents struggle to find child care over the summer because they're working and they need their kids in school.

But also, students of course have different households and different families with different priorities.

Therefore, some students might study the whole summer as encouraged by their parents, and other students might not.

Maybe they don't have the same parental supervision or lifestyle as those students.

I even knew students that would go to summer school or got tutoring over the summer, and those students absolutely excelled.

But some educators argue it increases learning gaps between students.

On the other hand, some educators are for summer break.

They believe students need to rest.

The families benefit from the extended travel time.

Like a lot of people go on vacation during summer with their kids

because they don't have to worry about school

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and they can get the time off work coordinated and they have more free time with their children.

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And I would argue that teenagers also benefit from the long break.

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Teenagers can take the summer to work.

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I think in the United States you can start working at 14 with parents' permission.

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I'll have to check that here.

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So as you can see, summer break has its pros and its cons.

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But what do you think?

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Do you think students should keep a long summer break?

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Let me know in the comments below if you're at this point in the podcast.

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As someone that grew up in the American school system, I feel like I can speak on summer breaks a little bit.

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So what is summer break actually like for the standard American kid?

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For many students, summer means sleeping in, traveling, part -time jobs, full -time jobs, or even taking some summer classes.

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Some students lose academic progress from the year prior, and this is called summer learning loss.

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And this summer learning loss is why some school districts in

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the United States are trying to change to year -round schooling or more breaks that are shorter instead of one long break.

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But honestly, most schools still follow the traditional system.

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It almost feels like a part of the American culture at this point.

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Like my grandma had a summer break and my mom had a summer break as a kid.

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And so did I and so will my children.

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It's like, you know, that feeling as a kid is so nostalgic, right?

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We've talked about that word in previous podcasts, but it feels sentimental.

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And you know, your child is looking forward to it every single year, just like you used to.

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And I know when I have kids

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that I'm going to watch their eyes light up on the last day of school

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when they know they have a whole summer break to look forward to.

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Because it honestly does feel kind of fun when you're a kid.

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But before we end today's podcast, let's practice some speaking together.

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Repeat after me.

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In the USA, school is divided into three levels.

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Elementary, middle, and high school.

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Summer break lasts 10 to 12 weeks.

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There are historical and practical reasons for this schedule.

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Not all schools follow the same system.

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Now answer this question in the comments below.

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Do you think your country should have a short summer break or a long summer break?

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Think about your lifestyle, your school system, your family needs, maybe even your learning habits.

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What do you think is better?

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Long summer break or short summer break?

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Maybe many breaks.

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Let me know in the comments below.

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And don't forget to download the practice packet for even more studying.

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If you want to share some of your answers with me, don't forget you can message me on this platform too.

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Remember, if the podcasts slow down a little bit,

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that's because we are now going live twice a week and having the podcast be twice a month instead of every week.

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So more exclusive lives and two podcasts a month.

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Thank you guys so much for your support.

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I appreciate you all so very much.

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And I will see you guys very, very soon.

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Bye, guys.

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926 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “After Class English : What is Summer Break?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: summer, break, student, elementary, grade. This video has 148 sentences and 1866 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:01. The speaker talks at a natural 155 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 89% 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
elementary adjective	/ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/	Relating to the basic, essential or fundamental part of something.
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
kindergarten noun	/ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹt(ə)n/	The elementary school grade before first grade.
argue verb	/ˈɑɹ.ɡju/	To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply.
depend verb	/dɪˈpɛnd/	To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition
vacation noun	/veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/	An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure.
educator noun	/ˈɛd͡ʒəkeɪtɚ/	A person distinguished for their educational work, a teacher.
preschool adjective	/ˈpɹiːskuːl/	Of or relating to the years of early childhood before attendance at primary school.
sixth adjective	/sɪksθ/	The ordinal form of the number six.
lifestyle noun	/ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/	A style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group.
divide verb	/dɪˈvaɪd/	To split or separate (something) into two or more parts.
teenager noun	/ˈtiːnˌeɪ̯d͡ʒə/	A person between thirteen and nineteen years old (inclusive).
packet noun	/ˈpæk.ɪt/	A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel
pronounce verb	/pɹəˈnaʊns/	To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously.
practical adjective	/ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/	Relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
look forward to verb	To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
point out verb	To identify among a group of similar subjects, or in a scene where the subject might not be readily seen or noticed, with a gesture of the body.
slow down verb	To decelerate.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Let's break it down step by step.
Let's start here with elementary school.
I'll have to check that here.
Do you think students should keep a long summer break?
What do you think is better?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is divided · is ruled · were expected
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	you've probably seen · We've talked
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	summer, which is · students that would
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	start beginning · start getting · start working

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 22 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: sixth /sɪksθ/, eighth /eɪtθ/, myth /mɪθ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, supervision /ˌs(j)uːpəˈvɪʒən/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, socialize /ˈsoʊʃəlaɪz/
Long words — get the stress right: elementary /ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/, kindergarten /ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹt(ə)n/, educator /ˈɛd͡ʒəkeɪtɚ/, priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/

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 elementary, podcast, kindergarten.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: After Class English #15: What is Summer Break? | EXCLUSIVE RELEASE - Learn English Speaking with Video

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