Shadowing Practice: Amazing Animal Groups | Science for Kids - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Squeaks and I have tons of fun when a group of our friends get together here at the Fort.
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And that got me thinking.
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We have different names for different groups of people.
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Like a group of kids that all have the same teacher is called a class.
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And the people we're related to, or who we live with, or who take care of each other, Like our parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, we call them a family.
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Well, groups of animals have special names, too.
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And I bet you might have even heard some of them.
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For example, some groups of animals are called herds.
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Most of the time, animals that move in herds have hooves.
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This means that their feet have a tough, hard covering to help protect them.
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Horses, cattle, and deer all have hooves, and they move in herds.
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You might also have heard the word flock.
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A big group of birds, especially ones that live or travel or eat together, are called flocks.
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So if you see a bunch of geese, ducks, or chickens, then you're looking at a flock.
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And you also might know that people aren't the only living things that hang out in schools.
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Do you know what kind of animals live in groups called schools?
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Good job, Squeaks!
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Fish!
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Big groups of fish are often called schools.
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So you might be wondering where these names come from.
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And the answer is that sometimes names come from words in other languages.
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For example, the word school comes from a Dutch word that means crowd.
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So a school of fish is another way to say a crowd of fish, which makes sense to me.
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But sometimes we give groups of animals a name because the name describes something about the animal.
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For example, some group names tell us where the animal lives.
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A bee's home is called a hive, so a group of bees is sometimes called a hive, too.
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Lots of different animals make their homes in nests, so we call these animal groups nests.
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Groups of snakes and rabbits are called nests.
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And guess what else, Squeaks?
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You've got it!
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Mice!
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That's right, Squeaks!
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A lot of groups of animals have more than one name, like rats.
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A group of rats is called a colony, pack, swarm, horde, or, my favorite, a mischief.
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So let's play a guessing game.
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I'll tell you the animal, and you see if you can guess what the group of those animals is called.
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Don't worry, I'll give you some hints to help you out.
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Clams and oysters live buried in the bottom of the ocean.
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These animals don't move around very much.
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They do all of their living in one spot, covered up with a blanket of sand.
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So do you think a group of oysters or clams is called a bed, an army, or a flock?
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If you guessed bed, you're right!
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Oysters and clams don't really sleep, but since they're usually buried in a cozy patch of ground, groups of oysters and clams are called beds.
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Okay, let's try another.
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How about prairie dogs?
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These little animals and their families live in burrows, which are long underground tunnels that they use like streets to travel back and forth.
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So do you think a group of prairie dogs and where they live is called a herd, a town, or a troop?
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Town is correct!
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Just like you and I use streets to get around in our city or town, the prairie dogs use burrows to get around in their town.
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Okay, let's try one more.
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The lion.
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Now the name of a group of lions doesn't tell us about where it lives, but it tells us something about how people think about the animal, or what they remind them of.
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Here's a hint, sometimes people call this animal the king of the beasts.
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Doesn't he look proud of himself?
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So do you think a group of lions is called a bed, a swarm, or a pride?
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If you guessed pride, you're right!
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A long time ago, people thought lions looked like they were very proud of themselves.
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So today we call a group of lions a pride.
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And these are only a few of the really cool animal groups out there!
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So ask a grown-up to help you look up the name of your favorite animals group, and let us know what you learned!
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Thanks for joining us on SciShow Kids!
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Do you have a question for us?
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Just get a grown-up and ask us in the comments below, or send us an email to kids at the at SciShow.com, and we'll see you next time here at The Fort!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 63 sentences and 789 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:00. The speaker talks fast, about 197 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| lion noun | /ˈlaɪən/ | A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe. |
| flock noun | /flɑk/ | A large number of animals associated together in a group; commonly used of sheep, but (dated) also used for goats or other livestock animals, or sometimes any… |
| oyster noun | /ˈɔɪ.stɚ/ | Any of certain marine bivalve mollusks, especially those of the family Ostreidae (the true oysters), usually found adhering to rocks or other fixed objects in… |
| nest noun | /nɛst/ | A structure built by a bird as a place to incubate eggs and rear young. |
| prairie noun | /ˈpɹɛə.ɹi/ | An extensive area of relatively flat grassland with few, if any, trees, especially in North America. |
| rat noun | /ɹæt/ | Any of the numerous members of several rodent families that usually have short limbs, a pointy snout, a long, hairless tail, and a body length greater than… |
| hint noun | /hɪnt/ | A clue. |
| bury verb | /ˈbɛɹi/ | To outlive. |
| hive noun | /haɪv/ | A structure, whether artificial or natural, for housing a swarm of honeybees. |
| sand noun | /sænd/ | Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in… |
| remind verb | /ɹəˈmaɪnd/ | To cause one to experience a memory (of someone or something); to bring to the notice or consideration (of a person). |
| underground adjective | /ˌʌn.dəɹˈɡɹaʊnd/ | Below the ground; below the surface of the Earth. |
| mouse noun | /maʊs/ | Any mammal of the many rodent families (especially Muridae) that have a small body and a long tail. |
| beast noun | /biːst/ | Any four-footed land mammal. |
| ton noun | /tʌn/ | The short ton of 2000 pounds (about 907 kg), 20 hundredweights of 100 pounds avoirdupois each. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get together verb | To meet, to gather together, to congregate. | |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. | |
| look up verb | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | To have better prospects. |
| move around verb | To relocate to new homes repeatedly; to not live in any one place for long. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 15 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, doesn't. 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.
- 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 lion, flock, oyster.
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 called · are called · are often called |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | fish, which makes · burrows, which are |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might have · might also have · might know |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | I'll tell · I'll give · we'll see |
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.