Shadowing Practice: American rhythm practice with a metronome exercise - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Ready?
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Let's go!
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Hey everyone, it's Hadar.
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Today we are going to practice the rhythm of English.
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And when I say practice, I mean really practice.
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So make sure you are able to speak out loud, close the door, and let's get started.
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Rhythm in English is a tool designed to help you communicate what you want to say in a clear, effective way.
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The main thing I want you to know about the rhythm of English, and again, this is not a theoretical lesson,
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I have a lot of videos about rhythm that I'm going to link in the description below this video, but something that I want you to know about rhythm is
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that it allows you to highlight what matters and usually what matters is content words,
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the content nouns, the verbs, the adjectives, the adverbs.
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So it highlights and emphasizes the content and it downplays and reduces everything else.
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And this is why you hear sometimes words are being fully pronounced and then other words are being reduced.
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For example, it's for the best.
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It's for the best.
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Best is fully pronounced.
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It's for the reduced and connected.
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It's for the best.
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I'm telling you, it's for the best.
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Now this happens in English because it's stress-timed language.
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Stress-timed language versus syllable-timed language.
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And many languages are syllable-timed.
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And this is why the concept of rhythm of English is very strange and foreign and artificial for a lot of speakers.
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Let me quickly explain the difference between syllable-timed and stress-timed.
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So in syllable-timed languages, each syllable takes approximately the same amount of time to pronounce
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and that kind of makes the rhythm even and regular.
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So for example, if we have the phrase what do you want to do?
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Then the word what is going to sound like do, it's going to sound like to, what do you want to do?
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Okay, what do you want to do?
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And I even used the pronunciation of English, but it sounded off because I was using syllable-timed rhythm.
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What do you want to do?
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University.
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I do not want to talk to you, okay?
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Syllable timed.
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Every syllable receives the same B.
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In stress-timed languages, stress falls on certain syllables, not every single syllable, but every other syllable or certain syllables.
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And the amount of time between the stress syllables is roughly equal.
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It doesn't matter how many sounds there are between the stresses or how many other syllables.
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The rhythm is kind of the same.
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Now, to be able to do that, we are going to practice rhythm today.
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We are going to practice speaking on the same beat, no matter how many sounds come in between the stressed syllables.
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Now, it's going to be a little artificial.
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It's not really how people speak, but it will help you understand this idea of reductions, how you take those small words and you squeeze them.
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You don't fully pronounce them.
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The difference between syllable-timed and stress-timed
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languages and it's going to help you understand how this rhythm works and what to focus on when you speak.
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I'm going to say a short sentence with three words, people write stories, where each word is emphasized equally.
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And then I'm going to start adding words to this sentence.
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The people write stories and we are going to try to keep the same rhythm
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and keep the same beat on those three words, people write stories, right?
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For example, then the next sentence would be the people are writing the stories.
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So I keep emphasizing people write stories even though I have ing writing
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and I have the word are writing but because I reduce it I can fit it in and keep the same rhythm.
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But it gets interesting.
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We are going to use a metronome which means
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that we are going to play a certain beat and we will have to follow the beat.
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At first we're going to start slow and then we're going to speed up and then we'll see how that feels.
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You trying to squeeze in certain syllables.
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Now if you want to try this at home, children, you can, it's not dangerous.
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Just go to your phone, google metronome and then you'll see a metronome and you can play with the speed and set the speed.
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We are going to start with 80 BPM.
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Okay?
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This is what it sounds like.
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Now, we are going to say the keywords, in this case, people write stories on the beat.
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Okay?
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People write stories.
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Let's do it a few times.
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People write stories.
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People write stories.
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And when you feel confident, we're going to start adding words, look at the screen.
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Follow me.
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Don't worry.
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We'll do it again after.
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If you mess up, it's going to be fine.
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People write stories.
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The people write stories.
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The people are writing stories.
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The people are writing some stories.
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The people will be writing some stories.
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The people will be writing some short stories.
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Good!
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Okay, very good.
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So what did we do here?
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We started with a sentence with three words, people write stories, and then we ended with a sentence with eight words, the people will be writing some short stories,
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but the length of the sentence, the time that it took me to say the the sentence from beginning to end was the same.
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That's only possible in stress-timed languages.
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We're going to go faster, okay?
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Because I think you can do it.
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If you want, you can pause
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and then go back to the part where I was reading it and do it again in 80 BPM, but we are going to move to 90.
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People write stories.
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The people write stories.
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The people are writing stories.
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people are writing some stories.
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The people will be writing some stories.
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The people will be writing some short stories.
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Good, some short stories.
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That's a hard one.
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Look what I did here.
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To be able to fit it in, I had to reduce it.
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So it wasn't the people will be writing, but it ended up sounding like the people will be writing, will be writing, will be writing, right?
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I'm reducing the will to, oh, okay, to be able to make it fit in.
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Do you think we can do it at a hundred?
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I'm not sure, I'm not sure I can do it.
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Let's give it a try.
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Okay, 99, 100.
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People write stories.
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The people write stories.
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The people are writing stories.
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The people are writing some stories.
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The people will be writing some stories.
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The people will be writing some short stories.
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How was it?
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I think I surprised myself.
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Let's do another set of sentences, okay?
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Are you ready?
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Okay, so we start with guards, check gates.
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A lot of consonants here.
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And we're going to start with 80.
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Let's do it.
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And the idea is not to take yourself too seriously, or me, or this exercise.
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Okay, just go with the flow and see what comes out and see where the resistance is.
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Let's do it.
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Guards check gates.
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Guards check the gates.
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The guards check the gates.
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The guards have checked the gates.
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The guards will have checked the gates.
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the guards will have been checking the gates good we used
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here the future perfect tense the future perfect continuous tense
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that is hardly ever used but we are doing it for the sake of practice let's go to 90 okay Ready?
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Three, two, one, go.
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Guards check gates.
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Guards check the gates.
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The guards check the gates.
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The guards have checked the gates.
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The guards will have checked the gates.
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The guards will have been checking the gates.
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Very good.
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let's move on to 100 are you ready take a sip of water if you need.
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Swallow.
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Take a deep breath.
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You got this.
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I believe in you.
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Three, two, one, go.
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Guards check gates.
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Guards check the gates.
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The guards check the gates.
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The guards have checked the gates.
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The guards will have checked the gates.
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The guards will have been checking the gates.
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Okay, very, very good.
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Very, very good.
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I'm very proud of you.
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Very proud of you for trying.
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Let's try one more.
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Cows eat grass.
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The first sentences are really silly, so bear with me.
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We're going to start with 90 this time because I think you can do it.
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Cows eat grass.
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Ready?
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Let's focus on reductions and keeping the content words, those three words always on beat.
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Cows eat grass.
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The cows eat grass.
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The cows eat the grass.
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The cows will eat the grass.
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The cows will be eating the grass.
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The cows will be eating the green grass.
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Very good.
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Moving up to 100.
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Can we do more?
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No?
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Okay.
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100. Cows eat grass.
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The cows eat grass.
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The cows eat the grass.
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The cows will eat the grass.
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The cows will be eating the grass.
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The cows will be eating the green grass.
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Very good.
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Even if you weren't exactly with me on the beat, you still get a gold star, because this is weird.
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What it is
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that we're doing here is considered a little weird for people who are new to this concept of practicing rhythm.
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And obviously people don't speak like that.
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We are not robots.
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The rhythm is not always on the beat like a metronome, but it is kind of repetitive and the Patterns are very,
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very clear when you listen to it and when you just try to hear that beat.
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Languages that are syllable timed are not robotic either, okay?
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They're not.
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In those languages people play with pace, go faster, go slower.
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There are some reductions, but where you put the initial rhythm is different or how you do it.
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And that is something that is exciting to practice.
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Now, I have a question for you.
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Do you think that your language is syllable-timed or stress-timed?
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Let me know in the comments or if you're listening to this on the podcast, send me a DM on Instagram at hadar.accentsway.
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And let's see if you write.
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Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day and I'll see you next week in the next video.
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Bye!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “American rhythm practice with a metronome exercise”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: stories, writing, syllable, gates, guards. This video has 198 sentences and 1718 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:14. The speaker talks at a steady 141 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| syllable noun | /ˈsɪl.ə.bəl/ | A unit of human speech which often forms words corresponding to one opening of the mouth; a vowel and its surrounding consonants. |
| rhythm noun | /ˈɹɪð.əm/ | The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter. |
| cow noun | /kaʊ/ | An adult female of the species Bos taurus, especially one that has calved. |
| distress noun | /dɪˈstɹɛs/ | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. |
| metronome noun | /ˈmɛt.ɹəˌnoʊm/ | A device, containing an inverted pendulum, used to mark time by means of regular ticks at adjustable intervals; an electronic equivalent that emits flashes. |
| pronounce verb | /pɹəˈnaʊns/ | To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously. |
| emphasize verb | /ˈɛm.fə.saɪz/ | To stress, give emphasis or extra weight to (something). |
| squeeze verb | /skwiːz/ | To apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once. |
| tense noun | /tɛns/ | The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists. |
| adjective noun | /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/ | A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent. |
| consonant noun | /ˈkɑn.sə.nənt/ | A sound that results from the passage of air through restrictions of the oral cavity; any sound that is not the dominant sound of a syllable, the dominant… |
| downplay verb | /ˈdaʊ̯nˌpleɪ̯/ | To de-emphasize; to present or portray as less important or consequential. |
| excite verb | /ɪkˈsaɪt/ | To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement. |
| keyword noun | /ˈkiː.wɜːd/ | Any word used as the key to a code. |
| pronunciation noun | /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ | The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| mess up verb | To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss. | |
| sound off verb | To hold forth about something in an opinionated manner. | |
| speak out verb | To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known. | |
| speed up verb | /spiːdˈʌp/ | To accelerate; to increase speed. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm telling you, it's for the best.
- What do you want to do?
- You don't fully pronounce them.
- Let's do it a few times.
- We'll do it again after.
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 | being fully pronounced · is fully pronounced · is emphasized |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have checked |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | metronome which means · people who are |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 27 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: rhythm /ˈɹɪð.əm/, theoretical /ˌθi.əˈɹɛt.ɪ.kəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, repetitive /ɹɪˈpɛtɪtɪv/, theoretical /ˌθi.əˈɹɛt.ɪ.kəl/
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 syllable, rhythm, cow.
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.