Shadowing Practice: Anything you want except what made it matter. - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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You are late.
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Just like yesterday.
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Another day, another broken train.
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Same old excuse.
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Look down.
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Don't smile, don't breathe too loud.
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You're late.
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Self-fulfilling prophecy, ever heard of that?
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Don't look at him.
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Go!
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Get out before everyone else does.
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How late?
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5 minutes?
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10 minutes?
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20 minutes?
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Run!
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Come on, run faster!
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Almost there.
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God, I hate these slow walkers.
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Almost there, come on.
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15 minutes, 10 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, 20 seconds?
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You're trapped within the system.
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Every game has its own set of rules.
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As someone begins to explain them to you, it's easy to follow along at first glance.
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And so you carry on, following one route and then the other,
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until at some point you can no longer remember how it all began and what was the initial point of the game. Who is the winner?
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Most of us realize something is off, but how many of us actually care to stop and look around?
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How many of us actually care, for those we don't know?
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I see, you are in a rush.
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I understand, we all do.
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Only, when it comes back to you, why are you so surprised that there is no one?
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Surely there is someone.
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Every night you're plugged into the network, saying hi to everyone to the point where responses feel like a burden.
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It's now become a habit.
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A habit to compare yourself, to show the world how much you've achieved, how big of a party you can throw, because it's yours.
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It's all yours.
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You wanna own it, you wanna be in control.
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But are you?
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Are you ever in control?
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You dream of a better time, same place, different you.
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It's all a dream, so you do whatever you want.
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You simply live for the presence itself,
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which adds to nothing and takes nothing away.
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No need to rush.
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No need to be worried or annoyed.
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No need to justify how you spend your time.
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It's funny how we choose to chase things all the time, always feeling like it's not enough.
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And in this cycle, it's so easy to overlook the precious things we gain
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because of this constant need to focus on the lack.
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Remember your dream, and soon you're gonna wake up.
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But as it happens with good dreams, we often choose to remember them for as long as we can.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 51 sentences and 392 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:55. The speaker talks at a steady 134 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 92% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| rush verb | /ɹʌʃ/ | To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| chase verb | /t͡ʃeɪs/ | To follow at speed. |
| walker noun | /ˈwɔkɚ/ | The agent noun of to walk: a person who walks or a thing which walks, especially a pedestrian or a participant in a walking race. |
| trap noun | /tɹæp/ | A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| burden noun | /ˈbɝdn̩/ | A heavy load. |
| justify verb | /ˈd͡ʒʌstɪfaɪ/ | To provide an acceptable explanation for. |
| plug noun | /plʌɡ/ | A pronged connecting device which fits into a mating socket, especially an electrical one. |
| glance verb | /ɡlæns/ | To turn (one's eyes or look) at something, often briefly. |
| fulfill verb | /fʊlˈfɪl/ | To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.). |
| prophecy noun | /ˈpɹɑfɪsi/ | A prediction, especially one made by a prophet or under divine inspiration. |
| overlook verb | /ˈoʊ.vɚˌlʊk/ | To offer a view (of something) from a higher position. |
| annoy verb | /əˈnoɪ̯/ | To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get out verb | To leave or escape. | |
| look around verb | To inspect a building or area. | |
| look down verb | To lower one's eyes; to direct one's look downwards. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 12 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, wanna. 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 rush, habit, compare.
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.