Shadowing Practice: Athanasia - Queen/AMV (Who Made Me A Princess) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Athanasia - Queen/AMV”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: treat, queen, majesty, knees, bow. This video has 21 sentences and 337 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:22. The speaker talks at a steady 143 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 4 of its 21 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| knee noun | /ni/ | In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank. |
| majesty noun | /ˈmæd͡ʒ.əs.ti/ | The quality of being impressive, great, dignified, powerful, sovereign, or any combination thereof. |
| helpless adjective | /ˈhɛlplɪs/ | Unable to defend oneself. |
| rescue verb | /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ | To save from any violence, danger or evil. |
| angel noun | /ˈeɪ̯n.d͡ʒəl/ | An incorporeal and holy or semidivine messenger from a deity or other divine entity, traditionally depicted as a youthful, winged figure in flowing robes. |
| belong verb | /bɪˈlɒŋ/ | To have its proper place. |
| overshadow verb | /ˌoʊ.vɚˈʃæd.oʊ/ | To obscure something by casting a shadow. |
| princess noun | /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/ | A female member of a royal family other than a queen, especially a daughter or granddaughter of a monarch. |
| prize noun | /ˈpɹaɪ̯z/ | That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power. |
| burn verb | /bɝn/ | To cause to be consumed by fire. |
| recognize verb | /ˈɹɛk.əɡ.naɪz/ | To match (something or someone which one currently perceives) to a memory of some previous encounter with the same person or thing. |
| queen noun | /kwiːn/ | The wife, consort, or widow of a king. |
| treat verb | /tɹiːt/ | To negotiate, discuss terms, bargain (for or with). |
| cross noun | /kɹɑs/ | A geometrical figure consisting of two straight lines or bars intersecting each other such that at least one of them is bisected by the other. |
| battle noun | /ˈbætl̩/ | A contest, a struggle. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 10 contractions and reduced forms, such as ain't, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: overshadow /ˌoʊ.vɚˈʃæd.oʊ/, dangerous /ˈdeɪn.ʒ(ə.)ɹəs/
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 knee, majesty, helpless.
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.