Shadowing Practice: Back from Japan: Telling a Friend About My Trip - Learn English Speaking with Video
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29 sentences
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1
Tom! You're back! How was Japan?
2
Honestly? It was the best trip of my life.
3
Wow, okay. Tell me everything!
4
Well, we landed in Tokyo on a Monday morning.
5
It was so much bigger than I expected!
6
The streets were packed, but everything was so quiet.
7
Nobody was shouting, and the trains were always on time.
8
Oh, and the convenience stores were amazing!
9
Did you take the bullet train?
10
Yes! From Tokyo to Kyoto, in just over two hours.
11
Two hours? Isn't that really far?
12
It's about five hundred kilometres.
13
It felt like flying, but much smoother.
14
Kyoto was completely different. Much calmer.
15
We saw a temple covered in gold, next to a lake.
16
I got up at six to avoid the crowds.
17
And it was totally worth it.
18
So, what about the food?
19
Oh, the food was incredible.
20
Well... except for one embarrassing mistake.
21
Oh no. What happened?
22
I thought the green stuff was avocado...
23
So I ate a whole spoonful of wasabi.
24
Ugh, my eyes were watering for five minutes!
25
Ha! That's hilarious!
26
It wasn't funny at the time, trust me.
27
So, would you do anything differently?
28
Definitely. I'd stay longer than two weeks.
29
And I'd learn a bit more Japanese first!
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![[Shadowing Japanese] 09 好きな食べ物・嫌いな食べ物 (Favorite Foods and Foods I Don't Like) - Japanese Speaking](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TxN1OFwrvW8/mqdefault.jpg)
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Back from Japan: Telling a Friend About My Trip”. This video has 29 sentences and 204 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:32. The speaker talks at a steady 133 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 8 of its 29 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 12 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| temple noun | /ˈtɛm.pl̩/ | A house of worship dedicated to a polytheistic faith. |
| smooth adjective | /smuːð/ | Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough. |
| hilarious adjective | /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/ | Very funny; causing great merriment and laughter. |
| bullet noun | /ˈbʊlɪt/ | A projectile, usually of metal, shot from a gun at high speed. |
| differently adverb | /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/ | In a different way. |
| shout verb | /ʃaʊt/ | To utter a sudden and loud cry, as in joy, triumph, exultation or anger, or to attract attention, to animate others, etc. |
| convenience noun | /kənˈvinjəns/ | The quality of being convenient. |
| avocado noun | /ˌɑvəˈkɑdoʊ/ | The large, usually yellowish-green or black, savory fruit of the avocado tree. |
| embarrass verb | /ɪmˈbæɹəs/ | To disrupt someone's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely. |
| kilometre noun | /kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/ | An SI unit of length equal to 10³ metres. Symbol: km |
| spoonful noun | /ˈspuːnfəl/ | The amount that a spoon will hold, either level or heaped. |
| wasabi noun | /wəˈsɑːbi/ | A plant of the species Eutrema japonicum, cultivated for its edible root. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Did you take the bullet train?
- It wasn't funny at the time, trust me.
- I'd stay longer than two weeks.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was shouting · were watering |
| Comparatives -er than / more … than — comparing two things | bigger than · longer than |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 5 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'd, isn't, wasn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, differently /ˈdɪf.ə.ɹənt.li/, avocado /ˌɑvəˈkɑdoʊ/, kilometre /kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/
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 temple, smooth, hilarious.
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.