Shadowing Practice: Bad Taste in My Mouth - Learn English Speaking with Video
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14 sentences
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Welcome to English in a Minute, where we teach you all about idioms in American English.
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There are times when something occurs, and you might say, this left a bad taste in my mouth.
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What does this phrase mean?
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A bad taste in my mouth.
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Hey, how was your vacation?
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It was great, but we had all of the money stolen from our hotel room.
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Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
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I know.
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The whole thing left a really bad taste in my mouth.
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If something leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth, you feel there is something wrong about the situation.
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It gives you an unpleasant feeling or memory.
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Of course, you also can eat something that literally leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
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Either way, if something leaves a bad taste in your mouth, it isn't good.
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And that's English in a Minute.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Bad Taste in My Mouth”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: taste, mouth, leaves, English. This video has 14 sentences and 148 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:55. The speaker talks at a natural 162 words per minute, close to everyday conversation.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 14 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| leaf noun | /lif/ | The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants. |
| occur verb | /əˈkɜː/ | To happen or take place. |
| steal verb | /stiːl/ | To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it. |
| vacation noun | /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ | An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| unpleasant adjective | /ʌnˈplɛzn̩t/ | Not pleasant. |
| idiom noun | /ˈɪdiəm/ | A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people. |
| teach verb | /ˈtiːt͡ʃ/ | To pass on knowledge to. |
| mouth noun | /maʊθ/ | The front opening of a creature through which food is ingested. |
| taste noun | /teɪst/ | One of the sensations produced by the tongue in response to certain chemicals; the quality of giving this sensation. |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| hotel noun | /həʊˈtɛl/ | An establishment that provides accommodation and other services for paying guests; normally larger than a guesthouse, and often one of a chain. |
| literally adverb | /ˈlɪ.tə.ɹə.li/ | Without overstatement or understatement, or false or misleading words. |
| memory noun | /ˈmɛm.ə.ɹi/ | The ability of the brain to record information or impressions with the facility of recalling them later, usually at will. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might say |
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 leaf, occur, steal.
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.