Shadowing Practice: Barack Obama's speech to graduates - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 5 sentences and 59 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:24. The speaker talks at a steady 148 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
13 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- overcome /ˌəʊ.vəˈkʌm/ (verb) — To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of.
- earn /ɝn/ (verb) — To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.
- suffer /ˈsʌfɚ/ (verb) — To undergo hardship.
- discrimination /dɪskɹɪmɪˈneɪʃən/ (noun) — Discernment, the act of discriminating, discerning, distinguishing, noting or perceiving differences between things, with the intent to understand rightly and…
- pale /peɪl/ (adjective) — Light in color.
- endure /ɪnˈd͡ʒʊə(ɹ)/ (verb) — To continue or carry on, despite obstacles or hardships; to persist.
- hardship /ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/ (noun) — Difficulty or trouble; hard times.
- upbringing /ˈʌpˌbrɪŋɪŋ/ (noun) — The traits acquired during one's childhood training
- comparison /kəmˈpæɹ.ɪ.sən/ (noun) — The act of comparing or the state or process of being compared.
- nobody /ˈnoʊ.bə.di/ (noun) — A person dismissed as unimportant.
- previous /ˈpɹi.vi.əs/ (adjective) — Prior; occurring before something else, either in time or order.
- generation /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/ (noun) — The act of creating something or bringing something into being; production, creation.
- tough /tʌf/ (adjective) — Of a material, strong and resilient; sturdy.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- go through (verb) — To travel from one end of something to the other.
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: discrimination /dɪskɹɪmɪˈneɪʃən/, hardship /ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/, generation /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: discrimination /dɪskɹɪmɪˈneɪʃən/, comparison /kəmˈpæɹ.ɪ.sən/, generation /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/
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 overcome, earn, suffer.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have not earned · you've gone |
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.