Shadowing Practice: Bilingual Brains are Better - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Are you bilingual?

Trilingual?

You might have a better brain than me, and you might live longer.

Hola hombres, esta tres.

That doesn't work.

That's my name is the number three.

Thanks, mom and dad.

What was I in Spanish class?

Manuel, I think?

Hola, me amo Manuel.

I don't like that either.

I think I'm just going to stick to English for now.

Thanks for tuning in to DNews, everybody it looks like bilingualism isn't just useful when you're traveling,

or when you're trying to order food at your favorite restaurant,

or if you're trying to figure out what those girls on the train are talking about across from you, and if it's your shoes.

No, it also could help you live longer.

They know this because when they tested English -speaking seniors, the ones that were bilingual answered quicker.

Without getting too deep into the technical and medical details, bilingual brains are better at switching between major tasks,

like languages, and simultaneously filtering out superfluous information.

Obviously, this is really beneficial throughout people's lives, but if you enroll children in a bilingual school, it will not only help them learn to learn,

but keep their brain agile throughout their life.

It's not the only way.

You can also exercise, do stimulating tasks, or even do the crosswords.

And they've all been shown to keep your brain spry.

Although this is the most fun, unless you want to know what 77 down is vacation destination for sandwich lovers.

Ooh, Delhi!

Ha!

You know, India, Delhi.

Now that you're all jazzed to learn Cantonese or whatever, let's have science stomp on your bilingual dreams for a minute.

After about 12 months, you begin to filter out sounds that aren't found in your language,

which is why my German friend Nina can't really do the sound very well, and I can't do the, you know, the U with the dots.

I can't do that.

They're just not part of our learning.

That being said, it is of course possible to learn new languages, but it's better to be exposed early, like before you're four years old.

If living longer isn't a good enough reason for you to learn a new language, then perhaps this will help.

Look, we're about to get real deep.

Words are just an outward expression of emotions and thoughts.

They don't really mean anything on their own unless we assign them meaning.

Design student Pei Ying Lin created this infographic of untranslatable emotions.

My favorite shortcoming in the English language is that chasm that exists between liking someone and loving someone.

You might really like them or whatever, you might adore them, but that's a little trite.

The infographic shows that Italian and Korean have a word for love that's specifically for friends, family, inanimate objects, and pets.

We have to use the same word to express romantic love to our wife

or our husband as we would express to our mom or our dog or a really nice painting.

That is insane.

Here are some other words that we don't have that show up in other cultures.

I'll probably pronounce some of them really badly.

In Japan they have a really weird one, bakushan, which has to do with a beautiful girl but only when viewed from behind.

This one is really good.

It's Filipino and it has to do with seeing something cute and wanting to pinch or squeeze it.

And it's called giggle.

In Mexican Spanish they have a word for when you feel embarrassed for watching someone else's humiliation.

That's pena ajena.

You get the picture.

So there are a lot of words that English just doesn't have that express these emotions.

So not only can you learn another language, maybe you can just learn these and that'll help you live longer.

I mean, probably not a lot longer, like a few hours.

But hey, at least you can express yourself better.

Have you ever made up a word?

I'm sure you have.

I know I do it all the time.

Leave your made up word down in the comments

and give a definition so that we can all start using your fake words and maybe they'll become real words.

So thanks for watching and ti voglio bene,

which is the Italian word for I really care about you but I don't love you like a romantic partner.

So it would be nice if we had a word in between like and love.

Thanks for watching.

I'm Trace.

See you later.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Bilingual Brains are Better”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: word, learn, language, bilingual, longer. This video has 69 sentences and 756 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:59. The speaker talks fast, about 190 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
bilingual adjective	/baɪˈlɪŋ.ɡwəl/	Having the ability to speak two languages fluently.
emotion noun	/ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/	A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data.
romantic adjective	/ɹoʊˈmæn(t)ɪk/	Fantastic, unrealistic (of an idea etc.); fanciful, sentimental, impractical (of a person).
filter noun	/ˈfɪltɚ/	A device which separates a suspended, dissolved, or particulate matter from a fluid, solution, or other substance; any device that separates one substance from…
pet noun	/pɛt/	An animal kept as a companion or otherwise for pleasure, rather than for some practical benefit or use.
badly adverb	/ˈbæd.li/	In a bad manner.
insane adjective	/ɪnˈseɪn/	Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.
vacation noun	/veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/	An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure.
jazz noun	/d͡ʒæz/	A musical art form rooted in West African cultural and musical expression and in the African American blues tradition, with diverse influences over time…
tune noun	/tjuːn/	A melody.
lover noun	/ˈlʌvɚ/	One who loves and cares for another person in a romantic way; a sweetheart, love, soulmate, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse.
destination noun	/dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/	The place set for the end of a journey or to which something is sent; place or point aimed at.
shoe noun	/ˈʃu/	A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of…
simultaneously adverb	/ˌsaɪmlˈteɪnɪəsli/	Occurring at the same time.
sandwich noun	/ˈsæn(d).wɪd͡ʒ/	A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
make up verb	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	To constitute, to compose.
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

That's my name is the number three.
I don't like that either.
They're just not part of our learning.
Look, we're about to get real deep.
Have you ever made up a word?

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 26 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/, vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, shoe /ˈʃu/, beneficial /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.əl/
Long words — get the stress right: destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, simultaneously /ˌsaɪmlˈteɪnɪəsli/, beneficial /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, humiliation /hjuːˌmɪliˈeɪʃən/, inanimate /ɪnˈænɪmət/

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 bilingual, emotion, romantic.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Bilingual Brains are Better - Learn English Speaking with Video

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