Shadowing Practice: Billie Eilish Gets Ready for the Met Gala | Vogue - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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- Thank you.
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Hi, Vogue.
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Come get ready with me.
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I mean, this look is how I'm introducing the video.
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Okay.
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Welcome to the Met.
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So this is my third time going to the Met.
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really nice time, so I've been looking forward to it for a while.
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There's nothing like the Met.
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This is Emily.
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She's doing shit to my face.
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This is Benjamin doing shit to my hair.
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We are gluing in long, long, long, long, long bits of hair.
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Because essentially the whole thing is going to come down into a ponytail that we're going to braid. But...
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They've been putting in all these for the last two hours.
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Then Emily, you want to talk about the makeup?
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You always have such a good idea of what you like.
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And between me, you and Dina, we had like really nice references.
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Yeah, I sent her lots of photos of eyes.
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I've been just saving pictures of like dresses that I've found beautiful for the last however many months.
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I was really interested in lots of layers.
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That was the main thing.
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I knew I wanted something white.
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Sorry.
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I knew I wanted something black.
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I wanted it to be just lots of different layers, lots of different textures.
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We had an amazing Shah and she has created us a really exquisite look.
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All pre -existing fabrics that she has used over the years and that exist in her atelier
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- The dress has a lot of ribbon and beads and again, different layers of stuff.
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And so I really wanted to incorporate that in the hair.
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- I kind of wanted to blur the line between the dress and the hair.
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I just really liked that idea of not knowing really where the hair starts in the dress.
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And I've always been a little more masculine than feminine.
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Thank you.
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And then I had this one moment when I was 17 where I was like, - And then you're missing.
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I want to pretend to be a girl for a second.
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One of the first times I wore a dress to an event, it was really scary.
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I've just had to like convince myself that I'm allowed to B masculine and also be feminine when I want to.
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We're done.
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Sort of.
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And we're gonna throw on the dress.
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Well, I was really honored to collaborate on the look with Billy.
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But I wanted to kind of repurpose lace through all my different collections and almost
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make them into a tapestry and look at something that was very fragile in the tulle
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and then use all the embellishment almost like an armor and like a harness on top.
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As usual, my final touch, Irish number two. And we're off!
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Woo! So long!
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I'm off to the next level.
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Off I go.
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Bye.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Billie Eilish Gets Ready for the Met Gala”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: dress, hair, layers, Met. This video has 51 sentences and 472 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:55. The speaker talks at a steady 121 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| masculine adjective | /ˈmæskjələn/ | Of or pertaining to the male gender. |
| feminine adjective | /ˈfɛmɪnɪn/ | Of or pertaining to the female gender. |
| atelier noun | /əˈtɛlˌjeɪ/ | A studio or workshop, especially for an artist, designer, or fashion house. |
| embellishment noun | /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃmənt/ | An act of embellishing. |
| ponytail noun | /ˈpoʊniˌteɪl/ | A hairstyle where the hair is pulled back and tied into a single "tail" which hangs down behind the head. |
| repurpose verb | /ɹiːˈpɜː.pəs/ | To reuse for a different purpose, on a long-term basis, with or without alteration. |
| tapestry noun | /ˈtæpəstɹi/ | A heavy woven cloth, often with decorative pictorial designs, normally hung on walls. |
| collaborate verb | /kəˈlæb.ə.ɹeɪt/ | To work together with others to achieve a common goal. |
| blur verb | /blɝ/ | To make indistinct or hazy, to obscure or dim. |
| exquisite adjective | /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt/ | Especially or extraordinarily fine or pleasing; exceptional. |
| harness verb | /ˈhɑɹ.nəs/ | To place a harness on something; to tie up or restrain. |
| glue noun | /ɡlu/ | A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance. |
| ribbon noun | /ˈɹɪbən/ | A long, narrow strip of material used for decoration of clothing or the hair or gift wrapping. |
| lace verb | /leɪs/ | To fasten (something) with laces. |
| incorporate verb | /ɪŋˈkɔɹ.pɚ.eɪt/ | To include (something) as a part. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been looking · They've been putting |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've been · has created · I've always been |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm introducing · are gluing · you're missing |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | is going to come · gonna throw |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 15 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, we're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: embellishment /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃmənt/, collections /kəˈlɛkʃənz/
- Long words — get the stress right: embellishment /ɪmˈbɛlɪʃmənt/, collaborate /kəˈlæb.ə.ɹeɪt/, incorporate /ɪŋˈkɔɹ.pɚ.eɪt/
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 masculine, feminine, atelier.
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.