Shadowing Practice: Biscuit's Snow Day Race - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Welcome to the wonderful world of reading.
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In this I Can Read story, Biscuit's Snow Day Race, you will be going on a fun adventure.
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Are you ready to read?
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Here we go.
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Look, Biscuit, it's snowing.
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Woof, woof.
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It's a great day to build a snow fort, Biscuit.
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Woof, woof.
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We have our shovel.
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Woof.
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And you know just how to dig.
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Woof!
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Woof!
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Woof!
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Woof!
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Are you ready to help, Biscuit?
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Woof!
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Oh, Biscuit, you found a sled.
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Woof!
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Woof! But no sledding yet.
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We need to build our snow fort.
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This way, Biscuit.
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It takes a lot of digging to build a snow fort.
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Are you ready to help?
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Funny Puppy, what are you up to now?
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Not the sled again.
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Woof!
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Woof!
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Come along now.
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We have to build our snow fort.
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Look, Biscuit.
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A race is about to begin.
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Woof!
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Stop, Biscuit.
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Come back.
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Woof!
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Woof!
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Silly puppy, that's not your sled.
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Woof!
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Biscuit, hold on!
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Woof, woof, woof, woof!
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Woof, woof, woof, woof!
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Oh, Biscuit, you won the race!
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Woof, woof!
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You had lots of snowy day fun, too!
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Woof!
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Thank you.

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This A1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Biscuit's Snow Day Race”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: woof, Biscuit, snow, fort, build. This video has 47 sentences and 188 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:43. 66% 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

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

WordPronunciationMeaning
fort noun/fɔɹt/A fortified defensive structure stationed with troops.
puppy noun/ˈpʌpi/A young rat.
adventure noun/ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/A feeling of desire for new and exciting things.
silly adjective/ˈsɪl.i/Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
dig verb/dɪɡ/To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More…
woof noun/wʊf/The set of yarns carried by the shuttle of a loom which are placed crosswise at right angles to and interlaced with the warp; the weft.
sled noun/ˈslɛd/A small, light vehicle with runners, used recreationally, mostly by children, for sliding down snow-covered hills; no draft animal pulls it.
shovel noun/ˈʃʌv.əl/A hand tool with a handle, used for moving portions of material such as earth, snow, and grain from one place to another, with some forms also used for…
sledding noun/ˈslɛdɪŋ/The act of sliding downhill, or transporting something, on a sled.
snowy adjective/ˈsnoʊi/Marked by snow; characterized by snow.
snow noun/snoʊ̯/The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation…
welcome/ˈwɛl.kəm/Greeting given upon someone's arrival.
wonderful adjective/ˈwʌndəfl̩/Tending to excite wonder; surprising, extraordinary.
begin verb/bɪˈɡɪn/To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
come along verbTo accompany.
come back verbTo return to a place.

Sentences worth repeating

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

  • Are you ready to read?
  • Are you ready to help?
  • Silly puppy, that's not your sled.

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like fort, puppy, adventure.

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 →