Shadowing Practice: 🚀 Boost Your English Listening Skills with Real Native Speakers! 🇺🇸👂 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Improving your listening comprehension of American English is so important for confidence speaking English.

Today, you're gonna improve your listening skills with 10 common phrases.

First, you're gonna hear a bunch of examples of one phrase.

What do you hear?

Lots of different voices and slightly different accents.

What phrase were you hearing?

I'm Rachel, I have a background in opera singing, and I've been teaching the American accent to non -native speakers for over 20 years.

Scan this QR code or visit rachelsenglish .com slash free to get my free course, The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent.

It will blow your mind.

It will give you totally new ideas on how to get the sound you've always wanted.

Before I tell you what phrase you were hearing, would it help if we slowed it down a little bit?

Let's try it.

Here are all the phrases again, this time slowed down.

I didn't see him.

Have you got it now?

The phrase is, I didn't see him.

Now that you know, listen again at regular pace.

I didn't see him.

Did you notice each time the H was dropped in the word him?

This is called a reduction, when we change or drop a sound in a spoken word, and it might make listening comprehension a challenge.

But the more you study reductions, like we will today, the easier they will become for you.

Let's take another phrase.

What are you hearing?

Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

Don't tell her.

What phrase was it?

It was, don't tell her.

Don't tell her.

And did you notice that?

Again, the H was dropped.

You know, it's going to be really good for our listening comprehension if we also practice speaking this way.

Let's take these first two phrases that we've been listening to and do some training.

Listen three times in a row.

I didn't see him.

When you hear it like this, you notice there's a song to it, a melody.

I want you to imitate that exactly as you speak out loud with the training.

Don't think about the letters and words and how you would pronounce them.

Just try out a new way of speaking by imitating each actor.

Mind and seem.

Notice how smooth the phrase is.

All the words are connected.

Mind and seem.

Here's the same phrase three times in a row.

Now after you hear it, you repeat it once.

Mind and seem.

I didn't see him.

Great.

Now, if you're not repeating out loud, this training isn't going to help you much, so please do it.

If it feels too fast, stop thinking about the words, and instead, think about the overall melody and the song of what you hear.

This time, you'll hear it three times with a break to repeat once, and then three times again with a break to repeat once again.

I didn't see him.

Okay, so this is the training.

We're going to do training with these two phrases we've studied so far before moving on to the rest of the phrases.

Here's the first phrase.

I didn't see him.

Now the phrase, don't tell her.

Don't tell her.

Don't tell her Okay, let's listen to a third phrase now.

What are you hearing?

What do you mean?

Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

What do you mean?

What did he mean?

The phrase is, what did he mean?

What did he mean?

Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

Here's our next phrase.

What did he say?

Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

What did he say?

The phrase is, what did he say?

What did he say?

Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

What did he say?

Here's our next phrase.

I didn't tell him.

Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

I didn't tell him.

The phrase is, I didn't tell him.

I didn't tell him.

Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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I didn't tell him.

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Here's our next phrase.

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I know he did.

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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I know he did.

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I know he did.

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The phrase is, I know he did.

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I know he did.

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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Here's our next phrase.

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Give it to her.

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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Give it to her.

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The phrase is give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her?

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Give it to her.

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her?

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Give it to her.

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Here's our next phrase.

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Give it to her.

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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Give it to her.

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The phrase is give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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Here's our next phrase.

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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The phrase is, I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her phrase.

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What did he want?

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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What did he want?

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The phrase is, what did he want?

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What did he want?

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What did he want?

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Now let's listen again, this time a little slower.

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What did he want?

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Now, let's do speaking training with these phrases.

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It'll be the same format as before.

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You'll hear it three times, repeat once.

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You'll hear it three times, repeat once.

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What did he mean?

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What did he say?

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What did he say?

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I didn't tell him.

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I didn't tell him.

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I know he did.

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I know he did.

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I know he did.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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What did he want?

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What did he want?

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What did he want?

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What did he want?

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What did he want?

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What did he want?

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What has all of this done for your listening comprehension?

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Let's see.

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Now you'll hear a bunch of the phrases at random.

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You'll only hear each one once.

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You won't see the scene, so that won't help.

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Keep track of how many you get right and put it in the comments below.

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Don't tell her.

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Don't tell her.

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What do you want?

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What do you want?

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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What did he say?

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What did he say?

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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I know I did.

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I know I did.

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I didn't tell him.

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I didn't tell him.

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And I didn't see him.

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I didn't see him.

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Don't tell her.

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Don't tell her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to her.

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Give it to him.

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Give it to him.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see her.

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I didn't see him.

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I didn't see him.

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I didn't tell him.

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I didn't tell him.

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I know he did.

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I know he did.

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What did he mean?

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What did he mean?

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What did he say?

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What did he say?

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What did he want?

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What did he want?

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Give it to him.

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Keep your learning going now with this video, and don't forget to visit RachelsEnglish .com slash free to get my free mini -course,

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The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent.

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You'll be amazed at what you learn.

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Please subscribe with notifications on, I love being your English teacher.

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That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “🚀 Boost Your English Listening Skills with Real Native Speakers! 🇺🇸👂”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: phrase, listen, slower, hear, listening. This video has 242 sentences and 1466 words to shadow. The speech runs for 19:01. The speaker talks slowly, about 77 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 49 of its 242 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
phrase noun	/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/	A short written or spoken expression.
accent noun	/ækˈsɛnt/	A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to…
comprehension noun	/ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/	A thorough understanding.
reduction noun	/ɹɪˈdʌk.ʃən/	The act, process, or result of reducing.
melody noun	/ˈmɛl.ə.di/	A sequence of notes that makes up a musical phrase.
format noun	/ˈfɔːɹ.mæt/	The layout of a publication or document.
mini adjective	/ˈmɪn.i/	Miniature, tiny, small.
skill noun	/skɪl/	A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
smooth adjective	/smuːð/	Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
connect verb	/kəˈnɛkt/	To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object.
pace noun	/peɪs/	A step taken with the foot.
opera noun	/ˈɒp.ə.ɹə/	A theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance.
scan verb	/skæn/	To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely.
subscribe verb	/səbˈskɹaɪb/	To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
notification noun	/ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/	The act of notifying.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
slow down verb	To decelerate.
speak out verb	To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known.
try out verb	To test (something) to see how it works or whether it is suitable.

Sentences worth repeating

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

What do you hear?
What phrase were you hearing?
Have you got it now?
The phrase is, I didn't see him.
What are you hearing?

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 teaching · we've been listening
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was dropped · is called · are connected
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	you've always wanted · we've studied
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	practice speaking · stop thinking · love being

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 86 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, you'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/, reduction /ɹɪˈdʌk.ʃən/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/

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 phrase, accent, comprehension.

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: 🚀 Boost Your English Listening Skills with Real Native Speakers! 🇺🇸👂 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?