Shadowing Practice: Borrow Or Lend The Arrow Trick That Fixes It Instantly - Learn English Speaking with Video
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12 sentences
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1
You are in a meeting and your pen runs dry.
2
You turn to the woman beside you and say, can you borrow me a pen?
3
She smiles and hands it over, but that sentence was backwards.
4
The fix is simple and it is all about direction.
5
Borrow means the thing comes toward you.
6
Lend means it goes away from you.
7
So you borrow a pen from her and she lends a pen to you.
8
Same pen, same second, two different verbs.
9
Picture a little arrow, is it pointing at your chest?
10
Borrow, is it pointing away?
11
Lend, the pen never changed.
12
Only the direction did.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 12 sentences and 105 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:34. The speaker talks fast, about 188 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds.
Key vocabulary in this video
11 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| borrow verb | /ˈbɑɹ.oʊ/ | To receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it. |
| lend verb | /ˈlɛnd/ | To allow to be used by someone temporarily, on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned. |
| beside | /bɪˈsaɪd/ | Next to; at the side of. |
| arrow noun | /ˈæɹəʊ/ | A projectile consisting of a shaft, a point and a tail with stabilizing fins that is shot from a bow. |
| verb noun | /vɝb/ | A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being. |
| backward adjective | /ˈbækwɚd/ | Situated toward or at the rear of something. |
| smile verb | /ˈsmaɪl/ | To have (a smile) on one's face. |
| sentence noun | /ˈsɛn.təns/ | The judicial order for a punishment to be imposed on a person convicted of a crime. |
| chest noun | /t͡ʃɛst/ | A box, now usually a large strong box with a secure convex lid. |
| direction noun | /dɪˈɹɛk.ʃən/ | A theoretical line (physically or mentally) followed from a point of origin or towards a destination. May be relative (e.g. up, left, outbound, dorsal)… |
| toward | /tɔɹd/ | In the direction of. |
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 borrow, lend, beside.
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.