Shadowing Practice: Can You Guess the Diagnosis Before I Do? 👀 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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21 sentences
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1
All right, nursing students, let's see if you can figure this one out before I give you the answer.
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Okay, I've got a patient for you.
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She's a 72 -year -old woman who came into the emergency department saying she just doesn't feel right.
4
Here are her vital signs.
5
I'll give you a second to look those over.
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She's also confused, much sleepier than usual, and her family says that she was completely fine yesterday.
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Now, her labs come back and they show a lactate of 5 .1, A white count of 18 ,000.
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Creatinine is elevated compared to her baseline.
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So what is our top concern over here?
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I'll give you a second again to think about it.
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Comment it down below if you got it.
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The answer I'm thinking of is potentially sepsis, likely progressing towards septic shock.
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Now here's why.
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She has signs of infection with a high fever and elevated white count.
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Her blood pressure's low, heart rate and respiratory rate are elevated.
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She's becoming confused and her kidneys are starting to show signs of dysfunction
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and that lactate it tells us that her tissues aren't getting enough oxygen
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because of poor perfusion
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now this is exactly the kind of patient where early recognition
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can save a life the sooner sepsis is identified the sooner
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we can start fluids obtain blood cultures administer broad spectrum antibiotics and closely monitor for signs of worsening shock
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Can You Guess the Diagnosis Before I Do? 👀”. This video has 21 sentences and 233 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:14. The speaker talks fast, about 189 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 77% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| confused adjective | /kənˈfjuːzd/ | unable to think clearly or understand |
| shock noun | /ʃɔk/ | A sudden, heavy impact. |
| recognition noun | /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/ | The act of recognizing or the condition of being recognized (matching a current observation with a memory of a prior observation of the same entity). |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| lab noun | /læːb/ | A Labrador retriever. |
| nurse noun | /nɝs/ | Anyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession. |
| obtain verb | /əbˈteɪn/ | To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way. |
| potentially adverb | /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/ | In a manner showing much potential; with the possibility of happening in a given way. |
| vital adjective | /ˈvaɪtəl/ | Relating to or characteristic of life. |
| monitor noun | /ˈmɑ.nɪ.tɚ/ | Someone who watches over something; a person in charge of something or someone. |
| infection noun | /ɪnˈfɛkʃən/ | The act or process of infecting. |
| tissue noun | /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/ | Thin, woven, gauzelike fabric. |
| spectrum noun | /ˈspɛktɹəm/ | A range; a continuous, infinite, one-dimensional set, possibly bounded by extremes. |
| oxygen noun | /ˈɑksɪd͡ʒən/ | The chemical element (symbol O) with an atomic number of 8 and relative atomic mass of 15.9994. It is a colorless and odorless gas. Sometimes called elemental… |
| fever noun | /ˈfivɚ/ | A higher than normal body temperature of a person (or, generally, a mammal), usually caused by disease. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 6 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, aren't, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shock /ʃɔk/, recognition /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, infection /ɪnˈfɛkʃən/, tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/
- Long words — get the stress right: recognition /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, respiratory /ɹɪˈspɪ.ɹət.ə.ɹi/, administer /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stə/, antibiotic /ˌæn.taɪ.baɪˈɑ.tɪk/
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 confused, shock, recognition.
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.