Shadowing Practice: Can You Understand This Video In English? - Learn English Speaking with Video

Let's see if you can understand me if I talk at normal speed.

I'm sure most of you have already watched some of my videos in which I speak a little bit slower.

They're made for people that can't quite understand native English yet, and so they need content that's slower, that's a little bit clearer for them.

So I decided to make this video in which I just talk as if I were talking to another person, like here in my country,

in the US, if I were just talking to a friend or something like that.

And so I want to make this video and you can use it to see

If you can understand me without reading the subtitles, or maybe you can understand me while you're reading the subtitles, doesn't really matter.

It's just a way for you to test your level.

And people ask me all the time to make more advanced content.

And so I'm going to talk about that in just a second.

But here, this video right here is me just talking normally.

And so you can treat this kind of like a test just to see where you're at.

And if you end up needing to use the subtitles, that's perfectly fine.

trying to see how much you can understand

when I just talk at normal speed

because it's good to kind of gauge your level from time to time

and see how much you can understand of a native speaker when they just talk normally.

So let me just say that, and by the way, excuse the sunglasses and the fact that the sun's right in my face, but it's freezing right now.

It's not freezing, but I'm a big baby when it comes to cold weather and the season is definitely changing.

It's autumn.

now and so I would kind of want to be in the Sun

so that's why I'm right here with my glasses on excuse the kind of ridiculous look

but I'm sure you don't mind so I In general, I'm easier to understand than most other native speakers are.

And some people would say I'm the easiest person to understand.

I've had people tell me

that literally I'm the easiest person on the face of the earth for them to understand in English.

Of course, I'm talking about non -native English speakers, learners who are trying to learn English.

They'll tell me that I'm the only one they can understand.

I'm the easiest person.

I've always spoken more clearly I was an English teacher.

So it's not just because I'm a teacher or just because I make this content.

In general, I'm a clear speaker.

I've always been kind of a storyteller.

I've always loved telling stories and just, you know, talking about things in an animated way and recounting things from the past.

My friends used to tell me that I was a good storyteller.

I'm a little bit more dramatic in the way that I speak than other people, perhaps.

And I don't normally speak that fast.

It's just not normal for me to, you know, talk super, super fast fast like that.

And so I just a little bit easier for people to understand, let's say.

So if you can understand me right now, me talking at normal speed,

that doesn't mean that you're going to be able to understand every other native English speaker when they talk at normal speed.

So I just wanted to make that note.

And so, usually because I'm better, sorry, I'm easier for people to understand,

because use my content as kind of like an introduction to native English.

So that's why people use like my advanced podcast episodes, even my US Conversations podcast.

People use those things because when I talk at normal speed, they can still understand me better than other native speakers.

And so it's kind of like an intermediate step

in between like listening to slower content and listening to just random native speakers talking.

Me talking at normal speed is usually kind of like one step in between there just

because I'm easier for people to understand.

So that kind of helps bridge the gap between like content made for learners and then authentic content.

podcast.

You might be watching this video and you're at a lower level of listening, and that's perfectly fine.

You might still be at a level where slower content is necessary.

And that's great.

You just use that content

and work your way up until you can eventually use content in which I'm speaking at normal speed or

another native speaker is speaking at normal speed.

It's just like a matter of getting a little bit better, a little bit more comfortable every day, and using content that's appropriate for your level.

And so, let me talk about content appropriate for your level.

like in the comment section of every single video, I'm sure maybe even in this video, under this video, you'll see comments like this as well.

Let me address the questions about people, that people ask about B1 videos, B2 videos, or whatever, C1 videos.

So I've talked about this before, and I'll mention this again.

So you have probably seen that I make a lot of A1 videos, A2 videos, and the way that I make those videos is,

it's not that an A1 video contains content that is you know perfectly understandable for everyone at an A1 level.

That's not how I classify an A1 listening practice video

because in my opinion when you're at a certain level and you want to reach the next level,

you have to use content that is at that level next level.

You have to challenge yourself with content that's a little bit harder for you, a little bit, you don't understand everything.

Right?

And so if you're at an A1 level and you're listening to a video that's titled A1,

listening practice and that video just contains language that you understand perfectly.

that's not that good of practice.

I mean sure, it's good to listen to anything, but that's not necessarily helping you reach the next level.

So, when I title a video A1 English Listening Practice,

just know that there's content in there or the whole video itself might be above an A1 level, but that's the content that you should be using

if you're at an A1 level because you should be listening to content that's a little bit challenging for you.

So I know some people have mentioned that in the past like, "Oh, this isn't A1.

This is, you know, harder than that." I know it is.

That's the whole point, is that if you're at an A1, the listening practice videos you should be using are videos that are above an A1 level.

Does that make sense?

So same thing with A2.

So let me address the B1 question because people constantly comment this: B1, B1, B1.

If you are truly at a B1 level, if you are at an intermediate level, because B1 is what?

Intermediate?

If you're at an intermediate level, in my opinion, you should be using content that is made for native speakers.

Or if that's still a little bit too hard for you, use content like mine where it's like my advanced content,

advanced podcast where it's at normal speed, but there's like the transcript there to help you.

And, you know, obviously I'm a little bit easier to understand, but it's basically native content, but with some tools to help you understand it.

Or like my U .S.

Conversations podcast.

It's native content.

We speak normally, but there's the tool of the transcript with the definitions of words

and phrases that helps you understand that native content.

Do not seek intermediate level, you know, podcasts and YouTube videos if you truly want to reach the next level.

I'm not saying it's bad to do this, but what you should be doing is you should be using native content as quickly, as soon as you can,

not too soon, but I mean as soon as it's suitable for you.

Okay, so once I reach a B1 level in Greek, you better bet that I'm forgetting all the learner content.

I'm not going to use any more content that's made for learners at B2 at B1.

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No. I'm just going to use native content and hopefully have tools that can help me understand that.

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Or I might use a podcast made by a Greek teacher, but they're speaking at normal speed and they provide the transcript or something like that.

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you know I'm not gonna make B1 and B2 videos

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and title them B1 B2 because that goes against my philosophy

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because I think if you're at a B1 level you should be trying to use native content.

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Like this video right now is a B1 video for you.

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I'm not saying that this content is B1, of course I'm just speaking like a native speaker, but if you're at a B1 level this is the type of content you should be using.

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It has the subtitles so it helps you understand me as I'm talking.

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So B1 should basically just be native content that has something that helps you understand it like subtitles, transcript, definitions, things like that.

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Or you can just try it without those things.

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So I want to address that because I get that question all the time.

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So If you're asking for B1 videos, that means you need to start using content like this.

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Use native content.

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Okay?

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Let me see what else here that I wanted to talk about.

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Okay, yeah, if you insist and you say, "No, Connor, I really want you to make B1 level content, B2 level content," Well, number one,

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I just explained to you, this is B1 content.

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It's just literally me talking at normal speed.

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If that's what you're looking for, use my advanced episodes because this is what I do.

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And in my advanced episodes, I talk like, I try to talk even faster because I know that I speak slowly compared to other speakers.

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And so if I'm trying to help you get accustomed to like other people speaking, you know, I kind of want to speed up my speech a little bit.

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So in some of those advanced episodes, I might talk a little bit faster at than I would

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normally talk just to kind of get you accustomed to fast English.

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Even right now I'm trying to fight the urge to speak slower because I'm someone that generally doesn't speak that fast.

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So I'm trying to keep the rhythm up

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but for me it's just not not you know that normal for me to talk fast.

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So if you want, if you're just insisting on having B1 level content, just use my advanced episodes.

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Okay, click on the link in the description, sign up for those.

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It's super cheap.

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Once you sign up you get all of my advanced episodes from the past.

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You're getting dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of advanced episodes with the transcripts.

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So it's a great deal.

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It's super just convenient.

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It's my voice.

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It's the transcript that you have.

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So it's exactly what you're looking for.

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And then, conversations podcast that I talk about a lot is great as well if you're looking for B1 content,

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B2 content, C1 content.

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You should be using native level content and specifically if you're asking for like B2 content,

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C1 content, you should be listening to a podcast like my US conversations podcast in which I talk to another person.

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So you're actually listening to two people talk and not just one.

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And then of course I provide the transcript, I give you the definitions of keywords and phrases we use.

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So I That if you're asking me for that content, I already make it okay, you just have to sign up for it right?

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It's just not the free content that I give here on YouTube

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because let me just be perfectly honest with you on YouTube

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You know the content

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that most people want just like the average person who's learning English on YouTube They're usually looking for lower -level content, and so that's what I make and Okay,

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so when people reach a higher level and they need content that's not just like learner content, you know, this is what I offer, you know, for my membership and my U .S.

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Conversations podcast.

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I reserve that for those memberships, right?

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What I make here for free on YouTube is the content that most people are looking for.

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And you might think, no, no, people are looking for higher content.

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No, trust me.

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I do this.

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I do this for a living.

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And I can tell you that there's a big difference in view count.

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for like the lower level videos and the higher level videos.

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With the lower level videos always consistently on average have more views.

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Okay, it's because people are looking for this content on YouTube.

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Because once you reach a higher level, you can just start using native level content.

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And that's why

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I don't release a lot of that content here on YouTube because I already released that guided native level content, you know, through my membership, U .S.

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Conversations podcast, etc. So I really just want to clear that up.

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And I know some of you disagree with me on that.

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That's fine.

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But just know that that's kind of my model here.

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This content on YouTube and my normal podcast is a little bit lower level content generally.

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And then the more guided higher level content is accessible via my membership, my U .S.

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Conversations podcast.

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But Will probably make videos like this from time to time where I just kind of like talk normally

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But it's not going to be like an every week type of thing, right?

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I might do a one videos a two videos

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and then this will be like the b1 video So if you're really looking for that, you know, I might release a video like this, but it's not going to be very often It's going to be once every couple months

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or something like that And so if you really want,

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you know, just a lot of content for that level the purpose of listening,

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you know, why just in general why you should do listening practice, what you're doing it for.

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So number one, You're learning words when you listen.

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Okay?

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And you can do this with content at any level.

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Right?

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So you can learn new words from beginner content because sometimes there are words that you don't know.

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So it's still beneficial to listen to or watch any type of content if you're focused on learning vocabulary.

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You also improve your speaking when you listen to pretty much any level content because as long as it's correct English,

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you're kind of internalizing some of the patterns, some of the things that you hear in those videos.

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You copy native speakers when they talk.

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Even like in my lower level videos, you can copy the sentence structures that I use and once you hear them over and over again,

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they just become natural for you to use.

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You kind of get a feel for things, you know, grammar, you know, different structures, and of course you can use repetition

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and uh with those things and just you know once you listen to

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that same piece of content again

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and again you're just going to want to say things

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that you hear in that content so it helps you improve your speaking And then number three, so vocabulary, speaking, and then listening.

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So Obviously, listening helps you listen, but specifically, like I mentioned before, if your goal is to improve your listening, Alright, I want to kind of end on this idea,

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what I already mentioned before.

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You have to listen to content that's harder than just the level where you're at.

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If you just listen to content at the level where you're at, yeah, you're going to learn words, it's going to help your speaking, that's all great, that's beneficial,

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but if your goal is to understand better, then you have to use content that's a little bit challenging for you, okay?

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That's why I do the videos the way I do them.

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That's why I make them this way if it says a one.

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It's not just a A1 content.

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It's harder than A1 so that you can actually practice with something that's challenging for you to reach that next level, right?

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So, If you're at a B1 level, again and your goal is to practice your listening.

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You really want to get better at listening.

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You have to listen to something that's a little bit above your level.

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So if you're at a B1 level use guided native content like I already mentioned.

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So if you're looking for content that will help you improve your listening and you're already more at an intermediate level,

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then make sure to click on the links down below for my more advanced content.

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And those will be great for you to help you achieve your listening goals.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Thank you all for watching this video and I'll talk to you in the next one.

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 Practice: Can You Understand This Video In English? - Learn English Speaking with Video

Context & Background

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What is the Shadowing Technique?