Shadowing Practice: Choosing a School for Our Daughter - Learn English Speaking with Video

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32 sentences
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1
Wow, I have to say, Oakridge really blew me away today!
2
Hmm, it was impressive, I'll give you that.
3
The science labs alone! And their results are outstanding!
4
Sure, but did you clock how long the drive took?
5
Oh, come on, forty minutes isn't the end of the world.
6
Forty minutes each way, in rush hour, twice a day.
7
Ugh, that's nearly three hours a day behind the wheel!
8
Okay, we could take turns. It's manageable, surely.
9
Says the man who's never actually done a school run.
10
I'm sorry, that's fair. That's... actually completely fair.
11
Well, Lincoln is, let's say... a little underwhelming.
12
It's perfectly decent. And all her friends are going there.
13
Friends come and go at that age, though.
14
Seriously? You honestly believe that?
15
She cried when we mentioned leaving Maya and Zoe.
16
Oh... I didn't know she'd cried.
17
She didn't want to upset you. You seemed so excited.
18
I'm sorry. I guess I got carried away by the shiny labs.
19
Ha, to be fair, they were extremely shiny.
20
Okay, so what actually matters most to her?
21
Feeling settled, I think. She's a bit of a worrier.
22
Then maybe Lincoln... and we top up the science somehow?
23
There's that robotics club on Saturdays, isn't there?
24
Oh, she'd absolutely love that!
25
And we revisit it properly before middle school.
26
Agreed. If she's bored, we look again.
27
Great. No commute marathon, and no tearful goodbyes.
28
See? We make a pretty good team when I listen.
29
Shall we tell her together over breakfast?
30
Definitely! I think pancakes might be in order!
31
Ha, now you're just bribing her.
32
Hey, it's called strategic parenting.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Choosing a School for Our Daughter”. This video has 32 sentences and 271 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:07. The speaker talks at a steady 128 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 8 of its 32 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
lab noun/læːb/A Labrador retriever.
forty adjective/ˈfoɹti/Resembling or characteristic of a fort.
rush verb/ɹʌʃ/To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully.
impressive adjective/ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress.
clock noun/klɑk/A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
strategic adjective/stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/Of or pertaining to strategy.
decent adjective/ˈdiː.sənt/Appropriate; suitable for the circumstances.
settle verb/ˈsɛtəl/To determine (something which was exposed to doubt or question); to resolve conclusively; to set or fix (a time, an order of succession, etc).
goodbye/ɡʊdˈbaɪ/Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing.
marathon noun/ˈmæɹəθən/A 42.195-kilometre (26-mile-385-yard) road race.
bore verb/boɹ/To inspire boredom in somebody.
commute verb/kəˈmjuːt/To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash…
robotics noun/ɹoʊˈbɑ.tɪks/The science and technology of robots, their design, manufacture, and application
bribe noun/bɹaɪb/Something (usually money) given in exchange for influence or as an inducement to breaking the law.
manageable adjective/ˈmænəd͡ʒəb(ə)l/Capable of being managed or controlled.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
carried away adjectiveMade excessively emotional or excited, so that one goes too far.

Sentences worth repeating

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

  • Hmm, it was impressive, I'll give you that.
  • Sure, but did you clock how long the drive took?
  • You honestly believe that?
  • I didn't know she'd cried.
  • Shall we tell her together over breakfast?

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 10 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, I'm, isn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

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 lab, forty, rush.

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 →