Shadowing Practice: Christmas in New York VLOG - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Good morning, guys.

It's Syd, and welcome back.

Today, we're vlogging again, but with a little twist.

Today's gonna be a Christmas -themed vlog.

I posted on my Instagram story asking for video ideas, and I really do read,

truly, all of your guys's messages i got a lot of requests for a christmas new york style vlog

that is exactly what we're doing it just goes by so quickly

and i try to soak it all in before

it's over december is like probably my favorite month

i love the festivities i love getting in the christmas spirit this is from a pimple

that i tried to pop on my face so that's what happens

when you do that don't do

that we have a lot to do today

i leave tomorrow very early in the morning for minnesota one of the big things

i need to do today is i need to go christmas shopping for my friend who i'm seeing tonight

i'm having like a little girls night where we're gonna exchange christmas gifts with a couple of my close friends

i kind of want to make banana bread tonight

that was really random but i definitely want to do

that i bought the stuff for it maybe do gingerbread houses with them

because you have to do

that it's the law i feel like i always talk about how i am in my videos

so how are you guys please comment below how you're doing

i actually want to know i feel very selfish just speaking about myself all the time on here

and i really do want to know how you guys are doing my skin has been

so dry it's crazy it's never been this dry

it's painful for me to apply moisturizer we're gonna finish getting ready together I'm going to put some Christmas music on.

Okay, makeup is done.

I do have pants on.

Proof, I have pants on.

I'm not weird like that.

But I am leaving my house, so I should put a lot of pants on.

i'm so happy because it's sunny today i talk about this all the time

but my mood really does get affected by the weather specifically

if it's like dreary specifically when it's dreary

which i know is common for a lot of people

i try to like make those days as good as possible

but i just love the sun i wish it didn't

but it really does impact my mood and like the trajectory of my mood

that day my outfit today is very casual because i'm just running errands

and honestly sort of stressed right now thinking about how much i have to do before i leave

so i think this will do it's also supposed to be really really warm today

i think it's like 50 degrees one thing i forgot

i have to say is i need to pick up my new laptop

i bought a new laptop from apple the one that i have is from 2017.

i don't know how i made it this long in my brain

i thought i got this like a couple years ago

but it was way longer than

that it's just like slow obviously with time i definitely need a new one like quite quite overdue

but i'm really excited so i'm gonna pick

that up today i ordered it online

and i have to get it before i leave

because they only hold it for like four

or five days first up i want to go get a holiday drink because i need to be festive duh

I think the black and white is kind of a little bit more popular I do not

Yeah Okay, I got my holiday drink

Okay guys, so I got the cookie latte i asked the barista for her input

i really like it i'm gonna rate it wait let me try it

it's really sweet but i love sweet coffee

so i'm gonna give this an eight okay guys

i got my coffee had a little dramatic chat with my friend

and now i am going to get my friend her gift

i really want to go to anthropology i love the store i recently had a re resurgence of appreciation for

that for the store does resurgence make sense i don't know resurgence is a really weird word to describe

that rebirth i don't know whatever i'm going in the store

i'm going in anthropology i could have just simply said that this is so sweet i want this.

This wallet is beautiful.

Okay, so I just went to Anthropologie.

I'm going to get the second part of her gift at this matcha place.

It's a really famous matcha here, and she loves matcha.

I just got back from Anthropologie and the matcha store.

I wanted to do a little quick haul of what I got, because I did get one thing for myself,

too, which I didn't think I would do.

And then I think I'm going to go back out and shop again.

So I guess we'll see what happens.

First, I went to Anthropologie i cannot put into words how much i love that store

so i went in there with the goal to get a

gift for my friend she's really into her astrology sign would you say

that ivana ivana's here she's helping me with some things i saw these candles

that you can buy based on your sign and she's a tourist

so i got her this tourist candle

and i was like i hope it smells good

because i didn't want to buy it

if it didn't smell good it smells really really nice actually this is what it looks like Very pretty.

I think this will go well with her room decor too.

I also went to her favorite matcha store because she loves matcha

and I got a packet of their house matcha

that she likes to make in her apartment but also when I was at Anthropologie.

Ever since I moved into this new apartment I've been trying to bake and cook more.

It's just more fun for me now because I actually have a good kitchen that I can use.

I never really had tons of bowls or cooking appliances before.

I thought i get this bowl because it's so pretty

and what came to my mind instantly is

that i want to make banana bread tonight i've been planning this

and this just seemed perfect for that

and it will encourage me to bake more hopefully

so yeah i didn't get that much stuff

but i just wanted to quickly show you guys

when i got home i need to go to apple to pick up my laptop

and then i also still want to get my mom something small i think

100

so we'll probably go back out for some more christmas shopping

101

and then i need to wrap this is such a pinterest bowl to me and that's why i bought it.

102

It kind of looks like a golf ball.

103

i forgot my memory card at home so i'm filming on my iphone

104

but wanted to find the cute little gift for my mom in here for her kitchen

105

i feel like nothing really would go with her kitchen like the colors of her kitchen here

106

i don't want to get her something that wouldn't go

107

with her decor you know

108

but i did get my laptop i got my new laptop i'm

109

so excited for this because my print laptop is

110

so slow it's on its last legs never since i said

111

that one phrase i'm like second wait what did you say again

112

i said a phrase to ivana recently i don't want to pigeonhole myself

113

anyways this is my new laptop my current laptop is

114

so slow i'm going to do some dishes really quick ivana is helping with the second drop of ophelia

115

i'm going to join her in a minute

116

then i'm making some pasta for dinner a little lunch dinner i have my sauce

117

and pasta now that i have a dishwasher things are

118

so much easier i kind of forget

119

that i have a dishwasher sometimes i just start washing it with my hand

120

because i didn't have it on my old equipment

121

dinner time yay now we're working on stuff for

122

it's cold i feel like i need to heat

123

it up yeah maybe i have my new laptop right here yay

124

it's getting set up right now please okay guys

125

so all right i'm gonna be packing now not packing oops

126

i'm gonna be wrapping i start like no i start wrapping like actually wrapping

127

i guess it's not that hard to wrap

128

because i asked for a gift bag from the girl working at anthropology

129

and their bags are

130

so cute i really like them it's like the perfect little gift bag i'm gonna wrap these in tissue paper

131

okay guys we're making banana bread with my new bowl i like

132

that word bowl i'm thinking about cat names

133

so you name your cat bowl no i know a girl

134

that named her dog table and he's cute our friend how are you guys also coming she's here Bye -bye.

135

Hi, darling, Angel, guys!

136

Dying, and then I...

137

But look, I already ate half of it.

138

You ate all of that.

139

Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp. So I...

140

What is that?

141

I'm scared.

142

Oh, wait, is it because you just used this knife?

143

Yeah, but is the knife dirty?

144

It's kind of mold.

145

Eww!

146

Look in the back.

147

In the back.

148

Look over there.

149

There's more.

150

Oh my god.

151

That's mold.

152

Yeah, I think it's mold.

153

Okay, so...

154

Should I have to go buy any butter?

155

Okay, well, Sydney's going to get butter because that one had mold on it.

156

That's disgusting.

157

Hi!

158

I got some butter.

159

we're opening our gifts right now we're doing our gift exchange I love this for my jewelry.

160

Look at this for storing it

161

Guys look what I got Sydney and she freaked out

162

How gonna wanna just left we had so much fun and my house smells like banana bread now

163

It's almost 10 p .m.

164

and I need to pack now because my flight leaves at, I think it leaves at 7 a .m.

165

So basically I have to get up at 5.

166

I actually have to pack a lot of stuff this trip

167

because I'm going to Minnesota and then I'm going to go to Utah.

168

And basically I'm going to be gone for like two and a half weeks.

169

So I'm bringing both a suitcase and carry -on, which I don't really do because I don't like to pack that much.

170

I feel like you would assume that I'm an overpacker, but I'm actually pretty good.

171

I used to be an overpacker

172

and then one day I was like I'm never overpacking again

173

because it's just so much work

174

but this time I do have to pack quite a bit

175

so I'm thinking I'm gonna do my clothes

176

and the bulk of my belongings in the big suitcase

177

and then I'm trying to keep just my shoes

178

and a couple random accessories in my carry -on

179

which I already kind of did I don't know

180

if you can see

181

that i can't believe it i can't believe

182

i remembered to do an outro i never thought

183

i'd see the day to be honest it's almost midnight i'm gonna go to bed

184

because i have to be up in five hours packing is

185

almost done as you can see progress was definitely made

186

and i'm gonna go to bed because i'm so tired

187

and i cannot wait to sleep i love you guys

188

and thank you so much for watching i feel like i don't tell you enough

189

but i really am so thankful for you guys

190

and just all the love that you give me

191

so thank you let me know if you have any videos

192

that you want to see down below or dm me on instagram

193

but i love you guys and i'll see you in my next vlog bye

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Christmas in New York VLOG”. This video has 193 sentences and 2047 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:01. The speaker talks at a natural 157 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 80% 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
laptop noun	/ˈlæp.tɑp/	A laptop computer.
wrap verb	/ɹæp/	To enclose (an object) completely in any flexible, thin material such as fabric or paper.
banana noun	/bəˈnænə/	An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.
mold noun	/moʊld/	A natural substance in the form of a furry or woolly growth of tiny fungi that appears when organic material lies for a long time exposed to (usually warm and…
pants noun	/pænts/	An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers.
mood noun	/muːd/	A mental or emotional state, composure.
butter noun	/ˈbʌtɚ/	A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk).
anthropology noun	/ˌænθɹəˈpɑləd͡ʒi/	The scientific study of humans, systematically describing the ethnographic, linguistic, archaeological, and evolutionary dimensions of humanity using a…
knife noun	/ˈnaɪ̯f/	A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually steel or other metal (the blade), usually sharpened on one edge…
phrase noun	/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/	A short written or spoken expression.
leaf noun	/lif/	The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
pasta noun	/ˈpɑ.stə/	Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating.
bake verb	/beɪk/	To cook (something) in an oven (for someone).
candle noun	/ˈkæn.dəl/	A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.
decor noun	/deɪˈkoɹ/	The style of decoration of a room or building.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
pick up verb		To lift; to grasp and raise.
look over verb		To check quickly; to make a brief or cursory visual inspection of.
set up verb	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	To make ready for use.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Today, we're vlogging again, but with a little twist.
I'm not weird like that.
Should I have to go buy any butter?

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 trying · i've been planning
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has been · it's never been
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	love getting · finish getting · start washing
Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea	should put · Should I have

Pronunciation to watch

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

The “th” sounds: anthropology /ˌænθɹəˈpɑləd͡ʒi/, cloth /klɒθ/, thankful /ˈθæŋkfəl/, rebirth /ɹiːˈbɜːθ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: wash /wɑʃ/, tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/, shoe /ˈʃu/, casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/, dish /dɪʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: anthropology /ˌænθɹəˈpɑləd͡ʒi/, appreciation /əˌpɹiː.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/, accessory /əkˈsɛs.(ə.)ɹi/, trajectory /tɹəˈd͡ʒɛktəɹi/, astrology /əˈstɹɒlədʒi/

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 laptop, wrap, banana.

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: Christmas in New York VLOG - 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?

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