Shadowing Practice: Christmas in Prague Chapter 1 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Chapter 1 Christmas 1957 It is night and the fields near the village are white with snow.
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The village is quiet but not everybody is sleeping.
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Eyes are watching the roads and the fields near the village.
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because this is Czechoslovakia and the year is 1957.
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Across the fields, only half a kilometre away, is the Austrian border.
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But the people of Czechoslovakia are not free to go to Austria.
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The border guards watch day and night, and they carry guns.
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In a house in the village, a man and a woman are talking.
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The woman holds a six-month-old baby boy in her arms.
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She is excited, but she is afraid too knew.
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Tell me again, she says.
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Did he get to Austria all right last night?
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Yes, he did, the man says.
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Nobody saw him.
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Nobody heard him.
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But last night was easy, because the sky was dark.
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Tonight it's more difficult.
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Look at that moon!' But it's Christmas night,
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the woman says, and the guards are drinking in the guardhouse, yes?
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That's true, says the man.
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But sometimes they come out and drive up and down the road for a time.
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So you must be careful.
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And you must run fast, very fast.
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He looks at his watch.
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It's time to go.
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The woman puts on a white coat and a white hat.
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The baby wears a white coat too, and the woman carries him on her back.
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Good, the man says.
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White is best when there's snow.
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Nobody can see you.
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Now, are you ready?
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Let's go.
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They leave the house and walk quickly out of the village.
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After a time, they stop and the man says,
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very quietly, OK, do you see those trees?
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Turn right there and go 50 metres.
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When you come to the road, go across it quickly and run down the hill through the trees.
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Then you come to the river.
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Turn left and go 500 metres.
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The trees finish there and you can walk through the river easily.
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Across two more fields and you're in Austria.
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Our friends are waiting for you in the second field.
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Go now.
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Goodbye and good luck.
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The woman begins to run.
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The baby on her back is sleeping.
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But now he opens his eyes and begins to cry.
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The woman is afraid and runs more slowly.
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But the baby's crying is loud in the night.
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At the trees, the woman turns right and soon she is at the road.
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She does not see the black car under the trees, but the men in the car see her.
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Suddenly, there is a noise in the night.
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The noise of guns.
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Then it is quiet again.
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The woman's body lies in the snow on the road.
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Now the only sound is the crying of the baby.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Christmas in Prague Chapter 1”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: trees, village, road, field, baby. This video has 59 sentences and 472 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:58. The speaker talks slowly, about 79 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 94% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| coat noun | /ˈkoʊ̯t/ | An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms. |
| metre noun | /ˈmiːtəɹ/ | The basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Système International d'Unités), equal to the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in… |
| goodbye | /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ | Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing. |
| quietly adverb | /ˈkwaɪ.ɪt.li/ | Producing little or no noise. |
| guardhouse noun | /ˈɡɑɹdˌhaʊs/ | A station for guards, especially at the entrance of a town, castle, etc. |
| kilometre noun | /kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/ | An SI unit of length equal to 10³ metres. Symbol: km |
| snow noun | /snoʊ̯/ | The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation… |
| quiet adjective | /ˈkwaɪ̯.ət/ | With little or no sound; free of disturbing noise. |
| cry verb | /kɹaɪ/ | To shed tears; to weep, especially in anger or sadness. |
| noise noun | /ˈnoɪ̯z/ | Various sounds, usually unwanted or unpleasant. |
| suddenly adverb | /ˈsʌd.ən.li/ | Happening quickly and with little or no warning; in a sudden manner. |
| chapter noun | /ˈt͡ʃæptɚ/ | One of the main sections into which a published work is divided, especially a book. |
| slowly adverb | /ˈsloʊli/ | At a slow pace. |
| careful adjective | /ˈkɛɹfəl/ | Taking care; attentive to potential danger, error or harm; cautious. |
| loud adjective | /ˈlaʊ̯d/ | Of great intensity. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| drive up verb | To cause or force a price, quantity, rate, etc. to increase. | |
| run down verb | To hit someone with a car or other vehicle and injure or kill them. | |
| walk through verb | To explain (something) to (someone), step by step. |
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like coat, metre, goodbye.
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.