Shadowing Practice: COMMONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello!
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Welcome to English for Everyone.
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Today we're looking at special words that are spelled with O -V -E.
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You can have three pronunciations with O -V -E.
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Let's look at our first word.
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Our first word is stove, making the long O sound.
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O, stove.
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Stove.
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I have an old stove.
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Do you have a new stove or an old stove?
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And we see the long O sound with the word over.
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O, over.
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The game is finished.
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Or, the game is over.
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Let's practice.
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Is the game over?
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Very good.
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Example, grove.
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A grove is a farm for trees.
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If you grow oranges, you have a lot of orange trees.
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That is a grove.
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An orange grove.
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I have never been to an orange grove.
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Have you ever been to an orange grove?
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Very good.
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Another example is cove.
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Cove.
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A small beach is a cove.
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Making the long O sound.
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O. Cove.
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They're swimming in the cove.
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Are they swimming in the cove?
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Very good.
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Another example, clove.
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Clove.
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I don't like the flavor of cloves.
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I don't like cooking with cloves.
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Do you like the flavor of cloves?
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very good
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and we have some verbs in the past making the o
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sound weave in the present weave she's weaving a rug in the past she wove she wove a rug
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and the participle is woven
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She has woven many rugs.
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So the past is wove.
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She wove a rug.
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Did she weave a rug?
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Very good.
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The verb dive.
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In the present dive, in the past dove.
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He dove in the water.
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Let's practice.
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Did he dive in the water?
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Very good.
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And the verb drive.
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In the past, drove.
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She drove to the store.
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Let's practice.
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Did she drive to the store?
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Very good.
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Now we see the word dove in the past.
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Remember, in the present dive, in the past dove.
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Well, we see the same letters spelling dove.
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That's right.
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D -O -V -E spells dove.
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The white pigeon.
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The white bird.
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Dove.
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So when you see D -O -V -E, it can be dove, the passive dive,
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and it can be dove, the white bird.
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It depends on the usage.
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So remember the white bird is a dove making the short
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sound uh uh uh relax uh uh the sound is down here uh duh dove dove.
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So the white bird is a dove.
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The dove is a symbol of peace.
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Another example of the sound uh oven.
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Relax sound.
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Oven.
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Oven.
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I'm making bread in the oven.
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Or I can say I'm baking.
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I'm baking bread in the oven.
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Another example.
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Cover.
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Cover.
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Cover.
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I always cover my mouth when I sneeze.
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Do you cover your mouth when you sneeze?
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Very good.
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And we hear the short sound uh with the word love.
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Uh, love, love.
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They love each other very much.
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Let's practice.
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Do they love each other?
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That's right.
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They love each other.
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And with the word glove.
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One glove, two gloves.
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The sound uh, glove, gloves.
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I wear gloves in the winter when it's cold.
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Do you wear gloves in the winter when it's cold?
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Very good.
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Another example, above, below.
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Above, making this short sound above.
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Above.
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Example.
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There are many pictures above the couch.
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Let's practice.
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Are there many pictures above the couch?
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That's right.
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There are many pictures above the couch.
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And we see the action shove.
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Shove is a verb.
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It means to push hard.
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Push hard is shove.
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Don't shove me.
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The boy is shoving the girl.
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Or in the past, he shoved.
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He shoved her.
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He shoved the girl.
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Shove.
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Short sound.
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Uh, uh, shove, shove.
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Did he shove the girl?
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That's right.
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He shoved the girl.
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Not nice.
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And our last example is shovel, making the short uh sound.
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Shuh, shovel.
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He has a shovel.
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He's digging a hole with the shovel.
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Let's practice.
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Does he have a shovel?
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Very good.
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Is he digging a hole with the shovel?
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Very good.
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And our last sound for O -V -E is OO.
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Example, move.
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Making the long OO sound.
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Move.
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Move.
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I am buying a new house, so I am going to move.
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I'm moving to a new house.
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I don't like to move.
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Do you like to move?
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Very good.
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Another example, prove.
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Making the long ooh sound.
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Prove.
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Prove is the verb.
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Proof is the noun.
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I show you the proof.
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Verb, I prove it.
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I can prove it because I have the proof.
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Prove.
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I can prove it.
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I have the evidence.
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I have the proof.
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I can prove it.
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Let's practice.
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Can you prove it?
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Very good.
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Similar word, improve, making the long oo sound.
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Improve, to get better and better and better.
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Improve is the verb.
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Example, do you want to improve your English?
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That's right.
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I want to improve my English.
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Good example.
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Similar sound.
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Approve.
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Approve.
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I say yes.
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I approve of.
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Remember connector of.
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I approve of that.
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Or I approve of this.
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Remember, of, approve of.
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I don't approve of his behavior.
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He's being bad.
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Do you approve of his behavior?
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Very good.
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Thanks for watching.
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And if you want to improve your English,
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click the link below and check out the book that we use with our students and you can practice your listening, reading, and pronunciation.
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Thanks for watching.
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See you next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “COMMONLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sound, dove, example, prove, shove. This video has 186 sentences and 902 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:51. The speaker talks slowly, about 92 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 75% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| dove noun | /doʊv/ | A pigeon, especially one smaller in size and white-colored; a bird (often arbitrarily called either a pigeon or a dove or both) of more than three hundred… |
| weave verb | /wiːv/ | To form something by passing lengths or strands of material over and under one another. |
| approve verb | /əˈpɹuːv/ | To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory. |
| shave verb | /ˈʃeɪ̯v/ | To make (the head, skin etc.) bald or (the hair) shorter by using a tool such as a razor or electric clippers to cut the hair close to the skin. |
| glove noun | /ɡlʌv/ | An item of clothing, covering all or part of the hand and fingers, but usually allowing independent movement of the fingers. |
| verb noun | /vɝb/ | A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being. |
| grove noun | /ɡɹoʊv/ | A small forest. |
| stove noun | /stoʊv/ | A heater, a closed apparatus to burn fuel for the warming of a room. |
| cove noun | /koʊv/ | A hollow in a rock; a cave or cavern. |
| dive verb | /daɪv/ | To swim under water. |
| oven noun | /ˈʌ.vn̩/ | A chamber used for baking or heating. |
| shove verb | /ʃʌv/ | To push, especially roughly or with force. |
| couch noun | /ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/ | An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa. |
| spell noun | /spɛl/ | Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers. |
| relax verb | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | To make something loose. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Have you ever been to an orange grove?
- Do you like the flavor of cloves?
- Do you cover your mouth when you sneeze?
- Do you wear gloves in the winter when it's cold?
- Do you like to move?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have never been · Have you ever been |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | we're looking · They're swimming · Are they swimming |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shave /ˈʃeɪ̯v/, shove /ʃʌv/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, shovel /ˈʃʌv.əl/
- Long words — get the stress right: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, participle /ˈpɑɹtɪˌsɪpəl/
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 dove, weave, approve.
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.