Shadowing Practice: Cooking Dinner Together: Who Burned the Rice? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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30 sentences
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1
Okay! Our friends arrive at eight. We've got two hours.
2
Relax, two hours is plenty of time.
3
So, I'm making the chicken curry.
4
Can you do the rice?
5
Rice? Ha, how hard can it be?
6
Wait, have you ever actually cooked rice before?
7
Well... I've watched my mum do it loads of times.
8
Right. One cup of rice, two cups of water.
9
Bring it to the boil, then turn the heat down low.
10
Got it! Boil, then low. Easy.
11
And don't leave it alone, okay?
12
Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on it.
13
Hmm, what's that smell?
14
Smell? I can't smell anything.
15
Is something burning? Oh no, the rice!
16
Wait, I turned it down... didn't I?
17
Ugh, look at this pot! It's completely black!
18
Okay, okay, it's only a little burned.
19
A little? The smoke alarm's about to go off!
20
In my defence, the match was really exciting.
21
You said you'd keep an eye on it!
22
I'm sorry. I really thought I'd turned the heat down.
23
Hold on... you turned it up, not down!
24
Oops... That explains a lot.
25
Okay, deep breath. We still have forty minutes.
26
What if we make noodles instead? They're really quick.
27
That's actually a great idea!
28
And I'll scrub the pot. That's only fair.
29
Deal. But this time, I'm watching you!
30
Ha! Fair enough.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Cooking Dinner Together: Who Burned the Rice?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: rice, smell, turned. This video has 30 sentences and 219 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:37. The speaker talks at a steady 136 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 11 of its 30 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:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| boil verb | /bɔɪ(ə)l/ | To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas. |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| relax verb | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | To make something loose. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| forty adjective | /ˈfoɹti/ | Resembling or characteristic of a fort. |
| curry noun | /ˈkʌ.ɹi/ | One of a family of dishes originating from Indian cuisine, flavored by a spiced sauce. |
| oops | /ups/ | Used to acknowledge a small mistake or accident. |
| scrub verb | /skɹʌb/ | To rub hard; to wash with rubbing; usually, to rub with a wet brush, or with something coarse or rough, for the purpose of cleaning or brightening |
| excite verb | /ɪkˈsaɪt/ | To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement. |
| noodle noun | /ˈnu.dəl/ | A string or flat strip of pasta or other dough, usually cooked (at least initially) by boiling, and served in soup or in a dry form mixed with a sauce and… |
| smell verb | /smɛl/ | To sense a smell or smells. |
| burn verb | /bɝn/ | To cause to be consumed by fire. |
| smoke verb | /sməʊk/ | To inhale and exhale the smoke from a burning cigarette or cigar, burning material in a pipe, etc. |
| cook verb | /kʊk/ | To prepare food for eating, typically by heating it, combining it with other ingredients, seasoning it, preparing it for serving, etc. |
| load noun | /loʊd/ | A burden; a weight to be carried. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go off verb | To explode. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Can you do the rice?
- Wait, have you ever actually cooked rice before?
- I've watched my mum do it loads of times.
- Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on it.
- What if we make noodles instead?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm making · I'm watching |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | I'll keep · I'll scrub |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 14 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 boil, arrive, relax.
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.