Shadowing Practice: Crying - Why Do We Cry? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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29 sentences
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For many, the act of crying is either a daily occurrence or something that happens behind closed doors once a year.
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Many have wailed and sobbed at one point without ever knowing why it happens.
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In truth, there are several factors that warrant tears to fall and explanations to the tradition of crying.
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Tears flow from the lacrimal glands that are found at the outer portion of the upper eye.
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Tears consist of water, oil, and mucus.
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When crying excessively, some tears drip down the nasal cavity, making the nose more runny than usual.
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Age, infection, inflammation, injury, tumor, and cysts can contribute to blockages in our tear ducts, which restrict tears.
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Essentially there are three types of tears, reflex, basal and emotional.
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Tears that develop from a reflex reaction are the result of an irritation.
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This can be anything from cutting an onion to stubbing your big toe.
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Basal tears are the tears that lubricate your eyes every day, all day.
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These tears assist in wetting your eyes and freeing your eyes of waste.
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Watching a sad movie or being broken up with calls for emotional tears.
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This type of crying is considered the most substantial because the tears involve one's emotions.
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PLC, or pathological laughing and crying, is a condition characterized by uncontrollable and spontaneous crying or laughing.
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Many suffering from strokes, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and Lou Gehrig's disease show signs of PLC.
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Women's breasts tend to engorge with milk when their newborn babies cry.
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Women's tears are known to roll down their cheeks in contrast
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to men whose tears don't often flow from the eyes as rapidly and refrain from pouring over the eyelids.
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Until the age of 12, girls and boys cry about the same amount.
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The ratio deviates to about 5 to 1 from adolescence on.
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A majority of men and women say that they feel better once they have cried.
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Women, more than men, feel the need to cry when in distress.
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A good cry can be a bad cry for those who have depressive tendencies.
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This type of personality receives no emotional benefit from crying as
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their emotional state is constantly unhappy narrated by Erika Laba
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and animated by Andre Preston follow the infographic show on Twitter
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and Facebook also send in your suggestions on what you would like to see in the future episodes
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and don't forget to leave us a comment on supernova .org
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Crying - Why Do We Cry?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: tear, crying, cry, eye, emotional. This video has 10 sentences and 337 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:32. The speaker talks at a steady 133 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 69% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| tear verb | /tɛɹ/ | To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate. |
| everyday adjective | /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/ | Appropriate for ordinary use, rather than for special occasions. |
| contrast noun | /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/ | The degree of this difference. |
| explanation noun | /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/ | The act or process of explaining. |
| assist verb | /əˈsɪst/ | To help. |
| ratio noun | /ˈɹeɪ.ʃoʊ/ | A number representing a comparison between two named things. |
| breast noun | /bɹɛst/ | Either of the two organs on the front of a female human's chest, which contain the mammary glands; also the analogous organs in males. |
| twelve noun | /twɛlv/ | A group of twelve items. |
| contribute verb | /kənˈtɹɪb.jut/ | To give something that is or becomes part of a larger whole. |
| rapidly adverb | /ˈɹæpɪdli/ | With speed; in a rapid manner. |
| infection noun | /ɪnˈfɛkʃən/ | The act or process of infecting. |
| involve verb | /ɪnˈvɑlv/ | To have (something) as a component or a related part; to comprise, to include. |
| warrant noun | /ˈwɔɹənt/ | Authorization or certification; a sanction, as given by a superior. |
| emotion noun | /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/ | A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data. |
| unhappy adjective | /ʌnˈhæpi/ | Not happy; sad. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| roll down verb | Synonym of wind down. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are found · being broken · is considered |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have wailed · have cried |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: contrast /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, ratio /ˈɹeɪ.ʃoʊ/, infection /ɪnˈfɛkʃən/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/, spontaneous /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/, adolescence /ˌædəˈlɛsəns/, excessively /ɪkˈsɛsɪvli/
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 tear, everyday, contrast.
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.