Shadowing Practice: Daily English Dictation 14 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Welcome to Daily Dictation 14, but first we got to go back to Daily Dictation 13.

It's about the mosquitoes.

How was your dictation?

One more time, listen up.

Asian tiger mosquitoes are native to the tropics of Southeast Asia, but in the past few years, they've spread all across the southeastern United States.

Yes, scary mosquito news.

How did you do?

Let's check out the answers.

Asian tiger mosquitoes, Asian tiger mosquitoes.

Now, Asian tiger mosquitoes, mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes?

No, mos -ki -toes.

Mosquitoes.

I'm from Wisconsin in the United States and mosquitos, we have a cute name for mosquitos.

Skeeters.

And it comes from the pronunciation.

We don't say mosquitos, we say mosquitos, mosquitos, skeetos, skeeters.

So we have that kind of name.

So if you know another American from Wisconsin, you can ask him or her about skeeters.

Do you have skeeters in Wisconsin?

You could ask a question like that.

Anyway, Asian tiger mosquitoes, wow, tiger mosquitoes, are native to the tropics of Southeast Asia.

So, native to, native to.

Shane is native to the United States.

Shane is native to Wisconsin in the United States.

Where are you native to?

Are you native to Vietnam?

Are you native to Korea?

Are you native to France?

Leave me a message.

I'm native to somewhere, somewhere, somewhere.

So, I'm native to the United States, but I live in South Korea.

Now, these Asian tiger mosquitoes are native to Southeast Asia, but they've moved to the United States.

Just like I'm native to the United States, but I moved to Asia, South Korea, the tiger mosquitoes have moved to the United States.

So we've changed positions.

So Asian tiger mosquitoes are native to the, native to the, native to the.

You don't hear to, it sounds more like a d, d, very short d sound.

Native to the, native to the, native to the tropics, the tropics.

When we say tropics, we think of palm trees and coconuts and very hot weather, rainforests, oceans.

We have this image, the tropics, kind of a beautiful image.

The tropics of, not the tropics of the Caribbean, the tropics of Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia, so Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, these countries in Southeast Asia.

But, in the past few years, now, when we say it fast, but in the, but in the, but in the, we gotta connect the sound,

and this N cancels out the TH, and what we have is, but in the, but in the,

but in the, in, na but in the past few, this S cancels the T,

past few, but in the past few years, but in the past few years, and these words put them together,

because many students, if they don't connect the sounds, it sounds like few ears.

You don't want to say few ears, you want to say few years,

But in the past few years,

they've spread all across.

They've spread.

The mosquitoes have spread.

Just like spread to spread out, to expand, to go to more places.

They've spread.

Right now I'm spreading my arms.

I'm spreading my fingers.

The mosquitoes have spread from Southeast Asia to where?

To all across, all over, every part of...

The Southeastern United States.

So the United States, the Southeastern part, that's going to be Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas.

These states would be Southeast United States.

And in this video, if you watch the full video, and I'll put the link, they're now in California.

So from the southeast U .S., they've gone over to the southwest U .S.

And they're dangerous mosquitoes.

They're scary.

They have many, they can have many diseases, and they sting.

So let's say it together.

Let's go slow.

Ready?

One, two, three.

Asian tiger mosquitoes are native to the tropics of southeast Asia

but in the past few years they've spread all across the southeastern United States.

Let's say it faster.

Asian tiger mosquitoes are native to the tropics of Southeast Asia

but in the past few years they've spread all across the United States.

It's not easy.

It's a little bit long.

You listen two more times with the announcer and try and repeat with the announcer

And then I'll have

Daily Dictation 14 for you.

Good luck.

Asian tiger mosquitoes are native to the tropics of Southeast Asia, but in the past few years they've spread all across the Southeastern United States.

Okay, now it's time for Daily Dictation 14 and the theme is cats.

Cats, kittens, cats.

Do you like cats?

Well, I hope so.

If you don't like cats, it's okay.

This is an interesting story about a cat.

Now, cats are stubborn animals, and this cat is definitely stubborn, but the cat had a sad story,

but it ended up as a happy story.

Listen Listen carefully, not too difficult, do the dictation and I'll give you the full story and I'll give you the answers tomorrow.

So good luck everybody, see you tomorrow.

Cats reputedly have nine lives and he clearly wanted to spend at least one of them here in New York City.

The cats reputedly have nine lives and he clearly wanted to spend at least one of them here in New York City.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Daily English Dictation 14”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: native, mosquitoes, tropics, southeast, tiger. This video has 99 sentences and 939 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:01. The speaker talks at a steady 117 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% 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
mosquito noun	/məsˈki.toʊ/	A small flying insect of the family Culicidae, the females of which bite humans and animals and suck blood, leaving an itching bump on the skin, and sometimes…
tiger noun	/ˈtaɪɡə/	Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
southeast noun	/sawˈθɪjst/	The intercardinal compass point halfway between east and south; specifically at a bearing of 135°.
southeastern adjective		Of or pertaining to the southeast.
ear noun	/ˈɪə̯/	The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
connect verb	/kəˈnɛkt/	To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object.
scary adjective	/ˈskɛə.ɹi/	Causing fear or anxiety
cancel verb	/ˈkæn.sl̩/	To cross out something with lines etc.
stubborn adjective	/ˈstʌbɚn/	Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.
announcer noun	/əˈnaʊnsɚ/	One who makes announcements.
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
carefully adverb	/ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/	With care; attentively, circumspectly.
expand verb	/ɪkˈspænd/	To change (something) from a smaller form or size to a larger one; to spread out or lay open.
palm noun	/pɑm/	The inner and somewhat concave part of the human hand or other primate hand that extends from the wrist to the bases of the fingers.
southwest noun	/saʊθˈwɛst/	The intercardinal compass point halfway between south and west; specifically at a bearing of 225°.

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.).
end up verb	To bring to a conclusion.
go back to verb	To stem from; to originate in.
listen up verb	To listen closely; to pay attention.

Sentences worth repeating

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

How was your dictation?
How did you do?
Let's check out the answers.
Where are you native to?
I'm native to somewhere, somewhere, somewhere.

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	they've spread · they've moved · have moved
Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction	I'll put · I'll have · I'll give
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	I'm spreading

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 30 contractions and reduced forms, such as they've, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: southeast /sawˈθɪjst/, southwest /saʊθˈwɛst/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, dictation /dɪkˈteɪʃən/

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 mosquito, tiger, southeast.

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: Daily English Dictation 14 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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