Shadowing Practice: DESCRIBE A CITY YOU ENJOYED VISITING - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
I'd like to talk about Calgary, which is a city in Alberta, Canada.
2
It's one of the most enjoyable cities I've visited since I moved to Canada.
3
I visited Calgary with my family during a summer vacation.
4
We took a road trip and stayed there for a couple of days before continuing our journey.
5
During our stay, we drove around the city, explored the downtown area, and visited a few popular places.
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We also went shopping, tried different restaurants and spent time walking around and taking photos together.
7
What I liked most about Calgary was that it's a big and modern city, but I didn't find it too overwhelming.
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There are plenty of things to see and do, including restaurants, shopping centers and entertainment options.
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Since I live in a relatively small and quiet city, visiting Calgary felt completely different.
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More importantly, I really enjoyed spending quality time with my family.
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We made some great memories together, so Calgary left a really good impression on me.
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I'd definitely like to visit it again in the future.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 12 sentences and 176 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:06. The speaker talks at a natural 159 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
12 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| downtown noun | /ˈdaʊ̯nˌtaʊ̯n/ | The main business part of a city or town, usually located at or near its center. |
| vacation noun | /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ | An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure. |
| impression noun | /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/ | The indentation or depression made by the pressure of one object on or into another. |
| explore verb | /ɪkˈsploɹ/ | To examine or investigate something systematically. |
| importantly adverb | /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/ | Used to mark a statement as having importance. |
| enjoyable adjective | /ɛnˈd͡ʒɔɪ.ə.bl̩/ | Pleasant, capable of giving pleasure. |
| overwhelm verb | /ˌoʊ.vɚˈwɛlm/ | To engulf, surge over and submerge. |
| restaurant noun | /ˈɹɛst(ə)ˌɹɑnt/ | An eating establishment in which diners are served food, usually by waiters at their tables but sometimes (as in a fast food restaurant) at a counter. |
| relatively adverb | /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv.li/ | In a relative manner; with reference to environment or competition; contextually or comparatively. |
| journey noun | /ˈd͡ʒɝni/ | A set amount of travelling, seen as a single unit; a discrete trip, a voyage. |
| quiet adjective | /ˈkwaɪ̯.ət/ | With little or no sound; free of disturbing noise. |
| entertainment noun | /ˌɛn.tɚˈteɪn.mənt/ | An activity designed to give pleasure, enjoyment, diversion, amusement, or relaxation to an audience, no matter whether the audience participates passively as… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| walk around verb | To walk with no planned destination; to meander. |
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 | I've visited |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | Calgary, which is |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most enjoyable |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | enjoyed spending |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'd, didn't, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, impression /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, relatively /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv.li/, entertainment /ˌɛn.tɚˈteɪn.mənt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like downtown, vacation, impression.
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.