Shadowing Practice: Do you feel NERVOUS to speak English? Watch this. - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Do you feel nervous to speak English? Do you feel shy?
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Do you feel embarrassed?
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Or like people are judging you when you open your mouth?
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I'm going to talk to you about that in today's video.
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And firstly, I'm going to explain why this happens and why this is such a problem.
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And I'm also going to tell you how you can fix this.
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I'm going to give you a strategy you can use to solve this problem, to start feeling more confident when you speak English.
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Now the first thing you need to know is that this problem is totally normal.
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It is so normal to feel nervous when you speak a second language that there is actually a scientific name for this.
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It's called xenoglossophobia.
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Xenoglossophobia.
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Xenoglossophobia is essentially just the fear you get when you speak a foreign language and it's so common they've actually created
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a scale to measure this called the foreign language classroom anxiety scale or flcas
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so it's such a common problem
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that there have been many studies on this they created a
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scale to actually measure the level of anxiety people get when they speak a second language.
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And they even created a term for this, xenoglossophobia.
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So I'm sharing this so you know you're not alone.
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This happens to everybody.
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This happened to me when I learned German, when I started learning Italian.
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And I'm sure it's happening to you as you learn English.
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Now, why is this such a problem?
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Well, it's such a problem because if you never speak, obviously you're never going to improve your speaking skills.
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If you just listen to the radio or you listen to a YouTube video or you're only getting that passive input,
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you're not going to be able to practice your speaking skills and eventually that's going to mean that you can understand English, but you can't speak.
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That's not what we want.
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We want both.
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We want good listening skills and we also want good speaking skills.
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It's really simple.
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If you never work out, you're never going to get fit.
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If you never speak, you're never going to get fluent.
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So step one is obviously to speak more.
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That's the single most important thing.
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That's something I say in all my videos.
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If you've been watching my channel for a while, you know that's my number one piece of advice.
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speak speak speak that's what we do in our programs so
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if you are interested in learning more about how we can
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help you improve your english click the link in the description below to apply
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now speaking is obviously the single most important thing
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and the problem gets even worse if you move to an english -speaking country
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because now it's not just your language skills that are affected.
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It's literally your personal life, your professional life, your mental well -being.
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You won't make friends.
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You won't feel at home.
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You'll have trouble getting a promotion at work.
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You won't make as much money.
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So if you are in that position or you want to be in
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that position where you are in an English -speaking country, this becomes a priority.
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You need to overcome this problem.
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And how do you do this?
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Well, you need a safe environment to practice.
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Every person who masters a skill does it through practice.
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Maybe you've heard of the so -called 10 ,000 hour rule.
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I think this was devised by Malcolm Gladwell.
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He was an author.
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And he said that you need to spend 10 ,000 hours to master a skill.
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Now, whether that's true or not, I'm not exactly sure.
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I don't know.
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I'm not an expert.
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But I do know that it will take a lot of time to master a skill, and you can't master a skill without practicing,
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without putting in the hours, without putting in the necessary effort.
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So you need a practice ground.
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You need to practice before you go into the real world
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because if you just dive right into the deep end and you don't practice, you don't have any experience, of course you're going to feel nervous.
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Of course you're going to feel stressed.
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Of course it's going to be a difficult situation.
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But if you can prepare yourself for that situation, you're going to feel a lot more confident when you go into
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that situation in the real world because you know exactly what to expect.
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It's not that your English is bad.
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it's not that you don't know the vocabulary
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It's not that you're not capable of being confident.
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It's because you haven't practiced.
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You haven't practiced enough.
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You don't have enough familiarity with the situation.
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So this is what I recommend you do.
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You need to create a script.
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Imagine your life is like a movie.
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create a script and that script should be as realistic as possible and as close to a real world situation as possible.
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I'll give you an example.
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Let's say you need English at work.
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Let's say you feel really nervous when you have to talk to your colleagues on your lunch break.
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If you need English at work and you need to talk to your colleagues at lunch, then that script you prepare should replicate that situation.
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It should simulate that situation.
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So I want you to sit down, spend 10 minutes, literally write out what's happening,
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what you're actually saying in that situation, and practice it.
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script what you need to say.
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You can script it word for word.
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You're sitting at your desk, you're alone, there's no pressure.
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It's a super low pressure situation.
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So you can prepare in advance.
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You can actually choose the words you want.
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You can be more careful with your word choice.
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You know, you have time to prepare this.
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But if you sit down, if you go through this word by word
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and you actually think about what you might say when it comes time to actually put yourself in that real world situation,
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you'll feel 10 times more confident.
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Seriously.
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I myself actually studied music.
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I learned piano.
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I've been playing piano since a very young age and I've played concerts before.
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Every single time I got on stage and performed in front of other people,
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I always felt 100 % more confident and less nervous if I practiced.
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If I knew that I had prepared the music in advance, I felt so much more confident.
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The performance always went better.
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I wasn't as nervous.
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I felt a lot better.
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Preparation is the key.
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See, fluency starts not in the conversation, but before the conversation.
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It's how well you can prepare yourself.
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So think about a real world situation, one that you would really encounter on a day -to -day basis.
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For example, at work, if you're in the break room, if you're chatting with your colleagues, or if you're at school,
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you know you have to meet your classmates in English.
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Or if you are traveling, you can simulate a conversation you might have with somebody at the airport, at the train station, that kind of thing.
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But go through those situations, script them, choose your words carefully,
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you can spend as much time as you need with this, and practice.
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Think of yourself as an actor.
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You prepare the lines in advance, you memorize the lines in advance, and you go on to the movie set and you deliver the lines.
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Now, obviously, you don't need to deliver them word for word, but if you have that structure,
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if you know what words you're actually going to use in that situation, it's going to be a lot easier.
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So that's my advice for you.
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Preparation is the key.
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If you feel nervous to speak English, it's not because you're bad at English.
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It's not because you lack the vocabulary.
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It's not because you don't have a talent for learning languages.
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it's because you're unprepared so prepare yourself for every conversation anticipate those conversations in advance
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so you know what to expect come up with a list
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of vocabulary script those conversations as best as possible spend 10
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minutes 15 minutes before bed reading those lines to yourself
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and then when it comes time to actually get into the conversation things will be a lot easier for you,
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you will feel a lot more confident and a lot less nervous.
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Hope you found this video useful.
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Let me know in the comments.
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Do you feel nervous to speak English?
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Have you used any other strategies to overcome this problem?
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Make sure to subscribe to English at the Ready here on YouTube.
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Leave a like.
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I'm super grateful for your support.
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And of course, if you do want to study with me
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and my expert team of teachers you can click the link in the description below to learn more
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We have several programs available, which include private lessons, group classes, recorded video classes, and so much more.
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So if you are interested, if learning English is a priority for you right now, click the link below, submit an application,
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and if we can help you, we'll be in touch.
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Thanks for watching today's video, and I'll see you in the next lesson.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Do you feel NERVOUS to speak English? Watch this”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: english, speak, situation, word, skill. This video has 143 sentences and 1540 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:26. The speaker talks at a steady 148 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| script noun | /skɹɪpt/ | A writing; a written document. |
| colleague noun | /ˈkɒliːɡ/ | A fellow member of a profession, staff, academic faculty or other organization; an associate, a workmate. |
| vocabulary noun | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| anxiety noun | /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ | An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event. |
| priority noun | /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/ | An item's relative importance. |
| preparation noun | /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/ | The act of preparing or getting ready. |
| piano noun | /piˈænɪː/ | A percussive keyboard musical instrument, usually ranging over seven octaves, with white and black colored keys, played by pressing these keys, causing hammers… |
| overcome verb | /ˌəʊ.vəˈkʌm/ | To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of. |
| carefully adverb | /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/ | With care; attentively, circumspectly. |
| desk noun | /dɛsk/ | A table, frame, or case, in past centuries usually with a sloping top but now usually with a flat top, for the use of writers and readers. It often has a… |
| essentially adverb | /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/ | In essence: by nature. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| promotion noun | /pɹəˈmoʊʃn̩/ | An advancement in rank or position. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. | |
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. | |
| work out verb | /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ | To calculate. |
| write out verb | To write at full length or in expanded form. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do you feel shy?
- Do you feel embarrassed?
- That's not what we want.
- That's something I say in all my videos.
- You won't feel at home.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | you've been watching · I've been playing |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | they've actually created · have been · you've heard |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are affected · was devised |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should be · should replicate |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 53 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, promotion /pɹəˈmoʊʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, preparation /ˌpɹɛpəˈɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/
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 skill, script, colleague.
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.