Shadowing Practice: DOWN BAD IN DENVER - crowd work - Learn English Speaking with Video

This video has 129 sentences and 765 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:19. The speaker talks at a steady 121 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% 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 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

• fatal /ˈfeɪ.təl/ (adjective) — Causing death or destruction.
• allegedly /əˈlɛdʒ.ɪd.li/ (adverb) — According to allegation(s); supposedly, reportedly.
• finger /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ (noun) — 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…
• assault /əˈsɔlt/ (noun) — A violent onset or attack with physical means, for example blows, weapons, etc.
• chase /t͡ʃeɪs/ (verb) — To follow at speed.
• aspect /ˈæspɛkt/ (noun) — Any specific feature, part, or element of something.
• steal /stiːl/ (verb) — To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
• jacket /ˈd͡ʒæk.ɪt/ (noun) — A piece of clothing worn on the upper body outside a shirt or blouse, often waist length to thigh length.
• consequence /ˈkɑn.sɪ.kwəns/ (noun) — An effect; something that follows a cause as a result.
• loser /luzɚ/ (noun) — A person who loses; one who fails to win or thrive.
• robbery /ˈɹɑbəɹi/ (noun) — The act or practice of robbing.
• imagery /ˈɪmɪd͡ʒɹi/ (noun) — The work of one who makes images or visible representation of objects.
• violin /ˌvaɪ.əˈlɪn/ (noun) — A small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow.
• flex /flɛks/ (verb) — To bend something.
• sleepover (noun) — The act of spending the night as a guest in another's house, especially when the participants are children.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

• ask for (verb) — To request; to order.
• hold on (verb) — To grasp or grip firmly.
• come out /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ (verb) — To be discovered; to be revealed.
• go through (verb) — To travel from one end of something to the other.
• start over (verb) — to begin again; to return to the beginning
• talk about (verb) — Used to draw attention to the speaker's characterization of someone or something.
• work out /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ (verb) — To calculate.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 31 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

• Long words — get the stress right: allegedly /əˈlɛdʒ.ɪd.li/, vehicular /viˈhɪk.jə.lə(ɹ)/, ventriloquist /vɛnˈtɹɪl.ə.kwɪst/

How to practise with this video

1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like fatal, allegedly, finger.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video: