Shadowing Practice: Dressed to Kill - Learn English Speaking with Video
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13 sentences
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Welcome to English in a Minute where we teach you all about idioms in American English.
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If you've ever heard someone say that they were dressed to kill, don't worry, you're not in any danger.
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It's just the opposite.
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Do you see that couple over there?
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Yeah, it looks like they're going into that new restaurant.
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They look great.
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Oh yeah, they are dressed to kill.
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In American English, dressed to kill is a different way of saying dressed very attractively, or dressed to impress.
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This phrase came from criminals.
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In the past, people who were professional criminals often dressed in fancy clothing to hide the fact
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that they were doing horrible things.
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So if you were dressed to kill back then, you would be wearing a pretty nice looking outfit.
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And that's English in a Minute.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Dressed to Kill”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: dressed, kill, English. This video has 13 sentences and 137 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:56. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 12 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| clothing noun | /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/ | Any of a wide variety of articles, usually made of fabrics, animal hair, animal skin, or some combination thereof, used to cover the human body for warmth, to… |
| horrible adjective | /ˈhɔɹ.ɪ.bəl/ | Causing horror; terrible; shocking. |
| fancy noun | /ˈfæn.si/ | The imagination. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| outfit noun | /ˈaʊtfɪt/ | A set of clothing (with accessories). |
| impress verb | /ɪmˈpɹɛs/ | To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably. |
| attractively adverb | /əˈtɹæk.tɪv.li/ | In an attractive manner; with the power of attracting or drawing to. |
| idiom noun | /ˈɪdiəm/ | A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people. |
| 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. |
| teach verb | /ˈtiːt͡ʃ/ | To pass on knowledge to. |
| opposite adjective | /ˈɑ.pə.sɪt/ | Located directly across from something else, or from each other. |
| danger noun | /ˈdeɪn.d͡ʒɚ/ | Exposure to likely harm; risk of death or serious injury. |
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 | were dressed · are dressed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've ever heard |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who were |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | were doing |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, they're, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 clothing, horrible, fancy.
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.