Shadowing Practice: Easy English Action Verbs for Beginners | Lesson 2 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 23 sentences and 163 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:00. 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| toast noun | /toʊst/ | Bread that has been toasted (cooked lightly by browning). |
| crack noun | /kɹæk/ | A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material. |
| seed noun | /siːd/ | Any propagative portion of a plant which may be sown, such as true seeds, seed-like fruits, tubers, or bulbs. |
| slide noun | /ˈslaɪ̯d/ | An item of play equipment that children can climb up and then slide down again. |
| flip verb | /flɪp/ | To throw so as to turn over. |
| slice noun | /slaɪs/ | That which is thin and broad. |
| fry verb | /fɹaɪ/ | To cook (something) in hot fat. |
| peel verb | /piːl/ | To remove the skin or outer covering of. |
| stove noun | /stoʊv/ | A heater, a closed apparatus to burn fuel for the warming of a room. |
| avocado noun | /ˌɑvəˈkɑdoʊ/ | The large, usually yellowish-green or black, savory fruit of the avocado tree. |
| bread noun | /brɛd/ | A foodstuff made by baking dough made from cereals. |
| cook verb | /kʊk/ | To prepare food for eating, typically by heating it, combining it with other ingredients, seasoning it, preparing it for serving, etc. |
| golden adjective | /ˈɡəʊl.dən/ | Made of, or relating to, gold. |
| salt noun | /sɒlt/ | A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a food ingredient, seasoning, condiment, and preservative. |
| plate noun | /ˈpleɪ̯t/ | A slightly curved but almost flat dish from which food is served or eaten. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| take out verb | To remove. |
| turn off verb | To power down, to switch off, to put out of operation, to deactivate (an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.). |
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 toast, crack, seed.
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.














