Shadowing Practice: Easy Spanish Reading Practice | Short Stories for Beginners for A1-A2. Part 1 - Learn English Speaking with Video

This video has 79 sentences and 534 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:03. The speaker talks at a steady 132 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 46% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

• grandmother /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/ (noun) — A mother of someone's parent.
• potato /pəˈteɪ.təʊ/ (noun) — The edible starchy tuber of the plant species Solanum tuberosum.
• curious /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/ (adjective) — Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying.
• flower /ˈfloʊɚ/ (noun) — A colorful, conspicuous structure associated with angiosperms, frequently scented and attracting various insects, and which may or may not be used for sexual…
• delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/ (adjective) — Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty.
• keyboard /ˈki.bɔɹd/ (noun) — A set of keys laid out in a gridlike pattern, used for typing on a typewriter, computer, etc.
• cookie /ˈkʊki/ (noun) — A small, flat, baked good which is either crisp or soft but firm.
• paragraph /ˈpæɹəɡɹæf/ (noun) — A passage in text that starts on a new line, the first line sometimes being indented, and usually marks a change of topic.
• vegetable /ˈvɛd͡ʒ.tə.bəl/ (noun) — A plant raised for some edible part of it, such as the leaves, roots, fruit or flowers, but excluding any plant considered to be a fruit, grain, herb, or spice…
• pasta /ˈpɑ.stə/ (noun) — Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating.
• tomato /təˈmeɪ.toʊ/ (noun) — A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.
• sofa /ˈsoʊ̯fə/ (noun) — An upholstered seat with a raised back and one or two raised ends, long enough to comfortably accommodate two or more people.
• bravo /ˈbɹɑvoʊ/ — Used to express acclaim, especially to a performer.
• veterinary /ˈvɛtəɹɪnɛɹi/ (adjective) — Of or relating to the medical or surgical treatment of non-human animals, especially domestic and farm animals.
• interrupt /ˌɪntəˈɹʌpt/ (verb) — To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

• get in (verb) — To get into or inside something, literally or figuratively.
• go through (verb) — To travel from one end of something to the other.
• live in (verb) — To reside on the premises of one's employer (used especially of domestic staff such as nannies, cooks, maids, etc.)
• live with (verb) — To share an abode as an unmarried partner in a sexual relationship.
• look at (verb) — To observe or watch.
• play with (verb) — To fiddle with; make small adjustments to, for example to something mechanical in order to improve its performance.
• sit in (verb) — To attend a class, educational presentation, meeting, etc. for one time, as a visitor.
• walk around (verb) — To walk with no planned destination; to meander.

Pronunciation to watch

• The “sh” and “zh” sounds: delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, especial /ɛsˈpɛʃəl/

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 grandmother, potato, curious.