Shadowing Practice: Effortless English - Greek Family - POV - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Welcome to the Point of View mini-stories for Greek Family.
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Let's get started.
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First, the past tense.
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Five years ago, I was walking down the street when a guy came to me and said, Hi, can I chat with you for a moment?
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He looked clean and very neat.
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I was quite naive, so I thought he was just being friendly.
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I said, Okay.
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The man asked me, How far would you go to save yourself?
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I said, What do you mean?
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He said, I'm talking about the Christian faith.
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I want you to convert to Christianity.
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Actually, I'm a Buddhist, I said.
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What about your relatives?
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Are they Buddhists too, he asked.
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I told him, no, just me.
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He then told me that I would go to hell if I didn't convert.
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He said I was a bad person.
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He told me all Buddhists would go to hell.
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Finally, he said that the Buddha and all Buddhists served the devil.
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That was the last straw.
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It was the straw that broke the camel's back.
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I yelled at him, go away.
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I refuse to listen to you anymore.
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All right, our second version.
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I'm going to change this a little bit so you get a little more practice.
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Just change the order of the story.
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Since I was a child, I have been very naive.
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I have always thought that people are very friendly, even if they're not.
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I have always accepted people and not worried about them or been suspicious, right?
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I've always been quite naive since I was a child.
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Well, one day, I was walking down the street when a guy came up to me and said, Hi, can I chat with you for a moment?
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He looked clean and very neat.
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Since I was quite naive and have always been naive, I thought he was just being friendly, so I said, Okay.
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The man asked me, how far would you go to save yourself?
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I said, What do you mean?
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He said, I'm talking about the Christian faith.
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I want you to convert to Christianity.
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Actually, I'm a Buddhist, I said.
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What about your relatives?
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Are they Buddhists too, he asked.
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I told him, no, just me.
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He then told me that I would go to hell if I didn't convert.
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He said I was a bad person.
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He told me all Buddhists would go to hell.
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Finally, he said that the Buddha and all Buddhists served the devil.
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That was the last straw.
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That was the that broke the camel's back.
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I yelled at him, go away.
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I refuse to listen to you anymore.
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So you can notice I use the present perfect have been for something
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that started long ago when I was a child and continued up to the time this story happened.
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Then I changed to the simple past because we're talking about one specific event and that it's already happened, it's done.
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Okay, now let's go to the future.
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Back to the future.
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Here we go.
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In 10 years, 10 years from now.
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I'm imagining this.
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Maybe I dream this, okay?
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This is a dream.
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I have a dream.
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In 10 years, I will be walking down the street when a guy will come up to me and he'll say, Hi, can I chat with you for a moment?
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He'll look clean and very neat.
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I'll be quite naive, so I'll think he's just being friendly.
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I'll say, okay.
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The man's going to ask me, how far would you go to save yourself?
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And I'll say, what do you mean?
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He'll say, I'm talking about the Christian faith.
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I want you to convert to Christianity.
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Actually, I'm a Buddhist, I'll say.
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What about your relatives?
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Are they Buddhist too, he'll ask?
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I'm going to tell him, no, just me.
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He'll then tell me that I will go to hell if I don't convert.
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He'll say I'm a bad person.
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He'll tell me all Buddhists will go to hell.
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Finally, he'll say that the Buddha and all Buddhists serve the devil.
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That's going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
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I'll yell at him, go away.
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I refuse to listen to you anymore.
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All right, go back, listen to each version.
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After each version, pause and try to tell that version yourself out loud so you can hear it.
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So listen to the first version, the past, pause, and tell the whole story again using the past, ten years ago.
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time start the story with you know since I was a child
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and tell the story yourself out loud
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and then again listen to the future version and pause
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and tell the future version yourself if it's difficult
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if you can't do it no problem just relax go back listen very carefully again and again and and again,
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and then try again.
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All right, I'll see you next time.
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Bye-bye.

About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will explore a captivating mini-story centered around the theme of cultural interactions and personal beliefs. The narrative showcases a conversation that challenges the protagonist’s views, providing profound insights into dialogue and understanding diverse perspectives. Throughout the lesson, you will practice using the past tense and present perfect tense, which are crucial for effective storytelling in English. By engaging with this narrative, you'll enhance your listening and speaking skills as well as your ability to express complex ideas with clarity.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Naive: lacking experience or sophistication
  • Convert: to change one's religious beliefs
  • The last straw: the final problem in a series of problems
  • Walked down the street: to move along a road or path
  • Save yourself: to protect oneself from danger or harm
  • Christian faith: belief system centered on Christianity
  • Buddhist: a person who follows the principles of Buddhism
  • Go away: a phrase used to tell someone to leave

Practice Tips

To effectively enhance your speaking skills using this lesson, consider utilizing shadowing techniques. Shadowing involves listening to a spoken text and simultaneously repeating what you hear. Here are some tailored tips for your shadowing practice:

  • Listen First: Start by listening to the mini-story without speaking. Pay attention to the intonation, rhythm, and emotional undertones of the speaker.
  • Slow Down: If the story feels too fast initially, slow down the playback speed. This adjustment will enable you to catch intricate phrases and natural speech patterns essential for IELTS speaking practice.
  • Repeat in Real-Time: Try to speak along with the video. This immediate rehearsal helps improve your fluency and confidence as you mimic the speed and tone of the speaker.
  • Practice Key Phrases: Focus particularly on key vocabulary and phrases from the lesson. Repeating these will build up your vocabulary and ease in making complex expressions.
  • Record Yourself: Consider recording your shadow speech to hear your progress. Analyzing your pronunciation and pacing compared to the original will highlight areas for improvement.

By incorporating these strategies into your shadowing practice on this shadowing site, you'll not only strengthen your grasp of the past and present perfect tenses but also enhance your overall speaking abilities, making the learning process more engaging and effective.

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.