Shadowing Practice: Eileen Gu's BIGGEST Test (not skiing) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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At X Games, normally the announcer will kind of give an interesting fact about the person who's dropping.

Not only is she talented on skis, she's really, really smart too.

And for me, when I dropped, the little bio just read 1580 on the SAT.

I just thought that was really funny.

So I traveled to Europe for our fall season training, and it was really, really difficult to schedule an SAT in Europe.

The only test center that was still administering the test and still had availability was in Geneva.

By the time I got into Geneva, it was already 11.30 p.m.

And then I wake up the next morning and we go down for breakfast and there are these amazing veal sausages.

We arrived the night before, so we obviously didn't have time to go grocery shopping.

The SAT is a four-hour test and so there are snack breaks in between, but I didn't have any snacks.

So I decided that it would make sense for me to wrap some veal sausages in a napkin, put them in my purse, bring them to the test center as one does,

and that would be my snack for the SAT

because they were delicious and they were also the only food that I had.

So at this point, the sausages are in my bag and I'm ready to go to the test center.

My mom had already called the car.

By the time we get outside, we keep seeing the notification five minutes away, three minutes away, and then it slowly starts to climb up.

Seven minutes away, ten minutes away, we realize that we're probably not going to make it in The test center,

the doors close at 8 a.m sharp and by this time it was 7.45.

So by the time the clock rolled around to 7.50, I kind of had made an executive decision.

I was going to go on my own to the test center.

Never have I ever run in a nice outfit with jeans

and bag and I do have sausages in my bag

so I'm trying not to shake it too much because if the oil gets out, that's a major problem.

So I'm running along and it's absolutely dumping rain.

Cars that pass me are giving me the strangest looks and the roads are very confusing and windy.

Eventually, I make my way to the test center, super out of breath, and this campus was absolutely sprawling.

So I was running around and snaking through all these different buildings and trying to find the room.

And it's beginning to look like I'm not gonna make it.

Eventually, I stumble upon the test site and I think I finally made it, but...

The doors are closed.

And so at this point, I am dripping wet.

I look like a drowned rat with this locked door in front of me.

And I feel like the world is about to end.

And so I start knocking on the door and eventually the door opens

and this very impatient proctor opens the door and she's like, can I help you?

And I'm like, please, please just let me take the test.

Eventually I make my way in.

I put down my sausage bag on the floor, head over, try to calm myself, take a couple deep breaths, and we're about halfway through the test and we hit the first break

but I am feeling pretty hungry so going into

that break I was really looking forward to my sausages

that I knew were in my bag

but everybody's nibbling on their little chocolate bars or their granola bars

and I wasn't exactly about to chow down on my veal

sausages right in the test center in front of everyone

and I was feeling quite self-conscious

so I actually smuggled my bag into the one stall bathroom

so I entered the bathroom lock the door and that is where I finally ate my sausages.

So the results of the SAT come out on an online portal

and so I remember checking my hands were literally shaking

so nervous I check it and it comes up

and it's like you have one new score

so I clicked open the score and it was a 1580

so I dropped my phone I was like jumping up and down

and then immediately I ran down the hallway like slammed open

my mom's door I think she was still in bed my SAT score came Oh my god, I got a 1580.

This is literally insane.

So my mom burst out into tears.

She was so happy and I was, yeah, really, really happy.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 58 sentences and 780 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:01. The speaker talks fast, about 194 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% 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
sausage noun	/ˈsɔsɪd͡ʒ/	A food made of ground meat (or meat substitute) and seasoning, packed in a section of the animal's intestine, or in a similarly cylindrical shaped synthetic…
snack noun	/snæk/	A light meal.
shake verb	/ˈʃeɪk/	To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly.
sharp adjective	/ʃɑɹp/	Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut or pierce easily; not dull, obtuse, or rounded.
hungry adjective	/ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/	Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.
clock noun	/klɑk/	A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
insane adjective	/ɪnˈseɪn/	Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.
arrive verb	/əˈɹaɪv/	To reach; to get to a certain place.
knock verb	/nɑk/	To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood.
tear verb	/tɛɹ/	To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.
delicious adjective	/dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/	Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty.
talented adjective	/ˈtæləntɪd/	Endowed with one or more talents.
breathe verb	/bɹiːð/	To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
snake noun	/sneɪk/	Any of the suborder Serpentes of legless reptiles with long, thin bodies and fork-shaped tongues.
climb verb	/ˈklaɪ̯m/	To traverse a slope or contour, either upwards (ascending) or downwards (descending).

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
come up verb	To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
get out verb	To leave or escape.
jump up verb	To move from one position to a higher position by one jump.
look forward to verb	To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
put down verb	To insult, belittle, or demean.
run along verb	To leave; to make one's way somewhere else.
run around verb	To be very busy doing many different things.
run down verb	To hit someone with a car or other vehicle and injure or kill them.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, didn't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shake /ˈʃeɪk/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, conscious /ˈkɑn.ʃəs/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/
Long words — get the stress right: availability /əˌveɪ.ləˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/, administer /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stə/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like sausage, snack, shake.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →