Shadowing Practice: Elementary Pronunciation - Day 22 - Finding Her Path - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Finding her path.
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Mia's job search began in July.
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She had graduated college with a major in management.
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In school, she studied many subjects, including psychology.
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She applied to an agency that worked with individuals from many places.
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They liked her knowledge of languages, like Japanese and German.
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The work was a challenge, but she enjoys a good change.
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And she wasn't joking, it was the perfect fit.

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Elementary Pronunciation - Day 22 - Finding Her Path”. This video has 8 sentences and 68 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:35.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 11 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
psychology noun/saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/The study of the human mind.
joking verb/ˈd͡ʒoʊkɪŋ/Kidding, trying to fool.
graduate verb/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒueɪt/To be recognized by a school or university as having completed the requirements of a degree studied at the institution.
individual noun/ˌɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒ(u)əl/A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.
knowledge noun/ˈnɑ.lɪdʒ/The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc.
search verb/sɝt͡ʃ/To look in (a place) for something.
subject noun/ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɛkt/The noun, pronoun or noun phrase about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject is the actor. In clauses in the…
challenge noun/ˈt͡ʃæl.ɪnd͡ʒ/An antagonization or instigation intended to convince a person to perform an action they otherwise would not.
agency noun/ˈeɪ.d͡ʒən.si/The capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power.
apply verb/əˈplaɪ/To lay or place; to put (one thing to another)
path noun/pɑːθ/A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the pastwasn't joking

Pronunciation to watch

  • Long words — get the stress right: psychology /saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, individual /ˌɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒ(u)əl/

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 psychology, joking, graduate.

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 →