Shadowing Practice: English Collocations: Character and Behavior - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Lesson 4.
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Character and Behavior When I was a teenager, I was painfully shy, extremely shy.
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I loved reading books, and I had a vivid imagination.
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I had a creative and colorful imagination.
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My best friend had a more outgoing personality.
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She liked to be friendly and sociable, and a good sense of humor, ability to make other people laugh.
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Unfortunately, she was also brutally honest, and sometimes her comments hurt my feelings, made me sad, upset, or angry.
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Although I was fiercely loyal to her, she showed her true colors, revealed her true personality, when she played a prank,
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did a trick, that humiliated me in front of the class.
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I bore a grudge, continued feeling angry against her for years afterwards.
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Now that I look back on it, I can see that she had low self -esteem, she considered herself inferior, and a bit of a mean streak.
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A streak is a tiny bit of someone's personality.
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I've come out of my shell, become less shy, since those days.
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I have a thicker skin.
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I'm less sensitive to criticism, and it doesn't bother me when people speak their minds, say exactly what they think,
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without considering the effects of the words on others.
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My biggest flaw is that I have a tendency to be arrogant.
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Some say I have a superiority complex, consider myself superior to others.
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I'll admit that it is hard for me to swallow my pride, stop being arrogant, and recognize when I've been mistaken about something.
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My resolution for the new year is to make a more concerted effort to put others first, consider the needs of other people more important than my own.
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Listen to and repeat the collocations about character and behavior.
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Painfully shy. Had a vivid imagination.
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Outgoing personality Sense of humor Brutally honest
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Hurt my feelings Fiercely loyal Showed her true colors
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Played a prank Bore a grudge Low self -esteem A mean streak
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Come out of my shell Have a thicker skin Speak their minds
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Now take the quiz to practice the collocations from this lesson.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “English Collocations: Character and Behavior”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: shy, personality, streak, imagination, feeling. This video has 27 sentences and 346 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:42. The speaker talks slowly, about 93 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 71% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| imagination noun | /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/ | The image-making power of the mind; the act of mentally creating or reproducing an object not previously perceived; the ability to create such images. |
| streak noun | /stɹiːk/ | An irregular line, as is left from smearing or motion. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| thick adjective | /θɪk/ | Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension. |
| shell noun | /ʃɛl/ | The calcareous or chitinous external covering of mollusks, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates. |
| loyal adjective | /ˈlɔɪəl/ | Having or demonstrating undivided and constant support for someone or something. |
| esteem verb | /ɪˈstiːm/ | To set a high value on; to regard with respect or reverence. |
| humour noun | /ˈhjuːmɚ/ | The quality of being amusing, comical, funny. |
| vivid adjective | /ˈvɪvɪd/ | Clear, detailed, or powerful. |
| arrogant adjective | /ˈæɹəɡənt/ | Having excessive pride in oneself, often with contempt or disrespect for others. |
| prank noun | /pɹæŋk/ | A practical joke or mischievous trick. |
| brutally adverb | In a brutal manner; viciously, barbarically. | |
| outgoing adjective | /aʊtˈɡəʊɪŋ/ | Extroverted: talkative, friendly, and social, especially with respect to meeting new people easily and comfortably; outgiving. |
| trick noun | /ˈtɹɪk/ | Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle. |
| sensitive adjective | /ˈsɛn.sɪt.ɪv/ | Having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 5 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, doesn't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, bother /ˈbɑðɚ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/, shell /ʃɛl/, collocation /ˌkɑ.ləˈkeɪ.ʃən/, sociable /ˈsoʊʃəbəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/, superior /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, inferior /ɪnˈfɪɹ.i.ɚ/, superiority /sʊˌpɪə(ɹ).iˈɒ.ɹɪ.ti/, collocation /ˌkɑ.ləˈkeɪ.ʃən/
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 imagination, streak, lesson.
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.