Shadowing Practice: English in a Minute: A Mixed Bag - Learn English Speaking with Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 14 sentences and 110 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:54. The speaker talks at a steady 123 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing.
Key vocabulary in this video
9 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| awful adjective | /ˈɔːfʊl/ | Very bad. |
| describe verb | /dɪˈskɹaɪb/ | To represent in words. |
| loud adjective | /ˈlaʊ̯d/ | Of great intensity. |
| mix verb | /ˈmɪks/ | To stir together. |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| weekend noun | /ˈwiˌkɛnd/ | The break in the working week, usually two days including the traditional holy or sabbath day. Thus in Western countries, Saturday and Sunday. |
| meaning noun | /ˈmiː.nɪŋ/ | The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol. |
| bag noun | /bæɡ/ | A soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold food, commodities, and other goods. |
| variety noun | /vəˈɹaɪ.ə.ti/ | A deviation or difference. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
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 awful, describe, loud.
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.

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