Shadowing Practice: English in a Minute: As the Crow Flies - Learn English Speaking with Video
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15 sentences
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1
Welcome to English in a Minute.
2
Have you heard this phrase in American English?
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As the crow flies.
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What do these people mean when they say, as the crow flies?
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Let's listen.
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I am going to check my GPS, but first, can you tell me how far the airport is from here?
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I think it's about 20 miles.
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The airport isn't very far, as the crow flies, but you can't get there directly.
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You have to drive around the mountains.
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It's about 40 miles by car.
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A crow is a big black bird.
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As the crow flies describes the distance between two places as a bird or an airplane might fly.
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It does not include the turns in a road, going around mountains, or bodies of water.
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Now you can use as the crow flies in a conversation.
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And that's English in a Minute.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “English in a Minute: As the Crow Flies”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: crow, flies, English. This video has 15 sentences and 142 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:56. The speaker talks at a natural 152 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 3 of its 15 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 13 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| crow noun | /kɹoʊ/ | A bird, usually black, of the genus Corvus, having a strong conical beak, with projecting bristles; it has a harsh, croaking call. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| airplane noun | /ˈɛɹˌpleɪ̯n/ | A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor. |
| bird noun | /ˈbɜːd/ | An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of… |
| describe verb | /dɪˈskɹaɪb/ | To represent in words. |
| fly noun | /ˈflaɪ̯/ | Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies. |
| miles noun | /maɪlz/ | A great distance in space or time. |
| airport noun | /ˈɛɹ.pɔɹt/ | An airfield (an area designated for the takeoff and landing of aircraft), including one or more runways and (for commercial airports) one or more passenger… |
| mountain noun | /ˈmaʊn.tɪn/ | An elevation of land of considerable dimensions rising more or less abruptly, forming a conspicuous figure in the landscape, usually having a small extent of… |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| directly adverb | /dɪˈɹɛk(t).li/ | In a direct manner; in a straight line or course. |
| distance noun | /ˈdɪst(ə)n(t)s/ | An amount of space between points (often geographical points), usually (but not necessarily) measured along a straight line. |
| conversation noun | /ˌkɑn.vəɹˈseɪ.ʃən/ | Expression and exchange of individual ideas through talking with other people; also, a set instance or occasion of such talking. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go around verb | To move or spread from person to person. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | Have you heard |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might fly |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | am going to check |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | have to drive |
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 crow, phrase, airplane.
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.