Shadowing Practice: English in a Minute: Doozy - Learn English Speaking with Video
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16 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Welcome to English in a Minute.
2
A daisy is a kind of flower.
3
But what do you think a doozy is?
4
Wow, Dan, that is a big book.
5
It's called War and Peace.
6
I'm reading it for my book club.
7
It's over 1,000 pages.
8
Well, that is a doozy of a read.
9
does it at least have pictures?
10
Not one!
11
And carrying it around is starting to hurt my back.
12
A doozy means something that is extraordinary and unusual.
13
It can also mean difficult to deal with.
14
The word comes from Daisy.
15
In the past, Daisy described something unusually good.
16
But today, doozy has a much different meaning.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “English in a Minute: Doozy”. This video has 16 sentences and 107 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:53. The speaker talks at a steady 122 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 10 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| daisy noun | /ˈdeɪ.zi/ | A wild flowering plant of species Bellis perennis of the family Asteraceae, with a yellow head and white petals |
| unusual adjective | /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/ | Not usual, out of the ordinary. |
| flower noun | /ˈfloʊɚ/ | A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens… |
| extraordinary adjective | /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/ | Out of the ordinary; exceptional; unusual. |
| unusually adverb | /ʌnˈjuːʒuəli/ | In an unusual manner. |
| doozy noun | /ˈduːzi/ | Something that is extraordinary: often troublesome, difficult or problematic, but sometimes extraordinary in a positive sense. |
| describe verb | /dɪˈskɹaɪb/ | To represent in words. |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| hurt verb | /hɝt/ | To cause (a person or animal) physical pain and/or injury. |
| carry verb | /ˈkæɹ.i/ | To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, unusually /ʌnˈjuːʒuəli/
- Long words — get the stress right: unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, extraordinary /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/, unusually /ʌnˈjuːʒuəli/
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 daisy, unusual, flower.
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.