Shadowing Practice: English in a Minute: Nail-biter - Learn English Speaking with Video
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12 sentences
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1
Welcome to English in a Minute.
2
Biting your nails is a bad habit, but can you figure out what this expression means?
3
Nail-biter.
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I am so excited to watch the soccer game tonight.
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I know!
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Both teams are really good think it will be a real nail biter.
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It's probably going to come down to the final minutes.
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A nail biter is something that causes stress or makes you feel nervous.
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Many people who are nervous do actually bite their nails, which is where this expression comes from.
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In our example, Jonathan guessed that the soccer game would be a nail biter
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and that no one would know who would win until the final moments of the game.
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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: Nail-biter”. This video has 12 sentences and 125 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:53. The speaker talks at a steady 142 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 9 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| nail noun | /neɪl/ | The horny plate or appendage at the ends of the digits of various animals, including most reptiles, birds, and mammals (both nonhuman and human). |
| soccer noun | /ˈsɑk.ɚ/ | Association football. |
| bite verb | /baɪt/ | To cut into something by clamping the teeth. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| distress noun | /dɪˈstɹɛs/ | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. |
| biter noun | /ˈbaɪtɚ/ | A fish that tends to take bait. |
| expression noun | /əkˈspɹɛʃ.n̩/ | The action of expressing thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc. |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| excited adjective | /ɪkˈsaɪ.tɪd/ | Having great enthusiasm, passion and energy. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who are |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | It's probably going to come |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | will be |
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 nail, soccer, bite.
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.