Shadowing Practice: English in a Minute: Split the Difference - Learn English Speaking with Video

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15 sentences
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1
Welcome to English in a Minute.
2
If you split something, you divide it.
3
So what does it mean to split the difference?
4
Andrew, last night at a friend's house, I broke her expensive face.
5
Now she wants me to buy her a new one.
6
Well, it was your fault.
7
No, it wasn't.
8
It was right near where we were disco dancing.
9
Well, in that case, split the difference.
10
You both pay half.
11
Yeah, I guess we both were to blame.
12
When you split the difference, the difference.
13
Two people agree to pay what they both think is fair.
14
They generally take the average of two proposed amounts.
15
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: Split the Difference”. This video has 15 sentences and 113 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:53. The speaker talks at a steady 128 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 12 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
divide verb/dɪˈvaɪd/To split or separate (something) into two or more parts.
propose verb/pɹəˈpəʊz/To suggest a plan, course of action, etc.
disco noun/ˈdɪskoʊ/A genre of dance music that was popular in the 1970s, characterized by elements of soul music with a strong Latin-American beat and often accompanied by…
split verb/splɪt/To divide fully or partly along a more or less straight line.
fault noun/fɔlt/Culpability; the responsibility for a blameworthy event.
blame verb/bleɪm/To assert or consider that someone is the cause of something negative; to place blame; to attribute responsibility (for something negative or for doing…
fair adjective/ˈfɛə/Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent.
welcome/ˈwɛl.kəm/Greeting given upon someone's arrival.
agree verb/əˈɡɹi/To be in harmony about an opinion, statement, or action; to have a consistent idea between two or more people.
generally adverb/ˈd͡ʒɛn.ɹə.li/Popularly or widely.
dance noun/dæns/A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.
expensive adjective/ɪkˈspɛnsɪv/Having a high price or cost.

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like divide, propose, disco.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →