Shadowing Practice: English in a Minute: Tacky - Learn English Speaking with Video
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12 sentences
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1
Welcome to English in a Minute.
2
This term can mean something is sticky.
3
Tacky.
4
But how is this adjective used in other situations?
5
Jonathan, did you buy your mom that tacky dress she wanted?
6
You mean the one with the stripes and the polka dots and the enormous bow tie on the shoulder?
7
Yeah, I did.
8
Seems like she has her own idea about fashion.
9
If something is described as tacky, that means it is of poor quality or just shows bad taste.
10
A person can wear tacky clothes, tell a tacky joke, or read a tacky romance novel.
11
Fortunately, I have never done a tacky thing in my life.
12
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: Tacky”. This video has 12 sentences and 116 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:55. The speaker talks at a steady 126 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 3 of its 12 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 14 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| romance noun | /roʊˈmæn(t)s/ | An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair. |
| enormous adjective | /ɪˈnɔː.məs/ | Extremely large; greatly exceeding the common size, extent, etc. |
| dot noun | /dɑt/ | A small, round spot. |
| cloth noun | /klɒθ/ | A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes… |
| fortunately adverb | /ˈfɔɹ.t͡ʃə.nɪt.li/ | In a fortunate manner. |
| sticky adjective | /ˈstɪki/ | Tending to stick; able to adhere via the drying of a viscous substance. |
| stripe noun | /stɹaɪp/ | A long region of a single colour in a repeating pattern of similar regions. |
| tacky adjective | /ˈtæki/ | Of low quality. |
| adjective noun | /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/ | A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent. |
| polka noun | /ˈpoʊ(l)kə/ | A lively dance originating in Bohemia. |
| joke noun | /ˈd͡ʒoʊ̯k/ | An amusing story. |
| novel noun | /ˈnɑvəl/ | A work of prose fiction, longer than a novella. |
| describe verb | /dɪˈskɹaɪb/ | To represent in words. |
| shoulder noun | /ˈʃoʊldɚ/ | The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck. |
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 never done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is described |
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 romance, enormous, dot.
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.