Shadowing Practice: English in a Minute: To Be All Thumbs - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
15 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Welcome to English in a Minute.
2
Each hand has one thumb, but what does it mean to be all thumbs?
3
Dan, can you help bring in the cake for the work party?
4
It's big.
5
I'm not the best person to ask.
6
I'm all thumbs.
7
Oh, then forget it.
8
I don't want anything to happen to this cake.
9
Is there anything else I can help with?
10
Sure, you can throw the bags of ice on the ground to break up the ice.
11
Yes, like I said, I'm great at dropping things.
12
If you had no fingers and only thumbs, it would be really hard to do some things.
13
You would likely drop things all the time.
14
So if someone is all thumbs, they are just a bit clumsy.
15
And that's English in a Minute.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
B1English in a Minute: Thorn in My Side
American AccentDaily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B2English in a Minute: Ahead of the Curve
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
A235
English in a Minute: Make Up Your Mind
American AccentTravel EnglishTeensDaily Conversation
B147
English in a Minute: Wishful Thinking
American AccentDaily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B138
English in a Minute: When it Rains, it Pours
American AccentDaily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B184
English in a Minute: Get Out Of Here
American AccentTeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B120
English in a Minute: Make (One's) Head Swim
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
A236
Call It A Day
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B29
English in a Minute: Pound the Pavement
American AccentInterview EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B134
English in a Minute: Stay in Touch
American AccentTeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
A211
Stay in Touch
American AccentTeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
A27
English in a Minute: Start from Scratch
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B13
English in a Minute: Sink or Swim
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
English in a Minute: Break Even
American AccentBusiness EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B13
English in a Minute: Divide and Conquer
American AccentTOEIC PrepBusiness EnglishDaily Conversation
B115
English in a Minute: Like Oil and Water
American AccentTeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B16
English in a Minute: Under The Weather
American AccentDaily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B18
English in a Minute: Call It A Day
American AccentDaily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B12
English in a Minute: Bigger Fish to Fry
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B13
English in a Minute: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
American AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B12
124 sentences
Why You Think Everyone is Watching Your Mistakes | Coffee English Talk | B1
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B12
64 sentences
Food Idioms in English | Everyday Expressions Made Easy | 5 Minute English Talk
Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B14
197 sentences
give me 14 minutes and I will change how you learn English forever
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B241
53 sentences
5-Minute English Shadowing Practice | Episode #1 | Essential Phrases for B1-B2 Learners
Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
A17
9 sentences
👆🏻Fingers = hands \ 🦶🏻Toes = feet #LearnEnglish ##ESL #EnglishTips #SpeakEnglish #inglesonline
American AccentKidsTeensDaily Conversation
B24
210 sentences
Learn Real English While Baking Cookies 🍪 (Fix These Grammar Mistakes!)
Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
A21
28 sentences
What's Your Job? Meeting at a Party
British AccentDaily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
295 sentences
Shadow English to sound smarter and feel more confident
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B1344 sentences
ESL May vs Might vs Perhaps vs Often | How to Talk About Possibility in English | A1-B1 Podcast
Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B21
17 sentences
10 English Idioms with Meanings You CAN’T Guess
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “English in a Minute: To Be All Thumbs”. This video has 15 sentences and 133 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:53. The speaker talks at a natural 151 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 8 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| thumb noun | /ˈθʌm/ | The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers. |
| finger noun | /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other… |
| clumsy adjective | /ˈklʌmzi/ | Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous. |
| cake noun | /keɪk/ | A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing. |
| drop noun | /dɹɑp/ | A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid. |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| throw verb | /θɹoʊ/ | To hurl; to release (an object) with some force from one’s hands, an apparatus, etc. so that it moves rapidly through the air. |
| bag noun | /bæɡ/ | A soft container made out of cloth, paper, thin plastic, etc. and open at the top, used to hold food, commodities, and other goods. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| break up verb | To break or separate into pieces. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Dan, can you help bring in the cake for the work party?
- I'm not the best person to ask.
- I don't want anything to happen to this cake.
- Is there anything else I can help with?
- Yes, like I said, I'm great at dropping things.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the best |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thumb /ˈθʌm/, throw /θɹoʊ/
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 thumb, finger, clumsy.
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.