Shadowing Practice: English in a Minute: To Have Nerve - Learn English Speaking with Video
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14 sentences
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1
Welcome to English in a Minute.
2
Nerves are body parts that send information to the brain.
3
To have nerve.
4
Yet, I have a feeling Anna and Jonathan are not talking about body parts.
5
So I was sitting on the train on my way to work.
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When this woman comes up to me and says, Wow, your hair looks terrible.
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Wow, that took some nerve.
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I know.
9
I would never have the nerve to talk to a complete stranger like that.
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The expression to have nerve has two meanings.
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One means to not be afraid to make an offensive or rude comment.
12
The other is to be brave enough to do something dangerous or difficult.
13
Anna and Jonathan used an example of the first meaning.
14
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: To Have Nerve”. This video has 14 sentences and 130 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:56. The speaker talks at a steady 140 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| nerve noun | /nɝv/ | A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics. |
| offensive adjective | /ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/ | Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation. |
| brave adjective | /bɹeɪv/ | Strong in the face of fear; courageous. |
| rude adjective | /ɹuːd/ | Lacking in refinement or civility; bad-mannered; discourteous. |
| strange adjective | /stɹeɪnd͡ʒ/ | Not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the ordinary, often with a negative connotation. |
| expression noun | /əkˈspɹɛʃ.n̩/ | The action of expressing thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc. |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| train noun | /ˈtɹeɪn/ | The elongated back portion of a dress or skirt (or an ornamental piece of material added to similar effect), which drags along the ground. |
| brain noun | /ˈbɹeɪ̯n/ | The control center of the central nervous system of an animal located in the skull, consisting of the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem, which is responsible… |
| sit verb | /sɪt/ | To move oneself into such a position. |
| comment noun | /ˈkɑmɛnt/ | A spoken or written remark. |
| meaning noun | /ˈmiː.nɪŋ/ | The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol. |
| dangerous adjective | /ˈdeɪn.ʒ(ə.)ɹəs/ | Full of danger. |
| terrible adjective | /ˈtɛɹəbəl/ | Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear; awesome |
| afraid adjective | /əˈfɹeɪd/ | Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come up to verb | To approach. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was sitting |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | are not talking |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: expression /əkˈspɹɛʃ.n̩/, dangerous /ˈdeɪn.ʒ(ə.)ɹəs/
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 nerve, offensive, brave.
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.