Shadowing Practice: Fast Fashion: Is My Wardrobe the Problem? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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37 sentences
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1
Wow, you brought an entire bag? That's impressive!
2
I did! Half of these still have the tags on.
3
Still tagged? So you bought them and never wore them?
4
Some of them, sure, but they were ridiculously cheap.
5
When a T-shirt costs five dollars, it's hardly a big deal.
6
Funnily enough, I haven't bought anything new in a year.
7
Seriously? Not a single thing? What did you wear?
8
Mostly what I already had, which turned out to be plenty.
9
What surprised me was how little I actually missed.
10
Okay, but come on, one person's wardrobe can't matter that much.
11
Arguably, it matters more than you'd think.
12
According to the UN, fashion is estimated to account for
13
somewhere between two and eight percent of global emissions.
14
Wait, eight percent? That's more than I'd have guessed.
15
And it gets worse. Every single second,
16
a garbage truck's worth of textiles is burned or landfilled.
17
Every second? Oh, that's grim, and I'd never even thought about it.
18
Still, I can't afford a two-hundred-dollar jacket.
19
For a lot of people, cheap clothes aren't a choice.
20
That's fair, since not everyone can splash out on quality.
21
And honestly, isn't this on the big brands, not me?
22
They're the ones churning out new collections every week.
23
To some extent, you're right, and the industry has to change.
24
Here's the thing, though. In just fifteen years,
25
how often we wear our clothes dropped by over a third.
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So the problem isn't buying clothes, it's tossing them?
27
Exactly! Had I known that sooner, I'd have shopped differently.
28
Now I ask myself: will I wear this thirty times?
29
Thirty times? Most of my stuff barely gets three.
30
Okay, I'll give it a shot. Fewer, better things, and more swaps.
31
And repairs! A missing button isn't the end of the world.
32
Deal. If I'd learned to sew, I'd be unstoppable by now.
33
I'll teach you, and you'll see it's far easier than it looks.
34
Oh, wow, look at this denim jacket! It's perfect!
35
Wait, that's mine! I wore it once, I swear!
36
Then it's about to get its other twenty-nine wears!
37
Fair enough. At least it's going to someone who'll wear it.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Fast Fashion: Is My Wardrobe the Problem?”. This video has 37 sentences and 364 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:30. The speaker talks at a steady 145 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 12 of its 37 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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… |
| funnily adverb | /ˈfʌnəli/ | In a funny or amusing manner. |
| landfill noun | /ˈlæn(d).fɪl/ | A site at which refuse is buried under layers of earth. |
| unstoppable adjective | /ʌnˈstɔ.pə.bəl/ | Unable to be stopped. |
| ridiculously adverb | /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs.li/ | In a ridiculous manner. In a way that is funny, embarrassing or extremely implausible. |
| denim noun | /ˈdɛnɪm/ | A textile often made of cotton with a distinct diagonal pattern. |
| grim adjective | /ɡɹɪm/ | Dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding. |
| emission noun | /ɪˈmɪʃ.ən/ | Something which is emitted or sent out; issue. |
| textile noun | /ˈtɛk.staɪl/ | Any material made of interlacing or matted fibres, including carpeting and geotextiles, woven or nonwoven. |
| wardrobe noun | /ˈwɔɹdɹoʊb/ | A governmental office or department in a monarchy which purchases, keeps, and cares for royal clothes. |
| splash verb | /splæʃ/ | To hit or agitate liquid so that part of it separates from the principal liquid mass. |
| arguably adverb | /ˈɑɹɡjuəbli/ | As can be supported or proven by sound logical deduction, evidence, and precedent, but without absolute certainty. |
| toss verb | /tɔs/ | To throw with an initial upward direction. |
| swap verb | /ˈswɑp/ | To exchange or give (something) in an non-normal exchange (for something else). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Wow, you brought an entire bag?
- What did you wear?
- Arguably, it matters more than you'd think.
- That's more than I'd have guessed.
- Still, I can't afford a two-hundred-dollar jacket.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 19 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'd, isn't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: emission /ɪˈmɪʃ.ən/, splash /splæʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: unstoppable /ʌnˈstɔ.pə.bəl/, ridiculously /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs.li/
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 cloth, funnily, landfill.
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.