Shadowing Practice: Five Short Plays Chapter 4 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Salt.
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Scene 1.
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No more salt.
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In a small grocery store, Groot is asking the shopkeeper for something.
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The others are waiting behind him.
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I like ten bags of salt, please.
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Ten? Of course.
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That's ten dollars, please.
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Here you are.
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Can I help you with all that?
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No, thanks.
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I have this cart.
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Ten bags.
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That's a lot of salt.
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Yes.
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Salt is very important, you know.
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It is.
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But why do you need ten bags?
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Soon there isn't going to be enough salt in the world.
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I saw it on television.
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Not enough salt?
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Really?
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It's true.
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So I'm buying some now.
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Goodbye. Did you hear that?
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Yeah, there isn't enough salt in the world.
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Not enough salt?
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That isn't true.
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But he saw it on television.
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Soon there isn't going to be any in the stores.
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Really?
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That's bad.
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I need salt.
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Me too.
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I can't live without it.
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Give me some salt, please.
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Ten bags.
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No, make that twenty bags. And me.
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I'd like thirty bags.
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Me first.
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I've got a big family.
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We need salt. Be quiet.
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All of you.
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You must wait.
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But we want our salt.
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And we want it now.
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But that man bought my last ten bags.
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Then it's true.
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He was right.
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There isn't enough salt in the world.
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What are we going to do?
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That's your problem.
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It's six o'clock.
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Time to close the store.
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I'm going home.
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But what about our salt?
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Look, there's a lot of salt in the world.
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Enough for everybody.
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Goodbye.
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Scene 2.
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We want salt.
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Spratly finds Groot standing in a street with his cart.
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Excuse me, I want to buy some salt.
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Sorry?
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What did you say?
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I know about the problem.
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What problem?
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What are you talking about?
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Soon there isn't going to be enough salt.
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Oh, you heard about that.
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Yes, and I want some salt.
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Then go to a grocery store and buy some.
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I can't find any.
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Every time I ask, the shopkeeper says, Sorry, no more salt.
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Oh, dear.
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But you have some.
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You bought ten large bags.
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I saw you.
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I'm sorry, but I'm not selling my salt.
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But I'll give you ten dollars a bag.
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No, I want $50 a bag.
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It's more expensive every day.
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Soon, there isn't going to be enough.
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All right, all right. $50 a bag.
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Give me five bags.
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Here's the money.
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Good man.
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You're doing the right thing.
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Excuse me.
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I saw you buy some salt.
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Ah.
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What's happening?
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I can't find any.
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The shopkeepers all say, sorry, no more salt.
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There's a problem.
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I know.
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It was on television.
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Everybody is talking about it.
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Listen, I must have some salt.
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Sorry.
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I can't help you.
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But I need it for my family.
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Please.
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All right, all right.
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But it's, uh, a hundred dollars a bag.
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Oh, no. I told you.
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Everybody wants salt.
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Well?
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Oh, all right then.
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Give me four bags.
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Four?
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Good.
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You understand the world, my friend.
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I see it in your face.
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Here's the money. And here's your salt.
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Goodbye.
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Hey, you.
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Stop.
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Are you talking to me?
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Yes.
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You were in the grocery store. Was I?
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Perhaps.
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I go into a lot of grocery stores.
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You bought all the salt in the store.
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Well, there's a problem, you know.
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Yes, there is, and it's all because of you.
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That's not true.
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I met Spratly just now.
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He tried to sell me a bag of salt for $500.
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That's too much.
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Of course it is.
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I know your plan.
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You go from store to store.
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You buy all the salt and sell it for a lot more money.
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Okay, it's true.
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I buy and sell salt.
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That's not wrong.
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Then sell some to me.
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No, I don't want to.
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Listen, I'm going to buy and you're going to sell.
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Do you understand?
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But I've only got one bag left.
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Give it to me, then.
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It's $200.
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Well, okay, you can have it for $150.
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But let me go.
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Give it to me.
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No, give me the money first.
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Now let me go.
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No!
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Help!
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Help!
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He ran in front of my truck.
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I didn't see him.
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You didn't do anything wrong.
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It was an accident.
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But why did he run across the street without looking?
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I was angry with him, so he ran away.
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How do you feel?
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Oh, my leg.
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My leg hurts.
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I think it's...
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He's okay, I think.
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Wait a minute.
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What's this in the street?
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It's salt.
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He had a bag of salt, and I wanted it.
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Salt?
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Well, that's interesting.
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I'm carrying salt on my truck.
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Bags and bags of it.
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Salt?
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Oh, no!
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Why are you laughing?
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It doesn't matter.
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I can't tell you now.
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Then you can tell that policeman.
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Look, he's coming across the street now.
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He saw the accident, I think.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Five Short Plays Chapter 4”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: salt, bag, store, ten, sell. This video has 182 sentences and 815 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:56. The speaker talks slowly, about 103 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
14 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| grocery noun | /ˈɡɹəʊ.s(ə.)ɹi/ | Retail foodstuffs and other household supplies. |
| goodbye | /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ | Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing. |
| cart noun | /kɑɹt/ | A small, open, wheeled vehicle, drawn or pushed by a person or animal, often with two wheels on one axle, more often used for transporting goods than… |
| thirty noun | /ˈθɝti/ | A commercial lasting 30 seconds. |
| policeman noun | /pəˈliːsmən/ | A police officer, usually a male. |
| shopkeeper noun | /ˈʃɑpkiːpɚ/ | A trader who sells goods in a shop, or by retail, in distinction from one who sells by wholesale, or sells door to door. |
| salt noun | /sɒlt/ | A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a food ingredient, seasoning, condiment, and preservative. |
| dollar noun | /ˈdɑ.lɚ/ | Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere… |
| truck noun | /tɹʌk/ | A small wheel or roller, specifically the wheel of a gun carriage. |
| excuse verb | /ɪksˈkjuz/ | To forgive; to pardon; to overlook. |
| angry adjective | /ˈæŋ.ɡɹi/ | Displaying or feeling anger. |
| laugh verb | /læf/ | To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and… |
| quiet adjective | /ˈkwaɪ̯.ət/ | With little or no sound; free of disturbing noise. |
| twenty noun | /ˈtwɛnti/ [-ɛɾ̃i] | The numbers twenty (20) to twenty-nine (29). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. |
| run across verb | To cross by running. |
| run away verb | To flee by running. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Can I help you with all that?
- Did you hear that?
- What are we going to do?
- What are you talking about?
- Are you talking to me?
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 28 contractions and reduced forms, such as isn't, I'm, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 grocery, goodbye, cart.
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.