Shadowing Practice: Fleabag | Break-up - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 22 sentences and 139 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:24. The speaker talks slowly, about 99 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| breakup noun | /ˈbɹeɪk.ʌp/ | The act of breaking up; disintegration or division. |
| commit verb | /kəˈmɪt/ | To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto. |
| realise verb | Non-Oxford British standard spelling of realize. | |
| leaf noun | /lif/ | The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants. |
| admire verb | /ədˈmaɪɹ/ | To regard with wonder and delight. |
| awkwardness noun | The state or quality of being awkward; clumsiness; unskillfulness. | |
| obsess verb | /əbˈsɛs/ | To be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion. |
| drama noun | /ˈdɹɑmə/ | A composition, normally in prose, telling a story and intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue. |
| mile noun | /maɪ̯l/ | The international mile: a unit of length precisely equal to 1.609344 kilometers established by treaty among Anglophone nations in 1959, divided into 5,280 feet… |
| detail noun | /ˈdi.teɪl/ | A part small enough to escape casual notice. |
| flat adjective | /ˈflæt/ | Having no variations in height. |
| extra adjective | /ˈɛkstɹə/ | Beyond what is due, usual, expected, or necessary; extraneous; additional; supernumerary. |
| clean adjective | /kliːn/ | Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled. |
| scene noun | /siːn/ | The location of an event that attracts attention. |
| crime noun | /kɹaɪm/ | A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| going over noun | An inspection, examination, review, or investigation. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 6 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I've, 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 breakup, commit, realise.
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.