Shadowing Practice: FROZEN - All Movie Clips (2013) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “FROZEN - All Movie Clips”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cold, Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven. This video has 299 sentences and 1686 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:17. The speaker talks at a steady 110 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 57 of its 299 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| whoa | /woʊ/ | Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down. |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| awkward adjective | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments. |
| gate noun | /ˈɡeɪ̯t/ | A doorlike structure outside a house. |
| buddy | /ˈbʌdi/ | A person far removed from the conversation. |
| belong verb | /bɪˈlɒŋ/ | To have its proper place. |
| boot noun | /but/ | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. |
| freeze verb | /ˈfɹiːz/ | Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature. |
| hug verb | /hʌɡ/ | To cling closely together. |
| melt verb | /mɛlt/ | To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat. |
| blizzard noun | /ˈblɪz.ɚd/ | A large snowstorm accompanied by strong winds and greatly reduced visibility caused by blowing snow. |
| pants noun | /pænts/ | An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers. |
| rush verb | /ɹʌʃ/ | To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully. |
| thin adjective | /ˈθɪn/ | Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. |
| thick adjective | /θɪk/ | Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bring back verb | /ˈbɹɪŋ bæk/ | To fetch something. |
| calm down verb | To become less excited, intense, or angry. | |
| fall off verb | To become detached or to drop from. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| move out verb | To leave one's present location; to leave somewhere for another place. | |
| open up verb | To open. | |
| pass through verb | To go through, to travel through, to transit or lie across a place or from one place to another. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What did I ever do to you?
- Why do you shut me out?
- Why do you shut the world out?
- What are you so afraid of?
- Do you know where she is?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've always loved · I've been impaled · have known |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | I've been impaled · was born |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was just wondering · were just talking |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should probably wait · should probably go |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 68 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thin /ˈθɪn/, thick /θɪk/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rush /ɹʌʃ/, invention /ɪnˈvɛnʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, dormitory /ˈdɔɹ.mɪˌtɔɹ.i/
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 whoa, knock, awkward.
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.






























