Shadowing Practice: Grandma's Lemon Cake: Grams, Degrees and Minutes - Learn English Speaking with Video
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28 sentences
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1
Hi, Gran! It's me. Have you got a minute?
2
Jamie! Of course, love. What's up?
3
Well... I want to make your lemon cake.
4
Oh, lovely! Have you got a pen?
5
Yes. Ready when you are.
6
Right. 225 grams of butter, nice and soft.
7
225? Two, two, five?
8
That's it. And the same of sugar.
9
Then 4 eggs and 2 lemons.
10
Oh no. I've only got 1 lemon.
11
Then go to the shop, Jamie!
12
Ha! Fine. What about the flour?
13
250 grams of self-raising flour.
14
Wait, 215 or 250?
15
250. Two, five, zero.
16
Sorry, Gran. The line's a bit bad.
17
Now, put the oven on 180 degrees.
18
Is that for a fan oven?
19
Hmm... no. For a fan oven, make it 160.
20
160. Okay. And for how long?
21
About 45 minutes.
22
45, not 54?
23
Ha! 54 and it'll be black, love.
24
Got it. 45 minutes.
25
So, who's the cake for, then?
26
Um... it's for a friend. Her name's Ella.
27
Ooh, a friend! E-L-L-A? I'll remember that!
28
Gran! Bye!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Grandma's Lemon Cake: Grams, Degrees and Minutes”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Gran, oven, lemon. This video has 28 sentences and 154 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:46. The speaker talks slowly, about 87 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 76% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 12 of its 28 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lemon noun | /ˈlɛmən/ | A yellowish citrus fruit. |
| oven noun | /ˈʌ.vn̩/ | A chamber used for baking or heating. |
| flour noun | /ˈflaʊ.ə/ | Powder obtained by grinding or milling cereal grains, especially wheat, or other foodstuffs such as soybeans and potatoes, and used to bake bread, cakes, and… |
| gram noun | /ˈɡɹæm/ | A unit of mass equal to one-thousandth of a kilogram. Symbol: g. |
| egg noun | /ɛɡ/ | An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell… |
| butter noun | /ˈbʌtɚ/ | A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk). |
| cake noun | /keɪk/ | A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing. |
| soft adjective | /sɔft/ | Easily giving way under pressure. |
| sugar noun | /ˈʃʊɡə/ | A food consisting of small, sweet crystals, principally of sucrose, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used as sweetener and preservative. |
| zero noun | /ˈzɪɹoʊ/ | The numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero. |
| minute noun | /ˈmɪnɪt/ | A unit of time which is one sixtieth of an hour (sixty seconds). |
| degree noun | /dɪˈɡɹiː/ | A completed curriculum of study in tertiary education. |
| shop noun | /ʃɑp/ | An establishment that sells goods or services to the public; originally only a physical location, but now a virtual establishment as well. |
| raise verb | /ɹeɪz/ | To cause to rise; to lift or elevate. |
| lovely adjective | /ˈlʌv.li/ | Delightful for beauty, harmony, or grace. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, I've, it'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: sugar /ˈʃʊɡə/, shop /ʃɑp/
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 lemon, oven, flour.
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.