This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Halloween Cookies with Stormi and Aire”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: halloween, candy, stormy, pirate, cookie. This video has 81 sentences and 718 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:26. The speaker talks at a steady 112 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
candy noun	/ˈkæn.di/	Crystallized sugar formed by boiling down sugar syrup.
cookie noun	/ˈkʊki/	A small, flat, baked good which is either crisp or soft but firm.
pirate noun	/ˈpaɪɹət/	A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.
costume noun	/ˈkɑsˌt(j)um/	A style of dress, including garments, accessories and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period or people.
worm noun	/wɝm/	A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.
trick noun	/ˈtɹɪk/	Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle.
purple noun	/ˈpɝ.pl̩/	A colour between red and blue; violet, though often closer to magenta.
subscribe verb	/səbˈskɹaɪb/	To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
angel noun	/ˈeɪ̯n.d͡ʒəl/	An incorporeal and holy or semidivine messenger from a deity or other divine entity, traditionally depicted as a youthful, winged figure in flowing robes.
sand noun	/sænd/	Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in…
cousin noun	/ˈkʌz(ə)n/	Chiefly with a qualifying word: Any relation (especially a distant one) who is not a direct ancestor or descendant but part of a person's extended family; a…
chip noun	/t͡ʃɪp/	A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material.
scream verb	/skɹiːm/	To cry out with a shrill voice; to utter a sudden, sharp outcry, or shrill, loud cry, as in fright or extreme pain; to screech, to shriek.
basket noun	/ˈbæskɪt/	A lightweight woven container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom.
scare verb	/skɛɚ/	To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
come up with verb	To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
run around verb	To be very busy doing many different things.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

You're just, you just love yellow.
I don't, I really don't.
Don't give me that face.
Do you remember that?
Then why don't you have your own basket and trick or treat?

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	have been · have ever been
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was thinking · was wearing · was screaming
Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming	gonna be · are going to roll · gonna bake
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	is joining · is caring

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 24 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, gonna, I'm. 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 candy, cookie, pirate.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson