Shadowing Practice: He Was Born On a Plane! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “He Was Born On a Plane!”. This video has 17 sentences and 158 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:04. The speaker talks at a steady 148 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 89% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
12 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| scare verb | /skɛɚ/ | To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way. |
| airline noun | /ˈɛɹˌlaɪn/ | A company that flies airplanes to transport people and goods. |
| airplane noun | /ˈɛɹˌpleɪ̯n/ | A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor. |
| attendant noun | /əˈtɛndənt/ | One who attends; one who works with or watches over someone or something. |
| zero noun | /ˈzɪɹoʊ/ | The numeric symbol that represents the cardinal number zero. |
| burn verb | /bɝn/ | To cause to be consumed by fire. |
| flight noun | /ˈflaɪ̯t/ | The act of flying; the ability to fly. |
| plane noun | /pleɪn/ | An airplane; an aeroplane. |
| welcome | /ˈwɛl.kəm/ | Greeting given upon someone's arrival. |
| minute noun | /ˈmɪnɪt/ | A unit of time which is one sixtieth of an hour (sixty seconds). |
| grow verb | /ˈɡɹəʊ/ | To become larger, to increase in magnitude. |
| fly noun | /ˈflaɪ̯/ | Any insect of the order Diptera; characterized by having two wings (except for some wingless species), also called true flies. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were born · be born · was born |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was burning |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | will stay |
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 scare, airline, airplane.
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.