Shadowing Practice: Heaps in 3 minutes — Intro - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Heaps in 3 minutes — Intro”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: heap, index, max, tree, value. This video has 5 sentences and 409 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:28. The speaker talks at a steady 118 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| array noun | /əˈɹeɪ/ | Clothing and ornamentation; raiment. |
| binary adjective | /ˈbaɪ.nə.ɹi/ | Being in one of two mutually exclusive states. |
| node noun | /noʊd/ | A knot, knob, protuberance or swelling. |
| priority noun | /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/ | An item's relative importance. |
| divide verb | /dɪˈvaɪd/ | To split or separate (something) into two or more parts. |
| sixth adjective | /sɪksθ/ | The ordinal form of the number six. |
| fewer | /ˈfjuː.ɚ/ | Less; a smaller amount of something non-integral commonly expressed as an integer |
| similarly adverb | /ˈsɪm.ə.lə.li/ | In a like style or manner. |
| garbage noun | /ˈɡɑɹ.bɪd͡ʒ/ | Food waste material of any kind. |
| instruction noun | /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/ | The act of instructing, teaching, or providing with information or knowledge. |
| java noun | /ˈd͡ʒɑː.və/ | A blend of coffee imported from the island of Java. |
| queue noun | /kju/ | A line of people, vehicles or other objects, usually one to be dealt with in sequence (i.e., the one at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is… |
| cue noun | /kju/ | An action or event that is a signal for somebody to do something. |
| lastly adverb | /ˈlæstli/ | Used to mark the beginning of the last in a list of items or propositions. |
| retrieve verb | /ɹɪˈtɹiːv/ | To regain or get back something. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 6 contractions and reduced forms, such as we'll, I'd, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: sixth /sɪksθ/, arithmetic /æɹɪθˈmɛtɪk/
- Long words — get the stress right: priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, similarly /ˈsɪm.ə.lə.li/, arithmetic /æɹɪθˈmɛtɪk/
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 array, binary, node.
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.