Shadowing Practice: How Do Our Bodies Move? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hey there!
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I'm sure you know, like Squeaks here does, that exercise is a really important part of keeping your body healthy and strong.
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And whether you're running a race, playing football, or just doing a whole bunch of jumping jacks, exercise means moving.
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And one SciShow Kids viewer named Autumn wants to know, how does my body move?
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Really awesome question, Autumn!
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Your body is made up of lots of different parts that all have very special jobs.
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To help keep things organized, scientists sometimes group the parts of our bodies into what we call body systems.
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And all of the parts in a certain body system work together to accomplish a goal.
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When it comes to making you move, it takes three body systems working together to get the job done.
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They're called the muscular system, the skeletal system, and the nervous system.
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Ready to check them out?
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Let's start with the muscular system.
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Your muscular system is made of, well, muscles.
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Muscle is the stuff — what scientists call tissue — that allows you to move around.
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Muscles don't just help you to swing a bat or jump to catch a ball.
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Some muscles help you chew, wiggle your nose, stick out your tongue, or even blink.
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And some muscles, like the ones in your back and legs, just help to hold your body upright So you can walk, run, or simply sit.
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Muscle tissue is pretty flexible, kind of like thick rubber or elastic.
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And also like rubber, it can stretch and change shape.
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Let's see how.
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When you bend your arm at the elbow, a muscle called your bicep contracts or squeezes together.
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When it contracts, its shape gets shorter and thicker.
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When you straighten your arm, your bicep relaxes.
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When a muscle relaxes, its shape gets longer and thinner.
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But muscles contracting and relaxing aren't enough to make us move.
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They need to be attached to another part of our body to get the job done.
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And that's where the next system, the skeletal system, comes in.
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The main part of your skeletal system, the skeleton, is made of all your hard, sturdy bones.
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Although we sometimes think of skeletons as dead things, especially around Halloween, that's actually not true.
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Your bones are very much alive, and they have many jobs.
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One of the most important jobs is to support or hold up the rest of your body, and this includes your muscles.
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Strong cords, called tendons, attach your muscles to your bones.
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When a muscle contracts or relaxes, it pulls the bone into a different position, which makes it move.
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But how do your muscles know they're supposed to move at all?
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Well, they know because they're under control of your nervous system.
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The most important part of your nervous system is your brain.
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Your brain is kind of like your body's command center.
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When you decide to move, your brain sends signals to your muscles, giving them specific instructions on what to do.
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Say you're trying to pick up a snack.
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Your brain sends signals to the muscles in your hand and wrist, telling some of them to contract.
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As the muscles contract, they pull the bones in your fingers, so that you can grab the apple.
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Then your brain sends more signals to your arm muscles, telling them to move the bones in your arm, so that you can bring the apple right to your mouth.
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Snack accomplished!
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So it takes the actions of three body systems to help us move — the muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems.
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Autumn, thanks for watching SciShow Kids and asking such a great question!
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And if anyone else has a question for any of us here at the fort, let us know by leaving a comment or emailing us at kids at thescishow .com.
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Thanks guys, see ya later!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 47 sentences and 641 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:11. The speaker talks fast, about 202 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% 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 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- muscle /ˈmʌs.əl/ (noun) — A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.
- bone /boʊn/ (noun) — A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates.
- relax /ɹɪˈlæks/ (verb) — To make something loose.
- muscular /ˈmʌs.kjʊl.ə/ (adjective) — Of, relating to, or connected with muscles.
- thick /θɪk/ (adjective) — Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension.
- tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/ (noun) — Thin, woven, gauzelike fabric.
- rubber /ˈɹʌbɚ/ (noun) — Pliable material derived from the sap of the rubber tree; a hydrocarbon biopolymer of isoprene.
- scientist /ˈsaɪəntəst/ (noun) — One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research…
- accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/ (verb) — To finish successfully.
- snack /snæk/ (noun) — A light meal.
- skeleton /ˈskɛlətən/ (noun) — The system that provides support to an organism, where in vertebrates it is internal and consists of bones and cartilage, and external in some other animals.
- attach /əˈtæt͡ʃ/ (verb) — To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
- finger /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ (noun) — A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
- thin /ˈθɪn/ (adjective) — Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
- fort /fɔɹt/ (noun) — A fortified defensive structure stationed with troops.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- come in /ˌkʌm ˈɪn/ (verb) — To enter.
- hold up (verb) — To wait or delay.
- move around (verb) — To relocate to new homes repeatedly; to not live in any one place for long.
- pick up (verb) — To lift; to grasp and raise.
- stick out (verb) — To protrude.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 8 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, you're, aren't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, thin /ˈθɪn/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/, accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/, instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like muscle, bone, relax.
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 | is made · be attached |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most important |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | you're running · you're trying |
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.