Shadowing Practice: How I’d Learn Any Language from 0 (If I Started Over in 2026) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hey guys, I'm Kat and I'm a native English speaker, but I've also learned three foreign languages.
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I speak German, Portuguese, and Polish.
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And after learning three languages, I am going to share with you my exact system for learning a language from zero.
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Now, I have tried so many different routines, learning materials, I mean, you name it.
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And after trying all these different things, here is what I have found to be the most effective method.
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Now, it's actually quite simple.
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It consists of two phases and one essential tip that is the absolute make or break difference when learning a language.
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So let's get started.
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Step one is all about familiarizing yourself with the language.
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This builds the foundation that you need in order to build on that and to really learn the grammar and vocabulary.
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I mean everything you need.
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There is a starting point which is essential and when you skip this step you really lose that foundation.
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The first thing that I do before anything else is I learn the top 1000 most common words.
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Now I know this might sound a little silly, but it actually makes a huge difference.
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When you are learning a language, there are so many small little words that come up here and there.
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And oftentimes you're not taught them.
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Words like and, of, because, it.
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I mean just super simple words.
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And when you just break that barrier, learn those words right away,
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then you skip this huge portion of time where you're getting confused because of little words.
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Another advantage is that you're familiarizing yourself with how the language sounds, the rhythm of the language,
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what verbs sound like, what nouns sound like, what prepositions sound like.
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Now, of course, you're going to get into this so much deeper later on,
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but it is so important that in the beginning you have just a glimpse of the feel of the language,
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of how words sound.
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And this makes a huge difference.
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Even after learning these top 1000 words, if you turn on the radio in that language, you will hear words that you know because these words are
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so common and you'll be able to pick them out just listening.
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And this really starts that foundation.
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Now, the way that I learn these words is I look up a list.
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I literally look up top 1000 words in German, for example, and you will find a list.
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I take that list and I make a table.
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The table has the words numbered, it has the word in the foreign language, and then the word in your native language.
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So for me, that would look like word one in German und, and then the English translation and.
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So I have that page and I print it out, and then every day I commit to learning a set number of words.
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Now when I've done this before, I've done it learning 15 words a day.
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And at another time when I was trying to learn a language really quickly, I did a hundred words a day and did it in 10 days.
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Most people don't want to do that and you don't have to do that.
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But for me, it worked.
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But all you need to do is commit to learning a certain number of words a day
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and you will actually get to that a thousand quite quickly.
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I like to use flashcards and I take those words
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that I'm learning every day and I actually write them out on real paper flashcards.
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With language learning, I find it so helpful when you are actually writing out the words on paper.
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There's something so essential about feeling the paper, using your senses, using your hand.
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You remember it so much better when you actually write it out.
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So you write out all these words on your flashcards
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and then you study them in the way where you have your pile for the day
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and you look at it and you see if you remember the translation
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and if you get it right it goes in one stack
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and if you get it wrong it goes in the other
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and you do that all the way through over
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and over until they're all in the correct stack you got them all correct then you flip them over
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and so you're going from the other language now and you do it again until they're all in the right stack.
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Now as the days progress, you stack these cards when you're done on your overall stack
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and every day you make sure that you go through all of your cards at the end.
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This way every day is building.
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So if you learn 15 words the first day, those you got, okay, you set them aside.
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The second day you learn your new 15 words, then those flashcards go with day one.
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So I have 30 in there And at the end, you just run through that 30 really quickly.
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And the next day you do the same.
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Then you have 45.
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And it seems intimidating, but you would be surprised.
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Since you already know those words, and especially because you're reviewing them every day, you can go through them in just a minute or two.
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It's like boom, boom, boom.
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You've got them.
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And every day, all you have to worry about are your new 15 words.
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So that is step one.
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That helps you just get familiar with the language and it really just breaks that initial learning barrier.
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Something about getting started can be so hard and so when you just break that barrier right away,
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the rest of your learning journey is so much more smooth.
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Then the next thing that I do here is I focus on pronunciation.
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I find that focusing on pronunciation early on is truly essential.
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when you wait you're already making mistakes in how you're pronouncing words
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and you don't even know it and those mistakes just build
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and build and it really affects your understanding as well
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because you think that you know how a word sounds
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because you've been saying it some strange way one way
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or another and then you hear a word and it sounds completely different and you actually know the word.
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You have learned the word.
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You've studied the word.
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But because you are pronouncing it wrong in your head or maybe even out loud, you can't understand it.
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And this is a huge problem.
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I see this with my English students all the time.
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And so I find that it is essential to focus on pronunciation right off the bat with learning those initial words.
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So here's how I do that.
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When I am learning my top 1000 words, every day when I'm going through the new words, I look up the word on Google Translate.
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Now, this isn't for the translation.
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You have the translation right in front of you, so you don't need that.
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Looking it up is for the sole purpose of hitting that pronunciation button on Google Translate and hearing how it's said.
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And so you click it a few times until you've really gotten it down.
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That way, when you're learning those 1000 words, you're also getting familiar with pronunciation.
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Then I also like to do some kind of pronunciation workout or something on the side.
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This is exactly why I created my seven day pronunciation workout, which is linked below.
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This is for learning English.
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But for any language, you need to do something in addition to that.
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So you can look up pronunciation guides.
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You can practice by shadowing.
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You can practice by watching a show or a podcast and listening to every word, really watching the subtitles.
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There are tons of ways you can do this, but I really recommend learning your 1000 words,
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then taking a month or two and just really focusing on pronunciation before you do anything else.
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That together encompasses phase one, and that is all about just getting familiar,
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starting your language learning journey breaking that initial barrier and getting comfortable with how the language feels,
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how it sounds, just getting familiar.
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Now we enter phase two.
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Phase two is all about now taking a deep dive into the language.
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Now this one is hard because once you're in phase two, once you're really getting going, there are so many materials.
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And so especially if you are learning a language on your own, it's hard to know what to use,
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where to look, what is the best route, I mean what to study, because once you start, you're like, oh, I have grammar, I have vocabulary,
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I don't even know how the pronouns work.
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There is just so much encompassed in learning a language that it can feel quite overwhelming.
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So for me, I like to keep it as simple as possible.
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Of course, you need to learn new words, you need to learn grammar, you need speaking practice, you need listening practice,
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you need reading practice, but the simplest way to do it all is just to get a beginner's workbook.
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Get an A1 level workbook in that language and just start working your way through it.
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Now, I have a system that works really well for me that I'll share, but everyone has their own system.
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So start working through that workbook and just do your best.
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If you have a photographic memory and you can just remember it, perfect, do that.
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If you are a visual learner, then take the strategies that you know work for you
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when you're learning and just apply those to how you're gonna work through this workbook.
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Try to study it as best as you can.
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For me, I like to have a notebook next to it where I can just jot down all my ideas,
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all my messy thoughts, and just get it down on the page.
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So I like to work through the workbook really methodically, but then also have my notebook next to me where I can just scribble practice sentences
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and grammar charts and just get it all out.
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The other thing that is essential for me is I like to have a small little notebook.
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And this notebook is my vocabulary notebook.
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Every time I encounter a new word, whether that's in my workbook or listening to a TV show, listening to a podcast, listening to music,
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just thinking and realizing, oh, I don't know the word for light and looking it up.
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Whatever it is, I put all the new words into my vocab book and then I review it about once a week.
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And this just helps me solidify new words that I encounter, really helps me remember them.
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Once again, there's something so helpful about actually writing it down with pen
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and paper and just getting it off your chest and just truly using your senses to interact with the language.
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So that is my system for using a workbook.
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It's honestly pretty simple and then I just go up and up a level.
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So I did the A1, then I do the A2, then I do the B1, then I do B2 and you just keep doing it until you've done all the workbooks.
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Now that might sound really simple, but it takes a long time.
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And you also, like I said before, you have to incorporate the learning strategies that are best for you.
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Because in the end, you do have to memorize these words.
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You do have to memorize and learn how the grammar works.
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So you have to do it in a way that works best for you.
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Now, once you have completed stage one, this introductory phase, and you've begun phase two of really deep diving into the language,
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there is one key thing that is the absolute make or break.
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This is what I like to call creating your own immersion.
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The idea here is that you don't have to move to a new place to learn the language.
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You don't have to do a study abroad.
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You don't have to do any of that.
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Your job is to bring the language that you're learning into your life
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and you can do this at a really early stage.
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Even when you are learning those introductory words, I like to go around my house with sticky notes
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and write what the thing is in that language and just stick it on and you'll see them everywhere.
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On the fridge, fridge.
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On the microwave, microwave.
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On the sofa, sofa.
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I mean everywhere.
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You can even go so far as to open a cabinet and the whole cabinet be covered in sticky notes.
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Now, it's extreme, but there's something so important about incorporating the language into your daily life,
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creating your own immersion.
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And this opens up a lot of creativity.
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You have to be creative of how you're going to do this.
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So another good starting point is whenever you are going to watch a TV show or a movie, you watch it in that language.
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When you are going to listen to music, you listen to music in that language.
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When you are going to cook a recipe, you find the recipe in that language.
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I mean, there really are endless opportunities here.
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You can do pretty much anything in that language.
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I at one point made a rule for myself that if I was going to go on a run, I would be thinking in that language on the run.
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So really just bringing that language into your daily life and being creative of how you're going to do that.
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Now, another thing that I like to do is the idea of the language diary.
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Here, you just write a little bit about your day every day in some notebook, some diary.
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it really helps you not only practice the language, but become a little more comfortable with expressing your thoughts.
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The problem with these workbooks and textbooks
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and traditional ways of learning a language is that they are not really connected to your daily life.
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It takes a really long period of time to actually encounter how you would say that.
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And so if every day you're just writing a little bit in your language diary, talking a little bit about things you're thinking about,
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things you're feeling, things that happened that day,
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you end up running into words and phrases that you would actually use in your daily life.
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And when you encounter that first, when you are just writing by yourself, it gives you the opportunity to really break it down, figure out how to say it,
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get it right, get all the words.
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And then when you're having a conversation in the foreign language, you are much better prepared to use that.
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And you're a lot more confident because you've already practiced it, just writing it down on your own.
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Now, this is a really small habit.
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It can be three sentences a day, just when you wake up or before you go to bed.
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But doing that, introducing
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that into your daily life is a huge game changer for familiarizing yourself with the language and also
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if you miss a day of studying it gives you the opportunity to just do a little bit before bed
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or just a little something in that language.
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The key when learning a language is all about consistency
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and you don't have to be doing three hours a day but you need to do just something.
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And if you're in the habit of just doing a little a day, even just a sentence or two, you are going to progress so much faster.
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Now that is the system that I would use today going from zero to a hundred when learning a language.
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It's super simple.
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Familiarize yourself with the language, learn the top 1000 most common words and focus on pronunciation.
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And then in phase two, just using a workbook to deep dive into the language,
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using your learning strategies in order to learn it the best way that you can, and then creating your own immersion,
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living in the language, finding as many ways as possible that you can bring that language into your daily life.
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And lastly, keeping a language diary.
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That is the big picture, the big overview of how to learn a language.
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If this is interesting for you, I have tons of more videos on tips for learning languages, how to really set the right routine, how to really learn vocabulary,
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just deep dives into all these topics, but this is the overview from zero to a hundred.
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Now, I wish you the best of luck in your language learning journey.
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I'm Kat.
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If this video helped you, please like and subscribe.
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It really helps my channel.
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I'll catch you in the next video.
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Bye!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “How I’d Learn Any Language from 0”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: language, word, learning, learn. This video has 205 sentences and 2818 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:21. The speaker talks at a natural 162 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| workbook noun | /ˈwɝk.bʊk/ | A book, used by a student, in which answers and workings may be entered besides questions and exercises. |
| pronunciation noun | /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ | The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken. |
| notebook noun | /ˈnoʊtˌbʊk/ | A book (physical or digital) in which notes or memoranda are written. |
| stack noun | /stæk/ | A large pile of hay, grain, straw, or the like, larger at the bottom than the top, sometimes covered with thatch. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| familiarize verb | /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/ | To make or become familiar with something or someone. |
| flashcard noun | /ˈflæʃˌkɑɹd/ | A card used to aid rote memorization. One side of the card contains data of one kind, or a question, and the other side contains the associated response which… |
| vocabulary noun | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning. |
| diary noun | /ˈdaɪ.ə.ɹi/ | A daily log of experiences, especially those of the writer. |
| dive verb | /daɪv/ | To swim under water. |
| barrier noun | /ˈbæɹi.ə/ | A structure that bars passage. |
| encounter verb | /ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/ | To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly. |
| immersion noun | /ɪˈmɝʒən/ | The total submerging of a person in water as an act of baptism. |
| encompass verb | /ɪnˈkʌmpəs/ | To form a circle around; to encircle. |
| memorize verb | /ˈmɛm.əˌɹaɪ̯z/ | To fully learn so as to have entirely available to the memory; to learn by heart, commit to memory. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| look up verb | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | To have better prospects. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| work through verb | To get past a difficult or stressful situation by thinking or talking about it. | |
| write out verb | To write at full length or in expanded form. | |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| go around verb | To move or spread from person to person. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I don't even know how the pronouns work.
- You don't have to do a study abroad.
- You don't have to do any of that.
- I'll catch you in the next video.
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 | I've also learned · have tried · have found |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is linked · be covered · are not really connected |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | point which is · workout, which is |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most effective · the best · the simplest |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 59 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, you've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: methodically /mɪˈθɑdɪkəli/, rhythm /ˈɹɪð.əm/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, flashcard /ˈflæʃˌkɑɹd/, immersion /ɪˈmɝʒən/, preposition /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, familiarize /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, introductory /ˌɪntɹəˈdʌktəɹi/, incorporate /ɪŋˈkɔɹ.pɚ.eɪt/
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 workbook, pronunciation, notebook.
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.