Shadowing Practice: How I Learned 6+ Languages FAST: The 5 Methods I Always Use - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

I speak six languages and over the years I tested countless methods to determine which ones actually work for me.

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I speak six languages and over the years I tested countless methods to determine which ones actually work for me.

I came up with a language learning blueprint I always use,

no matter which language I want to learn.

Sometimes I have to adjust them a little bit because some languages need a slightly different approach,

but overall these are the methods I swear by.

They actually work and they are going to make you learn languages extremely fast.

Don't forget to like this video and subscribe and now if you're ready to take your language skills to the next level,

let's get started.

The first method I want to share with you is called shadowing is one of my favorite

and most frequently used methods especially at the beginning basically what i do is i choose a video

and i try to mimic the person speaking in

that video i try to match their pronunciation rhythm intonation

and at the beginning i make sure

that the video is not too difficult for me

that it's not too long i love this method especially at the beginning

because it helps me get comfortable speaking without having to think what to say

so it's the perfect middle ground between passive and active learning.

You speak and you get used to speaking

but you don't have to think about producing your own sentences which can be a bit challenging at the beginning.

But it's also great for intermediate learners and even advanced learners.

As I approach the intermediate level I use it less

and less because I naturally get used to language and my pronunciation improves but I still use it from time to time.

Especially if I want to practice speaking faster and sounding more natural

or if I want to work on a specific accent then shadowing is amazing for that.

This method is one that I swear by and I use it with every single language.

This is what I love about this method

because sometimes you know certain languages require a different approach

but shadowing can be used for every single language out there

so it's amazing and if you haven't tried it already give it a try.

The next method is the bidirectional translation method created by Luca Lampariello and this method is also one of my favorite methods.

I'm going to explain it really really fast but if you want more details,

more explanations, I'm going to link Luca's channel and his video about his method.

But basically what this method is,

is that you take a text in a language that you're learning

and you translate it yourself into your native language or a language that you know really well,

then you wait a few hours or even a day and then you translate it back into the original language.

And what I love about this method is

that it really forces you to think and

because you know you cannot translate everything word for word

so yeah you have to think it's it's a good exercise for your brain

but also

when I use this method I never have to memorize new

vocab I never sit down with a list of vocab

and try to memorize it I don't really know the whole science behind this method but it's amazing,

I never have to memorize words and also you see grammar in context

so personally I almost never do grammar exercises anymore because I use this method.

I usually use this method all the way up to intermediate so it stays valuable for a good amount of time.

You can use this method with any text,

I usually like to use assimil because they have so many dialogues but you don't have to use assimil,

you can use any text,

any dialogue that you find or even it could probably work with like a podcast transcript

or just a longer text and article depending on your level

so you can really get creative and choose any text

that you want it's a very flexible method

and it really stimulates your brain which I love so again

if you want the full explanation I'm gonna link Lucas video in the description

but I highly highly recommend this method the next thing I

always do is I always learn the most common verbs slash words

but not in isolation I always start with the most common words they're usually verbs

and adjectives because you can really say

so much with very little vocab verbs especially are incredibly powerful

because there's a verb in every single sentence so

if you learn the most common verbs let's say 100 then

not only is your ability to speak going to improve you're

gonna be able to talk about more things your listening comprehension is also gonna improve

because you know people use those words all the time.

Traditional textbooks often give you very random word lists, especially at the beginning.

I don't know about you,

but I remember learning languages at school and they would have us learn words like different fruits and vegetables or clothing,

which do use them sometimes, right?

But you use verbs and adjectives a lot more often.

I remember when I was learning French,

I had already passed my C1 exam,

so I had this certificate, right?

And I was, I had already moved to France,

I was at uni, and I remember going to the canteen with my friends.

And because I skipped those words when I was learning French,

I remember being at the canteen and holding up,

I think it was like a fork or a knife I'm not sure

but asking my friend like wait what is this called again

and I literally had my C1 certification

and I was studying at a French university in French and

that was the first time I've ever had to use the word fork

or knife so yeah they're really not that important

and I cannot wait for someone to comment you weren't really at C1 level

if you didn't know how to say fork anyway um what

I like to do is I like to print a list of those words and keep it on my desk.

I never memorize them.

As I said, I never memorize word lists.

I like to keep them on my desk and anytime I do a speaking exercise or I want to journal or anything,

I can just look at that list and get inspiration

and over time they just kind of stick

and you memorize them naturally without having to sit down and repeat them over and over again.

This method is perfect if your goal is communication

and not necessarily perfection from the very beginning

because those words let you communicate very very early on

so give it a try and i promise you you'll be very surprised how much you can say and understand

with a really small set of high frequency words method number

four is immersion slash comprehensible input comprehensible input basically means watching something

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or listening to something that is a little bit above your current level a good guideline is

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that you should understand at least 60 ish and then the rest should be new.

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It's not a strict rule but it's a useful benchmark and I use immersion from the very beginning.

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Of course when I am just starting out I choose materials

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that are easy for me to understand and then as I progress I choose things that are more and more difficult.

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Once I reach the intermediate level immersion becomes the foundation of everything I do.

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At this level I kind of tend to ditch my textbooks

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and instead focus on listening and reading and then my speaking

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and writing exercises are based on what I read and what I listen to.

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And also at intermediate I try to mix in some native content.

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So I still listen to things that are made for language learners

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but from time to time I will listen to something or watch something that is made for native speakers.

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Then at advanced I switch almost completely to native content.

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I'd say that 95% of what I consume is native content.

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The only time I really use learner specific content is when I want to review a grammar rule or something like that,

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then I will watch a video made for language learners.

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But other than that, most of the things I consume are things made for native speakers,

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so like movies, tv shows,

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podcasts, articles, books, stuff like that.

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This method is great because it works across all levels but I find that it becomes especially powerful once you reach intermediate.

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The last thing I do is I train my active skills

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so speaking and writing and it's always built on top of immersion.

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After I listen to or read something I often summarize it or give a review or just my opinion.

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If I am preparing for an exam I will practice exam specific formats like essays, articles.

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I also give myself prompts to talk or write about specific topics that I'm interested in.

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I really like to record myself.

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Again I talked about this method countless times on my channel

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so I'm gonna go over it very very quickly but basically what I do is I pick a prompt,

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I hit record on my phone,

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then talk about that topic for

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a certain amount of time I usually start with like two to three minutes

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and then slowly build up to 10

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or 15 then I listen to the recording catch any mistakes

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that I made any awkward pauses and then I re-record that same prompt.

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What I also like to do is I like to use

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the same prompt in the span of a few weeks

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because it lets me see my progress and it's incredibly motivating

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when you listen to the first recording from a few weeks ago and you can hear that you made like

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a few mistakes and there were awkward pauses or you mispronounce something

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and then you listen to the more recent recording

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and you can see that there are no more awkward pauses

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that you pronounce everything correctly and it's incredibly motivating

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so I highly highly encourage you to give it a try I also do writing exercises

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but I'll be honest I do them less often I am not a huge fan of writing

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and

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if I don't have to do it I'm not going to

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unless I'm in a huge writing mood then I might do some writing

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but I'm usually not a fan of writing very long texts.

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I might do some journaling because I like to journal

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or what I also like to do is I like to write gratitude lists

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so that's a good exercise to try if you are like me

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and you're not very into writing but you still want to practice a little bit.

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Alright that's it for today's video I really hope you enjoyed it.

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Let me know if you would like a part two

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because now that I think about it there are a few methods that I didn't talk about in this video.

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If you want more content from me you can follow me on Instagram the link is always in the description

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but I'm also also gonna leave it in the comment down

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below I'm active on there every single day let me know in the comments

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which method you are going to try first don't forget to like this video

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and subscribe and I'll see you in my next one bye

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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.

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Speak English fluently using the Shadowing technique. Listen to native YouTube videos, repeat sentence by sentence, and build real pronunciation and fluency — used by IELTS learners worldwide.

Shadowing Practice: How I Learned 6+ Languages FAST: The 5 Methods I Always Use - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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