Shadowing Practice: How I Learned English with Movies and TV-Shows - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
B2
Hi everybody!
200 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Hi everybody!
2
In this video I'm going to share how I improved my English,
3
my pronunciation, and my fluency with TV shows and movies.
4
First of all, both as an English learner and as an English teacher,
5
I highly recommend to focus on pronunciation very early on.
6
Working on it early makes you like the sound of your speech,
7
which can be incredibly motivating.
8
When you like how your English sounds,
9
you're more likely to keep practicing it more consistently.
10
So from the very beginning of my English learning journey,
11
I developed a pretty solid American accent and that was because of the movies and TV shows I started watching early on.
12
One day I turned the TV on and there was this old American TV show soap opera called Sunset Beach.
13
So I started watching the actors very carefully.
14
I was paying attention to every single sound they were making with their mouths.
15
Their speech patterns, their intonation,
16
their melody, their rhythm, everything.
17
And what was really shocking to me was that every single word was connected in a way that you couldn't separate them.
18
You didn't know where one word ended and the other one started,
19
which I later found out that that's called connected speech.
20
But in school, we weren't learning English like that.
21
And then I started working on the sounds that were very different from Romanian.
22
For example, the sound r.
23
I would repeat out loud every single word that the actors were saying that contained the letter r or the sound r.
24
And the sound r is pretty tricky
25
because it depends on where exactly it is inside the word and what letter comes before and after it.
26
So I would walk around the house
27
and repeat word worry try cry girl work morning row throw 30
28
so this became part of my daily practice whenever i would
29
see a word containing the sound r i would say it
30
many many times until i liked the way it sounded next i focused on the sound both voiced
31
and voiceless the voiced sound means that you activate your vocal cords
32
when you say if you touch your throat here you will feel it vibrating
33
like this that those and the voiceless is when you say it
34
but you do not activate your vocal cords for example in
35
thank you you only start vibrating your vocal cords at a from thank you
36
and not right compared to those there and it was pretty funny
37
because i was looking at those actors mouths and i could see
38
when the tip of their tongue was coming out to say thank you
39
or three or there and then i would just imitate that
40
and say thank you three there
41
and obviously i was over exaggerating it you only need a little bit of your tongue to say thank you
42
but i was doing thank you too much too much tongue
43
and yeah i'm sure i looked pretty awkward
44
and ridiculous trying to figure out how to move my lips and my jaw and my tongue and everything,
45
but that's what needed to be done.
46
And the more I observed those actors,
47
the more I repeated and imitated them,
48
the more natural it started to feel.
49
And eventually this practice turned into shadowing,
50
where I would simultaneously repeat after the actors as they were speaking.
51
And my grammar and vocabulary were far from perfect.
52
I was just starting to learn English,
53
but I was developing a good melody and accent,
54
something that is not really taught in schools.
55
I liked the way I sounded.
56
I sounded better than my classmates and that kept me motivated and I wanted to keep doing it.
57
So I've been wanting to learn Spanish for a while
58
and I decided that I'm going to do it the same way I learned English through TV shows
59
and movies and podcasts and books and music and all of that.
60
And because I talk about shadowing native speakers as the best method to improve your fluency,
61
a lot of the times people ask me where can I find these shows
62
or what shows do you recommend to do shadowing with?
63
So here's the language learning platform I'm going to use.
64
It's called Lingopi and it combines education and entertainment.
65
They have TV shows, movies,
66
audiobooks, music, and even podcasts.
67
Lingopi is also the sponsor of this video so big shout out to them and a big thanks for their support.
68
And the reason why I'm excited to use it is because I know for a fact that imitating native speakers works.
69
And on Lingopi, I can dive into the Spanish culture,
70
learn common expressions, slang, all those little phrases that you don't typically learn in school.
71
For example, if I want to shadow and practice my Spanish with the show Closed Rooms.
72
And now I can click on it.
73
And then it gives me the pronunciation again.
74
I can repeat it.
75
Hasta luego.
76
Hasta luego.
77
A little bit slower.
78
And then I can record myself.
79
Hasta luego.
80
And then I can listen to myself.
81
Hasta luego.
82
Pretty good.
83
And then each word I clicked and pronounced and repeated and learned is added into my personal vocabulary,
84
which I can then review later.
85
How cool is that?
86
And they've got over 14 languages and more than 3,000 shows and movies,
87
so there's always something new to watch.
88
I can track my progress,
89
I can practice with sentences,
90
and I can also use their new short stories to read and shadow at the same time.
91
So if you're serious about learning a new language and you don't want to just improve your vocabulary and grammar,
92
but you want to develop your fluency,
93
your accent, your pronunciation, and your cultural understanding of the language,
94
Lingopie is the perfect tool to get you there.
95
So click the link in the description,
96
try it out, and see how much faster you can level up your language skills.
97
Okay, another area that movies and TV shows helped me with was melody, rhythm, and intonation.
98
My native language, Romanian, has a very different structure and tone compared to English.
99
If I translated just the words from Romanian into English and keep the Romanian structure and tone,
100
my English will sound very unnatural.
101
That's why it's so important to match the meaning and the message of your words to the correct tone and melody.
102
Native speakers are used to hearing certain word stressing and intonation patterns.
103
If you stress the wrong word,
104
the meaning can shift completely and sometimes even mean the opposite of what you were trying to say.
105
For example, you're so smart with the wrong facial expression and the wrong tone can sound very sarcastic and passive aggressive.
106
But if you say you're so smart,
107
this sounds like a genuine compliment.
108
Another example, if you say,
109
oh really, this is flat intonation,
110
no curiosity, no genuine interest.
111
But if you say, oh really, then that's genuine curiosity.
112
So watching movies gave me access to these very powerful social cues.
113
I realized that I wasn't just learning vocabulary and grammar,
114
but I was learning how to communicate in a different culture.
115
When I repeated after the actors,
116
I wasn't just repeating the words.
117
I was stepping into their role.
118
I was imitating their facial expressions,
119
their intonation, even their body language.
120
In a way, I was acting too.
121
So this trick made me feel the language instead of just memorizing the words.
122
And this is especially effective when you're watching shows with regular everyday conversations.
123
And by shadowing the actors,
124
I learned how fast should I say certain things,
125
when should I pause, when should I slow down,
126
when should I raise my voice,
127
when should I lower my voice.
128
And this whole melody of speech is actually called prosody,
129
but I obviously had no idea about it back then.
130
It's also one of the most overlooked aspects of language learning.
131
In school, the focus was mostly on structure,
132
grammar, vocabulary, and lots of writing and reading.
133
Listening was minimal and intonation was barely even mentioned.
134
And I had no idea that speech melody could influence how clearly I express myself
135
and how strongly it would affect my ability to connect with native speakers.
136
And prosody is really hard to teach,
137
especially because usually teachers in traditional school systems have very strict curriculums and they focus a lot on exercises,
138
vocabulary, and grammar.
139
And that's why a lot of students will graduate with perfect grades,
140
but they will sound very unnatural when speaking in real life.
141
Okay, now let's talk about vocabulary.
142
The way you learn vocabulary through TV shows and movies is very different compared to word banks and vocabulary lists.
143
Many times, the words that you're trying to learn are presented to you in isolation,
144
just taken out of context.
145
But when you learn through movies,
146
you get the full package.
147
You get the sound of the word,
148
you get the visual positioning,
149
the situation where it's used,
150
and you get the correct articles and prepositions and sentence structure.
151
For example, instead of memorizing the phrasal verb look as in look after,
152
look into, look out, look away,
153
if you're learning them all at once,
154
all you're going to remember is just the word look
155
and then you're going to be confused about the rest of the prepositions and which is look in,
156
which is look into, which one is look out, which ones look after.
157
But in a movie, you just learn that one situation where you know that okay here I use look after.
158
Imagine a scene that somebody is saying oh I need to go away
159
but I need to find someone to look after my dog
160
and then later somebody says have you found someone to look after your dog
161
and you don't need to think that oh this is a phrasal verb with look and after.
162
No you just remember that look after is taking care of someone.
163
So this way, I wasn't struggling to memorize multiple phrasal verbs or multiple vocabulary words.
164
I was just looking, watching,
165
and remembering the situation and how that specific verb or word was used then.
166
And every time I would repeat those lines,
167
they would come as a full package.
168
There's the correct articles, correct prepositions,
169
the correct sentence structure, and I would see it visually when and how to use it.
170
So subconsciously, I wasn't just learning the verb look after,
171
for example, but I was also learning how to use it inside a sentence.
172
And this could sound to you as a much slower process than just taking a big chunk of vocabulary words
173
and just memorizing them.
174
But trust me, memorizing those words won't actually help you speak.
175
And most likely, if you don't end up using those words consistently and regularly,
176
you will just forget them and you just waste your time.
177
So the reason why I started sounding more fluent earlier on than my other classmates was
178
because I was speaking in complete phrases already.
179
I had these expressions ready to go because I would repeat them consistently,
180
I would hear them a lot in these movies or TV shows
181
and I didn't have to pull every single word at a
182
time from my mind vocabulary every time I wanted to say a sentence.
183
I had these phrases and expressions ready to go
184
because I've lived through them with these actors and the scenes they were in.
185
So the next time you're watching something and you want to do some shadowing,
186
don't just repeat the words but try to imagine you're in the scene.
187
Jump into the character.
188
Repeat the lines, copy the expressions,
189
exaggerate the sounds, and basically become that actor for that moment.
190
You'll be surprised how much faster you start sounding natural in English
191
when you treat it as a performance and not just as homework.
192
Because at the end of the day,
193
English is not just memorizing words and grammar and rules.
194
It's about stepping in a new role,
195
finding a new rhythm, and finding a new way of connecting with people.
196
So grab some popcorn, pick a show you love,
197
and remember you're not just watching Netflix, you're practicing your English.
198
Thank you so much for watching.
199
I hope you enjoyed this video and I will see you next time.
200
Bye!
Download App
AI scoring for every sentence you speak
TRENDING
Popular
Why practice speaking with this video?
This informative video highlights the significant improvements possible in English pronunciation and fluency through immersive methods like watching movies and TV shows. These engaging resources allow learners to encounter authentic language use in everyday contexts, making learning both enjoyable and effective. By focusing on shadowing, a technique that involves mimicking the speech of actors, viewers can fine-tune their pronunciation and rhythm. This practice is not only beneficial for developing an American accent but can also motivate learners to engage regularly in English speaking practice. The enjoyment derived from the captivating stories in films enhances the overall learning experience.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In the video, several key grammatical structures and expressions emerge as valuable learning points:
- Continuous Present Tense: The speaker frequently uses the continuous present tense, as seen in phrases like "I am paying attention," which emphasizes ongoing actions and encourages learners to describe their current activities in similar contexts.
- Modals for Suggestion: The use of "should" and "could," as in "I highly recommend to focus on pronunciation," allows learners to understand how to make suggestions about language practices effectively.
- Imperative Sentences: The speaker uses commanding forms to provide advice: "Repeat out loud every single word." This structure is essential for giving instructions and enhancing a learner's ability to communicate commands.
Common Pronunciation Traps
Several pronunciation challenges arise from the video that learners should be aware of:
- The American 'R' Sound: As emphasized, the 'R' sound can be particularly tricky for non-native speakers. Focus on producing it in different positions within words—pay attention to how the mouth moves when forming this sound.
- Voiced vs. Voiceless Sounds: The distinction between voiced sounds (like in "those") and voiceless sounds (as in "thank you") is vital. Practice these by observing and imitating the mouth movements of actors while shadowing.
- Connected Speech: The phenomenon of connected speech can make words blend together in fast conversations, making it hard to distinguish one word from another. Shadowing practice can significantly aid in mastering this aspect, helping learners develop a more natural flow in their speech.
Utilizing these methods and focusing on shadowing not only builds speaking skills but also enhances listening abilities, creating a comprehensive approach to mastering English. For a well-rounded experience, engage in resources that promote shadow speak and shadow speech, ensuring that every practice session is productive and enjoyable.
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.
☕ Buy us a coffee
ShadowingEnglish remains 100% free thanks to your support. Server and AI costs are high — your coffee keeps us going! 🙏