Shadowing Practice: How To Cook The Perfect Pasta | Gordon Ramsay - Learn English Speaking with Video
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34 sentences
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1
It can be easily undercooked or overcooked.
2
Here's how to do it properly.
3
First, water in.
4
Nice large pan to make sure the pasta's got sufficient room to cook evenly.
5
Nicely seasoned, absolutely crucial.
6
Olive oil in.
7
That stops the pasta from sticking together.
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Bring it up to the boil.
9
That's a rolling boil.
10
The secret there, it stops the pasta from sticking together and it gently rolls it around.
11
Now, this is angel pasta, nice thin pasta.
12
Takes three and a half to four minutes.
13
So, into the pan, as it hits the water, it melts, and then you turn it around.
14
Tongs, as that starts to melt, gently twist that into the pan, bring it back up to the boil.
15
If you're bad at timing, then set a timer.
16
Beautiful.
17
To test it, lift a little strand.
18
You can actually feel it with your fingers.
19
It's still nice and firm.
20
Mmm.
21
Al dente.
22
Not a bite, not a strong bite, but just really nice and firm inside.
23
Definitely not crunchy.
24
And then, into a colander, drain the pasta in a light seasoning.
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Salt and pepper.
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A tablespoon of olive oil.
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Mix that through.
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That stops it from sticking together.
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And look, there you go.
30
Beautiful pasta, al dente.
31
Mmm, cooked perfectly.
32
Just as those carrots start going nice and soft, don't overcook them.
33
You want that nice texture in there, slightly smooth and just rinse the rice.
34
That stops the rice from becoming clumpy in the pan.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “How To Cook The Perfect Pasta”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: pasta, pan, stops, boil, sticking. This video has 34 sentences and 249 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:32. The speaker talks at a natural 162 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 71% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pasta noun | /ˈpɑ.stə/ | Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating. |
| boil verb | /bɔɪ(ə)l/ | To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas. |
| overcook verb | /oʊ.vɚ.kʊk/ | To cook for too long or at too high a temperature. |
| melt verb | /mɛlt/ | To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat. |
| gently adverb | /ˈd͡ʒɛntli/ | Without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly. |
| olive noun | /ˈɑ.lɪv/ | A tree of species Olea europaea cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it. |
| bite verb | /baɪt/ | To cut into something by clamping the teeth. |
| clumpy adjective | /ˈklʌmpi/ | Forming or tending to form clumps. |
| colander noun | /ˈkɑləndɚ/ | A bowl-shaped kitchen utensil with holes in it used for draining food that has been cooking in water, such as pasta. |
| crunchy adjective | /ˈkɹʌnt͡ʃi/ | Likely to crunch, especially with reference to food when it is eaten. |
| tablespoon noun | /ˈteɪbəlˌspun/ | A large spoon, used for eating food from a bowl. |
| undercooked adjective | Insufficiently cooked, so as to be unpalatable or inedible. | |
| carrot noun | /ˈkæɹət/ | A vegetable with a nutritious, juicy, sweet root that is often orange in colour, Daucus carota, family Apiaceae, especially the subspecies sativus. |
| evenly adverb | /ˈiːvənli/ | So as to form a flat surface. |
| timer noun | /ˈtaɪmɚ/ | A device used to measure amounts of time. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| stick together verb | To physically combine or join together by adhesion. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/, sufficient /səˈfɪʃənt/
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 pasta, boil, overcook.
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.