Shadowing Practice: How to Learn English Fast - My Top 4 Tips - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hey guys!
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Today I'm going to talk to you about learning English language as a foreign language.
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I totally understand the problem because I'm Russian and I started learning English when I was four.
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And I kind of went to a school where they taught English on a profound level back in Russia.
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And when I was 14 I thought that I'm super perfect in English, that I know every single word and that I speak perfect language.
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And so I decided to go to the UK.
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We had this kind of exchange program with our school
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and I went to the UK and the first day I arrived I understood
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that I do not get what people are telling me
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and what's happening around me in the UK I didn't get the accent
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so and this really motivated me to study very hard
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and I developed some tips that I also used to learn German Italian
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and I'm still using for learning English
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so my first tip would be have a goal
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and this goal shouldn't be like oh I want to speak English
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because all of my friends speak English and because English is the language that the world uses,
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of course this is a motivation but this is not something that will make you start studying right away.
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So for example for me
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when I was learning German my motivation was to go to a German university
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because education in German was free and I understood
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that I only have a couple of years to master my
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German in order to be able to study at a university level
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so this motivated me to study every day and then
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when I had this dream of doing masters in the United States
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I only had two months to master my English for GMAT
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and this was an exciting and really motivating goal passing GMAT
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and getting into an American University so figure out what kind of goal is
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that for you so maybe you're not going to study abroad
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but maybe you're just planning a trip I did this with Italian
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when I started to learn Italian
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and I planned a trip to Italy in half a year
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and I you know kind of set a goal for myself
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to be able to order food in an Italian restaurant
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so yes the first thing is have this particular goal very
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feasible goal not something very like major start speaking as a native speaker blah blah blah this will work so something
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that you could achieve in say three to four months the second thing get hooked with something for me
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it's for example some TV show I stopped reading books
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and I stopped watching movies in Russian when I started to learn English profoundly
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so the first thing I did I was a huge fan of the sex
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and the city and I just watched the whole series in English
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and imagine they have six seasons and every season has I don't know what 30 films so
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So, imagine it was 180 films, all in English, and it was really motivating, and I also, you know,
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noticed some new words, and I couldn't watch it in Russian afterwards, because, you know, when your favorite actor is speaking in English,
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and you're hearing his real voice, you wouldn't want to hear some, you know, Russian person translating that for you into Russian.
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So this is how I got hooked up with watching films in English, and now I'm watching
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House House of Cards I highly recommend it to you
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if you need political and legal lexic for your English
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and also the suits is really good for legal English
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and House MD is amazing if you're studying medicine and also like if your language is already profound watch
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House MD and you will get all the words for you know medical vocabulary
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and I also stopped reading books in Russian when I was about 15
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and I started with reading books for children
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because my level was really low so I just bought books
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that were meant for 12 -13 year old kids
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and it was okay
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I didn't mind as long as I learned new words as long as the plot was okay
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so I could recommend Jacqueline Wilson as a writer she's amazing
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she writes books about you know kids having fun I don't know kids making friends
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so if your English is really low level so try and do
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Yeah, so this was the second thing get hooked up with something
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It is your favorite film or your favorite actor and you oh and I forgot to mention YouTube blogger
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You have to get hooked with a YouTube blogger who speaks English and it could be me
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But you can hear some kind of accent because as you know, I'm not a native speaker
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But also sometimes it helps me to get hooked with a blogger who is not a native speaker
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because the accent is easier to understand
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So maybe it would be a YouTube blogger.
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So yeah film YouTube blogger TV series or book
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Third thing is that you have to learn every day like seriously guys if you have a goal
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You have to reach it every day.
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It's not like you can do two hours on Tuesdays and six hours on Saturdays No, this wouldn't work.
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I'm actually gonna close the window because it's too loud.
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Yeah, you have to learn every day
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Like, you cannot make a schedule I would learn for 6 hours during the weekend and for 2 hours during the weekday.
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No, this won't work.
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It has to be your lifestyle now.
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So you're learning English, please make sure that your phone is full of different apps.
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Duolingo is a free app to learn any foreign language and it's pretty basic, so it's for beginners, it's not for advanced.
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But then Easy10 is an app for learning advanced words and there are many, many apps you just have to,
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you know, go to the app store and type in learn English or whatever you're using,
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learn English and download all the apps and figure out which one works best for you.
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And when you're waiting in line, when you're doing something, go on and open the app and learn a language.
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And the fourth thing, which is the most important thing for me, is to go to a country where the language is spoken and practice it.
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So if you don't have opportunity to go anywhere, book a lesson with a native speaker via
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Skype because you know this is a huge mistake
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when you learn a language with somebody who speaks your language
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then you end up speaking a native language to each other
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and there's also this temptation
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when you do not understand something you tell your teacher to explain this in your language
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and this doesn't work it has to be you know you have to put yourself in a frame
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or like in a box and you can where you cannot get outside this box
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so you just need to speak in English and this is only possible
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if you're talking to a native speaker and And
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so once you go to the UK for example or to the United States to practice your English,
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please choose a homestay so you would stay with local people and take classes at school.
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Please refrain from talking to people from your own country
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or maybe just choose a school that doesn't have a lot of your native speakers.
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And I'm actually in one of those schools.
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I'm in London right now in UIC English which is our central school.
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Oxford Street is just outside.
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The good thing is for me as a Russian native speaker
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they only have three Russian native speakers right now at school
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which is amazing
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and they have a lot of other students
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they have students from turkey thailand italy i can actually show you some let's go i'll show you
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so this is where i am right now uh
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this is sort of a study room where you can hang out
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and uh have some time by the computer have some time with your phone they have free wi -fi
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and this is also a place for meeting other students
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and for planning your free time
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so in the first half of the day
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you have lessons in the second half of the day you will have free time
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and you can do whatever you want you can go to different
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you know excursions like they would have football big band you will figure out
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when you come here so loads of things what i wanted to tell you
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that you have to figure out what the school has your
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nationalities like here's the list of people starting at school right now
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and you can figure out by the last names uh where students come from
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so i can see a lot of Italians
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and I can see some I guess Vietnamese
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or Taiwanese I would say yeah
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and maybe I could pop into a class this one is free yeah
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so this is how the class looks like I really like the atmosphere
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so you're in the center of London you are talking to a native speaker everybody speaks English
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and you know there's nothing to be afraid of
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because you will be placed in a group where people have the same level as you
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and you will be tested on the first day and there won't be this feeling that everybody's speaking so good English, I'm so bad.
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No, it wouldn't happen.
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So everybody would be at the same level as you.
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And if you're better, you will have more incentive to become better because when you feel that you're making progress,
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it makes the progress even faster. So highly recommend it.
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I will leave a link so you could get all the information about the school, about the National Geeks.
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The link will be below.
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And the website I'm giving the link to is actually my business.
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I'm an entrepreneur so yeah this is how the school I might show you the class
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yeah so you you can see teacher
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and students oh I don't think he was really happy
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but yeah so guys thank you
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so much for watching this video here are my tips for learning English
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if you have any tips
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that you can share please share them in comments they're really useful
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because I'm also I'm still learning German though I mastered it I studied in Germany
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and everything was perfect please share your tips
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and I'm still learning Italian oh
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and you know just before we finish I wanted to show you Oxford Street
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it's well you cannot really see Oxford Street but you can see London
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so you see it's very central very central location
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cool so thank you so much for watching this video please subscribe to my channel
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and I'll keep you in the loop about the latest things in education abroad and travel and immigration bye bye guys
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “How to Learn English Fast - My Top 4 Tips”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: English, language, learn, native, speaker. This video has 148 sentences and 1861 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:43. The speaker talks fast, about 192 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hook noun | /hʊk/ | A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment. |
| blogger noun | /ˈblɔ.ɡəɹ/ | A contributor to a blog (from weblog) or online journal. |
| motivate verb | /ˈmoʊ.tɪ.veɪt/ | To provide someone with an incentive to do something; to encourage; to actuate. |
| accent noun | /ækˈsɛnt/ | A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to… |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| abroad adverb | /əˈbɹɔːd/ | Beyond the bounds of a country; in foreign countries. |
| motivation noun | /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/ | Willingness of action especially in behavior. |
| profound adjective | /pɹəˈfaʊnd/ | Descending far below the surface; opening or reaching to great depth; deep. |
| immigration noun | /ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/ | The act of immigrating; the passing or coming into a country of which one is not native born for the purpose of permanent residence. |
| atmosphere noun | /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/ | The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body. |
| afterwards adverb | /ˈæf.tɚ.wɚdz/ | At a later or succeeding time; after that; |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| lifestyle noun | /ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/ | A style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group. |
| loop noun | /luːp/ | A length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening. |
| subscribe verb | /səbˈskɹaɪb/ | To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name). |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
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 | were meant · is spoken · will be placed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | thing, which is · somebody who speaks · English which is |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | started learning · start studying · start speaking |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was learning · was really motivating |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 46 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, immigration /ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/, nationality /ˌnæʃ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/, temptation /ˌtɛmpˈteɪʃən/, excursion /ɪkˈskɜː.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, immigration /ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/, entrepreneur /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, nationality /ˌnæʃ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/
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 hook, blogger, motivate.
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.