Shadowing Practice: How to Learn English Vocabulary (and Actually Remember It!) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Let's talk tools and words.
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I'm going to teach you today why you have a problem and it bothers you, but probably no one has talked about it.
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I'm going to change that.
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And what that problem is, is that you read words, you write words, you study really, really hard, but the moment an English person says these words or says some of the words or you hear them, they seem to, like, disappear, like, you know, rain from the sky just disappears.
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Gone. Gone.
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Why is that?
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Well, this lesson I'm going to teach you why that happens, and I'm going to show you how to change it so it doesn't happen to you.
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All right? And it has to do with tools.
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Using the tools, which are your words, using them properly so that you can get the best results and they become useful.
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All right, so let's go to the board.
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I have four words here, see?
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Words are tools, and they are.
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Words are tools of communication.
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But a word by itself is meaningless; it means nothing.
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I'll give you an example.
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"Meal". The word "meal", it's food, right?
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When you put food together.
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But when I say the word "meal" to you, you're like, okay, "meal", it's a breakfast, lunch, dinner, what's it mean?
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Well, what happens if I changed it and I took that same word "meal" and I surrounded it, I used my tools, other words to help give it greater meaning?
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And if I said, "The meal you made last night was spectacular", all of a sudden my brain is exploding, I'm imagining wine, I'm imagining a nice piece of steak or chicken or what have you, right?
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With some rice or whatever, and it's just, oh, hmm, what was it?
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I'm curious, I'm drawn in, so I've taken this one word "meal" and elevated it.
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But if you notice what I did, I didn't just say "meal", I had to do a couple of things.
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Well, three things.
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And that's what this lesson is about.
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The first thing we want to start with is words, vocabulary.
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You have a vocabulary word.
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And I'm going to start with the word "responsible", and we're going to work through with the word "responsible" until we can find a way that we can remember this word no matter what, okay?
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So, let's start with the word "responsible".
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Do you know what it means?
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Okay, so, "responsible" means to trust in someone to do something, or if you're not thinking of that, it's the reason why something happened.
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This is responsible, and that's why this happened, okay?
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You know, a person responsible - sorry, a machine is responsible for breaking down so these problems happened or what have you, and "trust", he's responsible, I trust him or her, he or she, to do the job.
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Yeah? Okay, so, that's what it means.
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It's also an adjective, yeah?
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You can have "responsibility" which is a noun, but we're just sticking with the word "responsible", so I need to know it's an adjective, how does it work, I need to know what it means - to trust or the cause of something.
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Now, that I've got that, it's great, but it's not going to stick in my head.
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It's going to fall when I hear people say it or when I try to speak it, because it's not anchored.
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It doesn't have anything, as we have here, a nail with hammer, nailing it so I can remember it, I can bring it back.
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So, how do we change that?
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Well, we can change it into a phrase.
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For those of you who don't know what a phrase is, it's when you have a sentence fragment, that means a part of a sentence, that can have either a verb or a noun, but not both.
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Okay? So, in this case, I'm going to choose "responsible for".
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Now, I've taken the word "responsible" from being something I trust or the cause, and I've given it a bit more of a meaning.
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It's like adding a little bit of salt and pepper to your meal, give it some flavour.
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It brightens the taste or brings out more of the taste, yeah?
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And we're doing it by doing this.
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When you're responsible for something, you are the one that has to do it.
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Remember? Cause and you trust them to do it.
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What instances could we think of "responsible for" that we have this new meaning?
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Well, if you're at work, you could be responsible for the advertising.
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It means it's your job.
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So, "responsible for" becomes it's your job or someone's job.
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That has a lot more meaning because in the real world, I can think of things that are my job that I have to do.
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You're responsible for the children, feeding, cleaning, helping them with their homework.
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You're responsible for taking out the garbage, emptying it, putting outside, bringing more in.
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Now, this word "responsible" isn't just this word floating around in space.
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You have hammered it down, right?
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We have made it useful.
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We've leveled the situation.
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Don't ask me these tools.
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I am not handy.
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I'll do a video on what "handy" is, you'll laugh because I am not handy.
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Okay, so we've gone from word and we've moved to phrase.
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Now, I didn't do these in order because I wanted you to pay attention.
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I know you, you'd read and go "1, 2, 3, 4, I know all, I don't listen." No, listen.
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So, we went from word to phrase, and you're probably going to go "Which one's next?" Well, we're going to take that thing and make it a little bit longer.
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Responsible for gives me some idea.
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Someone is responsible, something is responsible for something, but it's still not the full meal we were talking about.
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Remember food?
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I need more, a little bit more.
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And that's why I have to say "I am responsible for x", now I've created a sentence.
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And with that sentence, I've really crafted or created meaning.
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Now I can get into it and go "Well, what am I responsible for in my life?" I'm responsible for me.
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I have to brush my teeth to keep them, right?
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I have to take a shower and clean myself.
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I have to get clothing, I have to eat, take care of myself.
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Oh, can you think of something you're responsible for?
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If you're a student, you're responsible for what?
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Studying. Right?
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It's easy. So, we take this phrase, sorry, we take this word, make it a phrase, we change it into a sentence, and the sentence has meaning.
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And all of a sudden, we can think of situations.
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I said you're a student, what are you doing?
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You are studying.
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So, what are you?
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I'm in school.
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I'm in school.
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I'm responsible for all the work that I have to do in school if I want to get a good grade.
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There you go.
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You just mastered this word, and you have a situation in which you can use it.
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And then, once you get there, you go what does that mean?
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To take care of.
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I am responsible for certain jobs at my house in order to make sure the house is clean and tidy.
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Yes. Washing the dishes, taking the trash out, doing the laundry.
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Who is responsible for that in your life?
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This is real world.
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Real world application.
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Application means to use.
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And this is what we have to do with our words in order to make them useful.
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That's why they become tools, because they create our worlds and we create our life.
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When we don't do that, it's just a list of things.
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And I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to remember a list of things.
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When I go to the grocery store, if I have a list, I have to write it down.
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And that brings us right back to where you started this.
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With all your hard studying, you're writing and reading, but not speaking.
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But we brought it from being passive on the page to life, right?
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Making it with action by creating sentences, yeah, and creating situations which we could use them.
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So, I've given you a lot of information, or at least given you the understanding of why it happens, right?
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And I promised you that I would show you how we could fix that.
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So, I did show you partially here how to fix that, just by going through that explanation.
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But I'm going to give you three other little tricks, well, two really, plus one I just showed you, that will help you learn to do this faster, all right?
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So the first thing I'm going to ask you to do is, number one, stop, stop, stop, stop.
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Stop the madness.
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I have so many students, and I don't know how many times I tell them, when you are writing out the word, like, I started here by saying, write out the word, its meaning, and its grammar function, right, its adjective, adverb, what have you.
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They will immediately write it down, and then write down the translation in their language.
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Stop doing that.
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You're only making it harder on your brain, because now your brain has to actually translate the word.
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Just learn the word and the meaning in English.
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I know, and I admit, at the very beginning, this is going to be really, really hard, especially if you don't have a lot of vocabulary, right?
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But then you do it in the simplest words you can use.
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But after a while, as your vocabulary builds up, you will have words that you can use that you understand to translate new words.
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By translate, I mean take a word you don't know in English, and then find words in English to help you understand.
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So stop the madness, stop translating, because, well, it's easy, yeah, but that's why you don't remember it, because you have to do two steps, yeah?
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You have to think of the word, translate it in your head, and bring it back to English to speak.
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That's a lot of words.
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A lot of work and a lot of words, but if you just know the word, it's easier, okay?
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Number two, give it meaning.
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How do we give the word meaning?
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Ta-da. I told you, I already taught you how to do that.
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Take the word, think of the phrase it could go with, common phrases, and you're on the internet, so it's not that difficult to tab in "phrase of", and they will give you definitions or examples.
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And from those examples, you can actually fill in sentences that fit you, fit your lifestyle.
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After we get the phrase, you create sentences, yeah?
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And then from there, think of the situations.
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That gives it meaning.
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Without having sentences and situations, or especially situations, it doesn't mean anything to your brain.
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It's useless.
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That's why you can't use it when you need it in an active way.
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Your brain has to go, "Ah, okay, we're in the right place." For instance, if it's raining, I have an umbrella.
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It makes sense.
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But if I have this thing and I just walk with it all the time, I don't know what it's for.
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Probably not going to use it, even if it's raining, because I've never used it before.
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You know? But if I can practice, "Ah, rain, umbrella, umbrella, rain", it becomes automatic.
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It almost happens without me trying, and that's what we want, right?
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Like a native speaker.
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The third thing I want to tell you is this, after you translate only in English, of course, you give it meaning through the method I've just taught you, right?
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Word, phrase, sentence, situation.
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"24xxx", well, what does that mean?
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Within the next 24 hours, try to find a situation to use it.
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Remember what I said, if your brain thinks it's a tool that can be used and you demonstrate it, your brain will remember it, because it's like, "Oh, we just used it here, here, and here.
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This must be an important word." And if it's an important word, we're going to file it, that means put it away somewhere that we can get it when we need it, because we've already used it three times.
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Who knows when we're going to use it again?
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Like an umbrella.
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Honestly, I carry one in my bag, because in Canada, spring and fall, it rains.
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And the summer, so you just never know when you're going to use it.
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90% of the time, it stays in my bag, but when I need it, it's always there.
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And if you practice vocabulary the way I've shown you, remember that thing I talked about at the beginning, that fear?
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You talk and the words just disappear?
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You won't have that.
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That won't be your problem, because you will learn vocabulary, you will master the vocabulary, and you'll feel more confident.
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That's a secret I didn't put.
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When you're confident, you relax, you get more access here, and those words will just flow.
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Anyway, a lesson without a test is not a lesson.
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Here's what I want you to do.
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I want you to take a word that you currently know, you know, maybe you've written it down, go check some of your notes, a word that you haven't used, and I want you to follow the process.
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Number one, translate it in English only.
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Keep it simple, right?
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No big, fancy words, keep it simple.
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Then follow this four-step process.
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Find out what is the word's grammar function, get its basic meaning.
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Find a phrase.
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We did "responsible for", right?
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Okay? Or you could say "responsible to", right?
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You could say "available for", whatever.
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Find your word, your word, put it down, find its phrase.
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After that, make a sentence out of it.
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And here's a great way of doing it.
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You can do a sentence that's a question, you can do a sentence that's for you, you can do a sentence with another noun or subject, yeah?
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For example, I am responsible for me.
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She is responsible for the work, yeah?
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Are you responsible for filming?
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There you go.
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Now I've used it, I'm starting to master it.
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Play with these sentences, and then go out in the real world.
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Here's one.
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Sit at a restaurant, go to the waiter.
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Are you responsible for making the food or bringing the food?
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He'll slap you.
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But that's okay, you know, don't do that in that situation.
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Problem solved.
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Anyway, I want you to do this, follow this method, go into the comments, do three sentences with a word you don't know, as I said, find a phrase, write the sentences in the comments, let other people help you.
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They can probably advise you, yeah?
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Or even praise you, that's always good.
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And it'll be a test for you.
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But the final test is go into the real world, use it three times, three different places, see how it works.
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You'll be amazed how quickly this is going to become your favourite method of vocabulary learning.
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Anyway, thanks for watching.
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Don't forget to go to www.EngVid.com, yeah?
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Or watch us on YouTube.
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See you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “How to Learn English Vocabulary”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: word, responsible, sentence, phrase, meaning. This video has 199 sentences and 2570 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:44. The speaker talks fast, about 187 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 53 of its 199 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| translate verb | /tɹænzˈleɪt/ | To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another. |
| umbrella noun | /ʌmˈbɹɛl.ə/ | A cloth-covered frame used for protection against rain or sun. |
| adjective noun | /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/ | A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent. |
| noun noun | /naʊn/ | A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, word, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea… |
| disappear verb | /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/ | To vanish. |
| madness noun | /ˈmæd.nəs/ | The state of being mad; insanity; mental disease. |
| hammer noun | /ˈhæmɚ/ | A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| brighten verb | /ˈbɹaɪtən/ | To make bright or brighter in color. |
| elevate verb | /ˈɛləveɪt/ | To raise (something) to a higher position. |
| tidy adjective | /ˈtaɪ.di/ | Arranged neatly and in order. |
| fragment noun | /ˈfɹæɡmənt/ | A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an imperfect part, either physically or not. |
| waiter noun | /ˈweɪ̯təː/ | A male or female attendant who serves customers at their tables in a restaurant, café or similar. |
| meaningless adjective | /ˈmiː.nɪŋ.ləs/ | Lacking meaning. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| write out verb | To write at full length or in expanded form. |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. |
| bring out verb | To elicit, evoke, or emphasize (a particular quality). |
| build up verb | To erect; to construct. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| take out verb | To remove. |
| write down verb | To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I have four words here, see?
- Do you know what it means?
- If you're a student, you're responsible for what?
- I said you're a student, what are you doing?
- Who knows when we're going to use it again?
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 88 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, spectacular /spɛkˈtæk.jə.lɚ/
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 vocabulary, translate, umbrella.
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.