Shadowing Practice: How to learn Mandarin Chinese from 0-fluency ? (Resources, Methods and Study Plans) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hey guys, welcome to the new video You have probably heard

that Mandarin Chinese is very hard to learn You may even feel intimidated after hearing about the four tones

and the thousands of Chinese characters Guys, I didn't even mention Cantonese which has nine tones

But today we are going to focus on Mandarin Chinese

Which is the most widely spoken language in the world with over 1 .3 billion speakers What

if I told you

that Mandarin is not as difficult as you think they just wanted to freak you out

and there are plenty of amazing self -learning resources all you

need is some guidance on finding the right learning resources method

and a good plan

if you are new to this channel my name is Zoe

I'm a polyglot who speaks seven languages Chinese is my native

language in addition to my experience in learning new languages I've

complied a lot of information over the years as someone who has done a lot of attended exchanges

and taught Mandarin to foreigners.

I've seen their weaknesses and areas of struggle.

In this video, I won't just list a couple of apps or YouTube channels and draw you in endless resources and confusion.

Why don't you explain this to me like I am an eight -year -old?

Instead, I will guide you through concrete methods on how to study Chinese from the beginning to an advanced level.

For each level, I will recommend specific resources to target different skills.

At the end, I will give you an applicable daily routine plan

so you can kickstart your learning journey today The study plan

I will be sharing today will take you from HSK 1 to HSK 6 in 20 months However, please keep in mind that this plan requires a lot of motivation,

consistency and discipline

So please adjust it to a suitable version based on your situation Maybe you already have an intermediate level

But I still recommend not skipping the beginner level Where I

will be sharing the most useful learning tools To help structure your learning Don't forget to give me a like

if you appreciate my work Now,

廢話少說開始吧 First,

let me explain briefly, what is HSK?

HSK stands for Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi which is the standard Chinese proficiency test for non -native speaker It's divided into 6 levels,

start from elementary to advanced each level contains a number of vocabulary and grammar points you need to learn By the way,

I made this video according to the old HSK as normal resources

and apps are built on it

and don't worry about the MHSK as the language remains the same and the new tasks that haven't been initiated yet

For this level, one goal, discover the language system and prepare the basic learning tools Pinyin

and Hanzi are two important components of Mandarin language system What is Hanzi?

Hanzi are the Chinese characters used in written Mandarin They are pictographic

and ideographic symbols that present words or concepts They are essential for reading and writing Mandarin

We use simplified hanzi in mainland China, traditional hanzi in Hong Kong, Taiwan or other Chinese speaking regions What is pinyin?

Pinyin is a system for representing Mandarin pronunciation using the Latin alphabet It uses letters

and diacritical marks to indicate the four tones as well as

the specific sounds of a mandarin phonemus Pinyin is often used

as a teaching tool for non -native speakers as it provides a more accessible way to learn pronunciation

and tone before tackling the complex characters of hanzi The most important thing

when you study Chinese is setting the foundations for pronunciation

and tones right You want to build up the language with healthy habits

and a strong foundation So in the first week of the plan, you will focus on tones

and pinyin It only takes about a week to get familiar

with sounds of language You are lucky as there are now plenty of resources to practice tones

and pronunciation I recommend these 3 videos Try listening to these videos during the week and post

and actively practice along with it Repeat each sound out loud

until you feel comfortable with the pronunciation as there are some apps

that offer pinyin and tongue training

or you can start with the basics using a well -structured

app such as Super Chinese where you can also train your

pronunciation with the help of AI I don't recommend studying too

long in the beginning just 15 minutes to discover the language with the app and build the learning habit during this period,

please focus on pinyin if you have a Chinese friend

or tandem partner you can also ask them to help you correct your pronunciation Now we will get into week 2

People often say, oh, writing in Chinese is so difficult and complicated Maybe I should just learn pinyin But guys,

to be honest, hanzi is the heart of Chinese language It's true

that nowadays we can type them with pinyin which is more foreigner friendly But remember, writing is still the best way to understand and memorize hanzi

So it should not be ignored from the beginning One mistake

that people make when learning hanzi is jumping immediately into the HSK vocabulary list

But studying to learn Hanzi without understanding the radicals will only make everything harder in the future So what are the radicals?

In the Chinese writing system, a radical is a graphical component of a character

that gives its meaning and helps in the classification

and indexing of the character Radicals are often known as keys or clues

and often indicates the semantic category of the character There are a total of 215 radicals in Chinese writing system

which are used to classify and organize the characters in dictionaries and other reference materials For example, the character for tree, mu,

is made out of the radical for wood, mu and the phonetic component,

this component indicates the pronunciation of the character By recognizing

and understanding the radical of a character one can more easily learn

and remember new characters that are related in meaning for example

when we were in elementary school we all had to start

from learning radicals in Chinese lessons from the radicals we start to learn a set of hanzi then related words

so for week two I suggest starting only the most common radicals

which number around 55 at this level focus on understanding what

each radical represents this part will take around two weeks to complete

and you will be studying a couple of radicals every day

through writing try to find corresponding hands with each radical

but you don't need to memorize them yet just focus on

a function of the radical is essential to train how your picture

or character from the beginning to practice writing whether it's hands

or radicals you can use tofu learning

which offers many writing practice set for each level

and also food radicals is available on both mobile app

and desktop versions

or you can buy notebooks designed for chinese children to learn hanzi these are very helpful for practicing strict order

and writing you can find them easily on amazon or aliexpress

if you live in china you can find it easily on

taobao oh you can even consider buying a chinese radical poster another important tip guys always add the pinyin

when you write down a radical

or a word it's a good habit to get used to reading pinyin

while writing any characters the play code dictionary can help you

break down every character into the basic components it's gonna be

a great free tool during your whole mandarin learning journey

if you have more budget there is a pain dictionary called handbook

100

which is also great this dictionary offers more than just the

101

word definitions It offers many great features such as adding words to your own private collection

102

and then reviewing flashcards and testing later Please continue practicing tones and pronunciation in this phase

103

HSK -1 Now we have the basic concept about the language

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and we have prepared the basic tools In HSK -1 level You can expect to understand

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and use simple words

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and phrases HSK -1 is a beginner level you only have

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150 words I estimated 15 days to complete this level every

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day you will be requested to study 10 characters only

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if you prefer to study with the structured book the HSK

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books will be the best option where you have the word list, conversation, grammar points and detailed explanations

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there are youtube videos based on these books you can check

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out these two HSK1 courses on youtube they cover all the

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lessons from standard HSK books for levels HSK 2 to 6 you can also use this book collection

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and videos as your main learning resources so here's the plan

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first set your goal start with writing 10 characters every day

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the writing practice shouldn't take more than 30 minutes I believe

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writing is the most effective way to memorize vocabulary with this

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method you hit two birds with one stone memorize the meaning

119

and practice writing You don't have to fill tons of papers with the characters over

120

and over Try writing every character a couple of times Then on a separate paper Test yourself and see

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if you can remember Keep doing this until you remember each

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word Another useful technique is to make a separate paper with only pinyin

123

and meaning Try to remember the corresponding hanzi

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And don't forget to do a weekly review every weekend to emphasize everything you have learned Secondly, you can choose any flashcard apps

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and set it to study 10 characters every day You can use the apps like Super Chinese, HSK Study, Quizlet, where they are prepared

126

decks based on the different learning book

127

or you can even build your own set you can use enki quizlet

128

or memorize the third thing you must do is practice listening

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and speaking repeats every word out loud here i recommend you a youtube video

130

that explains all the hsk vocabulary with meaning

131

and sentence examples the cool thing about this video is

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that there is a time step for each word

133

so you can visit it quickly the fourth thing

134

that you need to do is go to the Chinese wiki website

135

that contains all of grammar points divided by each level from

136

HSK 1 to HSK 6 with a set of examples you

137

can choose to study one grammatical point every day that's a very good idea

138

or if you have already purchased the HSK books you can follow through with each lesson both will work.

139

HSK 2 in terms of difficulty is more or less same as HSK 1.

140

In this level, I advise the same study plan as HSK 1.

141

Stick to a main resource such as HSK books.

142

Don't forget to integrate Hans' writing in your daily routine.

143

You will be studying 10 new words a day on the course of two weeks.

144

If you have time, you can start to watch other Mandarin Learning YouTube channels or Instagrammers such as.

145

This way you can start gradually surrounding yourself with language the

146

short videos on Instagram can increase your information in a couple of seconds only

147

when you are walking

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or driving you can also listen to podcasts I highly recommend Chinese port they offer a vocabulary explanation

149

and grammatical points for each level in both Mandarin

150

and English they also give some insight into Chinese society

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so you can begin to understand people as you can't separate

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language from culture you can also try out this listening comprehension

153

from learn Chinese with Chinese class 101 after you finish this level you can test the listening skills

154

and finally the last level of the elementary series HSK 3

155

after completing this level you will be able to hold basic conversation in daily life

156

and communicate with people

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while traveling in China HSK 3 typically takes about one month to complete all the resources

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and methods mentioned before still work for this level Stick to

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your favorite main learning resource Don't try to study from all resources at once

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Or use three different apps at the same time It will overwhelm you Do hands -writing exercises

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and daily flashcards In your free time, start integrating elementary level podcasts into your daily routine For example, Chinese class 101

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which covers all HSK levels from beginner to advanced They have English translation for the beginner levels

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and Mandarin only for advanced level They also offer some cultural insight

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and interesting fact about life in China You can also start to listen to Chinese songs I personally like Mo Wenwei,

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Wang Fei, Chen Yixun You can even watch Chinese vocal shows like Washi Go Show, Womende Ge The good thing about this type of show Is

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that they always put lyrics on the screen

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So you can try to recognize some Han Zi

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Which is a good exercise Practicing singing with lyrics can be very rewarding in the future

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when you have a Chinese friend and go into karaoke bars and flout your Mandarin skills In this level,

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you should be able to discuss a wide range of topics in Chinese

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and communicate fluently with native speakers in common situations As for your learning routine, I suggest you start integrating TV shows,

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series or videos into your practice For example, 爸爸去哪儿 is a very cute show If you enjoy anime,

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there are a lot of Chinese options Such as 大鱼海棠, 中国企团, 西游记之大圣归来, 白蛇元起,

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鹅渣之魔童将士 These shows often incorporate traditional Chinese culture

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and literature Provided an interesting way to explore Chinese culture If you talk about this with your Chinese friends, they will be impressed Like here,

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Zhongguo Qitan is very new It's an 8 Chinese 4 cartels collection You can find it on YouTube with Chinese

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and English subtitles For Chinese videos, Bilibili Chinese YouTube It's a great platform to explore

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And you can also follow Chinese YouTubers who discuss daily topics Like April for makeup contents Guys,

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she's amazing Or Amanda, Taste for Cooking Or Meishu Zuojia Wanggang for Authentic Chinese Food Trust me,

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cooking Chinese food is the best way to discuss of Chinese culture many of these videos have English subtitles

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but it's important to always put on a Chinese subtitles

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and try to read the hanzi there is a one Chinese learning channel

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which is great for these levels of listening skill Mandarin Conner

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they offer a very interesting podcast they discuss interesting topics about daily life

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or Chinese people such as what does the Chinese people think about trading the one trial policy

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or what Chinese people think about dating foreigners and they offer hanzi pinyin

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and English transcripts for each episode For the intermediate level, you can listen to Chichat, learn Chinese and Chiyo What is great about this podcast is

188

that they break down the grammar

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and the sentence structure in a very simple way The topics are very engaging

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and they cover a variety of levels It's important to practice listening at natural speaking speed

191

and start noticing the difference between colloquial

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and standard speaking You should also focus more on grammar

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and sentence structure Chinese grammar is not complicated But at the intermediate

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or advanced level There are many grammar points

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and details To pay attention to in order to speak more naturally

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But if you encounter any grammar problems You can always use Chinese Viki to search and practice

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HSK 5 is more like an upper intermediate level By the

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end of this level You are expected to be able to read Chinese newspapers

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and magazines watch Chinese films and TV shows write

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and deliver full speeches to improve your language skills I recommend watching more advanced TV series

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and news as well as listening to advanced podcasts you should also continue practicing writing

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and building up your vocabulary for TV series I highly recommend Chinese growing pains

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which is a comedy

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that covers a lot of daily topics most importantly they speak in a standard accent

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that is perfect for you to imitate

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and practice another great series is Ai Qing Gong Yu Chinese Friends

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which is also a comedy that covers daily topics

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if you are interested in more sociological insight into Chinese society

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and young people's life I recommend San Shi E Yi

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which talks about the lives of 330 years old Chinese women The good thing about China series is

211

that they all have Han's subtitles If you want to check out the new 20 series You can check out 腾讯视频, Tencent Video For reality shows check out 腾讯视频,

212

热播综艺 And 湖南卫视, 芒果TV, 官方频道, China Hunan TV official channel The thing about learning Chinese is

213

that unlike other languages The most difficult part is at the beginning By the time you reach HSK 5

214

or 6 You will only be adding new words and grammar parts for each level In terms of writing, it will be much easier as the same character's components are broken apart

215

and rearranged to create new words It's like you are almost done completing a puzzle

216

and things have become more clearer and easier Congratulations, you have made it to the final level of the HSK

217

This level is particularly challenging as it's packed with new vocabulary

218

and information and typically takes around 9 to 10 months to complete By now, I hope you have moved away from relying on your native language to translate

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or understand Chinese at this level You will be fully immersed in the language

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and be able to engage with Chinese social medias read comments and interact with others In HSK 6,

221

you will be expected to understand virtually everything you hear or read in Chinese To help you with this level, I recommend exploring Chinese contents

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that Chinese speaker comes to you The topic will be more complicated

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but it's a great way to improve your language skills Here

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I want you to share a fantastic Chinese food documentary with you Zhe Jianshan de Zhongguo, A Bite of China I'm sorry guys,

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I'm just super foodie This documentary is not only about food but also explores Chinese culture, customs,

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society and the relationships between people

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and food It takes you on a journey from rural to urban areas

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and provides unique insight into china personally i really enjoyed the first

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and second seasons of this documentary i highly recommend it to anyone interested in chinese culture

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and food additionally the chinese used in this documentary is a

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high level very elegant making it a great resource for advanced

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learners for more documentary you can check out cctv jilu there are two chinese shows

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that can really help boost your language skills.

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The first is Qi Pa Shuo, a Chinese debate shows that covers a wide range of social topics in an entertaining style.

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For example, some of the topics discussed include should rookies in the workplace know to their seniors

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or should marriage to be more about material things or love.

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Another show that I highly recommend is Talk Shuo Da Hui, a Chinese talk show competition.

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I think talk shows are one of the most challenging things for language learners because they involve culture codes, humor, and trendy social topics.

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If you are looking for authentic Chinese podcasts, I recommend checking out Ximalaya app.

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You can find a variety of Chinese podcasts.

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I think you can find audio books there as well.

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If you are into radio, you can also use a worldwide radio add -on to listen to all kinds of Chinese radio.

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It's great to see so many people interested in learning my beautiful native language

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and discovering the culture I know Mandarin can be challenging but believe me with passion,

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discipline and consistency you can achieve amazing results Remember this is not a competition

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so take it slow

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and steady to win the race I hope you enjoyed this

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journey I'm here to help you along the way As I

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mentioned before the study plan with a concrete timeline is a

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reference for you to create your own learning journey please adjust it to fit your situation

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if you want to assess the master plan pdf along with

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a complete list of resources please join us in our discord

253

group by clicking the link in the description box we regularly share learning resources

254

and methods to help you achieve your goals

255

and we will try our best to answer all your questions and guide you through If you appreciate my efforts, please give this video a thumbs up and share it with others.

256

Don't forget to subscribe to the channel for new videos.

257

Thank you for watching and I will see you in the next one.

258

再见!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 257 sentences and 3439 words to shadow. The speech runs for 21:24. The speaker talks at a natural 161 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
radical noun	/ˈɹædɪkəl/	A root (of a number or quantity).
topic noun	/ˈtɑpɪk/	A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest.
grammar noun	/ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/	A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general.
pronunciation noun	/pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/	The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken.
tone noun	/ˈtəʊn/	A specific pitch.
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
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.
component noun	/kəmˈpoʊ.nənt/	A smaller, self-contained part of a larger entity. Often refers to a manufactured object that is part of a larger device.
documentary noun	/ˌdɒk.jʊˈmɛn.tɹi/	A film, TV program, publication etc. which presents a social, political, scientific or historical subject in a factual or informative manner.
routine noun	/ɹuˈtin/	A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.
elementary adjective	/ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/	Relating to the basic, essential or fundamental part of something.
explore verb	/ɪkˈsploɹ/	To examine or investigate something systematically.
insight noun	/ˈɪnsaɪ̯t/	A sight or view of the interior of anything; a deep inspection or view; introspection; frequently used with into.
intermediate adjective	/ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/	Being between two extremes, or in the middle of a range.
dictionary noun	/ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/	A reference work listing words or names from one or more languages, usually ordered alphabetically, explaining each word's meanings or senses, oftentimes also…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
check out verb	To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
break down verb	To stop functioning.
build up verb	To erect; to construct.
break apart verb	To dismantle something into its base components.
make out of verb	To construct from; to create (something) using (a material or substance).
sound out verb	To question and listen attentively in order to discover a person's opinion, intent, or preference, especially by using indirect conversational remarks.
try out verb	To test (something) to see how it works or whether it is suitable.
write down verb	To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something.

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	are built · been initiated · should not be ignored
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have probably heard · has done · I've seen
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Cantonese which has · someone who has · Kaoshi which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 22 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, thumb /ˈθʌm/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, dictionary /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, translation /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, documentary /ˌdɒk.jʊˈmɛn.tɹi/, elementary /ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/

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 radical, topic, grammar.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?