Shadowing Practice: How to Rate Things in English! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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So when we want someone's opinion, we'll often ask them to rate something.
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So when we want someone's opinion, we'll often ask them to rate something.
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We'll ask questions like this.
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How would you rate that restaurant?
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How would you rate that movie?
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How would you rate that game?
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And in English, we have a few different ways of answering those questions.
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I think a couple of the ways are similar to how you would do it in your language, but I think a couple of them might be somewhat unique.
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Oh, and by the way, if you don't know what the verb to rate means, it means to give your opinion as to whether you think something was good or bad.
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So in this English lesson, I'll teach you four different ways that we answer those types of questions.
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How we rate things in English.
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And then at the end, I'll also give you some examples of how we rate things that are just excellent or amazing.
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One of the ways we rate things in English is to give it two thumbs up or to give it a thumbs up or to give it a thumbs down.
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Now, I think you are familiar with this rating system.
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Two thumbs up means just really, really amazing.
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A thumbs up means it's pretty good.
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Or it can also mean amazing.
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And then thumbs down means that it's not very good at all.
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I do have to apologize for this rating system, though, because it's not grammatically correct.
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Two thumbs up is correct.
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To say thumbs up, though, seems a little odd.
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Why does thumbs have an S on it?
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There's only one thumb.
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Shouldn't it be thumb up?
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And shouldn't it be thumb down?
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But no, we don't say that.
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It's always two thumbs up or thumbs up or thumbs down.
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So you just kind of have to ignore that little inconsistency for the time being.
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I hope you think this video is two thumbs up, and I hope you give it a thumbs up and not a thumbs down.
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Another rating system that we use is simply to use stars.
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And I'm sure you're familiar with this one.
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When you buy something online, other people who bought the same thing might rate that thing using stars.
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So they might give it four out of five stars, which is pretty good, or five out of five stars, which is amazing.
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But if something only has one star, I don't think I would buy it.
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So we use this to rate a variety of things.
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You could say the movie was five out of five stars.
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You could say the restaurant is four out of five stars.
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You could say that thing you bought online is three out of five stars.
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And then the next person who goes to buy it, if they see your rating, they might have to decide whether 3 out of 5 stars is good enough for them to decide to buy it.
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Now, this next grading system is kind of old school because it's actually based, I think, on the North American schooling system, where in some places they still give letter grades.
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An A is excellent. A, B is okay.
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A C is not too bad.
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A D is not very good at all.
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And F means that you failed.
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And by the way, there's no E.
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I don't know why. But we do sometimes use this rating system in real life as well.
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Someone might say to you, how would you rate that restaurant?
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And you could respond and say, oh, I give it a B plus.
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How would you rate the pizza from that place?
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Oh, I would give it an A plus.
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How would you rate the game that you went to see?
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Oh, I would give it a B.
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It was enjoyable, but neither team scored and it ended in a tie.
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So we do use this old school, what I call old school grading system, to give something a rating of an A, an A plus, a B minus, a C plus, or in the worst case scenario, an F.
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We also sometimes rate things out of 10, or we'll even say on a scale of 1 to 10.
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So if someone says to me, Bob, how do you like your old blue van, the one that's sitting over there?
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I could say, that van has been amazing.
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I would give that van a 10 out of 10 for reliability.
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If someone asked, though, about the vehicle that I owned before that van, I might say That vehicle was a 1 out of 10.
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It was not very reliable, and it broke down all the time.
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So on a scale of 1 to 10, or rating something out of 10, sometimes you give it an 8 out of 10 or a 9 out of 10 or a 10 out of 10.
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And sometimes it just gets a 1.
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So you might be wondering in English, how do you rate things that are excellent?
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Now, of course, you could simply give it a 10 out of 10 or 5 out of 5 stars, or you could say you rate it as an A plus, but we actually have some phrases that we use as well.
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Oh, by the way, you could also give it, two thumbs up.
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Sorry, I can't do that at the same time because I'm holding my camera.
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But we do have some phrases that we use to talk about things that are excellent.
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You might say that it is the gold standard.
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You could say, and I hope I don't annoy anybody here, you could say Tesla is the gold standard for electric vehicles.
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You could say that it is top tier or that something is top tier.
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You could say Manchester United is a top tier football club.
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You could also say best in class.
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You could say that the DJI Action 6 camera is best in class for action cameras.
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That's actually the camera I'm using right now.
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And then there's a newer term, S tier.
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When you rate something...
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Sorry, a little windy as I walked there.
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When you rate something as S tier, it's above A, B, C or D.
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And it means that it's really, really good.
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This is kind of a new rating system.
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The S tier just came about a few years ago, or at least I became aware of it.
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But those are a few different ways that you can rate something using the English language that you think... things that you think are excellent.
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Well, thank you so much for watching this English lesson about rating things.
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And if you want to rate this lesson, you have two options.
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You can give it a thumbs up or you can give it a thumbs down.
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And I really hope that you give it a thumbs up.
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I would really appreciate that.
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If this is your first time here, don't forget to click that red subscribe button.
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There might be one over there or down below.
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Give me a thumbs up, like I just said, if you enjoyed the video and if it helped you, and please leave a comment below.
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I always enjoy reading them.
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And I'll see you next week with another English lesson.
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Bye.
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About This Lesson

In this lesson, learners will engage with the various ways to give ratings in English, focusing on expressing opinions about movies, restaurants, games, and more. By understanding the different rating systems, such as thumbs up/down and star ratings, learners will enhance their English speaking practice. This lesson also provides insight into using letter grades for assessments, offering a holistic view of how ratings function in everyday conversations. With a focus on practical application, this lesson aims to boost your confidence in rating items or experiences in English, allowing you to clearly communicate your thoughts.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • To rate - To give your opinion on whether something is good or bad.
  • Two thumbs up - An expression that means something is excellent.
  • Thumbs up - An expression meaning something is good.
  • Thumbs down - An expression indicating something is not good.
  • Stars - A rating system often used to evaluate products or experiences, typically from one to five.
  • Letter grades - A grading system from A (excellent) to F (fail), commonly used in schools.
  • A plus/B plus - Indicators of superior performance in a rating context.
  • Five out of five stars - A perfect rating suggesting something is outstanding.

Practice Tips

To effectively use the shadowing technique while watching this YouTube lesson, find a quiet space where you can focus without interruptions. As you listen to the video, pay attention to the intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation of the phrases used for rating. Start by repeating phrases in sync with the speaker, aiming for improved English pronunciation as you mirror their speech patterns. If the speaker's pace feels fast, try pausing the video to catch up or repeat the sentence multiple times. This will help solidify your understanding of expressions like "two thumbs up" or "four out of five stars," which are crucial for everyday conversations. Incorporating these ratings into your daily English speaking practice can also give context to your shadow speech exercises. Over time, you'll feel more comfortable expressing your opinions clearly and confidently in various situations.

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.

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