Shadowing Practice: How to Shadow Native English Speakers to Master Your Pronunciation - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Last night, my student was trying to improve her English speaking skills by shadowing Harry Potter.
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Last night, my student was trying to improve her English speaking skills by shadowing Harry Potter.
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Wingardium Leviosa.
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But no matter how much Harry she watched,
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she couldn't improve because her English level was beginner.
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I realised that she missed the most important thing when shadowing.
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So, to help her, and to help you,
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I have created a step-by-step learning curve to help you move from beginner to advanced with English pronunciation,
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articulation and accent.
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The first thing is your mouth position.
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Before jumping into any shadowing exercises,
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we need to be aware of our mouth shape and position when speaking English.
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This is my jaw.
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If I don't move my jaw when I speak, I sound unclear.
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But if I drop my jaw when I speak, I sound clear.
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As English speakers, we drop our jaw a lot when we speak.
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This is uncommon in a lot of other languages.
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So, as a non-native speaker,
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you need to drop your jaw more.
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Here's how.
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A tongue twister is repeating similar sounds which might twist your tongue or trip you up.
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Here's an example.
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Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
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Here's three tips to make tongue twisters more effective.
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1. Focus on opening your mouth a lot when you say them.
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Two, over-exaggerate all the sounds and project them forward.
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And three, go very slowly.
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Remember, nice and slow is the way to grow.
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But what's that?
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I hear you ask.
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But Jay, what sound do I practice?
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Well, the simplest way to do this is to take one sound that you find difficult in your own language.
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So for example, if you're Korean,
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you might struggle with the L and R sounds.
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So you can practice red lorry,
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yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.
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If you're Spanish, you might struggle with the V sound.
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So you could practice very berry, very berry.
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That's very, very good for your pronunciation.
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And if you speak Mandarin,
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you might struggle with the N sound.
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So you could practice a tongue twister like,
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nine nasty nuns, Nick nuts.
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By the way, to Nick is to steal in British slang.
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Now onto the next exercise.
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A minimal pair is when there's a very small sound difference between two words.
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For example, cap, cup, pan,
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and pen, sheet, and shit.
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Just like practicing tongue twisters.
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Minimal pairs can help you fix the specific sounds that you struggle with or you want to improve.
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If you want to reach intermediate, do more shadowing.
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Shadowing is copying a native speaker directly after they have just spoken.
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The intention is not to understand perfectly,
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but rather it's to mimic the mouth position and the sound that you hear.
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Let's put this into action.
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So I'm gonna pull up sproutlanguage.com.
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And Sprout Language is an English platform and app that I've built to help you guys become fluent in English.
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Before I shadow this video,
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I'm going to set an intention.
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My intention is to only shadow short, simple sentences and I'm going to pause the video at regular intervals.
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So let's get into it.
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Speaking of trees and bushes,
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this is a pine tree.
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Speaking of trees and bushes,
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this is a pine tree.
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You can tell by the needles.
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You can tell by the needles.
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These are pine needles.
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These are pine needles.
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Just like the needles that go in your skin.
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like the needles that go in your skin when you go to the doctors when you go to the doctors
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okay you can see
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that i paused the video i only shadowed very short sentences
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this is level one of shadowing i was trying to copy
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the tone of the speaker i was trying to copy how high or low
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the voices i was trying to copy the volume how loud
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or how quiet they were speaking i'm trying to copy the facial expressions too
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and the gestures how do they move their hands how do
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they move their face the more you guys can get your body involved in shadowing the more effective
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that it's going to be it becomes an all body exercise very engaged
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and very effective before we jump into level two of shadowing,
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the more advanced shadowing, I want to quickly discuss why my student struggled to shadow Harry Potter.
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She struggled to understand.
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Meticulous restraint required for advanced transfiguration process.
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Meek you, meeky what?
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Yeah, I totally got that.
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English is cheating.
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This was because she was a beginner and Harry Potter is quite an advanced level of English.
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So, this is why Sprout comes in super useful.
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So you can see on the homepage,
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you have a recommended video.
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Now this intelligently recommends a video for you guys based on your exact level of English.
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So if you're B1, it will recommend B1 videos.
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If you're B2, it will recommend B2 videos.
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So watching videos at your level and shadowing those videos is key to to improving your pronunciation.
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Now I'm going to show you guys the next level of shadowing where I don't pause the video.
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I'm just going to listen and shadow in real time.
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It's a lot more challenging but here's the idea.
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You always need to trust your gut.
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Okay Jay, the moment.
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This is the final question.
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This is the final question.
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You have no lifelines left.
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And if you get this question wrong,
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you will then go down to $32,000.
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But you do have the option to walk away now with $500,000.
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Okay, so there I was shadowing our lovely Nikki,
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and she has an American accent.
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You can see that it was more challenging because I'm not pausing the video.
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I'm trying to repeat directly after she has spoken.
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And I'm trying to mimic her American accent.
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My voice was higher, higher,
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because she has a higher voice than me.
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The idea is to play with this.
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Now, we've practiced our pronunciation.
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We've watched a video.
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We've learned new vocabulary.
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but the next step is to speak about this video.
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I want to speak about the vocabulary used in this video.
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So, I'm going to click this button here and it will pop up J.I.
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J.I is an AI version of me who you can speak with to improve your English.
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Hi Jay, it's great to chat with you.
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In the video I was excited to play for one million dollars.
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How do you feel when you do something exciting?
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When I do something exciting I feel, I feel thrilled.
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For example, I love riding roller coasters.
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Although it's a little bit scary,
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I enjoy the feeling of butterflies in my stomach and the excitement of being in the theme park.
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That sounds like fun.
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Riding roller coasters can be thrilling.
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It's great that you enjoy that feeling.
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What is your favourite roller coaster that you have been on?
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My favourite roller coaster I've been on is the big one in Blackpool.
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There is a giant drop and it's pretty scary,
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but I remember it very fondly.
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The big one in Blackpool, that sounds intense.
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I'm glad you have fond memories of it.
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It's amazing how a little bit of fear can make things exciting, isn't it?
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It is indeed, J.I.
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Now, tell me, what is the difference between fear and being scared?
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That's a great question.
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Scared is a feeling you have right now about something.
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Like, if you see a spider, you might feel scared.
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Fear is more like a general feeling or idea about something dangerous or bad.
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It's a bit more serious.
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Does that make sense?
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That makes perfect sense.
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Okay, thank you, Jay.
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That's all for today.
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I'll chat to you tomorrow.
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It was great chatting with you today, Jay.
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You're making excellent progress, and I'm excited to hear more from you tomorrow.
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Goodbye for now.
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See ya.
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Now this is a wonderful way to immerse yourself in English.
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You watch a video, you understand new vocabulary,
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and then you speak about it to reinforce that vocabulary.
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There's no stress or anxiety about talking to a real person,
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and it's something that you can practice every single day,
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which is the key to becoming better in English.
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It's a small piece of action every single day.
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I'm super excited by J.I.
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I think it's extremely powerful to help you guys improve your English.
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Now, let's move on to the advanced exercises.
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Connected speech makes sentences sound smoother, faster, and more natural.
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There are four main types of connected speech.
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However, for simplicity, today we're going to focus on two.
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They've got fancy names, but you don't have to remember the names.
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The first one is called catenation,
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and catenation is when two words link together.
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For example, pick it up becomes pick it up.
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Pick it up.
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Pick it up.
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Oh, yes sir.
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Turn it off becomes turn it off.
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Turn it off.
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Turn it off.
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Oh, yes sir.
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Put it on becomes put it on.
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Put it on.
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Oi, put it on.
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Oh, yes sir.
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Put it on sir.
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Another fun example is, my cat ate all my ice cream.
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Now, that sounds unnatural if I say it like that.
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So I would say, my cat ate all my ice cream.
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It's a strange one.
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I'm joining cat ate all.
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It sounds like cat ate all.
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And I'm joining ice cream, ice cream.
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My cat ate all my ice cream.
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So if you're an advanced level,
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you really want to be aware of connected speech.
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It's gonna help you sound a lot more native.
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The second type of connected speech is called intrusion.
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Intrusion is when a sound intrudes.
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It's when we add a tiny extra sound in between two vowel sounds.
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For example, instead of saying go out,
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we would say go out, go out.
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Instead of saying I agree,
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we would say I agree, I agree.
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And instead of saying vanilla ice cream,
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we would say vanilla rice cream, vanilla rice cream.
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And yes, it sounds like rice cream, vanilla ice cream.
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Why do we do this?
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Well for me and all natives it's just smoother and easier.
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Here's a fun example combining catenation and intrusion.
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I ate eight apples.
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I ate eight apples.
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Can you say that one?
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I ate eight apples.
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I ate eight apples.
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If you're intermediate and you want to become a more advanced English speaker,
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then being aware of connected speech when shadowing or when having a conversation will help you to reach that level.
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Besides connected speech we also have rhythm.
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In English we don't say every word with the same force.
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That sounds boring.
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Instead we stress the important words like verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs.
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The less important words like the small grammar words we say very lightly.
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This creates the natural rhythm of English.
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Let's look at an example.
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I want to eat some cake.
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In this sentence, want, eat,
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and cake are the stressed words.
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I say them louder and with more emphasis,
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with a bit more oomph.
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In that sentence, it goes unstressed, stressed, unstressed, stressed.
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This is a regular pattern in English.
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However, when we extend the sentence,
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when we lengthen the sentence,
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then we tend to have more unstressed syllables jammed together.
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What do we do?
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Well, we tend to shorten them and speed them up.
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Instead of saying, can you call your mum when you get home?
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We would say, can you call your mum when you get home?
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That's a natural way to say it.
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And notice that I said,
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can you, can you call?
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Can you becomes can you?
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Can you?
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Can you call when you get home becomes when you get,
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when you get home.
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Can you call your mum when you get home?
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Can you call your mum when you get home?
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Got it?
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Good.
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The best way to practice this and get better is to shadow.
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Now you need to shadow with intention.
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You need to focus on the natural rhythm of English while you are shadowing.
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This takes a little bit of fine-tuning and focus from your brain,
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but it will really get you to an advanced level of speech and have you sounding just like a native.
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Wanna speak like me?
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Shadow me.
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Now let's do a musical exercise to practice your rhythm.
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Make a cake.
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Make me a cake.
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Can you make me a cake?
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Can you make me a cake?
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Because I'm hungry.
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If you like this video and you want to improve your English by watching videos,
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learning new vocabulary and speaking about it with J.I afterwards,
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then check the link in the description for sproutlanguage.com,
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immerse yourself in English and have a beautiful day.
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Peace.
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Why Practice Speaking with This Video?
In the pursuit of mastering English, one of the most effective techniques is shadowing, a practice highlighted in this video. Shadowing involves listening to native speakers and mimicking their speech. This method not only enhances your pronunciation but also improves your intonation and fluency. By engaging in shadowing exercises tailored to your level, you can gradually transition from a beginner to an advanced speaker. Watching content, such as this video, allows you to immerse yourself in authentic language use, making it easier to internalize the rhythms and sounds of English. As you learn English with YouTube, you'll find that this method provides a context-rich environment, essential for developing confidence in your speaking abilities.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
- “Drop your jaw”: This phrase emphasizes the physical aspect of pronunciation. Being conscious of mouth movement is crucial for clarity in speech.
- “Tongue twisters”: This expression is a fantastic way to practice challenging sounds. Saying phrases like “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” helps sharpen articulation.
- “Minimal pairs”: The speaker refers to pairs of words that differ by only a single sound, such as “cap” and “cup”. Practicing these helps identify and correct specific pronunciation errors.
By engaging with these expressions, you will not only enhance your grammatical understanding but also develop a more nuanced ability to communicate effectively in English.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you shadowspeak, you may encounter several pronunciation challenges. For example, words like “very” and “berry” can be tricky for speakers of certain languages who struggle with the V sound. Similarly, the L and R sounds can be difficult, as illustrated by the tongue twister “red lorry, yellow lorry”. Additionally, minimal pairs like “pan” and “pen” may cause confusion. To overcome these traps, focus on articulating each sound clearly, exaggerate your mouth movements during practice, and use the shadowing technique to hear and replicate native speakers' accents. This method not only aids in correct pronunciation but also helps you develop an ear for the subtle differences in sounds.
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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