Shadowing Practice: How To Swim For COMPLETE BEGINNERS in 2026 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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In this video, you'll learn how to swim.
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Even if you have no experience or you've never been in the water before,
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I'll guide you step by step from total beginner to someone who feels comfortable and safe in and around the water.
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It's really important that when you're learning how to swim, you're not alone.
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You should always have someone with you, whether it's a coach, a friend, or a lifeguard, especially when you move into deeper water.
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Learning in the pool is ideal because it's a controlled environment
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and having a good pair of goggles makes a big difference so you can clearly see underwater and stay focused.
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Now here's the exciting part.
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If you stay with me until the end, I'll introduce you to a special method I created called How Not to Drown.
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It helped thousands of people just like you build confidence
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and learn how to swim faster than they ever imagined and I'm giving you full access to this for free.
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So grab your goggles and let's get started.
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The first step to learning how to swim is being comfortable entering the water.
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It's really important that you enter the water slowly so if your pool has a way to enter through the stairs, maybe grab the rail line, that's perfectly fine.
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As you enter the water, remember it's good to have a pair of goggles.
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That way when we stick our face in the water we're gonna be able to see what we're doing
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and it'll make it that much easier to learn.
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So as you're entering the water, make sure you get your body submerged to the point that you feel comfortable.
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Once we're comfortable in the water, we're going to need to submerge our body to the point that our face is still dry,
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or at least feeling the compression of the water around all of our body.
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The first time you do this, it's really important that you grab onto the edge of the pool.
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This way you have stability and you can feel the change in buoyancy of your body in the water.
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When you're ready, go ahead and put your goggles on and you're going to first start by getting your face wet.
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You don't need to completely submerge your face underwater.
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What you can do is you can actually cup your hands with water and simply wash your face.
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As you're washing your face, you want to blow out of your nose.
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Eventually, we're going to be blowing bubbles, and you can start right here.
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As you blow bubbles, you're gonna teach your body,
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when you go underwater, you're exhaling.
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There's negative pressure.
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When you're out of water, you breathe in naturally through your nose and out your mouth.
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When we swim, we do the opposite.
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We blow out our nose and we breathe in through our mouth.
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Once you're comfortable getting your face submerged,
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you're gonna lower your body completely underneath the surface.
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Remember, grab the side of the pool and begin.
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The first few times you do this, you may feel as though you lowered your head completely underwater, but in fact you need to lower yourself much more so that way you can fully submerge the top of your head.
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Now let's try it again.
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You should be completely submerged and comfortable blowing bubbles.
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The next step is learning how to float, but we're going to be assisted by the wall.
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So you're going to place both your hands at the wall
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and you're going to lower your body so
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that your chin is right above the surface and you're going to hum and blow bubbles.
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Once you're comfortable in that position, we're going to raise one leg at a time and we're going to have both our legs floating.
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The next version of this is adding a little bit of a flutter kick for balance.
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We're going to point both of our toes and we're going to keep our legs straight.
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Let's give it a try, kicking out one leg at a time.
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Once we're confident blowing bubbles and kicking at the wall, we're going to actually start away from the wall
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and we're going to push off towards the wall
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and use our momentum from the push and our kick to keep us moving.
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The entire time we're looking down and we're blowing out our nose.
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It's really helpful to keep that humming sound going as we float to the wall.
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So let me show you what that looks like.
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The next step is making sure that we can stand up once we're able to float.
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What we're trying to do is use our entire body to get ourselves in the upright position.
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So when we're floating, we're horizontal.
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We need to use our arms and our legs to make this happen.
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What we're going to do with our arms extended is we're
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going to take two big arm pulls at at the same time while we're bringing our knees into our chest.
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Let me show you how it works.
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Just like that.
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Now that we're comfortable floating at the wall, we're going to learn how to use our arms.
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Now, when you're swimming, the front crawl, it's really important that we're pulling with our entire arm, not just our hands.
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we have a lot of surface area that we can pull with not just our hands, but our entire forearm all the way into our armpit.
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And so that's what we're going to think about.
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But it's too difficult to just go right into full-on front crawl.
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So before we get there, we're going to practice these arm strokes at the wall.
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We already learned how to float and kick at the wall.
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So what we're going to do now is we're going to practice one arm pull at a time.
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We're not going to worry about breathing just yet.
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We're just going to practice what it's like to dip our
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fingers into the water pull all the way out the end
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of our stroke bring our arm around back to the starting position
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so from the side it's going to look like this we're kicking the wall we're taking our pull underwater
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and then we return the arm back to the starting position so here's how it looks on the wall
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Now you might be wondering, how do I breathe?
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That's exactly what we're gonna practice next.
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So when you're comfortable with the arm position, now when we take the arm stroke,
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we're gonna rotate our head to the side and we're gonna try and keep one eye and one ear in the water.
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One eye is going to be out of the water.
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And this is the ideal way that we can breathe.
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We practice it at the wall first and then we'll add it in when we start swimming.
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Here's what that looks like.
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You'll need to practice this, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to add it to your full stroke and you'll be moving in no time.
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Once you get the hang of taking arm strokes at the wall, we're going to transfer it into the full pull.
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Now, you don't have to go very far and remember we learned how to stand up.
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So now when we take our pulls, we're going to be free and away from the wall.
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It's really important that we keep our eyes on the bottom of the pool, because if we lift our head up, our lower body is going to sink and we're not gonna go anywhere.
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So really make sure that you keep your eyes down and you're taking big pulls with not just your hand, but your entire arm all the way through.
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Let's keep it a try.
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It's really important that you focus on keeping your fingertips nice and long, entering the water with your ring finger and your middle finger first,
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sliding them through at a 45 degree angle,
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reach, reach, reach, and then initiate that pull all the way through and then bring your arm around.
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Once you do that, you'll be ready to add in a breath.
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Now the breath is just like we practice at the wall.
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You take your arm pull, you rotate, keep one eye and one ear underneath the water, and then bring your arm around.
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Let me show you guys what it looks like.
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You did it!
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Now you can call yourself a swimmer.
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Well, maybe not just yet.
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Practice, practice, practice.
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It's so important that you focus on developing these skills over a consistent period of time.
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You won't be able to swim overnight, but if you're consistent and stay dedicated and focus on improving, even when it gets difficult,
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that's when you'll see the progress and that's where you'll be able to see yourself improve, not just in swimming, but also in life.
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So make sure you stay consistent, focus on improving your technique, re-watch this video, and check out all the available resources
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that we have so that way you can continue on your swimming journey for the rest of your life.
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Now if you're still watching, I know you're serious about learning how to swim, and I want to give you something that will truly change the game for you.
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It's my new book, How Not to Drown.
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Inside, I break down the exact mindset and method that I've used to help people all over the world overcome fear, build confidence in the water,
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and learn how to swim with purpose.
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And here's the thing, I'm giving it to you completely for free.
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No catch.
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Why?
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Because I believe that everyone deserves to swim and feel safe in the water.
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And this book will help you get there faster than any YouTube video alone will.
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So don't wait, click on the link in the description, grab your free copy, and take the next step in your swimming journey right now.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “How To Swim For COMPLETE BEGINNERS in 2026”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: arm, wall, pull, practice, swim. This video has 116 sentences and 1673 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:20. The speaker talks at a natural 162 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 91% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| swim verb | /swɪm/ | To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| float verb | /fləʊt/ | To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object). |
| bubble noun | /ˈbʌbəl/ | A spherically contained volume of air or other gas in a liquid, commonly a soapy liquid. |
| underwater adjective | /ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/ | Beneath the surface of the water; of or pertaining to the region beneath the water surface. |
| consistent adjective | /kənˈsɪs.tənt/ | Of a regularly occurring, dependable nature. |
| finger noun | /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other… |
| ideal adjective | /aɪˈdi(ə)l/ | Pertaining to ideas, or to a given idea. |
| underneath adverb | /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/ | Below; in a place beneath. |
| crawl verb | /kɹɔːl/ | To move by dragging one's body along or close to a surface, like a worm or insect, or on one's hands and knees, like a human baby. |
| rotate verb | /ˈɹoʊ.teɪt/ | To spin, turn, or revolve. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| technique noun | /tɛkˈniːk/ | The practical aspects of a given art, occupation etc.; formal requirements. |
| wash verb | /wɑʃ/ | To clean with water. |
| helpful adjective | /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ | Furnishing help; giving aid; useful. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| blow out verb | To extinguish something, especially a flame, especially by means of a strong current of air or another gas. | |
| stand up verb | To rise from a lying or sitting position. | |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| head up verb | To lead or take the lead in; to direct; to take charge of. | |
| kick out verb | To eject, dismiss, expel, or forcefully remove (someone or something). | |
| look down verb | To lower one's eyes; to direct one's look downwards. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- In this video, you'll learn how to swim.
- You don't need to completely submerge your face underwater.
- We're not going to worry about breathing just yet.
- That's exactly what we're gonna practice next.
- Let's keep it a try.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should always have · should be |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | may feel · might be |
| Comparatives -er than / more … than — comparing two things | faster than |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | you're learning · I'm giving · is being |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 86 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, you're, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: wash /wɑʃ/, compression /kəmˈpɹɛʃ.ən/, initiate /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/
- Long words — get the stress right: underwater /ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, stability /stəˈbɪlɪti/, momentum /ˌmə(ʊ)ˈmɛntəm/, horizontal /ˌhoɹəˈzɑn.təl/
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 swim, breathe, float.
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.