Shadowing Practice: How To Talk About Football/Soccer! Fun English Lesson 2020. - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Good morning, good afternoon and good  evening! Welcome to Smashing English.
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Before we start this video be sure to  subscribe because I make new videos all the time and I don't want you to miss any.  So with that said, let's get on with the video!
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Today we are learning about football. Now  ,football is a pretty big deal in lots of places around the world, so today I'm going to teach  you all of the things that I know about football which is not a lot really... um  I think I'm gonna need some help I love football! I shall leave you in very  capable hands.. good luck. Welcome to your crash course in football! First, let's talk about  "the pitch". First things first, this is called "the halfway line" and this in the middle is  called "the centre circle" so you might know that in the middle of the centre circle, that is  where the game begins, so we call that "kickoff".
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So that is when the game "kicks off". We also use  this term for asking when will the game begin so; "When is the kickoff time?" or "When is kickoff?"  "Are Liverpool playing today?" "Yeah mate yeah, they're playing Leeds". "Ah right yeah.. when's  kickoff then?" "They're kicking off in about ..oh in half an hour!". Either end of the pitch  we have two very important things in football and they're called "the goals" so we have one goal  and we have another goal, we have two goals in a game of football. So the goal is made out of  four things. We have two "posts" a "crossbar" and we have a "net". If a player was to hit either  the crossbar or the posts we would say they've "hit the woodwork" because usually in the olden  days the posts and the crossbar would be made out of wood, so we would call it "the woodwork".  Both goals are surrounded by "the penalty box" as you can see right here. And inside the penalty  box there are two very important things there is "the penalty spot". Now the penalty spot is where  "penalty kicks" are taken so if your team is given a penalty that means that you kick the ball from  that spot. Any Manchester United fans watching you'll know quite a lot about these recently! And  the second thing that is inside the penalty box is the "six yard box" so there is a smaller box  inside of the penalty box and that is where the goalkeeper can take his goal kicks from. Now  there are four "corners" around the pitch in the corners and we just call these "the  corners" so we have four corners and they are usually shown by a "corner flag". And last but not  least on the side of the pitch where the managers and the substitutes sit, insert picture here,  we call that "the bench" because usually in the olden days people would sit on a bench  or sometimes you might hear people calling it "the dugout" because, I don't know, 50 years  ago people used to literally dig a hole and the players would sit in the hole.. kind of  picture to show it.. there we are.. "the dugout"!
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And where the fans sit we call this "the stands"  so usually a stadium has four stands around the pitch but if you're a Manchester City fan you're  probably sat at home having a nice takeaway. Okay, so let's move on. Now let me give you some very  common footballers positions. So every team has to have a "goalkeeper" or a "keeper" or a "goalie".  In front of the goalkeeper we have "the defence".
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Now in the defence you can have a "left back" that  is a defender who plays on the left side of the pitch, and then we have a "right back", these are  players who play on the right side of the pitch, and usually in between those we have "two  centre backs" so we have left back, centre back, centre back, right back. And the defence  is basically there to stop the other team scoring some goals. Moving up the pitch in front  of the defence we have "the midfielders". Okay, so the midfielders are the ones who play in  the middle of the field so in this formation we have a "left midfielder" so those  are the midfielders who play on the left side of midfield, we have a "right midfielder"  and those guys play on the right of the midfield, and we have two centre midfielders so those  are "centre mids" sometimes we call them, "centre mids". At the top of the pitch we usually  have players called "strikers" so we can call them strikers, we can also call them "centre forwards",  so they are forwards and they are in the centre.
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"Centre forwards". Some famous strikers for you  are Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and last but not least, we also have players in  the attack who play on the left and on the right.
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So we call those "left wingers"  or "right wingers". And finally, let me just give you some essential words that  will help you talk about any football game. So let's start with scoring a goal. Usually we don't  even say "scoring a goal" we usually just say "scored" or "score". So, "Lionel Messi scored last  night". And here are some words to describe a very very very good goal. We have "screamer". "Oh it's  a screamer!!", "Belter". "Oh, what a belter!", "Worldie!" "Oh that's a worldie!". So, "to score"  is the verb but we also have in the noun form, "a score". So at the end of a football match  you will have "a score". Will it be one - nil?
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Two - nil? Three - one? Seven - two? Eight - six?  And here are some very important words to describe how a player will score a goal. If he scores  it with his head we call that "a header". If he scores without the ball touching the ground we  call that "a volley". If a player scores a goal and they're very very close to the goal we call  that "a tap in", like they're just tapping it in.
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And if a player scores a goal by kicking it  over his head we call that "a bicycle kick".
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Next up we have "an assist". This is the word  that's given to the player who passes the ball to the person who scores. So a goal might have  the "goal scorer" and "the assist". Next we have "clean sheet". So a "clean sheet" is something  that you get or something that you have. If a goalkeeper doesn't let any goals in in a game  they get a clean sheet, that's what we call it.
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So if a goalkeeper is very very good then he  will have a lot of clean sheets. Next we have "hat trick". A hat trick is a word we  use when one player scores three goals in one game. So if a player has already scored  two goals in the game then the commentator might say "Oh he's on for a hat-trick here" and  there is another very good word for you there "commentator". A commentator is a person  who describes the game either on the tv or on the radio. Next we have "tackle". "To  tackle" is when one player tries to get the ball from another player but if that player makes  an unsuccessful tackle and hurts the other player we call that "a foul". And if you make a  bad foul you might get from "the referee" a "yellow card" or a "red card". A yellow card  is usually a warning to the player but a red card means that you get "sent off". The next term we  have is "dive". If a player dives it means that they have tried to cheat in the game, so they have  pretended to be fouled and fallen to the ground.
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Here's an example of when we would use that  word. "He didn't even foul him that's a dive".
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The next word is "substitution". A substitution  is something that you make so we "make a substitution" and that is basically when one  player leaves the pitch and somebody from the bench comes on to the pitch. Next up we have  a "free kick". A free kick is when a player is allowed to kick the ball freely from the  spot where they've been fouled. A "penalty" is when somebody has been fouled inside the  penalty box, remember that? Yeah there it is. And if the player gets fouled within the  penalty box then that means they get to take a "penalty kick" and finally we have "handball".  A handball is when the ball hits a player's hand, so nobody apart from the goalkeeper is  allowed to touch the ball with their hands.
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And in case you're wondering just to let you  know the best football team in the whole world is Liverpool- okay okay well thank you so much.  We've learned so much today, thank you very much for teaching us. So if you enjoyed this video  please press subscribe and please give it a like and we'll be back soon with more videos in the  future thank you so much for watching. Ta-ta!

Context & Background

In the video titled "How To Talk About Football/Soccer!", the speaker provides an engaging introduction to the terminology and important concepts related to football (known as soccer in some countries). The focus is on enabling English learners to discuss the sport confidently, using common phrases and vocabulary. By breaking down concepts like the pitch, player positions, and scoring methods, the speaker aims to equip viewers with practical language skills essential for discussing football in everyday conversations.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • When is the kickoff? - A common phrase to inquire about the starting time of a football match.
  • He scored a screamer! - A dynamic way to describe a stunning goal scored by a player.
  • What's the score? - Used to ask for the current scoreline during a match.
  • That was a fantastic tackle! - A phrase to appreciate a well-executed defensive move.
  • Did you see that dive? - Commonly used when discussing players trying to deceive the referee by pretending to be fouled.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

Utilizing the shadowing technique can drastically improve your speaking and pronunciation skills while learning English with football-related vocabulary. Here's a step-by-step guide to effectively use this technique with the video:

  1. Watch the Entire Video: First, watch the video without attempting to repeat any phrases. Focus on the content and context provided.
  2. Break It Down: Segment the video into smaller parts. This allows you to concentrate on specific phrases, making it easier to grasp their meanings.
  3. Repeat and Imitate: Using a shadowing app or shadowing site, play back sections of the video, and attempt to imitate the speaker's intonation and pronunciation immediately after hearing a new phrase.
  4. Practice Regularly: Consistency is key. Repeat this exercise daily, focusing on different segments to build familiarity with vocabulary against diverse football contexts.
  5. Engage in Conversations: Finally, try to incorporate what you’ve learned into real conversations about football, either in person or through online platforms. This practical application will enhance your learning experience.

By following this structured approach, you'll not only expand your English vocabulary but also develop confidence in discussing football, which is a beloved topic worldwide.

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.