Shadowing Practice: How to Talk About Picnics | Easy English Conversation for Beginners - Learn English Speaking with Video

This video has 24 sentences and 235 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:24. The speaker talks at a natural 168 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% 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

14 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

• picnic /ˈpɪknɪk/ (noun) — An informal social gathering, usually in a natural outdoor setting, to which the participants bring their own food and drink.
• relax /ɹɪˈlæks/ (verb) — To make something loose.
• snack /snæk/ (noun) — A light meal.
• grass /ɡɹɑːs/ (noun) — Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as…
• juice /d͡ʒuːs/ (noun) — A liquid made from plant, especially fruit.
• sandwich /ˈsæn(d).wɪd͡ʒ/ (noun) — A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.
• basket /ˈbæskɪt/ (noun) — A lightweight woven container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom.
• blanket /ˈblæŋ.kɪt/ (noun) — A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually large and woollen, used for warmth while sleeping or resting.
• backyard /bækˈjɑːd/ (noun) — A yard to the rear of a house or similar residence.
• restaurant /ˈɹɛst(ə)ˌɹɑnt/ (noun) — An eating establishment in which diners are served food, usually by waiters at their tables but sometimes (as in a fast food restaurant) at a counter.
• laugh /læf/ (verb) — To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and…
• bird /ˈbɜːd/ (noun) — An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of…
• wave /weɪv/ (verb) — To move back and forth repeatedly and somewhat loosely.
• fruit /fɹut/ (noun) — A product of fertilization in a plant, specifically

Phrasal verbs you will hear

• sit on (verb) — To block, suppress, restrain (something).

How to practise with this video

1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like picnic, relax, snack.