Shadowing Practice: How to Talk About Yourself in English | Easy Self Introduction for Beginners | English Podcast - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
A2
Get comfortable with English in Comfort.
260 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Get comfortable with English in Comfort.
2
This is your English listening practice podcast to help you learn and improve naturally.
3
Hello English learners and welcome back to English in Comfort,
4
your cozy English podcast for learning English through easy conversation.
5
I'm Tim.
6
And I'm Leah.
7
How are you doing today, Tim?
8
Well, I'm doing great.
9
Ready for another interesting and fun chat.
10
Me too.
11
And today, we are talking about a very important topic.
12
It is something that makes everyone nervous, even native speakers.
13
Absolutely.
14
Did you know the human brain takes only 7 seconds to form a first impression?
15
Only 7 seconds.
16
Wow, that is fast.
17
Very fast.
18
And in those 7 seconds,
19
you often hear a scary question.
20
Tell me about yourself.
21
Exactly.
22
Tell me about yourself.
23
Those words can cause instant panic.
24
They really do.
25
You hear this question everywhere.
26
At job interviews, at parties,
27
or when you are just trying to make a new friend at a cafe.
28
There is a reason this question causes panic.
29
It is a very big question.
30
The brain does not like big open questions.
31
It is like someone asking you to draw a beautiful picture,
32
but giving you no paper and no pen.
33
Your brain just freezes.
34
You start thinking, do I talk about my childhood?
35
Do I talk about my job?
36
Do I talk about my family?
37
That is too much pressure.
38
Way too much pressure.
39
But today we will change that.
40
And the thing is that you do not need to tell your whole life story.
41
We are going to share a simple four-part plan.
42
Yep.
43
Think about answering this question like building a simple, strong house.
44
You just need a comfortable place for the other person to visit.
45
I really like that picture.
46
You are building a safe place for a conversation.
47
Exactly.
48
And to build a simple house,
49
you do not need expensive materials.
50
In English, expensive materials are long, hard words.
51
You do not need those.
52
You really don't.
53
And you do not need long, confusing sentences.
54
You just need four basic blocks.
55
If you have these four blocks,
56
you can build a beautiful introduction for anyone.
57
Simple and clear English is always the best.
58
If you follow this plan,
59
you will always know exactly what to say.
60
So let's start building.
61
Every good house needs a strong base.
62
In an introduction, your base is your greeting,
63
your name, and your location.
64
That is the perfect start.
65
Begin with a warm, polite greeting like hello,
66
good morning, or just hi.
67
Keep it easy.
68
Then share your name.
69
Like, hello, my name is Leah.
70
Or, hi, I am Leah.
71
Let me jump in right here.
72
A lot of people want to add their age right after their name.
73
They say, hello, my name is John and I am 40 years old.
74
Should they do that?
75
Well, no. No age?
76
No age.
77
In many English-speaking places, saying your age is not very common.
78
For adults, it is a bit private.
79
And why is age a bad idea in a conversation?
80
Because a number does not tell a story.
81
If you say you are 20,
82
people might think one thing.
83
If you say you are 50,
84
they might think another thing.
85
It stops the real connection.
86
Oh, that makes sense.
87
So we skip the age.
88
We just smile, say our name clearly,
89
and go straight to our location.
90
Yes.
91
People always want to know where you are from.
92
It gives them a map in their mind.
93
It is a great way to start talking because they might know your city or country.
94
Let's try this naturally.
95
Let's see how the bass sounds in a real conversation.
96
Okay.
97
All right.
98
Hello, I am Tim.
99
I come from Canada, but I live in London now.
100
Okay, notice what happened there.
101
You did not just give a place.
102
You gave a timeline.
103
A timeline?
104
What do you mean?
105
You said, I come from Canada,
106
but I live in London now.
107
Those are very basic words, right?
108
Right.
109
But they tell a big story.
110
You moved.
111
You traveled.
112
When you use the simple word but to connect two places,
113
you show a journey.
114
I am just saying two places,
115
but the listener hears an adventure.
116
It invites questions.
117
The listener thinks, why did Tim move?
118
How is London different from Canada?
119
Right, but what if I have always lived in the same city?
120
I cannot say I come from Canada, but live in London.
121
You can still tell a story.
122
You can say, I am Leah.
123
I was born in Tokyo,
124
and I have lived here my whole life.
125
Oh, okay.
126
That tells the story of knowing a city very well.
127
It makes the other person curious.
128
So now we have a strong base.
129
They know your name and your location.
130
Now we need to build the walls of our house.
131
This is your daily life,
132
like your work or your studies.
133
Yes.
134
People naturally want to know how you spend your day.
135
Work is a very safe topic.
136
But many people have very hard job titles.
137
What if my job is senior customer relations and retention specialist?
138
Oh, well, that is a lot.
139
You do not need to explain all of that.
140
Keep it very simple.
141
Just use your general area of work.
142
So instead of that long,
143
confusing title, what do I say?
144
Just say, I work in customer service.
145
Oh, that takes the pressure away.
146
I work in customer service.
147
Let's do another one.
148
What if I fix large car machines in a factory?
149
Say, I am a mechanic.
150
I fix machines.
151
It is amazing how much stress goes away when you keep it simple.
152
Right.
153
Let's practice this.
154
I will start.
155
I work as a teacher.
156
Or, I work in education.
157
My turn.
158
I am a nurse.
159
I like my job because I help people.
160
That is a great addition.
161
I am a nurse is a fact.
162
I like my job because I help people is a warm feeling.
163
Facts build the walls, but feelings make the house comfortable.
164
Exactly.
165
When you share a feeling, you connect as humans.
166
Now, what if the listener is a student?
167
Just use the same simple plan.
168
Say, I am a university student.
169
I study business.
170
The goal is just to share how you spend your day.
171
Okay, so far our introduction looks great.
172
We have the base name and location.
173
Then we have work or study.
174
Now we need the fun parts.
175
We need to talk about hobbies.
176
Hobbies are what you do for fun in your free time.
177
They show your real personality.
178
But there is a very important rule here.
179
Don't use just one word.
180
Why not?
181
If I say, I like food,
182
that is very simple English.
183
Simple is good.
184
But general words do not make a picture in the mind.
185
If you say, I like food, it is too big.
186
Everyone likes food.
187
True.
188
But when talking about your hobby,
189
you must add one or two small details.
190
Paint a picture.
191
So, instead of I like food, what should I say?
192
Say, on weekends, I love cooking Italian food.
193
I see it.
194
My mind sees a kitchen and pasta.
195
I can see the picture.
196
Okay, what about I like reading?
197
Say, before I go to sleep,
198
I enjoy reading history books.
199
You added a time and a specific detail.
200
That is really nice.
201
Simple words, but it tells a complete story.
202
Let's show how easy this is.
203
I really love hiking on weekends.
204
Oh, that is interesting.
205
I prefer to stay home and listen to podcasts on Sunday mornings.
206
Notice how easy that is?
207
I really love and I prefer.
208
You are sharing your personality without any big hard words.
209
So we have all four basic blocks.
210
Now let's review.
211
Part one is greeting and name.
212
Part two is location.
213
Part three is job or study.
214
And part four is hobbies.
215
Now it is time to build the complete house, the complete self-introduction.
216
Well, for that, what we're going to do is listen to a real life conversation
217
because there is no better way to practice than listening to a real conversation, right?
218
Right.
219
So let's listen to this conversation together.
220
Notice how they introduce themselves and how they use everything we learn today.
221
I work in a hospital as a nurse.
222
It is a busy job,
223
but I really like it because I get to help people.
224
That is wonderful.
225
Thank you.
226
And to relax on the weekends,
227
I love cooking big dinners for my friends.
228
I also really enjoy listening to podcasts.
229
How about you?
230
Tell me about yourself.
231
Well, I am Tom.
232
I was born in New York,
233
and I have lived here my whole life.
234
Oh, a true New Yorker.
235
Yes.
236
I work in technology.
237
I help build websites for small businesses.
238
I enjoy my work because every day is different.
239
That sounds very interesting.
240
What do you do for fun when you're not working?
241
In my free time, I enjoy playing tennis in the park with my brother.
242
And before I go to sleep,
243
I always read history books.
244
Tennis and history.
245
That is a great mix.
246
It is really nice to learn more about you, Tom.
247
You too, Sarah.
248
Now it is your turn.
249
Try to follow this conversation and make a self-introduction.
250
And how about you tell us about yourself in the comments?
251
This is good for practice,
252
but also for building a good learning English community.
253
That's right.
254
Thanks for listening.
255
If you find this video really helpful,
256
make sure you give it a thumbs up and share it with a friend to help.
257
And for more English listening and speaking practice,
258
easy conversation, and interesting topics,
259
subscribe to English in Comfort.
260
Keep practicing, keep improving, and take care, everyone.
Download App
AI scoring for every sentence you speak
TRENDING
Popular
About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will focus on a crucial skill for English learners: talking about yourself. This skill is essential in everyday situations, whether at job interviews, social gatherings, or casual encounters with new people. You'll discover a simple four-part framework to structure your self-introduction effectively. By practicing this skill, you will gain more confidence in English speaking practice and learn to communicate your identity succinctly and comfortably. With engaging conversations and relatable examples from the podcast, you'll be better prepared to handle the pressure of introducing yourself in English.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- First impression: The initial opinion someone forms about you, usually within a few seconds.
- Tell me about yourself: A common question that often causes anxiety, asking for a brief overview of your life or background.
- Childhood: The period of a person's life when they are a child, often an important aspect to include in introductions.
- Job: Your occupation or profession; relevant information to share, especially in professional contexts.
- Family: The people related to you by blood or marriage, often a significant part of personal introductions.
- Open question: A question that invites a detailed response rather than a simple yes or no answer.
- Comfortable place: A metaphor for creating a welcoming interaction during a conversation.
- Building a house: A metaphor used to illustrate how to construct your self-introduction in a coherent way.
Practice Tips
To effectively enhance your English speaking practice through this lesson, consider the following shadowing techniques:
- Listen actively: Focus on the tone and pace of the speakers in the podcast. Notice how they introduce themselves and react in conversation.
- Shadow speak: Repeat phrases immediately after hearing them. Try to match the speed and intonation of the speakers for an authentic experience.
- Practice in chunks: Break down your self-introduction into the four parts discussed in the lesson. This will help avoid overwhelming yourself and make it easier to remember.
- Record yourself: After shadowing, record your introduction. Listening to your recording will help you identify areas for improvement in pronunciation and flow.
- Engage your audience: While practicing with a partner or through self-introduction exercises, pay attention to their reactions to improve your conversational skills.
By incorporating these tips, you can effectively learn English with YouTube and enhance your communication skills, making the process both enjoyable and rewarding. Embrace the challenge of 'shadow speech' and watch your confidence soar as you master the art of self-introduction in English!
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.
☕ Buy us a coffee
ShadowingEnglish remains 100% free thanks to your support. Server and AI costs are high — your coffee keeps us going! 🙏