Shadowing Practice: I don't see any progress in English | Intermediate plateau - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hey guys, welcome to Lingua Marina.

Let's talk about intermediate plateau and why you stop learning English language.

This video has been sponsored by italki.

Now, let me show you a very important graph.

This basically shows what's going on with your English language skill over time.

So when you start learning English at the beginning, you're like, oh my God, there's so many exciting things.

So here, you're like, I'm excited.

And the progress is really trackable.

You just learned the alphabet.

You learned how to say, how are you?

And you're like, okay, the progress is happening.

Now, after that, you're like, okay, I've learned the basics, but I still don't speak English, really.

I try to watch movies, but I don't feel confident.

I don't feel like I've made it in English.

And here you're kind of stuck.

And this can continue for a long time.

For some people, they even do this.

Like they stop learning language, they lose some of the skills they've already acquired.

And this is like the worst.

Sometimes this happens because people double down on unnecessary things like learning more grammar,

taking more classes you say I want to give up

and here you burn out which is really bad

but then after you realize so after you watch this video and you realize you need to change your strategy

great thing happens and you become advanced

so in this video we're going to focus on the strategies

that are going to lead you to this advanced level and that would help you overcome this intermediate plateau.

If you're interested, continue watching carefully and write things down.

I'm sure that by the end of this video, you will learn at least one new thing that would help you progress with your language.

Let me give you some numbers.

You need to know 3 ,000 English words in order to understand 95 % of English texts.

But in reality, native speakers use and understand around 20 ,000 words.

So when you get to 3 ,000, it's enough and you're intermediate, but it takes a lot more effort to become advanced.

And at this stage, motivation is not that strong.

Because when you're just starting to learn a language, you learn 10 words and you're like,

wow, I've just learned 10 words from 0 to 10, amazing.

But when you already know 3000 words, learning additional 10 seems like not a big progress.

But again, everything here has to do with motivation, setting the right goals and taking the right action.

Let's talk about this.

The first method that's super helpful is called active learning.

Now, what happens when you're intermediate?

You're like, oh, I can start watching YouTube videos about investing in crypto.

or yeah i can start taking classes at a foreign university online

or you start reading a book

and you're like you understand kind of what's going on but

when somebody and like this is the best test try explaining someone what you just heard

if you're able to do that even in your language

that means you actually understood

because sometimes it happens to me especially like i'm not a native speaker

but sometimes i have to talk to lawyers

because i go through different deals and i talk to lawyers

and it seems like they use the vocabulary that i understand

but when i try to explain to my husband what just happened i feel stuck

and this happens because i don't really understand

and i have to go one level down and again

when it comes to lawyers in real life you can't really go one level down

but you are in a unique position when you're just learning language

so you can go one level down

so i want you to start consuming content on a level where you can take notes

and summarize whatever you just heard in a small text or in a small, I use notion all the time for whatever I'm learning.

So you can write a small notion about what you just heard.

So you're able to explain what you actually learned, not just be like, oh, I just read this book,

didn't really get it, whatever, but it sounds smart.

No, we don't do that.

We want to be on a level that is challenging

but at the same time we want to make sure we understand what's going on

and this is what i would love you to start practicing right away

when it comes to learning a language the best thing

you can do for your language is to take one -on -one classes just

because you're getting personalized feedback and because you're practicing in real time

and your brain is training everything speaking listening understanding information building sentences putting your thoughts into language.

If you don't know how to find a teacher for your class, I would recommend italki.

It's a global language learning community that connects students and teachers for affordable and flexible one -on -one language lessons.

There are more than 8 ,000 English teachers, and some of them are certified professional teachers who can help you prepare for language exams.

And they also have community teachers who might be native speakers or who might speak English as a second language,

but they would be the ones to coach you through your English journey.

And not only English, by the way, you can learn more than 150 languages and become fluent using italki.

With italki, there are no schedules, there is no commitment to pay a subscription fee.

You pay whenever you want to talk to someone.

You pay whenever you want to learn.

They also have their own language community where you can meet and share experiences with students from over 190 countries.

You can find a language partner to practice English for free

or ask a question and receive feedback from professional teachers and native speakers.

You can learn the language the way it works for you anytime from anywhere.

Please don't hesitate to register using a link down in the description box below.

italki offers discounts from time to time.

The link is in the description box.

Tip number two, start using authentic content.

When we're at this intermediate level, the majority of things you've read and heard before probably came from your textbook

or like a handout that you got in your English class, which is kind of great,

but it's curated by your teacher and it's probably curated by the authors of the book, so it is not authentic content.

Two downfalls here.

First of all, because it's not authentic it means

that they're usually using artificial language they don't use a lot of words

that you would hear in everyday lives second

you wouldn't understand all the jokes like insider gigs whatever like everybody's talking about squid game right

now your textbook was written a couple years ago

so they didn't know about squid game and you have to just

because it's the cultural thing right and

when your teacher gives you a handout they probably created it maybe like again a year ago two years ago

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so the content is not up to date and

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because the world is changing all the time i would recommend consuming content on your own

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that means going to youtube watching videos by mr beast watching videos by i know whoever

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you like in your niche or in entertainment in general

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but try to be up to date with whatever you consume

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and uh dive away from all the textbooks they are great

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but i want you to experience real life with your english okay let's listen to a video

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i made five years ago you have to note the topics

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that are common for teufel for example ancient caves in france i don't know about you

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but i hear this huge difference in my accent and i'm so grateful

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i actually documented my journey because if you asked me five years ago like

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if i wasn't a youtuber I would never record myself speaking English.

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But now it means a lot to just hear what I sounded like five years ago and be like, wow, that's amazing progress.

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Because tracking your progress week after week, yeah, but we like this huge difference.

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We like going from, you know, speaking no language at all to being proficient.

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So try to record yourself or at least measure some progress.

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If I were you, I would just start recording videos for TikTok, for whatever.

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I just feel that everybody should find an outlet where you spread information about your passions.

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It could be a written blog,

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it could be TikTok, but this is also a way for you to measure how much you've progressed in learning English.

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Okay, next.

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You need to answer this question honestly.

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What if I say in five minutes you're going to interact with a native speaker

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and you have to choose one of two things would you write them a text

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or would you speak to them make a choice start typing the comment I want to read your comments

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so number one again would you speak to a native speaker

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or what do you write to a native speaker number two

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do you want a native speaker to record an audio message for you

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or do you want them to write an answer write this down okay

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so whatever you've chosen if you chose

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that you want to write to a native speaker

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and you want to receive a written reply from a native speaker

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that means that this is something you're strong at there's a big chance

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that you prefer stronger skill

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and what i want you to focus on is your weaker skill

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so if you decided that you're going to write to a native speaker then i want you to focus on speaking

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And if you decided that you want to receive a written reply from a native speaker, I want you to focus on your listening.

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Because this means that you subconsciously realize that you're not that good at speaking and listening.

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And always when you learn something, focus on your weak areas.

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Because it's really easy to focus on whatever is going well.

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And that means you practice a skill which is already at a good level.

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And I want you to become better in general.

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Again, don't forget to mention in the comments below, what types of communication would you prefer?

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It's just interesting to see the overall dynamic here.

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The next tip, try new methods.

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The thing is, our brain likes novelty.

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So whenever we encounter words that we've learned before, but in new context, we remember them better.

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I also want you to avoid this shiny object thing syndrome.

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That means that you found this YouTube channel on YouTube and you saved it you bought this book to read later,

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you subscribe to Netflix to watch all the shows, but you don't really get to doing that,

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or you have all of these tabs open on your Google Chrome, but you never go through them.

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I want to make sure that you actually start doing something.

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Like my recommendation here would be watch

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Emma Chamberlain's vlog and let me know what you think.

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I think she's amazing.

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I think her English is really easy to understand.

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She has her own style.

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She speaks American English.

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The pace of speech is really slow and she talks about daily stuff

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so it's really really easy to consume really easy to follow take a recipe in english

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and try to make something

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so after this video i want you to experiment with one new thing in english whether it's a new youtuber

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that you watched maybe it's a new recipe

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that you tried whether that's a workout that you did

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while watching youtube there is this channel yoga with adrian

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and i do her yoga classes once a week and they're all in English.

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And one more tip, redefine your goals.

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And this is like something, let's dig deeper in yourself.

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What is your end goal with the English language?

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And you might say, Marina, I want to be advanced.

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But why do you want to be advanced?

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What is there?

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And you might say, oh, Marina, but I want to go to a university in the USA.

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Why do you want to go there?

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Let's focus on the feelings that you want to experience.

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Let me give you an example that would justify whatever i'm doing right now

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when i was a kid i wanted to be a singer

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i wanted to be like britney spears then i realized you know my voice is fine

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but not like that of britney spears

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and uh maybe i'm not the best performer in the world

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but then i started digging deeper

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and i realized what i actually want to do i want to be in front of people

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i want to talk to people i want audience

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and i want to talk about something i'm passionate about hello youtube i'm talking about a thing that I'm passionate about.

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So sometimes we're focused and we're obsessed with some goal that is just one of interpretations of what we really want.

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So I want it to be useful for other people.

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I want to be useful for a lot of people.

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And I thought singing was the means to an end, but in reality, there are many, many things I could do.

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And I found another one because I wouldn't be

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so successful thing maybe I would have been successful

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but I don't know but anyways

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so by asking yourself why why why all the time is

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it do you want to go to American University why do you want to go to an American University oh

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Marina but I want to get a job why do you want to get a job

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and in the end maybe you're like I just want to make enough money to buy a house for my parents

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there is another goal then getting to an American University is a lot of hassle

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but maybe right now you can take a course in English in something

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that you're passionate about and start working remotely for an American company

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and make enough money and buy a house for your parents

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and it's gonna happen faster reassess your goals maybe the end goal is to live by the ocean

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and work remotely but you don't need to go to the US for

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that like dig deeper dig deeper what is this feeling

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that you want to achieve

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if you want a lot of money why do you want this money whether it is to help your parents, whether it is to travel.

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Try to find the end goal and then reassess your goals with English.

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Thank you guys so much for watching this video up to the very end.

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I hope it was useful and I'm looking forward to reading your comments below this video.

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See you soon.

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Bye -bye.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “I don't see any progress in English”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: english, language, speaker, native, learning. This video has 208 sentences and 2511 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:39. The speaker talks at a natural 171 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% 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
intermediate adjective	/ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/	Being between two extremes, or in the middle of a range.
skill noun	/skɪl/	A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
consume verb	/kənˈsum/	To use up.
passionate adjective	/ˈpæʃənɪt/	Fired with intense feeling.
authentic adjective	/ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/	Of the same origin as claimed; genuine.
textbook noun	/ˈtɛkst.bʊk/	A coursebook, a formal manual of instruction in a specific subject, especially one for use in schools or colleges.
feedback noun	/ˈfiːdˌbæk/	Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results.
recipe noun	/ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/	Any set of instructions for preparing a mixture of ingredients.
motivation noun	/ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/	Willingness of action especially in behavior.
yoga noun	/ˈjoʊ.ɡə/	Any of several Hindu or Buddhist disciplines aimed at training the consciousness for a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquillity; especially a system…
notion noun	/ˈnoʊʃən/	Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.
remotely adverb	/ɹɪˈmoʊtli/	At a distance, far away.
spear noun	/spɪə̯(ɹ)/	A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion.
plateau noun	/plæˈtoʊ/	A largely level expanse of land at a high elevation; tableland.
topic noun	/ˈtɑpɪk/	A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
burn out verb	To destroy by fire.
give up verb	To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
look forward to verb	To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

You learned how to say, how are you?
Now, what happens when you're intermediate?
No, we don't do that.
Why do you want to go there?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if i wasn't a youtuber I would never · If I were you, I would just
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has been sponsored · I've learned · I've made
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	out which is · teachers who can · teachers who might
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	has been sponsored · is called · are certified

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 68 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, notion /ˈnoʊʃən/, passion /ˈpæʃən/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/
Long words — get the stress right: intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, affordable /əˈfɔɹ.də.bəl/

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 intermediate, skill, consume.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: I don't see any progress in English | Intermediate plateau - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?