Shadowing Practice: I Went to WAR on a Hardcore Minecraft SMP - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “I Went to WAR on a Hardcore Minecraft SMP”. This video has 966 sentences and 6528 words to shadow. The speech runs for 55:47. The speaker talks at a steady 117 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 160 of its 966 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| flame noun | /fleɪm/ | The visible part of fire; a stream of burning vapour or gas, emitting light and heat. |
| armor noun | /ˈɑːɹ.mɚ/ | A protective layer over a body, vehicle, or other object intended to deflect or diffuse damaging forces. |
| cave noun | /keɪv/ | A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside. |
| sap noun | /sæp/ | The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition. |
| server noun | /ˈsɝvɚ/ | A program that provides services to other programs or devices, either in the same computer or over a computer network. |
| unstable adjective | /ʌnˈsteɪ.bəl/ | Not stable. |
| orbital adjective | /ɔɹ.bət.l̩/ | Of or relating to, or forming an orbit (such as the orbit of a moon, planet, or spacecraft). |
| buddy | /ˈbʌdi/ | A person far removed from the conversation. |
| warrior noun | /ˈwɔɹi.ɚ/ | A person who is actively engaged in battle, conflict or warfare; a soldier or combatant. |
| restart verb | /ˈɹiːˌstɑɹt/ | To start again. |
| lettuce noun | /ˈlɛt.ɪs/ | An edible plant, Lactuca sativa and its close relatives, having a head of green or purple leaves. |
| alliance noun | /əˈlaɪ.əns/ | The state of being allied. |
| civilization noun | /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/ | An organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political, or technical… |
| bore verb | /boɹ/ | To inspire boredom in somebody. |
| crest noun | /kɹɛst/ | The summit of a hill or mountain ridge. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| watch out | Used to warn someone of an imminent danger. | |
| shut up | /ʃʌt ʌp/ | Stop talking (usually in the form of making annoying, irrelevant, or false comments, during a period of peace and quiet, or when one is not allowed to talk)… |
| take out verb | To remove. | |
| blow up verb | To explode or be destroyed by explosion. | |
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. | |
| back up verb | To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so. | |
| get down verb | /ɡɛt ˈdaʊn/ | To bring or come down; to descend; to cause to bring or come down. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Prawn why don't you just fish outside?
- What's the plan you're using?
- I know you don't have slow fall right?
- You think you're my friend?
- You don't think we're friends?
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 Cindercrust gets past our defenses, I'd rather · If we fight now, we will die · If you land on the ground, you'd be |
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've just been chilling · I've been fishing |
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to do · used to be |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was crowned · was held · is allied |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 305 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: civilization /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, shield /ˈʃild/, renovation /ɹɛnəˈveɪʃən/, stash /stæʃ/, ash /ˈæʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: civilization /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, renovation /ɹɛnəˈveɪʃən/, apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, incredibly /ɪŋˈkɹɛdɪbli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like flame, armor, cave.
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.













