Shadowing Practice: ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE Clips (2016) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 162 sentences and 691 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:03. The speaker talks slowly, about 76 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 71% 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| whoa | /woʊ/ | Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down. |
| pinch verb | /pɪnt͡ʃ/ | To squeeze a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt. |
| attract verb | /əˈtɹækt/ | To pull toward without touching. |
| visitor noun | /ˈvɪzɪtɚ/ | Someone who visits someone else; someone staying as a guest. |
| distress noun | /dɪˈstɹɛs/ | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| relative noun | /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv/ | Someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption; someone in the same family. |
| bone noun | /boʊn/ | A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates. |
| killer noun | /ˈkɪlɚ/ | One who or that which kills. |
| steal verb | /stiːl/ | To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it. |
| tale noun | /ˈteɪl/ | A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story. |
| butt noun | /bʌt/ | Body; self. |
| lonely adjective | /ˈloʊnli/ | Unhappy due to feeling isolated from contact with other people. |
| beneath | /bɪˈniːθ/ | Below. |
| handsome adjective | /ˈhæn.səm/ | Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive, particularly |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 34 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, can't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/, mash /mæʃ/, nauseous /ˈnɔʃəs/, squishy /ˈskwɪʃi/
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 whoa, pinch, attract.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have tried · have made · you've stolen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is attracted |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | i'm breaking · I'm winking · is crying |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | will you · I'll have · I'll catch |
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.






























