Shadowing Practice: Im Pregnant...And 700lbs 🫠 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Im Pregnant...And 700lbs 🫠”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: fat, weight, pounds, goal. This video has 187 sentences and 2174 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:34. The speaker talks at a natural 160 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| immobile noun | /ɪˈmoʊ.bəl/ | One who does not or cannot move (e.g. to travel or live elsewhere). |
| morbidly adverb | /ˈmɔrbɪdli/ | In a morbid manner, or to a morbid degree. |
| obese adjective | /oʊˈbis/ | Extremely overweight, especially: weighing more than 20% (for men) or 25% (for women) over their conventionally ideal weight determined by height and build… |
| vagina noun | /vəˈdʒaɪ.nə/ | A similar organ in some invertebrates and non-mammalian amniotes. |
| skinny adjective | /ˈskɪni/ | Thin, generally in a negative sense (as opposed to slim, which is thin in a positive sense). |
| belly noun | /ˈbɛli/ | The abdomen (especially a fat one). |
| strawberry noun | /ˈstɹɔˌbɛɹi/ | The sweet, usually red, edible accessory fruit of certain plants of the genus Fragaria. |
| burrito noun | /bəˈɹi.toʊ/ | A Mexican dish consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped around a filling of meat and/or beans, cheese etc. |
| funnel noun | /ˈfʌnəl/ | A utensil in the shape of an inverted hollow cone terminating in a narrow pipe, for channeling liquids or granular material; typically used when transferring… |
| miscarriage noun | /ˈmɪs.kæɹ.əd͡ʒ/ | A failure; a mistake or error. |
| scanner noun | /ˈskænə/ | One who scans. |
| calorie noun | /ˈkæləɹi/ | A non-SI unit of energy, equivalent to 4.184 kilojoules, that can raise the temperature of a kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. This is the unit normally… |
| handbag noun | /ˈhændˌbæɡ/ | A small bag used chiefly by women for carrying various small personal items, sometimes considered as a fashion accessory. |
| jiggly adjective | /ˈd͡ʒɪɡ.əˌli/ | That jiggles. |
| weigh verb | /weɪ/ | To determine the weight of an object. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hold up verb | To wait or delay. | |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. | |
| get over verb | To overcome. | |
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. | |
| look up verb | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | To have better prospects. |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How much do you guys weigh?
- Obviously, we can't do every position in the world.
- You had two miscarriages and now you pretend that it never happened?
- That I couldn't have asked for a better ending.
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 | i've been · i've only seen · have never touched |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were loved · been attracted · is determined |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 65 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: smoothly /ˈsmuːðli/, cloth /klɒθ/
- Long words — get the stress right: pepperoni /pɛpəˈɹoʊni/, practically /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.k(ə.)li/
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 immobile, morbidly, obese.
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.














