Shadowing Practice: IMPROVE YOUR CROSS: 5 Stages - Learn English Speaking with Video

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The start of your Rubik's Cube solve is in some ways like the start of a track race.

If you mess up, you've kind of lost your flow and you kind of blew your shot.

I'm convinced that the first step of the Rubik's Cube, the cross, is in many ways like that.

So no matter where you are in your cubing journey, here are five stages to improve your cross.

Now a few things to keep in mind.

I'm not necessarily the fastest cuber out there.

I'm not...

I'm not Yi Heng Wang.

So just know that the tips I give in this video are subjective, but I do intend for these to help you out,

but hopefully they can be of good use to you.

Now there are five stages, and at the end of each stage, after I explain them, there will be an action step for you.

This action step is meant to test whether you have mastered this step.

If you pass, you can go on to the next stage.

If you don't pass, then kind of spend some time with

that particular stage and there's another requirement that you can consider taking if you want to move on to the next step.

Again like I said these are subjective so

if you want to follow the requirements you can

if you don't want to

and you just want to go to the next stage feel free this is your cubing journey

and so feel free to do whatever you want.

There's an underlying principle I want you guys to know just before we go into all of the stages

and that is when you're practicing these tips, feel free to use all the inspection you need.

I think that if you just take your time with inspection, it allows you to see some patterns

that you kind of wouldn't be able to see if you were limiting yourself in inspection.

So without further ado, let's get into the first stage of how to improve your cross.

So the first stage is solving your cross in eight moves or less blindfolded.

So this is coming from one of the greatest YouTubers out there, Jperm, who said that you can solve your cross in eight moves or less.

And so this step is mainly to do with efficiency.

You don't want to make any unnecessary moves.

You want to use as less moves as you can to solve the cube.

Now this step is intended for those who are maybe averaging around 20 seconds or above.

So for those who are struggling with getting eight moves or less, how can we actually improve?

So there are two tips I have for you guys.

One is to experiment.

When you experiment, you should look for some kind of shortcuts

that you should take to just lessen the moves that it takes to solve the cross.

And so there are some examples that you can take. For example, so here's one we have two cross pieces already solved

and we have this white and blue cross piece and also this orange and white over here which should go here.

And so instead of just putting in the blue cross piece first and then put the orange,

we can simply just do a U move first and then when we insert this one,

it makes this orange piece so much more easier to insert.

Insert now just so you know take the time to experiment it might take some time

It might take a few months, but it's important that you do get this down

It's kind of essential in order to advance to faster milestones

Especially if you want to get like sub 10 and all these things

It's like you have to nail this down

Another tip that I have in order to improve your cross efficiency getting eight moves or less is by watching walkthrough solves

If you look at the pros their crosses are efficient.

They do it, they can do it in less than eight moves unless they're doing something super fancy like an X cross

or something like that. And

so you can watch these pros see how they're able to

find these shortcuts to solve the cross in the least amount of moves possible.

But just keep in mind some of them can be advanced

and they might go above eight moves just to like do something fancy.

Now this stage also includes doing it blindfolded.

So it's one thing to keep it efficient in eight moves

or less but it's also important that you do it blindfolded I think that

if you're not able to do it blindfolded

it's kind of going to hinder how you move on to the next steps

if you can't do it blindfolded you might have a significant pause after your cross

that kind of makes your time slower and so

if you do it blindfolded it will kind of make it easier for you to look into the first pair

that you want to do and so

that could be of some good use for you guys so

and if you want to test how good you are at this one try do 10 blindfolded crosses

and if you get around eight correct out of 10 you can move on to the next one

if you fail then just spend some time with this stage trying to master

it making sure you can do it blindfolded in less than eight moves

and once you feel more competent I'd say maybe do

if you can get 25 out of 30 you can move on to the next stage.

This next stage is for those who are trying to beat the sub 15 barrier.

And this stage includes solving your cross in 8 moves or less in under 2 seconds.

And if you're in sub 12, I guess we can make it 2 milestones.

If you're sub 12, then I would recommend doing it in less than 1 .5 seconds.

Here, fluidity is key.

You don't want to do excessive amount of re -grips.

You don't want to do a lot of like awkward turns.

You kind of want it to be ideally one smooth motion with, of course, the least amount of lockups.

And so with these time limitations, it's kind of forcing you to be fluid.

You don't have time to do any awkward moves.

You don't have time for any lockups.

Me personally, I don't like to do an excessive amount of F moves

or B moves maybe they could be part of the solution

but not too much i do find them to be kind of awkward for me

and so maybe that could be helpful for you as well

and if you have

that kind of flow where you know you're not locking up

you don't have any awkward uh moves

then it could kind of help you with your flow state

it can help you transition to the next step a bit better

if you're locking up you might be mentally putting attention to stopping

that lock up which would hinder you moving on to the next step

which is the first f2l pair

you likely will have to kind of experiment with finger tricks

i think finger tricks are very important for this stage

so just take the time to experiment just like all the rest of the stages experiment experiment

you need to experiment walkthrough solves could also help some people

might actually show you how they do the finger tricks and

so take the time for this stage and hopefully it can help you out

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if you're trying to break sub 15 try get I'd say 8 out of 10 under 2 seconds

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if you're trying to get sub 12 trying to get 8 out of 10 under 1 .5 seconds

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if you fail either one try do those same things depending on

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which barrier you want to break

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I'd say also another 25 out of 30 solves before you can go to the next stage.

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So for the third stage of how to improve your cross,

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I'd recommend completing your cross blindfolded and knowing where the first two pieces of your first F2L pair are.

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You don't need to know the orientation of it, you just need to know where they are positioned in the cube.

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Some people might feel like in order to break sub 10, you have to be able to do cross plus one,

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which is doing your first pair and your cross blindfolded, but I don't think it's necessarily true.

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I, even to this day, I'm not 100 % in doing cross plus one, but I do think it is important that you're able to,

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at the very least, know where they are in the queue.

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Ideally, you don't want it to be like an awkward F2L pair.

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Make it so that one of the pieces of the F2L pair is on the top layer

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and the other one I guess doesn't really matter.

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The reason for this is

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because I don't want you to keep an eye on one where both pieces are on the bottom two layers.

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I think that's kind of an awkward F2L pair to solve.

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Ideally you want it to be an easy one and so at least having one piece in the top layer is perfect.

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Okay so here is an example.

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We have our cross pieces here, here, here, and here.

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And so basically what I'm going to do is track the location of one pair.

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And so I have two choices.

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I could do this one or this one.

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Let's just do this blue and red pair.

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And so here I could do the cross and then I think this piece,

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this edge piece is going to end up over here and this one should end up right here.

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And so let's put on my blindfold and let's do the cross.

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Here's my cross and then I think the corner piece is here and the edge piece is over here.

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Let's see and that is correct.

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So edge piece here, corner piece here.

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Like I said you don't need to know the specific orientation.

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Like this very much could be flipped where the white is on top.

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Doesn't really matter as long as you actually just know the location of it.

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That's good enough for this stage.

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Like I said I would also prefer that at least one piece is on the top layer up here.

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In this case, there's two, but if there was one over here like this, then I'd say that's good enough for this stage as well.

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The action step for this one is kind of just like the rest,

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8 out of 10, where you can guess the placement of the two F2L pieces after you do the cross blindfolded.

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If you can't do that, take some time, practice.

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If you think you've gotten better, try to do 25 out of 30 before you get to the next stage.

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so stage four i intend for those who are trying to beat the sub nine barrier

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this one involves doing cross plus one blindfolded now hopefully at this stage

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you're kind of looking at the pros seeing how they execute their cross how they do their cross plus one

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because i'd say most of the time the pros up

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there on rankings they can do a cross plus one maybe not 100 %

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actually yeah maybe 100 % so of course watch walkthrough solves

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but when you're watching these pros you might see some cool tricks

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that they're able to do and i'll name two of them first is obviously x cross

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which if you don't know what that is it's you know it's

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while you're solving the cross before you complete your cross

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you're able to solve the first pair consecutively as opposed to doing your cross

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and then doing the first f2l pair it's kind of genius

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and so take the time to kind of practice and experiment

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if you're trying to learn how to do x crosses let alone cross plus one experiment the second thing

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i want to mention is something that's slight but is actually very helpful

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if you want to beat the sub 9 or even sub 8 barrier

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and that is to kind of mess with wide u moves.

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Sometimes you're going to be able to plan a pair in inspection but it kind of might require you to rotate.

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In order to avoid this you can implement wide u moves.

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So here is just one of the easiest examples that I can give you.

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So let's say we have the blue

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and the red already aligned on the bottom

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and then we have the green piece here and then the orange piece

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and then we have this easy already paired f2l pair

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so we could do we could insert the rest of the cross pieces like this

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and then we could do a d uh then we would have to either do f moves

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or rotate and then insert this in the back but it would be even better if we use a wide u move

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So let's say we do F and then R' and instead of doing a D, we do a wide U.

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And then we could easily insert this into the back without having to do any kind of rotation.

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Now, this might not help 100 % of the time, but it can definitely be helpful for some solves.

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So that's one thing.

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Another thing, very related.

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But assuming you solve your cross on white, don't always limit yourself to placing the cube so

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that the white face is on the bottom and the yellow face is on the top.

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Sometimes this can actually hinder the finger tricks that you do to solve your cross.

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Sometimes if you kind of change the placement of the cube before you're solved, it can actually make the finger tricks more fluid.

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Here's an example.

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Here is another example.

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And so let's say we have the cross pieces here, here, here, and here and so what we could do is put the orange like this

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and then we could put the red first

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and then we could move this aside put the green

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and then align the cross

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but I would place the cube in a certain position before I start to solve

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so I would probably hold it like this with the white facing in front of me

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and yellow actually in the back so that

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when I pick it up I could go straight to like this in all one motion easy finger tricks

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and I think doing things like that can be pretty helpful so

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if you're trying to beat the sub 9 barrier consider

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this tip I'd say the action step for this one is actually doing 10 out of 10

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I think it's important that you nail this down

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if you're trying to beat sub 9 I think you're probably trying to be as fast as you can

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and so I would recommend getting 10 out of 10 before going to the next one.

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If you fail, then I would say, I might even say 28 out of 30 with the cross plus one blindfolded.

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So stage five is intended for those who are trying to beat sub eight.

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This stage consists of doing cross plus one in less than 2 .5 seconds.

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Now I'm not sub 8.

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I'm fairly close but I do think

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that this stage in the cross is kind of crucial if you want to beat the sub 8 barrier.

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This kind of encapsulates all the previous stages of this video.

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It involves doing your cross plus one as fluid as you can

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and of course that includes making the finger tricks good

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and being able to do the whole thing blindfolded so

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that you can go to the to the next f2l pair as easily as possible i know in my solves

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Sure, I can sometimes be able to do X crosses and cross plus one, but there's one thing that can be really bad for your solve,

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and that is not having a fluid cross.

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If you don't master these finger tricks, if you lock up often, you could be adding some significant time to your solves.

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And so in this step, you want to make it as fluid as possible.

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And that's why I say that you should do it in less than 1 .8 seconds.

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You don't have time to lock up.

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You don't have time to do some awkward finger tricks.

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Finger tricks is kind of a nitpicky thing that is especially required for those who want to become top -level speed cubers.

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This involves trying to Be as comfortable with your cube as possible.

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You want a reliable cube.

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You don't want to lock up

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You have to be able to trust in your own fingers when you're doing the cross and so this takes mastery

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It takes time

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So experiment, watch walkthrough solves, and this could potentially help you with your solves.

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Not only with like a sub 8 barrier, but even breaking even faster barriers too.

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Of course, there's no step 6, and so I'd say get as close to 100%.

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This, in some ways, is my goal to beat the sub 8 barrier.

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If you're trying to beat 7 .5, consider lowering the time limit, maybe less than 2 .2 seconds or even 2 seconds.

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And of course, the lower amount of seconds you want yourselves to be, consider lowering the time limit.

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And so those are my tips for how to improve your cross.

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No matter where you are in your cubing journey, I hope that some of these can be helpful for you.

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I've also included a PDF kind of summarizing the stages and the actions you should take before advancing to the next stage.

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And so if you enjoyed this video please consider liking and subscribing

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and leave a comment on what other tips

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you would like me to give you in order to improve your Rubik's Cube solves.

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I'm Cat LeCuber, thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video.

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Bye!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “IMPROVE YOUR CROSS: 5 Stages”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cross, stage, solve, piece, sub. This video has 230 sentences and 3021 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:07. The speaker talks at a natural 176 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
solve verb	/sɒlv/	To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out.
cube noun	/kjub/	A regular polyhedron having six identical square faces.
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
trick noun	/ˈtɹɪk/	Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle.
experiment noun	/ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/	A test under controlled conditions made to either demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of…
barrier noun	/ˈbæɹi.ə/	A structure that bars passage.
awkward adjective	/ˈɔk.wɚd/	Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments.
insert verb	/ɪnˈsɝt/	To put in between or into.
helpful adjective	/ˈhɛlp.fl̩/	Furnishing help; giving aid; useful.
fluid noun	/ˈflu.ɪd/	Any substance which can flow with relative ease, tends to assume the shape of its container, and obeys Bernoulli's principle; a liquid, gas or plasma.
layer noun	/ˈleɪ̯ɚ/	A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
inspection noun	/ɪnˈspɛkʃən/	The act of examining something, often closely.
intend verb	/ɪnˈtɛnd/	To fix the mind upon (something, or something to be accomplished); be intent upon
involve verb	/ɪnˈvɑlv/	To have (something) as a component or a related part; to comprise, to include.
ideally adverb	/aɪˈdi.ə.li/	In an ideal way; perfectly.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
lock up verb	/ˌlɒk ˈʌp/	To imprison or incarcerate (someone).
get out of verb		To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
do out of verb		To use unfair means to deprive (someone) of (something).
end up verb		To bring to a conclusion.
get around verb		To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path.
mess up verb		To make a mess of; to untidy, disorder, soil, or muss.

Sentences worth repeating

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

I'm not necessarily the fastest cuber out there.
You don't want to make any unnecessary moves.
You don't have time to do any awkward moves.
You don't have time for any lockups.
Let's just do this blue and red pair.

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 you do it blindfolded it will kind · If you're sub 12, then I would recommend · If you fail, then I would say
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is meant · is intended · are positioned
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	those who are · those who want
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have mastered · you've gotten · I've also included

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 71 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: smooth /smuːð/, walkthrough /ˈwɔːk.θɹuː/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: inspection /ɪnˈspɛkʃən/, efficient /ɪˈfɪʃənt/, efficiency /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/, transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/
Long words — get the stress right: experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, ideally /aɪˈdi.ə.li/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, efficiency /ɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/

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 solve, cube, finger.

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: IMPROVE YOUR CROSS: 5 Stages - Learn English Speaking with Video

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