Shadowing Practice: Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity (Official Video) - Learn English Speaking with Video

The End

I can't see, I can't breathe, nor not where we'll be

And nothing's gonna change the way we live Cause we can always take but never give

And now the things are changing for the worse see Woah, it's a crazy world we're living in And I just can't see

that half of us immersed in sin Is all we have

to give this Future's made of virtual eternity Now always seem to gather about this love we have For useless,

twisting, I value technology Oh now there is no sound,

but we all have underground And I figure what a mess we're in, hard to know when to begin If I could sleep,

the secret times of earth the man has made And now every mother can choose a color A prayer child,

that's not nature's way Well that's what they said yesterday

There's nothing left to do with my brain I think it's time to find a new religion Oh,

it's so insane to fit this as another strain There's something in this future that we have to see So,

futures made of virtual insanity They always seem to Because of that this love we have For years that's twisting

Our new technology For now there is no sound But we are left by the ground

Nothing is no sound If we all live by the ground And now it's virtual insanity Forget to virtual reality Oh,

there's nothing so bad in a, yeah, so bad in a man Oh, yeah, I know, yeah

Future

made of virtual insanity The humanity has always seemed to be gathered by this love we have For you said,

twist me, I'm in new technology For now there is no sound, but we all live on that ground Oh,

yeah, it's nice that we're living, it's all so wrong You're out of the window, you know, that you're living,

there's nothing worse now A manly man, but still a manly person A foolish man,

but still a manly man But you are all insanity is one way of love Yeah,

it's alright Thank you.

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28 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: virtual, insanity, sound, manly, technology. This video has 23 sentences and 354 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:53. The speaker talks slowly, about 91 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 86% 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 12 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
virtual adjective	/ˈvɜɹt͡ʃuəl/	In effect or essence, rather than in fact or reality; also, imitated, simulated.
insanity noun	/ɪnˈsænɪti/	The state of being insane; madness.
manly adjective	/ˈmænli/	Having the characteristics of a man.
twist verb	/twɪst/	To turn the ends of something, usually thread, rope etc., in opposite directions, often using force.
gather verb	/ˈɡæðɚ/	To collect normally separate things.
immerse verb	/ɪˈmɜɹs/	To place within a fluid (generally a liquid, but also a gas).
eternity noun	/əˈtɜɹnəti/	Existence without end, infinite time.
foolish adjective	/ˈfuː.lɪʃ/	Lacking good sense or judgement as a general trait; unwise; stupid.
strain noun	/stɹeɪn/	A particular variety of a microbe, virus, or other organism, usually a taxonomically infraspecific one.
breathe verb	/bɹiːð/	To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
underground adjective	/ˌʌn.dəɹˈɡɹaʊnd/	Below the ground; below the surface of the Earth.
humanity noun	/hjuˈmænɪti/	Humankind; human beings as a group.

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	has made · has always seemed
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are left · be gathered
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	are changing · we're living

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as can't, we're, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, breathe /bɹiːð/
Long words — get the stress right: insanity /ɪnˈsænɪti/, eternity /əˈtɜɹnəti/, humanity /hjuˈmænɪti/

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 virtual, insanity, manly.

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 →

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