Shadowing Practice: Kendrick Lamar - i (Official Video) - Learn English Speaking with Video

I'm going to go to the next video.

We talking about peace!

A peace of yours, a peace of mine.

A peace of mind, one nation, under a groove.

This is a world premiere.

I done been through a whole life.

Trial, tribulation, but I know God.

Satan wanna put me in a bow tie Pray that the holy water don't go dry, yeah yeah

As I look around me So many motherfuckers wanna down me But an amigo never drown me

In front of a dirty double river they found me And I love myself

The world is a ghetto with big guns

and big size I love myself

But they can do what they want whenever they want I don't mind I love myself

You said I gotta get up like this world is suicide I love myself One day at a time

I'm gonna shine Everybody looking at you crazy What you gonna do?

Lift up your head and keep moving Or let the paranoia haunt you The fashion police, I wear my heart On my sleeve, let the runway start You know the miserable,

do love company What do you want from me and my scars?

Everybody lack confidence, everybody lack confidence How many times my potential was anonymous?

How many times the city making me promises?

So I promise this I love myself, the world is a ghetto Big guns and bitches, I love myself But they can do what they want Whenever they want,

I don't mind I love myself, you sure I gotta give up I should live the suicide One day and a die, don't go shat.

They wanna say it's a war outside and a bomb

and a street and a gun and a hood

and a mob of police and a rock on a corner

and a line full of fiend and a bottle full of lean and a model on a ski gap.

These days of frustration keep y'all on tuck and rotation.

I duck these cold faces, post a fee, five, four, four, basis Dreams and realities, peace Blow steam in the face of the beast The sky can fall down, the wind can cry now The strong in me,

I still smile

The world don't get open cause the dick inside I love myself

But they can do what they want whenever they want I don't mind

You say I gotta get up like this one for suicide I love myself One day in time, struggle shot Shut up!

Walk my bad feet, walk my bad feet Down, down, valley deep, down, down,

valley deep I love myself 5-4-4-B-5-0-1 I love myself Heart under my heart I love myself The world is a ghetto,

get guns and get your signs I love myself

But they can do what they want whenever they want out

of my eyes I love myself You said I gotta get

up like this for the suicide I love myself Don't dig at a time I went the world last night

With a heart a medic weapon Don't nobody call a medic

I'ma do it till I get it right I went the world last night

I've been dealing with depression ever since I had a lesson

Ducking every other blessing I can never see the message I can never take the lead, I can never rub and weave From a negative elitant, I'm annihilating me And it's all that I'm moving at a media speed And I run into a building,

lay my body in the street Keep my money in the cell

and let my mama know I'm free Give my story to the children

and a lesson they can read

And I'll throw it to the feeling of the only unseen Seen a dog make a motherfuckers scream I love myself!

I lost my head, I must guess I'm afraid What the dead will say, oh, oh, the, the, the,

the jungle inside, yeah, my self again till the world runs dry.

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34 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Kendrick Lamar - i”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: peace, suicide, whenever, gun, ghetto. This video has 47 sentences and 672 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:03. The speaker talks at a natural 166 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
medick noun		Any of various European and North African herbs, of the genus Medicago, several of which are grown for fodder etc.
annihilate verb	/əˈnaɪ.ə.leɪt/	To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.
paranoia noun	/ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/	Extreme, irrational distrust of others.
tribulation noun	/ˌtɹɪbjəˈleɪ̯ʃən/	Any adversity; a trying period or event.
weave verb	/wiːv/	To form something by passing lengths or strands of material over and under one another.
haunt verb	/hɔnt/	To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).
tuck verb	/tʌk/	To pull or gather up (an item of fabric).
unseen adjective	/ʌnˈsiːn/	Not seen or discovered; invisible.
drown verb	/dɹaʊn/	To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
groove noun	/ɡɹuv/	A long, narrow channel or depression; e.g., such a slot cut into a hard material to provide a location for an engineering component, a tire groove, or a…
scar noun	/skɑɹ/	A permanent mark on the skin, sometimes caused by the healing of a wound.
runway noun	/ˈɹʌnweɪ/	A defined, narrow section of land or an artificial structure used for access.
sleeve noun	/sliv/	The part of a garment that covers the arm.
frustration noun	/fɹʌsˈtɹeɪ.ʃən/	The feeling of annoyance at impossibility from resistance or inability to achieve something.
blessing noun	/ˈblɛs.ɪŋ/	Some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
get up verb		To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb.
fall down verb	/fɔl ˈdaʊn/	To fall to the ground. To collapse.
give up verb		To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
lift up verb		To elevate to a higher position.
look around verb		To inspect a building or area.
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)…

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 25 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, gotta. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: tribulation /ˌtɹɪbjəˈleɪ̯ʃən/, frustration /fɹʌsˈtɹeɪ.ʃən/, rotation /ɹoʊˈteɪʃən/, shine /ʃaɪn/
Long words — get the stress right: annihilate /əˈnaɪ.ə.leɪt/, paranoia /ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/, tribulation /ˌtɹɪbjəˈleɪ̯ʃən/, miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, anonymous /əˈnɒn.ə.məs/

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 medick, annihilate, paranoia.

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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