Shadowing Practice: Learn English - Asking About Occupations, What is your Job? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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English in 3 Minutes Welcome to EnglishClass101 .com's English in 3 Minutes, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn English.
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Hey everyone, I'm Alisha.
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In this series, we're going to learn some easy ways to ask and answer common questions in English.
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English.
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It's really useful, and it only takes three minutes.
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In this lesson, you're going to learn how to ask what someone's job is in natural English.
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Of course, you can just say, what is your job?
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This is correct English, but it sounds too direct and awkward.
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Native English speakers almost never say this in a social situation.
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Instead, they use a different question.
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But before we master that, we need to compare it to a very similar question.
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What are you doing?
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I'm presenting a video about English.
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What do you do?
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I'm an English teacher.
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Do you see the difference?
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These two questions, What are you doing? and What do you do? sound similar but mean different things.
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The first one is asking what you are doing right now, this minute.
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You answer it using an ing verb.
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What are you doing?
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I'm reading.
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I'm watching TV.
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While the second is actually a shortened version of what do you do for a living?
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This is how we ask, what is your job, in natural English.
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Let's practice this question.
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What do you do?
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What do you do?
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When native speakers of English ask this question, it can come out very fast and sound more like, What do you do?
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In order to tell it apart from, What are you doing?
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Just listen for the ing sound on the end of the question.
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If it's not there, then you're being asked what your job is.
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So, how would you answer this question?
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Just think of it as if the other person is asking you, What is your job?
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You could answer with, I am, plus your job.
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I'm a teacher.
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I'm a teacher.
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Or, I'm an engineer.
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If you want to learn more job names, go to EnglishClass101 .com and check out the core word lists.
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These cover job vocabulary and more, and include a picture and audio to help you perfect your pronunciation.
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You can also mention the place that you work at, starting with I work at.
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I work at a hospital.
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I work at a hospital.
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I work at a law firm.
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I work at a law firm.
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If you work for a big company that is well known, you can say, I work for, and then the name.
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I work for Microsoft.
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I work for Microsoft.
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I work for the New York Times.
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I work for the New York Times.
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Now it's time for Alicia's advice.
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When you ask the question, what do you do? and the other person tells you their job,
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it's polite to make some kind of positive comment about his or her job.
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For example, how interesting, or that must be exciting, or even, oh, really?
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Remember to sound sincere.
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Do you know how native English speakers ask each other what their hobbies are?
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Hint, we don't use the word hobbies.
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Find out next time in the third English in 3 minutes lesson.
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See you next time.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Learn English - Asking About Occupations, What is your Job?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: English, sound, learn, answer, speakers. This video has 59 sentences and 540 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:53. The speaker talks at a steady 139 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 17 of its 59 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
13 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| hobby noun | /ˈhɑ.bi/ | An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. |
| audio adjective | /ˈɔ.di.oʊ/ | Focused on audible sound, as opposed to sight. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| awkward adjective | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments. |
| hint noun | /hɪnt/ | A clue. |
| polite adjective | /pəˈlaɪt/ | Well-mannered, civilized. |
| sincere adjective | /sɪnˈsɪɹ/ | Genuine, honest, and free from pretense or deceit; heartfelt. |
| vocabulary noun | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning. |
| verb noun | /vɝb/ | A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being. |
| pronunciation noun | /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ | The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken. |
| excite verb | /ɪkˈsaɪt/ | To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement. |
| shorten verb | /ˈʃɔɹtn̩/ | To make shorter; to abbreviate. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Of course, you can just say, what is your job?
- What are you doing?
- What do you do?
- Do you see the difference?
- When you ask the question, what do you do?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | are you doing · I'm presenting · is asking |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | we're going to learn · you're going to learn |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 12 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, shorten /ˈʃɔɹtn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
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 lesson, hobby, audio.
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.