Shadowing Practice: Learn English by Shadow Practice with Palki Sharma | Modi’s India Is on the RightPath | Wide Version - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

192 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Namaskar and good evening to all of you.

We're debating India's path tonight, and I could wrap my argument in one sentence borrowed from the White House.

Go to New Delhi and see it for yourself.

But I've been given more time than that, so I will tell you what I see.

Earlier this week, I was on my way to the Delhi airport.

There was a lot of traffic.

At one point, the car stopped.

on the roadside I saw two vendors one was selling fruit

the other was selling coconut water what caught my attention was not what they were selling

but how they were selling it

both had a QR code prominently displayed

and every single customer walked up to them scanned this QR code

and paid for their purchase every single one of them For me, this is a picture of today's India.

It shows three developments, three of the many developments I shall list out tonight.

Number one is financial inclusion.

Both the vendors had a bank account linked to their mobile phone.

Number two is internet or mobile penetration, what we call digital India.

It was 15% nine years back.

It's 48% today.

And number three is the airport traffic.

It just keeps swelling, even though we are at the receiving end.

We see what it shows.

From 67 million nine years back to almost double now.

To me, these things signify the path that India is on.

The previous speakers have defined the motion well, but in case the evening drinks have kicked in, let me repeat.

this house believes Modi's India is on the right path.

And how do you determine if the path is right or wrong?

You look at numbers, data, surveys, reports.

I shall refer to all of these as I make my arguments.

But I also want to dwell on something that's more personal, more important, I think, yet unquantifiable.

I'm talking about the experience of living in today's India.

I have lived in many Indias.

The weary India where exciting policies and positions were abandoned.

Self-doubting India where decisions were taken based on global opinion.

And today a more confident India where the world comes for leadership and inspiration.

You cannot put a premium on that.

Indians are more prosperous at home and hence more confident abroad.

Let me also tell you what I saw at the airport here in London, at the immigration counter.

I saw Indians proudly flaunting their passport, none of the fidgeting or self-doubt of the last century.

And if I may add, the immigration officer almost looked impressed.

She was either a fan of India or just worried that she was holding up one of Rishi Sunak's relatives.

We are proud of what we share with the world.

Bollywood, Masala Chai, yoga, cricket.

India today is a soft power giant.

At the same time, India is not a timid democracy that tolerates terrorism or betrayals.

When Pakistani terrorists attacked Kashmir's Pulwama, India carried out surgical strikes on Balakot.

Today's India is not a pushover country, it's a world power, denied.

Today, invasions and colonialism are part of our history, not our identity.

We are shaped by years of subjugation, not defined by them.

We are excited about our global responsibilities, not wary of them.

This change in confidence comes from growth at home.

Which brings me to the numbers.

I'll start with India's welfare state system and how it has fared in the past decade.

110 million new gas connections, 470 million bank accounts, 220 million insurance beneficiaries.

And to be fair, the welfare concept is not new to India.

It's been there for a while.

What's new is the approach.

It's not just about putting more money in the pocket, it's about empowering people.

And the result, once again, the evidence shows in the numbers.

India's per capita income has gone from 86,000 rupees in 2014 to 172,000 rupees now.

It has doubled.

And a big reason for that is the falling inflation from more than 8% nine years back to less than 6% today.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is in the middle of a global cost of living crisis.

Foreign direct investment is at its highest level.

Foreign trade is at its highest level.

The growth mantra is connectivity.

And I don't have to tell the British that the first thing you did in your colonies was build roads and railways.

Our growth story has been about two Indias.

The urban India, the bustling urban India, and a sluggish rural India.

Today we are trying to connect the two.

We are building more than 38 kilometers of highway every day, which is 50 percent more than what it was seven years ago.

The number of airports has doubled since 2014.

The total capacity at seaports has doubled.

This connectivity is what is driving India forward.

You mentioned GST.

Our constitution calls India a union of all states, which is a great tribute to our diversity.

But it also meant 28 different state economies, different taxes, different trade practices.

this government tried to unify it to create a single Indian market.

It took time.

But the result is this today.

Tax collection is at its highest ever.

The number of taxpayers has doubled since 2017.

I have a lot of data I could go on, but you get the drift.

So now I'm going to talk about India's global position.

Because your path is also about your role in the world.

Are you a troublemaker or a consensus builder?

I think there is no doubt as to where India stands.

India is a member of the Quad and the SCO.

India is invited to the G7, but is also a member of the BRICS.

India rubs shoulders with the West, but also leads the global South.

Which other country can claim to juggle these roles?

And how does India do it?

Because we are not trying to play an outsized role in the world, we are trying to play the right role.

In the Russia-Ukraine war, India has not taken sides.

And I know it confuses a lot of people here, but back home the thinking is very clear.

It is not in our national interest to pick sides and make things worse.

India has excellent relations with Russia and the West, and we want to preserve that.

It's like when your two good friends fight.

100

Do you pick sides and make things worse?

101

Or do you try to talk sense to them and bridge the divide?

102

I know what a good friend would do.

103

I see what India is doing.

104

India has always been or always tried to be a part of the solution, not the problem.

105

Look at our neighborhood policy.

106

When Sri Lanka was sinking, India provided assistance worth $4 billion,

107

no strings attached, no grudges held for Colombo's proximity with China.

108

A lot of people say that India is losing control of South Asia.

109

I say South Asia was never India's to control.

110

New Delhi is building relations based on mutual respect and equality.

111

And the results show beyond government interactions.

112

Countries like Nepal and Bhutan are using India's online payment systems.

113

Students from the neighborhood come to India for training, grants and scholarships.

114

This government has aced what we call Buddhist diplomacy.

115

It is leveraging India's position as a cradle of Buddhism.

116

All these initiatives have made India popular.

117

The world stands with us against Chinese expansionism.

118

The global south looks up to us for leadership.

119

The global north looks up to us for partnership.

120

I think that's the hallmark of great diplomacy and statecraft when you're loved and respected in all quarters, more importantly, when you're trusted in all quarters.

121

India repaid that trust during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the world forgot about morals and globalization.

122

India sent 24 crore vaccines to 100 countries.

123

And you saw the result of that in Papua New Guinea.

124

When Prime Minister Modi landed there, their prime minister touched his feet.

125

This was not a personal gesture to a leader.

126

This was a vote of thanks to the entire country.

127

Let's talk about domestic affairs.

128

Kashmir was brought up.

129

This government abrogated Article 370.

130

Today, Kashmir's economy is doing much better.

131

1.8 crore tourists visited the valley in the last year.

132

That's the highest ever in Indian history, 1.8 crore.

133

Kashmir is getting its first-ever foreign direct investment and that too from a company in the UAE.

134

But Since this is Kashmir, let's not limit ourselves to finances.

135

Let's talk about security.

136

Terror attacks in the valley have almost halved in the last few years.

137

The numbers are staring in your face.

138

Security is better, economy is better, Kashmir is better.

139

Plus, we have corrected a historical wrong imposed on India.

140

Let me also address something else that was raised by the opposite side, and that is religious intolerance.

141

it's easy to quote anecdotal evidence and paint an entire country as intolerant

142

but random elements and sporadic incidents do not speak for india

143

or its leadership or its government only policies do

144

and i'll tell you about those policies more muslim students got scholarships in modi's first term than the previous government.

145

I'm talking about two million more Muslim students.

146

If the idea was to marginalize them, why give them more scholarships?

147

Look at the government's Hajj policy.

148

Prime Minister Modi held personal talks with the Saudi regime to increase India's Hajj quota.

149

In 2014, it was 136,000.

150

By 2019, it was more than 200,000.

151

Again, if the idea was to marginalize Muslims, Why increase the Hajj quota?

152

This government abolished triple talaq.

153

Would you call it reform or repression?

154

Let me also tell you what a Pew study found in 2021.

155

It runs counter to every argument that will be made here tonight.

156

It found that 89% of all Muslims and Christians in India say they are free to practice their religion.

157

I'll repeat, 89% of all surveyed Muslims and Christians, but no, let's build on perceptions and anecdotes, not on facts.

158

I would also point you to all the social schemes, the bank accounts, the gas connections, the insurance policies.

159

They're available to all citizens of all religions.

160

Does that mean India cannot do better?

161

Absolutely not.

162

Even one incident of marginalization is one too many, but how would you judge an entire country's path?

163

In fact, it struck me when I was invited for this event, why would Oxford University be interested in debating the path of Modi's India?

164

Because India has defied Western predictions.

165

It's the world's largest democracy charting its own course.

166

India today has shed the burden of trying to comply with Western constructs.

167

No amount of lecturing or virtue signaling is shaking India's confidence, and that is what unsettles critics.

168

There are hit-and-run experts who have no accountability who make pronouncements based on their political leanings to create an anti-India narrative.

169

GDP growth won't touch 5%.

170

There was corruption in the Rafale deal.

171

the government was snooping in opposition parties using Pegasus.

172

All of these make for juicy headlines.

173

And they make it look like everything is wrong in India.

174

But when a Supreme Court investigation finds no wrongdoing, when India's growth crosses 7%, who is questioning these experts?

175

And an 85% Hindu majority Karnataka votes out the BJP.

176

Is the West then lauding India's secular credentials?

177

You see, to judge a country's path, you have to be able to separate agenda-driven narrative from facts.

178

In conclusion, let me say this.

179

For any country in the world, there is always a wrong path.

180

Enough dictators and autocrats have shown us, but there is no single right path.

181

Britain has its own right path.

182

India has its own right path.

183

As long as democracy is respected, as long as the constitution is respected, I would say to each their own.

184

It is wrong to judge one country on the parameters of another.

185

And that has been the beauty of India since 2014.

186

We've uplifted 140 million people out of poverty.

187

We did so while conducting free and fair elections, dozens of them.

188

We did so while protesting, debating and dissenting.

189

And finally, I think the hallmark of a right direction is also public approval.

190

Do the people think you're on the right path?

191

The people of India answered that question in 2019.

192

Thank you.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

187 sentences

ENGLISH SPEECH | PALKI SHARMA: India's Right Path (English Subtitles)

IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students

6 sentences

Shadowing Practice: How to Speak English Without Fear 🌟 #Shorts #shadowingenglish

Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

160 sentences

EP 3: If India Had a Citizenship Test, Would You Pass It? | Bharat Bioscope with Palki Sharma

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

232 sentences

ENGLISH SPEECH | INDIRA GANDHI: Vision for the Future (English Subtitles)

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

517 sentences

Bill Gates on India, Billion-Dollar Business Opportunities, PM Modi & Children | FO335 Raj Shamani

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

241 sentences

Learn English with PODCASTS — Priyanka Chopra

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

220 sentences

India is Leading the World | Palki Sharma Upadhyay | Palki Sharma | VidyaDaan | WOX NEWS

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

208 sentences

What You'll Learn from This Video

This clip is perfect for english speaking practice and building real-world communication skills. You’ll master how to structure a persuasive argument with personal anecdotes—like the speaker’s story about street vendors—to make your points relatable. You’ll also learn to transition smoothly between concrete examples (QR codes, airport traffic) and abstract ideas (confidence, soft power), a key skill for clear, engaging speech. Plus, it’s great for shadow speech practice: the natural pace and conversational tone help you mimic real-life English flow.

Listen For These Sounds

Pay attention to connected speech and reductions that make the dialogue sound natural. For example, “what caught my attention” flows into “wha’caught my attention” with a reduced “t” sound. Notice how “I was on my way” links to “I wuz on my way” (the “as” in “was” softens to a “z” sound). Also, phrases like “every single one of them” have a relaxed rhythm—listen for how “of them” blends into “ov’em.” These small sounds are what make native speakers sound effortless, and practicing them will boost your fluency.

Say It Like a Native: Rhythm and Stress

To mirror the speaker’s style, focus on stress and intonation. She emphasizes key words like “QR code,” “financial inclusion,” and “confident” to highlight her message—copy this to make your speech impactful. The rhythm shifts from slow, reflective (when sharing personal stories) to energetic (when listing data or making bold claims). Try shadowing along with the video: pause, repeat, and match her pace. If you don’t have a shadowing app, just use the video’s playback speed—start slow, then speed up as you get comfortable. Remember, the goal is to sound natural, not perfect. With practice, you’ll nail the “shadowspeak” style that makes English sound alive!

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 given · have defined · have lived
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	I've been given · were abandoned · were taken
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	day, which is · states, which is

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 →