Shadowing Practice: Learn English with Simple Stories | Level 2 for Beginners - Learn English Speaking with Video
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163 sentences
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My name is Grace Miller.
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I am 59 years old, and I live in Tacoma, USA.
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I became a mother when I was just 22 years old.
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My husband left us when our son, Ethan, was only two.
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He never came back, and I never heard from him again.
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From that day, Ethan and I were alone.
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I worked two jobs to give my son a good life.
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During the day, I worked at a small grocery store.
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At night, I cleaned offices.
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Many nights, I came home with tired feet and sore hands, but when I saw Ethan sleeping peacefully, I forgot how tired I was.
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I never bought new clothes for myself.
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I never went on holidays.
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If I had a little extra money, I spent it on Ethan.
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When he wanted a bicycle, I saved for months.
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When he needed new shoes for school, I worked extra hours.
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I wanted him to have everything I never had.
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Ethan was a good boy.
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He often hugged me and said, Mom, when I grow up, I will take care of you.
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You will never have to work again.
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Those words became my biggest hope.
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Years passed.
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Ethan grew into a kind and hardworking young man.
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He finished college and got a good job at a company in Seattle.
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i was so proud of him
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when he was twenty -eight he married a woman named olivia she was beautiful smart
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and always dressed well at first she treated me kindly she called me mom and smiled whenever she visited
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After their wedding, Ethan asked me to move into their new house.
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Mom, why are you living alone?
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Come and stay with us, he said.
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I was happy.
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I thought my little family would finally be together again.
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Their house was in a quiet neighborhood in Tacoma.
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It had a beautiful garden, a large kitchen, and a warm living room.
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I helped Olivia with cooking and cleaning.
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I also took care of their dog whenever they were busy.
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For the first few months, everything was fine.
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But slowly, things began to change.
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Olivia started making small comments.
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Grace, could you please keep your things in your room?
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The living room looks crowded.
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Then she said, we usually eat dinner later.
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You don't have to wait for us.
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I did not mind these things.
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I told myself that every young couple needed their own space.
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But soon, Ethan also began to change.
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He stopped sitting with me in the evening.
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When I tried to talk to him, he often looked at his phone.
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Sometimes, I asked him about his work, but he gave short answers.
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One evening, I made his favorite chicken soup.
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I had learned the recipe from my mother, and Ethan used to love it when he was a child.
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I placed the bowl in front of him.
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Do you remember the soup?
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I asked with a smile.
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he took one spoon and said mom i'm not really hungry then he got up
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and went upstairs i stood in the kitchen looking at the untouched bowl
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i did not understand what i had done wrong a few weeks later something happened
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that i will never forget it was a sunday morning i was watering the flowers in the garden
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when olivia came outside grace can we talk for a minute she asked of course dear
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She looked uncomfortable.
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Ethan and I have been talking.
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We think we need more privacy.
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We want to start a family, and we need more space in the house.
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I smiled a little.
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That's wonderful.
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I would love to help when you have a baby.
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She looked down and said, I don't think you understand.
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We want you to find another place to live.
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I stopped watering the flowers.
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For a moment, I thought I had heard her wrong.
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What do you mean?
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I asked quietly.
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Just then, Ethan came out of the house.
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He looked at me but did not come closer.
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Mom, Olivia is right.
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We think it's better if you move out.
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You can find a small apartment nearby.
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We will help you with the rent for a few months.
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I looked at my son, the same boy I had carried when he was sick,
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The same boy whose school shoes I had cleaned when he was too young to do it himself.
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The same boy who once promised that I would never be alone.
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And now he was asking me to leave.
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Is this what you really want, Ethan?
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I asked.
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He looked away.
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Mom, please don't make this difficult.
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It's our house, and we need our own life.
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I felt tears in my eyes, but I did not cry in front of them.
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I simply said, all right.
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That night, I packed my clothes into two old suitcases.
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i took a few family pictures my favorite cooking pot
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and a small plant
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i had grown from a seed ethan did not help me
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pack olivia stayed in their bedroom the next morning ethan drove me to a small apartment near downtown tacoma
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Before I got out of the car, he handed me some money.
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Mom, this should help you for a while, he said.
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I looked at the money, then at him.
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I don't need you to pay me to leave, Ethan.
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I only wanted a place in your life.
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He had no answer.
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I got out of the car and closed the door.
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My new apartment was small, but it was clean.
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The first few nights were very difficult.
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The silence felt louder than anything I had ever heard.
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I missed cooking for someone.
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I missed hearing footsteps in the hallway.
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Most of all, I missed my son.
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But I slowly started building a new life.
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I joined a small community center where older people met every Wednesday.
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I made new friends.
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One woman named Helen became very close to me.
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She was funny, kind, and always knew how to make me smile.
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I also started helping at a local food center.
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Every Saturday, I cooked meals for people who could not afford them.
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For the first time in many years, I was doing something for myself.
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Six months passed.
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Ethan called sometimes, but our talks were short.
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Then, one cold evening, someone knocked on my apartment door.
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When I opened it, I saw Ethan standing outside.
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He looked tired.
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His eyes were red, and he was holding a small paper bag.
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Hi, Mom, he said.
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I stepped aside and let him come in.
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He sat on the sofa and looked around my little apartment.
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How are you?
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He asked.
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I'm doing well, I replied.
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He was quiet for a moment.
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Then he said, Olivia and I have been having problems.
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We argue a lot.
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I thought having more space would make us happier, but somehow, things became worse.
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I listened without saying anything.
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He looked at me and added, I also miss you, Mom.
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Those words hurt more than he knew.
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I wanted to hug him.
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I wanted to tell him that I had missed him every single day.
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But I also wanted him to understand something.
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Ethan, I said softly, I will always be your mother.
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You can visit me, call me, and share your problems with me,
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but I cannot keep waiting for a place in your home where I am not wanted.
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He lowered his head.
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I'm sorry, Mom.
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I reached for his hand.
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I forgive you, but love is not only about saying sorry.
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It is also about how we treat people when they are living with us.
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He nodded slowly.
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Before leaving, he asked, can I come again next Sunday?
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I smiled.
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Yes, but next Sunday, you are going to help me cook lunch.
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For the first time in many months, we both laughed.
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Ethan did visit the following Sunday.
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We cooked together, talked about his childhood, and shared a simple meal.
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Things did not become perfect in one day.
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He still had a lot to learn, and I still needed time to heal.
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But he began calling more often and visiting without being asked.
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Today, I still live in my little apartment in Tacoma, Washington, USA.
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I have my own friends, my own routine, and a peaceful life.
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I love my son, but I have learned that being a mother does not mean forgetting your own worth.
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Sometimes, the people we love most hurt us without understanding the pain they cause.
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And sometimes, the strongest thing we can do is walk away without losing our kindness.
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If this story touched your heart, please like this video, share it with your friends and family, and comment below.
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Do you think Ethan deserved another chance?
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And don't forget to subscribe to English 2
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Learn English with Simple Stories”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: ethan, looked, mom, olivia, apartment. This video has 163 sentences and 1474 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:16. The speaker talks at a natural 159 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| meal noun | /ˈmiːl/ | Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity. |
| flower noun | /ˈfloʊɚ/ | A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens… |
| shoe noun | /ˈʃu/ | A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of… |
| soup noun | /sup/ | Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food… |
| cloth noun | /klɒθ/ | A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes… |
| argue verb | /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ | To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply. |
| bedroom noun | /ˈbɛdˌɹum/ | A room in a house, apartment, hotel, or other dwelling where a bed is kept for sleeping. |
| silence noun | /ˈsaɪ̯ləns/ | The absence of any sound. |
| hungry adjective | /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
| downtown noun | /ˈdaʊ̯nˌtaʊ̯n/ | The main business part of a city or town, usually located at or near its center. |
| routine noun | /ɹuˈtin/ | A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. |
| privacy noun | /ˈpɹaɪ.və.si/ | The state of being secluded from the presence, sight, or knowledge of others. |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| tear verb | /tɛɹ/ | To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate. |
| forgive verb | /fɚˈɡɪv/ | To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
| look around verb | To inspect a building or area. |
| look away verb | To ignore something; to pretend not to have seen or noticed something; to avoid dealing with something. |
| look down verb | To lower one's eyes; to direct one's look downwards. |
| move out verb | To leave one's present location; to leave somewhere for another place. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Mom, why are you living alone?
- Grace, could you please keep your things in your room?
- You don't have to wait for us.
- Do you remember the soup?
- What do you mean?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | have been talking · have been having |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | started making · stopped sitting · stopped watering |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was watering · was asking · was doing |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | my biggest · the strongest |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 8 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 meal, flower, shoe.
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.