Shadowing Practice: Learn English With These Resources - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hey everybody, welcome to this listening practice video in which I speak at normal speed.
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So I hope you're all doing well today and that you're ready to practice your English listening comprehension.
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Today I'm going to talk about some resources that you can use to learn English.
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And not all these are revolutionary things or anything like that.
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You might already use these things, but I just kind of want to talk a little bit about what I do,
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how I use these resources and how they help me as a language learner
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and so this can be helpful for you as well because all you guys are learning English of course.
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It's gonna rain soon so I got to be quick.
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I hope it doesn't rain while I'm filming this video.
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I think the weather forecast said that it wasn't gonna rain for a couple hours
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or so but the sky looks pretty gray right now.
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So and before we start remember to check out my US Conversations podcast.
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If you want my conversations that I have with other people, usually other English teachers, it's great practice for your listening.
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So if you feel like you can already understand this content with the subtitles and everything like that,
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maybe it's time for you to practice with conversations between two people.
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That's the next step for you.
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So if you want that, you can click on the link down below and that'll take you to my U .S.
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Conversations podcast.
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Okay, so let me talk about some different content
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that you can use first of all let me mention
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that you should be thankful that for English there's a lot of content for intermediate learners
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and I'm sure a lot of you are at an intermediate
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level even content like this is kind of like intermediate a content
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that intermediate learners can use and that's great and I say that because I'm learning
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Greek right now and there is such little content for people learning Greek.
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You'd be amazed at how few resources there are for people that aren't just absolute beginners or whatever.
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So just be thankful because you have a lot of good intermediate level content like my podcast
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and a lot of other content that's out there.
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So be thankful for that.
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So let's talk about translators.
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Translators are a great tool when learning a language, I usually use a combination of Google Translate and Word Reference.
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These are the two that I like to use.
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There are other good ones as well.
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Deep L, I think, is another one people like.
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I think I used that briefly when I was writing, when I was translating the e -book,
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the mini short stories that I wrote.
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I think I used
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Deep L to help me with that.
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But nowadays, I mostly just use Google Translate and Word Reference.
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So the way that I do this is that I translate full sentences and phrases with Google Translate, but for individual words I like to use
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Word Reference because Word Reference gives you the different definitions,
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sorry, the different translations, the possible translations of that word for the different definitions of that word.
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So like the word write, for example, could have different definitions
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and it gives like translations of each of those different definitions
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so it's really really good but for full phrases
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and sentences I use Google Translate
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so the way I kind of do this combination is
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that I'll translate phrases or sentences let's say I'm writing in Greek
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and I need to translate something I'll use Google Translate
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but then if there's a word in that translation
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that I'm not quite sure about I'll corroborate I'll check
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that with word reference and I'll see you know what is the what are the different translations
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that word reference gives me for the word that I'm trying to translate
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and sometimes it'll be the exact word that Google Translate gave me
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and perfect no questions there but sometimes it gives me some other words
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and I have to kind of discern and see
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which of those words am I trying to say
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and the way I'll do this is I'll click on that
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that translation the different translations that word reference gives me
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and I'll see
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because then it will go it'll do the opposite like I'll click on the Greek word
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and then it will give me the English translations for that
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Greek word and I'll see if this is really the word
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that I was trying to use and sometimes I click on the Greek word
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and then it gives me like different words in English from the word
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that I was trying to translate
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and I go ah let me try one of those other words and so and then I try the next
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Greek translation and then I see oh yeah that's the one that I really wanted to say.
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So that's kind of how I use that combination.
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You can do that as well.
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It's really helpful.
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I think that these two tools are really good.
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They're very helpful for like when you want to write in a foreign language, speak a foreign language.
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I use them a lot when I'm writing.
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They're just really helpful.
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And then of course, like if I'm just listening to something, reading something, I don't understand a word, I can just type that into word reference,
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see what that word is or if it's a full phrase or sentence I can put that into Google Translate.
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So those are great resources that you can use.
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I'm sure some of you already use those resources.
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The next one, this is one I talk about a lot, Link.
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l -i -n -g -q this website I use this for reading it's a great website to use for reading
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because there's a lot of lessons already built in there
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but then you can import your own texts as well
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and for this I do want to note
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that you want the paid version the free the free version as far as I can remember it's not that
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robust it doesn't have as much of like what you need whereas the premium version is really really good
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and I use this I pay for it
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and it gives you like a lot of different lessons I think you also have done on the free version
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but you have a lot of different texts
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but really what's cool is you can import your own texts
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and you can click on the different words and the different words of
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that text once you click on them it'll show you the different translations of
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that word in your language and so instead of needing to search every single word
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that you don't know in another tab you can just click on the word
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and it gives you translations and you can save those those translations so this takes out a
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lot of the effort it takes away a lot of the effort
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that goes into reading in a foreign language
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because one of the hardest things is just reading
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and wanting to look up all the new words
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that you don't know but it takes
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so much time you have to keep closing the book opening up you know your phone
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or whatever to look for that word it just makes reading hard
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when it comes to reading in a foreign language
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but with this you can just click on the word right there
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and it gives you the translation in your language
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so I really like it I use it for reading there's also audio for like the the lessons
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that are already on the site on the website they also have the audio of the person talking
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so that's helpful as well and when you click on the word like a word
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that you don't know and you save the translation, it turns the word yellow.
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So the next time you see that word in a different text, it will also be yellow and it will remind you,
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oh you already clicked on this word, you needed to see the translation of this word.
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So that's kind of cool because it you can kind of keep track of words that you've already seen.
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New words will be in blue, that means that you haven't seen it on the website yet, and then words that you already know,
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like you've seen them and you didn't need to look them up, they're just like normal words so the color system is pretty helpful as well
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so I recommend
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that you try it it's a great way to read in another language in your case English I do this
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and if you haven't read in English or
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if you find it hard to read in English I think
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you should really I really think you should try this website the next one is Anki
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or Anki I don't know how people prefer to pronounce it.
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I use this flashcard app for French in particular.
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You can use other flashcard apps as well.
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And not everyone likes flashcards.
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So if you just hate flashcards, then you can just ignore this.
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But I think that there is a usefulness to flashcards.
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There are a lot of people that really benefit from flashcards.
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And I use Anki specifically for when I'm trying to fill in gaps in my speech.
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So I will often talk to myself in French and if there is something that I don't know how to say,
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I look it up and I say, okay that's how you say it and I'll save a flashcard with
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that exact phrase or sentence that I was trying to say.
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I don't usually save individual words.
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I'll save a full sentence or phrase that I myself was trying to say.
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This is more powerful, especially if it's your own sentence, your own phrase, because when I see
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that flash card I remember oh yeah I remember what I was talking about I was talking about this
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and I couldn't say this those connections those memories make it more likely
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that you're gonna remember what that word is it gives you
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that context and so I find it really helpful I review them once a day
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and it doesn't take me
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that long as long as I'm not adding a ton of new cards all the time
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but you can do it whenever when you're waiting in line for something when you're not
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engaged 100 % in something
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and you just have like a few minutes to like you know you're just waiting for something usually that's
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when using flashcards is really helpful you can fill in
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that those gaps where you're just not doing anything in your day
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and then you can you know learn a language learn English in your case
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so you don't need to necessarily use this one but I think
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that Anki is like maybe the most common one
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if I'm not mistaken and most popular one that people use
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and there are other ones as well but I find it really helpful
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and the way the system works is that it shows you the cards
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when around the time when you're gonna forget them probably
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so it has like this system this spaced repetition system we call it
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and it tries to show you the card at the optimal time
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So it's not just reviewing the same words every single day, right?
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It depends on when you saw it last.
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And so it's pretty helpful.
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Lastly, transcripts and subtitles.
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So I know that you're using subtitles right now because I have subtitles on this video.
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But I want to talk about this.
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Transcripts and subtitles are really, really useful.
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For example, like learning
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Greek, I use transcripts and subtitles of videos or podcast episodes
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and the way
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that I'll use them is I'll use repetition with different videos podcast episodes etc I'll watch the same thing
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or listen to the same thing many times sometimes like seven eight times even
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and I'll use the transcript to help me understand every single word
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that is being said right or the subtitles
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and I'll try to understand every single thing
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and then I can just listen again or watch again and try to understand everything without the transcript, without the subtitles eventually.
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That's something you can do, for example, with my podcast.
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Even if you feel like you can understand it pretty well, try to understand every single word of the episode.
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Use the transcript, see the few words that you missed, and then listen again, and then pay attention.
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And then when those words come up, you'll remember, oh, I know that word.
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I know word right that's really powerful for your brain
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that type of repetition and just seeing those things
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that you missed learning them listening again
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so this is great I use this as a language learner
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and that's why I decided to put subtitles on this video are on these videos in general
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because they really are helpful you don't have to look at them
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and a lot of people not a lot of people
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but some people they complain
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that ah you know I don't want the subtitles I just want to practice without the subtitles that's great
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if you want
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that just don't look just cover it with something
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it's not impossible to cover the subtitles I know people complain about this
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but I've done this okay I'm a language learner as well you can watch content
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and just cover the subtitles if you don't want them okay
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so use subtitles use transcripts
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and with this you want to use repetition I can't stress this enough repetition is extremely useful as a language learner.
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You know, listening to the same thing over and over again, you know, you don't have to listen ten times or whatever.
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Sometimes I do like to do that, but you don't have to do that.
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But listening a few times is just really helpful, especially when you have the transcript, when you have the subtitles.
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It really does help you learn words with less effort let's say you can internalize grammatical structures
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that you have heard in that podcast episode that video
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or whatever once you hear it five six seven times like you're gonna internalize a lot of
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that and even if you don't think
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that you're learning a lot of grammar explicitly
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because you're hearing these same phrases again again again
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and again it helps you just understand the grammar in those phrases intuitively like without really needing to explicitly learn
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that grammar structure and once you repeat something multiple times the next time you listen
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or you watch you can already predict what the person is gonna say you've already heard it many times
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and this is also really helpful
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because you can like say things along with the speaker you already know what they're gonna say
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and again this just helps you internalize things it helps you learn things
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so transcripts subtitles repetition all that is just really really good
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and like I said at the beginning be thankful
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that you have a lot of intermediate level content available for me
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or sorry there's a fly right here for me
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or other English teachers that you can use with transcripts subtitles
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so that you can do this type of repetition with content that's suitable for your level.
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Like this video right now, I'm speaking just fast at normal speed, but because there's the subtitles, because the subtitles are available,
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it's not the same thing as just listening to a native speaker in real life without subtitles, right?
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This kind of gives you that extra little help and brings it down to more of an intermediate level where me speaking,
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this is not like I'm speaking at a lower level, but because you have the resource of the subtitles,
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it makes it accessible and it makes it good practice for someone at an intermediate level.
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So this type of content is good for you
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if you're at an intermediate level and that's why I usually when people ask for B1 content,
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I usually just point them to native level resources that have subtitles or a transcript.
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Okay remember to check out my U .S.
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Conversations podcast.
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It'll be really helpful for you to start to get accustomed to listening to more than one person talking
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so that link is down below click on that
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if you want to check that out thank you all for watching this video
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and I'll talk to you in the next one
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Learn English With These Resources”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: word, subtitles, translation, helpful, content. This video has 224 sentences and 2797 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:13. The speaker talks fast, about 184 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| translation noun | /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/ | The conversion of text from one language to another. |
| helpful adjective | /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ | Furnishing help; giving aid; useful. |
| translate verb | /tɹænzˈleɪt/ | To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another. |
| transcript noun | /ˈtɹæn.skɹɪpt/ | Something which has been transcribed; a writing or composition consisting of the same words as the original; a written copy. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| intermediate adjective | /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/ | Being between two extremes, or in the middle of a range. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| resource noun | /ɹɪˈzɔːs/ | Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. |
| thankful adjective | /ˈθæŋkfəl/ | Showing appreciation or gratitude. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| audio adjective | /ˈɔ.di.oʊ/ | Focused on audible sound, as opposed to sight. |
| gap noun | /ɡæp/ | An opening in anything, made by breaking or parting. |
| complain verb | /kəmˈpleɪn/ | To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment. |
| import noun | /ˈɪm.pɔɹt/ | Something brought in from an exterior source, especially for sale or trade. |
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 up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| look up verb | /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ | To have better prospects. |
| open up verb | To open. | |
| take away verb | /ˌteɪk əˈweɪ/ | To remove something and put it in a different place. |
| take out verb | To remove. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- That's the next step for you.
- I use them a lot when I'm writing.
- I'm sure some of you already use those resources.
- I don't usually save individual words.
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 | have done · you've already seen · haven't seen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be amazed · being said |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 94 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: translation /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/, flash /flæʃ/, revolutionary /ˌɹɛvəˈluʃənɛɹi/, comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/, flashcard /ˈflæʃˌkɑɹd/
- Long words — get the stress right: intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, accessible /əkˈsɛs.ɪ.bəl/, revolutionary /ˌɹɛvəˈluʃənɛɹi/, repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/
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 translation, helpful, translate.
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.