Shadowing Practice: Learn the language of secrets πŸ€«πŸ€πŸ™Š Real Easy English - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hello and welcome to Real Easy English.
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Hello and welcome to Real Easy English.
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In this podcast we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn.
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I'm Beth.
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And I'm Georgie.
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You can find a video version of this podcast and a worksheet to help you learn all on our website bbclearningenglish.com.
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Hi Georgie.
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Hello, Beth.
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How is your week going?
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It's going well.
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It's quite a busy one, isn't it?
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It is.
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It's only Wednesday.
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Yeah.
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It feels like Friday.
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But today we're talking about secrets.
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Secrets.
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A secret is a piece of information that you don't tell other people.
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Beth, does that mean you're going to tell me all of your secrets?
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No. Not now.
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Maybe later.
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Ooh, okay.
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So Georgie, are you good at keeping secrets?
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No, I'm definitely not good at keeping secrets.
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I'm a bit of an open book,
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which means the opposite of someone who is good at keeping secrets.
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You're very honest and share things maybe too much.
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What about you?
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Okay.
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I am probably the same as you um i think i'm not good at keeping secrets
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but if it's a really important secret and i've been told please don't tell anyone then i won't tell anyone
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yes so beth um what is the biggest secret you've had to keep
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oh um I flew abroad to surprise my boyfriend at the time his dad um
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and we had to keep it a secret
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and we even called him in the morning on a video call
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and pretended we were at home
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and we were actually in a different country oh my gosh
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so that was a big secret
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so it went well was he surprised he was very surprised we were very pleased
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that we kept it a secret we did well well done
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well done um i've had to keep a big secret um last year my friend told me
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that she was going to propose to her girlfriend
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but she told me i had to keep it a secret
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and it's really it was really difficult because we have a group of friends
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and i really wanted to tell them but i couldn't
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and I managed to keep it a secret so I was very proud of myself.
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That's good, well done.
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That reminds me, I had a big secret too.
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My friend told me, don't tell anyone and don't tell your mum.
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And I told my mum by accident.
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Oh, no. Can you reveal the secret to us?
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Oh, yeah.
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She was pregnant.
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She's now had the baby.
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Okay.
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But she said, yeah, I'm pregnant, but it's really early.
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So please don't tell anyone.
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Don't even tell your mum.
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And then I spoke to my mum a few weeks later and said,
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you don't know, she's pregnant.
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And then I realised, oh no,
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I wasn't supposed to tell you.
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Oh, but that was kind of an accident.
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Oh, it was definitely an accident.
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Yeah.
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I felt really bad.
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Oh, well, now she's had the baby.
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It's all good.
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It's not a surprise anymore.
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Sorry.
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Beth, do you think secrets are a good or a bad thing?
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I think it really depends on the secret there are good secrets like proposing
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or having a baby and then I guess a bad secret really is a lie
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if you have to lie then that's not good yeah I
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agree it's uh it's not yeah it's not good to lie um
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and I think that's a reason why I'm not very good at keeping secrets because I'm a really bad liar.
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You can see it in my face
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if I'm holding in a secret yeah i think sometimes you can look at someone's face
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and know what they're thinking um i'm definitely like that
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if i'm annoyed or angry or something you can tell from my face well that's good
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because i'll always know that you're being honest and not keeping any secrets from me
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Let's recap the vocabulary we heard during the conversation.
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We had a secret, which is a piece of information that you can't tell other people.
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And we also have the phrase keep a secret,
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which means to not share that piece of information.
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If someone is an open book,
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they don't have secrets and they're honest about their life.
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And if you lie, you say something that's not true.
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It's usually seen as negative,
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but sometimes you have to lie if you want to keep a secret.
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And we call someone who lies a lot a liar.
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And that's it for this episode of Real Easy English.
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Test what you've learnt with the free worksheets on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
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We'll be back next week with another conversation in Easy English.
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Goodbye.
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Bye.
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you

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice speaking and comprehension skills through engaging conversations about secrets. Utilizing authentic dialogues, you'll learn how to convey personal experiences and opinions in a natural, conversational style. This lesson emphasizes the importance of fluency and emotional expression, providing you with the necessary tools to engage in discussions about private matters while enhancing your vocabulary. By participating actively, you will better prepare for the IELTS speaking practice and develop your confidence in spoken English.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Secret: A piece of information kept hidden from others.
  • Keep a secret: To maintain confidentiality about information shared.
  • Open book: Someone who is very open and shares everything.
  • Surprise: To astonish or shock someone, often in a positive way.
  • Accidentally: Doing something unintentionally or by mistake.
  • Video call: A conversation over the internet with both audio and visual communication.
  • Manage to: To succeed in doing something, often after difficulty or effort.
  • Proud of oneself: Feeling satisfaction and achievement in oneself.

Practice Tips

To maximize your learning from this session, consider using the shadowing technique during the exercises that follow. This method will help you improve your speaking fluency and pronunciation. Here are some tailored tips to get you started:

  • Listen actively: Pay close attention to the speakers' intonation and rhythm. This lesson features a relaxed pace, making it ideal for beginners.
  • Repeat after the speakers: Practice shadowspeak by mimicking the sentences immediately after you hear them. This builds your muscle memory and improves pronunciation.
  • Pause and replay: If a phrase feels challenging, pause the video and replay it. This will give you the chance to focus on each word and phrase accurately.
  • Record yourself: After practicing, record your voice and compare it to the original audio. This will help you identify areas for improvement.
  • Use a shadowing site: Seek out platforms that facilitate shadowing exercises tailored to various topics, including conversations about personal experiences and emotions.

Following these recommendations will not only aid in your understanding of the English language but also assist you in becoming a more confident speakerβ€”essential for the IELTS speaking practice and beyond.

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 β€” 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 β€” making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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