Shadowing Practice: Learn to Speak German Without Thinking | Shadowing German Speaking Practice - Learn English Speaking with Video

This video has 160 sentences and 1130 words to shadow. The speech runs for 19:18. The speaker talks slowly, about 59 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 16% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

• sage /seɪd͡ʒ/ (noun) — The plant Salvia officinalis and savory spice produced from it; also planted for ornamental purposes.
• distress /dɪˈstɹɛs/ (noun) — Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature.
• stool /stuːl/ (noun) — A seat for one person without a back or armrests.
• patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/ (noun) — The quality of being patient.
• thankful /ˈθæŋkfəl/ (adjective) — Showing appreciation or gratitude.
• bald /bɔːld/ (adjective) — Having little or no hair, fur, or feathers.
• abend /ˈæbɛnd/ (noun) — The abnormal termination of a program.
• ess /ˈɛs/ (noun) — The name of the Latin script letter S/s.
• mâche (noun) — Valerianella locusta, a small dicot annual plant of the family Caprifoliaceae often cultivated as a salad green or herb.
• hause /hɔːs/ (noun) — A col, a lower neck or ridge between two peaks: a mountain pass.
• dunkel /ˈdʌŋ.k(ə)l/ (noun) — A type of dark German lager, typically ranging in color from amber to dark reddish brown, and characterized by its smooth malty flavor.
• helles /ˈhɛl.əs/ (noun) — A type of lightly-hopped pale lager traditionally produced in southern Germany.
• schwar /ʃwɑː(ɹ)/ (noun) — A rhotacized schwa.
• bung /ˈbʌŋ/ (noun) — A stopper, alternative to a cork, often made of rubber, used to prevent fluid passing through the neck of a bottle, vat, a hole in a vessel etc.
• hallo /həˈləʊ/ (verb) — To shout, or to call with a loud voice.

Pronunciation to watch

• The “sh” and “zh” sounds: patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/, schwar /ʃwɑː(ɹ)/, verstehen /və(ɹ)ˈʃteɪ.ən/

How to practise with this video

1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like sage, distress, stool.