Shadowing Practice: Leicester City win the Premier League: BBC News Review - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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News Review from BBC Learning English.
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News Review from BBC Learning English.
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Hello and welcome to News Review,
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the programme where we give you the words and phrases you need to talk about the news.
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Hello, I'm Neil and joining me today is Finn.
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Hi there, Finn.
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Hi, Neil.
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What story have you got today?
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Let me give you a little hint.
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Today's story is about an English football team who have done very well, very unexpectedly.
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OK, well let's hear more about that from this BBC World Service News bulletin.
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Leicester City Football Club, whose entire squad cost less than a single player at some of its better-known rivals,
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have won the English Premier League.
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Leicester were 5,000 to 1 outsiders to win at the start of the season,
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meaning bookmakers considered it more likely that Elvis Presley would be found alive.
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So there we go.
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The story's not about Elvis Presley,
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it's about Leicester City Football Club.
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They're a team who've never won the Premier League.
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Last year they were almost relegated from the Premier League.
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Their team cost very little in comparison to other teams in that division,
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but they've won the league this year.
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So it's a really popular and interesting result.
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It's amazing, isn't it?
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And Finn, you've been looking at this story across the media.
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What are the words and phrases that are jumping out at you?
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OK, here we go.
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First one is fairy tale.
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And then we've got two very similar expressions,
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nuts and bonkers and finally a one-off.
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OK, so a little definition here.
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Fairy tale in this sense meaning unreal or incredible, unbelievable.
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We have nuts or bonkers,
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simply meaning crazy, uncontrolled, wild.
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And then we have this expression a one-off which is used to describe something which will only happen once.
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So, Finn, how are these words and expressions appearing appearing in the headlines?
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OK, I've got a few headlines for you here.
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Firstly, in the BBC Sport we have BBC Football Daily.
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Leicester City's Premier League fairy tale comes true.
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And a similar one, I'll take them together.
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In The Telegraph, Leicester City are champions after fairy tale season,
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achieving greatest sporting upset of all time.
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So, fairy tale, here we go.
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As Neil said, fairy tale in this sense describes something that's incredible or amazing.
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Yeah.
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But the original meaning of a fairy tale is something a little bit different, isn't it?
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Yeah.
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It's a story.
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Cinderella.
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Cinderella.
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Sleeping Beauty.
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
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These are fairy tales.
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These are stories that are.. they're stories for kids with a strong moral message,
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where good generally triumphs.
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It defeats evil at the end.
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We're not using it in quite the same way here, are we?
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It's a story where Leicester City were not expected to win,
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but you know what?
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Everyone wanted them to win.
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They did by the end,
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even people who couldn't care less about Leicester City.
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Apart from Spurs fans, who were their rivals perhaps.
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But yes, people in general were very,
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very excited about this and it has a fairytale ending
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because it's seen as something with a very happy ending that everybody wanted.
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And the right thing happened.
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The right ending, exactly.
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What's next?
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So, next up we have two related expressions.
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Firstly, in the Huffington Post,
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Leicester City win the Premiership, team go absolutely nuts.
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To go nuts.
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To go nuts.
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Nuts, of course, you eat them.
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Yep.
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Not here.
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Nuts here means crazy in the sense of being wild,
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uncontrolled, out of control.
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Yeah.
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It can sometimes mean angry,
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but it doesn't mean that here.
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No. If you go nuts,
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their team win the Premiership, they're very, very excited.
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They're probably celebrating very wildly.
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Uncontrolled joy.
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Absolutely.
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And another expression which means something very similar is bonkers.
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So in the last headline we had the team going nuts,
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this time in The Mirror,
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which is a newspaper in the UK.
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The city of Leicester goes utterly bonkers in support of Leicester City.
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So this is the whole city going bonkers, going crazy, going nuts.
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It's a good thing in this sense.
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They are very excited, they're not controlling their emotions.
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It's a very British expression.
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It is, isn't it?
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Bonkers.
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So Neil, I've never seen you go completely bonkers during a programme, which is good.
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I would tell you, if I was a Leicester City fan,
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I would be going absolutely bonkers right now.
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And that's it.
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We often use it with the verb go. To go.
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To go bonkers.
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To go nuts.
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To go crazy.
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There we are.
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Next we have a headline in The Independent.
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Gary Lineker interview.
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Gary Lineker is a famous English striker.
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Used to play for Leicester.
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Is from Leicester and used to play for Leicester and is a big Leicester fan.
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Leicester's season is bonkers.
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There's that bonkers again.
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But we're focusing on the next expression.
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It'll be a one-off, but who cares?
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So this is this expression, one-off.
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Something that happens only once,
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or very, very, very rarely.
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For example, Leicester City winning the Premier League.
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Exactly.
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So it's.. it's.. it's.. they might win it again,
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but it will be a one-off that they win it like this.
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Yeah.
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As for the first time against everyone's expectations.
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So how else might we hear this expression being used?
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Sometimes, you know, old rock bands who've been around for a long time,
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they go their separate ways and they come together again for a one-off.
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Yeah, a one-off concert.
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A one-off gig, a one-off concert.
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Do you remember that band that we used to be in, Finn?
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Well, we did have a bit of a BBC Learning English jam session, didn't we?
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One time, maybe for the fans,
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we could have a one-off reunion concert.
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Neil, I think that's a wonderful idea.
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Let's do it.
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A one-off gig.
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Just like Leicester City's win.
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Well, on that note, and talking about one-offs,
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let's listen to a report from the BBC's Dan Rowan.
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Manager Claudio Ranieri showed just what was possible,
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the likeable Italian maintaining composure and forging a skilful,
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resolute team that confounded those who expected its challenge to fade.
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But for all the talent,
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timing was also key, this a season when the biggest clubs faltered.
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Leicester City took full advantage,
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and sport will now wait to see whether the club's very first title was a one-off
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or a sign that the modern game isn't quite as predictable as previously thought.
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The BBC's Dan Rowan there, using that expression, one-off.
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Now it's time for our Facebook challenge,
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and we thought that this week we'd do something connected to the pronunciation of place names in England.
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Now, Leicester is one of those names that's difficult to know how to say because its spelling and pronunciation are very different.
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It's spelt L-E-I-C-E-S-T-E-R but pronounced Lester.
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Lester, yep.
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Which doesn't look like it should be.
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You don't think so, would you?
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Another one is Worcester, famous sauce,
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Worcestersauce, spelt very differently to how it sounds.
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Now, here's a challenge for our Facebook followers.
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We wanted to know how they think,
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or you think, this place name,
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which looks like it should be pronounced God-Manchester.
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How is it actually pronounced?
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So there's a name of a place,
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it looks like God-Manchester, but how is it pronounced?
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Is it A.
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God-Manchester, B.
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God-chester, or C.
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Gum-ster?
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Neil, I like this question.
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We had a great response on Facebook as always,
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and I think there's a clue in your question.
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It's probably not A.
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But we had a couple of people who said A.
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Chali Mala, I guess A.
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God Manchester, sadly, not right.
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B was Godchester.
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Himani Sharma said B.
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Godchester.
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Not right, though, is it?
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Sadly, not right either.
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But a few people got it right.
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Nasreen Ahmad said the correct answer is gumster, which it indeed is.
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Did you know this before Neil?
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I know this because I had to read that name out on the radio once and I got it wrong.
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Oh no!
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So you'll never forget.
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So yes, people listening to us,
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don't worry if you find it difficult to know the pronunciation of English place names because sometimes they're just completely bonkers.
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Well, I think whatever happens,
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many more people will know how to say Lester after this story around the world.
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Finn, can you just give us a quick summary of the language we've looked at in this programme?
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OK, so our first one was fairy tale,
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which means unreal or incredible when it's used as an adjective.
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Then we had nuts and bonkers.
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They kind of go together.
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They both mean crazy or wild or uncontrolled.
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And finally, a one-off, which is something that happens only once.
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Well, thank you for joining us.
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If you want help with your English,
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go to our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
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Just time now to say goodbye.
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Goodbye.
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Bye.
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News Review from BBC Learning English.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills by exploring a captivating news story about Leicester City Football Club's remarkable achievement in winning the English Premier League. You'll enhance your vocabulary with key phrases and expressions that describe unexpected success, such as "fairy tale", "nuts", and "one-off." By focusing on intonation and rhythm through shadowing, you will improve your spoken English and confidence while discussing current events.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Fairy tale - An incredible or unbelievable situation, often associated with magical stories.
- Nuts/Boners - Informal terms meaning crazy or wild; used to describe something outrageous.
- One-off - An event that happens only once and is unlikely to happen again.
- Outsider - Someone or something that is considered unlikely to succeed.
- Relegated - The act of being moved down to a lower division in sports.
- Surprising - Something that catches you off guard; unexpected.
- Champions - The team that wins a competition or league.
Practice Tips
To make the most of your english speaking practice, try using the shadowing technique with the provided video content. Here are some tips to optimize your practice:
- Listen carefully: Pay attention to the intonation and emotion in the speakers' voices. This will help you mimic their tone and improve your own expressive skills.
- Slow it down: If the video is too fast, use a shadowing app to adjust the playback speed. Begin by practicing with slower audio to understand the pronunciation better.
- Repeat phrases: Focus on short segments, repeating them multiple times until you're comfortable with the pronunciation and rhythm. This will enhance your fluency.
- Record yourself: Use a shadowing site to play back your recordings and evaluate your speaking clarity and pace compared to the original.
- Focus on context: As you practice, think about the context in which key phrases are used. This understanding will help you implement them naturally in your own conversations.
By utilizing these methods, you’ll find the shadowing technique effective for mastering not just vocabulary, but also the nuances of English communication.
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.
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