Shadowing Practice: Lesson 24-1- Yesterday Was Amazing! - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello.

Yesterday was the most amazing day.

I want to tell my friend back home about it, so I am writing her a letter.

Dear Penelope, Life in Washington, D .C. is interesting.

I see something new every day, like yesterday.

Yesterday started like a usual work day.

I said, yesterday started like a usual work day.

I was at work, and I wanted a break.

So I walked and walked and walked and walked.

Then I saw something.

It was a festival, a big festival.

It's the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival.

Yes, it was the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Every year, the festival shows different cultures.

This year, one of the cultures was the Basque culture.

There was dancing and food and games.

I am dancing a traditional Basque dance.

At the festival, I danced a traditional Basque dance.

They are cooking traditional Basque food.

They cooked a lot of traditional Basque food.

They are playing a game.

It's a kind of handball.

What do they call it?

They call it pilota.

They played a game with their hands and a small ball.

It's a kind of handball but this game is called pilota this is beautiful this is traditional BASP art

they are making a traditional BASP ship this festival is a lot of fun the whole day was a lot of fun.

Who said that?

I want to write my friends and tell them about my day.

So I wanted to tell you about my day.

Please, my friend, come visit Washington, D .C soon.

There is a lot to do.

Until next time, Anna.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Lesson 24-1- Yesterday Was Amazing!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: festival, traditional, Basque, walked, yesterday. This video has 33 sentences and 267 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:31. The speaker talks slowly, about 106 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 79% 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

11 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
litter noun	/ˈlɪt.ɚ/	Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
handball noun		A ball held in, or thrown with, the hand, especially one used for one of the various games in later senses, below.
cook verb	/kʊk/	To prepare food for eating, typically by heating it, combining it with other ingredients, seasoning it, preparing it for serving, etc.
usual adjective	/ˈju.ʒuəl/	Most commonly occurring; typical.
festival noun	/ˈfɛstəvəl/	A feast or feast day.
traditional adjective	/tɹəˈdɪʃ.ə.nəl/	Of, relating to, or derived from tradition.
dance noun	/dæns/	A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.
yesterday noun	/ˈjɛstɹdeɪ/	The day immediately before today; one day ago.
ship noun	/ˈʃɪp/	A water-borne vessel generally larger than a boat.
dear adjective	/dɪɹ/	High in price; expensive.
hello	/hɛˈloʊ/	A greeting (salutation) said when meeting someone or acknowledging someone’s arrival or presence.

Pronunciation to watch

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: usual /ˈju.ʒuəl/, traditional /tɹəˈdɪʃ.ə.nəl/, ship /ˈʃɪp/

How to practise with this video

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

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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