Shadowing Practice: Let's Catch Up! | Real English Conversation About Friends (A2–B1) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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304 sentences
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Hello everyone and welcome back to Mr. English Channel, where learning English is easy and fun.
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I'm Emily.
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Hello Emily.
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Hi everyone.
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I'm Paul and I'm happy you're here.
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Emily, you said an old message had been following you around.
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It had.
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A friend sent me a photo from a place we used to visit.
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I smiled, started a reply, and somehow never sent it.
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Oh, the reply you finish in your head.
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You feel as if you've answered until you open the conversation and discover the other person never heard any of it.
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Exactly.
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Then one week became several months.
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I kept thinking, I need to write a proper message when I've got time.
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And the proper message probably kept getting longer.
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First, a quick hello would have been enough.
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Later, you felt you needed to explain an entire season.
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I did.
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So today we're talking about those friendships where you keep saying, we should catch up, but never actually make contact.
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That's a familiar sentence.
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You can say it with real warmth and still let it float around forever.
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Have you sent your friend anything yet?
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Yes, finally.
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But here's what surprised me.
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I kept imagining she was much angrier with me than I could possibly know.
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Because you hadn't asked her.
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You were having both sides of the conversation by yourself and her side apparently wasn't being very kind.
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No, I gave her some terrible lines.
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In real life, she'd sent me a picture of a little bakery.
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In my head, she was asking where I'd been all year.
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That's quite a change of tone for a bakery photo.
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What stopped you from simply saying the picture had made you think of her?
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I thought a short message would look careless after so much silence.
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I wanted her to know she mattered, so I kept waiting to write something better.
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I understand that.
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But waiting made the silence longer.
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Did you actually need a better message, or did you need one that would leave your phone?
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The second one.
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I wrote, I saw your bakery photo again today.
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It made me smile.
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I'm sorry I left your message unanswered.
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How have you been?
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That's warm and clear.
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You mentioned something real, took responsibility for not answering, and gave her a question she could respond to.
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What happened?
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She answered that evening.
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She said, I thought you'd been busy.
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The bakery still has those enormous cookies you like.
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That was her opening line.
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She'd remembered the important detail.
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You'd prepared for an argument, and she was ready to talk about cookies.
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Did that make it easier to answer?
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Much easier.
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We talked about ordinary things at first.
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I didn't have to explain every month before I was allowed to ask about her day.
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That's reassuring.
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Sometimes reconnecting sounds like a big emotional event, But the first step can be a photo, a question, or one very specific memory.
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Yes, and when we say catch up, we mean sharing news about what's happened since we last talked.
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Nobody has to remember every detail in order.
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Good, because I can tell you what I ate yesterday, but ask me what happened in April, and I'll probably describe a completely different year.
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You can start with what's on your mind now.
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My friend asked about my classes, and I asked whether she'd finished moving into her new apartment.
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So, knowing one piece of her life gave you somewhere to begin.
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What if you don't know anything about the person's life now?
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Then, keep the question open.
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How have you been?
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Works well.
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Or you could say, I'd love to hear what you've been up to.
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That's a useful phrase.
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What have you been up to?
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It asks what someone's been doing recently.
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It can sound relaxed between people who know each other.
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Exactly.
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You don't need to begin with the biggest life update.
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Someone might tell you they're learning to cook or trying to keep a plant alive.
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A friend asked about my old apartment, and I told him about a chair I still hadn't fixed.
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Was this a friend you'd lost touch with?
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I'm guessing a broken chair wasn't the exciting news you thought you needed before reaching out.
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It wasn't.
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He was my old roommate.
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Right.
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We'd gone from sharing a kitchen to sending birthday messages, then somehow even the birthday messages stopped.
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That change can be sad.
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When you see someone every day, you don't have to arrange little conversations.
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Moving away takes away all those easy moments.
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Right.
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I kept thinking I'd call when I had an interesting update.
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Meanwhile, he was probably eating dinner and doing laundry, just like I was.
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So neither of you needed an announcement.
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You needed a way to be part of each other's ordinary lives again.
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How did the chair come up?
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He sent a picture of a table he was building.
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I said, that looks great.
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I've still got the chair you promised to help me fix.
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That sounds friendly.
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Although after enough years, it might count as a very slow request for furniture support.
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Did he remember it?
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Immediately.
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He said he'd hoped I'd finally thrown it away.
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Then he asked if I was free for a short call, and we talked while I made dinner.
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I like that.
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You didn't need to clear a whole evening or make the call special enough to deserve its place on the calendar.
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No. Although turning we should talk into an actual call was still the important part.
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Good feelings alone hadn't made it happen before.
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That's the part I wanted to ask about.
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After my friend answered, I almost wrote, we should get coffee sometime.
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It sounded nice, but it didn't give us much to work with.
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So how did you make the invitation easier to answer without making it sound as
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if she now had another appointment she had to fit in?
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I gave her one small option.
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I said, would you like to get coffee on Saturday morning?
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I could meet you near your new place.
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That's much easier to picture than sometime.
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And choosing somewhere near her meant she didn't have to turn a quick coffee into a long trip.
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Right.
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She couldn't do Saturday, though.
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She was helping her sister that morning.
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For a second, I felt that old worry coming back.
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The one that says she doesn't really want to see me?
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A busy Saturday can quickly become a whole story about a friendship.
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Exactly.
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But she suggested Tuesday evening instead.
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I'd almost started feeling rejected before I'd even read the second half of her reply.
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I'm glad you kept reading.
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So an alternative time helped.
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What if she'd simply said she couldn't come without suggesting another day?
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I'd probably say, no problem.
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Would another day work better?
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Then I'd leave some room for her to answer.
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One invitation doesn't need ten follow -up messages.
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That's where it gets difficult for people.
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You're trying to be clear, but you don't want the invitation to start feeling like a request for proof that they care.
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Yes.
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I'd avoid, if you really wanted to see me, you'd find time.
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You might be missing something important about what their days actually look like.
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My old roommate's 34, and he's helping his dad with appointments while working full -time.
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Sometimes his free evening disappears before he gets home.
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That's a lot to carry.
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If you see only the unanswered message, you don't see the waiting room, the traffic, or the dinner he still needs to make.
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Exactly.
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He told me he sometimes reads a message, wants to answer properly, and falls asleep with his phone beside him.
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I recognized that immediately.
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Because you'd done something similar.
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That doesn't mean nobody ever gets hurt by silence, but knowing the situation can change how you understand it.
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It did for me.
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We stopped trying to arrange a long video call.
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A short phone call while he walked to his car was easier for both of us.
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That sounds realistic.
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A smaller plan can still be something you both want.
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You don't have to recreate your old routine.
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Right.
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And sometimes we just send a short voice message.
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I can tell him about my week, and he can listen when he's actually got a moment.
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Different friends may prefer different things.
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I like knowing whether someone wants a call before I call them.
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Otherwise, I worry I've interrupted something.
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So, you could ask, is now a good time for a quick call?
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If they say no, you haven't failed, you've learned something about their availability.
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Exactly.
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But the person receiving the invitation can help too.
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If you'd like to reconnect, say that even when the suggested time doesn't work.
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Could we show what that sounds like?
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I'll invite you, and you answer as a friend who'd like to meet but has a crowded week.
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Sure.
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Our example starts here.
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You've messaged after a long gap, and I'm glad to hear from you.
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What's your invitation?
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Hey, it's been a while.
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Would you like to grab coffee on Thursday after work?
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I'd love to hear how things are going.
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I'd love that, but Thursday's difficult for me.
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Could we try Sunday afternoon instead?
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I should have a little more time then.
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Sunday works.
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There's a cafe near the park.
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Would 2 o 'clock be good, or would you prefer later in the afternoon?
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2 works for me.
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And that's the end of our example.
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I turned down Thursday, but I made it clear I wasn't turning down the chance to see you.
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That gives the other person useful information.
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I'd love that, but can be a warm beginning, as long as the interest behind it is real.
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Yes.
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If you don't want to meet, you don't need to promise a date you'll keep avoiding.
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A kind answer should still be honest.
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That's fair.
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And if it's simply a difficult season, you could say, I'd like to see you.
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This month's hard, but could I message you next week?
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Then follow through if you offer that.
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Otherwise, I'll message you can become another version of we should catch up, which brings us back to waiting.
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A reminder helps me with that.
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Remembering to send a message doesn't make the friendship less real.
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I use reminders for things I care about all the time.
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I agree.
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And if these everyday conversations help you, subscribe to Mr. English Channel, and give the episode a like.
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We're glad to practice with you.
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You can leave a comment with a simple invitation, too.
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Try, would you like to, and add something you'd actually enjoy doing with a friend.
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It could be a walk, a short call, or a coffee after work.
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You don't need an expensive afternoon to have a real conversation.
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Speaking of the conversation, what happens when you finally meet?
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I've sometimes worried we'll sit down and discover we have nothing to say anymore.
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I worried about that with my friend, too.
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Our lives had changed, and I wondered whether we'd spend the whole evening talking about the past.
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Old stories are comfortable, but I wouldn't want to feel
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that the person only knew the version of me who used to live next door.
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Exactly.
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So I asked about something happening now.
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She'd mentioned her new apartment, and I asked what her mornings there were like.
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That's a lovely question.
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You can learn about someone's life without asking for their biggest success or their most important problem right away.
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Right.
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She told me about a neighbor's dog that waits by her door every morning.
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We'd barely sat down and I was already asking questions.
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A dog can be an excellent conversation starter.
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But did you also talk about the gap, or did the two of you leave that part alone?
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We talked about it briefly.
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I said, I'm glad we're doing this.
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I kept meaning to reply and then I felt awkward because so much time had passed.
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That's honest.
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You weren't pretending the silence never happened, but you weren't asking her to spend the whole evening making you feel better about it.
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Exactly.
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She said she'd missed talking too.
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Then she told me she'd nearly sent another message but wondered whether I wanted some space.
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So you were both waiting and each person thought the waiting might be the considerate thing to do.
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That's a difficult little circle to get out of.
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It was.
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Hearing her say she'd missed me helped, although I wished I'd reached out sooner.
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I couldn't get the months back, but we were together that evening.
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I like that you let the evening be enough.
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It's tempting to make a huge promise afterward, like, we'll never go this long without talking again.
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I nearly did, but I couldn't honestly promise our lives wouldn't get busy.
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I could say I'd enjoyed seeing her and suggest something small for next time.
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What did you suggest?
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Please tell me it wasn't a complicated friendship plan with six calendars and a meeting to discuss how the first meeting went.
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No, meetings about meetings.
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We said we'd take a short walk when she next came to my neighborhood.
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Then I texted the next morning to thank her for the coffee.
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That's nice.
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A little message afterwards shows the meeting mattered.
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It was really good to see you is simple, and people usually appreciate hearing it.
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They do.
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You could add something specific.
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I'm still laughing about that story you told me.
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It lets them know you were listening, not just filling time.
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And it gives the conversation somewhere to continue.
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My old roommate sent me a picture after our call to prove he'd actually finished building the table.
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Did he also ask for proof that you'd fixed your chair?
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Because I can imagine that becoming a very long -running conversation between you two.
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He did, and I sent a picture of the chair with a book holding up one side.
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He said he'd accept that as evidence that I still needed help.
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It's good to have a friend who knows the history.
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Those little shared details can make it easier to feel close again without a dramatic conversation.
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They can.
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But I want to make room for the person listening who has reached out and hasn't heard anything back.
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That can really hurt.
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It can.
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And I wouldn't tell them that one perfect sentence will guarantee an answer.
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You can make a thoughtful invitation, but the other person still chooses whether to respond.
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So, after one unanswered message, would you send another, or would you leave it there?
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I don't think there's one right answer for every friendship.
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I don't either.
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You might send one gentle follow -up later if that feels appropriate, but you don't need to keep writing to prove you're worth answering.
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That's important.
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You can care about someone and also notice when contact keeps leaving you upset.
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You're allowed to stop reaching out for a while.
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Yes, and reconnecting should be something you want, not a task you're completing because an old name makes you feel guilty every time you see it.
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Some friendships belong to a particular part of life.
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You can remember them warmly, even if you don't return to the same closeness you once had.
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Exactly.
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The friend you do meet may have changed too.
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Get curious about who they are now, instead of testing whether they remember every detail of your old routine.
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That feels generous.
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My roommate and I don't have the same evenings anymore, but I can still ask what he's cooking and how his dad's doing.
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And he can still laugh about your chair.
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You haven't recreated the old apartment.
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You've found a little place for the friendship in the lives you actually have.
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I think that's what made the call feel good.
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I didn't have to become the person with endless free evenings before I was allowed to talk to him.
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Right.
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Maybe someone listening is working long hours or caring for family.
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A short message can fit where a whole afternoon can't, if they want to send it.
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And if they're nervous about their English, the message can stay simple.
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This made me think of you.
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How have you been?
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Already opens a door.
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It does.
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Then the answer gives you something to respond to.
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You don't need to plan an entire conversation before you've even said hello.
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I might send my roommate a picture when I finally repair that chair.
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Although, if I wait for that, we could be back in this same situation next year.
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Maybe send the hello first.
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You can surprise him with the repaired chair later.
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I'm going to ask my friend how the morning visits from that dog are going.
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That dog's got a pretty good plan show up, look friendly, and see if there's breakfast.
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I can understand that.
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I thought you'd understand him.
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Thanks for spending this time with us, everyone.
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We hope you found a phrase that makes reaching out feel a little easier.
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Thanks for practicing with us.
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Whether you send a message today or simply think about what you'd like to say, take it one honest step at a time.
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Thanks for listening to Mr. English Channel.
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Keep practicing, take care of the people who matter to you, and we'll see you next time.
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Goodbye, everyone.
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Goodbye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Let's Catch Up!”. This video has 304 sentences and 2911 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:21. The speaker talks at a natural 178 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| friendship noun | /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/ | The condition of being friends. |
| invitation noun | /ɪnvɪˈteɪʃən/ | The act of inviting; solicitation; the requesting of a person's company. |
| silence noun | /ˈsaɪ̯ləns/ | The absence of any sound. |
| roommate noun | /ˈɹu(m)ˌmeɪt/ | A person with whom one shares a room, as in a dormitory, barracks, rooming house, or apartment. |
| bakery noun | /ˈbeɪ.kə.ɹi/ | A place in which bread (and often other baked goods such as cakes) is baked and/or sold. |
| afterwards adverb | /ˈæf.tɚ.wɚdz/ | At a later or succeeding time; after that; |
| ordinary adjective | /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/ | Having regular jurisdiction; now only used in certain phrases. |
| repair verb | /ˈɹiːpɛɚ/ | To restore to good working order, fix, or improve damaged condition; to mend; to remedy. |
| discover verb | /dɪˈskʌvə/ | To find or learn something for the first time. |
| routine noun | /ɹuˈtin/ | A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. |
| calendar noun | /ˈkæl.ən.də/ | Any system by which time is divided into days, weeks, months, and years. |
| goodbye | /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ | Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| sometime adverb | /ˈsʌmˌtaɪm/ | At an indefinite but stated time in the past or future. |
| reminder noun | /ɹɪˈmaɪndə(ɹ)/ | Someone or something that reminds. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| reach out verb | To extend one's hand(s) forward; to reach for something. |
| catch up verb | To pick up suddenly. |
| follow up verb | To take further actions remaining after an event; to continue, revisit, or persist; especially, to maintain communication or verify. |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. |
| turn down verb | To refuse, decline, or deny. |
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
| follow through verb | To execute or complete a commitment. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Have you sent your friend anything yet?
- What if you don't know anything about the person's life now?
- What have you been up to?
- Was this a friend you'd lost touch with?
- The one that says she doesn't really want to see me?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to visit · used to live |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've answered · Have you sent · have you been |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | one that would · people who know · friend who knows |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was allowed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 124 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'd, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thoughtful /ˈθɔːtfəl/, warmth /wɔɹmθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, invitation /ɪnvɪˈteɪʃən/, reassure /ˌɹi.əˈʃʊɹ/
- Long words — get the stress right: invitation /ɪnvɪˈteɪʃən/, ordinary /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/, complicated /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/, availability /əˌveɪ.ləˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, considerate /kənˈsɪdəɹət/
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 friendship, invitation, silence.
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.