Shadowing Practice: Let’s Steal a New Moon - Learn English Speaking with Video

This video has 16 sentences and 216 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:09. The speaker talks fast, about 187 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 69% 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:

• tide /taɪd/ (noun) — The daily fluctuation in the level of the sea caused by the gravitational influence of the moon and the sun.
• dense /ˈdɛns/ (adjective) — Having relatively high density.
• methane /ˈmiːθeɪn/ (noun) — The simplest aliphatic hydrocarbon, CH₄, being a constituent of natural gas, and one of the most abundant greenhouse gases.
• stable /ˈsteɪ.bəl/ (noun) — A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.
• atmosphere /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/ (noun) — The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body.
• steal /stiːl/ (verb) — To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
• liquid /ˈlɪk.wɪd/ (noun) — A substance that is flowing, and keeping no shape, such as water; a substance of which the molecules, while not tending to separate from one another like those…
• explore /ɪkˈsploɹ/ (verb) — To examine or investigate something systematically.
• goodbye /ɡʊdˈbaɪ/ — Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing.
• interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/ (noun) — The situation or occurrence in which two or more things act upon one another to produce an effect; the effect resulting from such a situation or occurrence.
• breathe /bɹiːð/ (verb) — To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
• scientist /ˈsaɪəntəst/ (noun) — One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research…
• sadly /ˈsædli/ (adverb) — In a sad manner; sorrowfully.
• shine /ʃaɪn/ (verb) — To emit or reflect light so as to glow.
• pile /paɪl/ (noun) — A mass of things heaped together; a heap.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

• come from (verb) — To have as one's origin, birthplace or nationality.

Pronunciation to watch

• The “th” sounds: methane /ˈmiːθeɪn/, breathe /bɹiːð/
• The “sh” and “zh” sounds: interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, shine /ʃaɪn/, eruption /ɪˈɹʌpʃən/
• Long words — get the stress right: interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, spectacular /spɛkˈtæk.jə.lɚ/

How to practise with this video

1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like tide, dense, methane.