Shadowing Practice: Little Mix - Wasabi (Audio) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Little Mix - Wasabi”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: hate, baby, toffee, wasabi, sip. This video has 22 sentences and 381 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:32. The speaker talks at a natural 150 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. 5 of its 22 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 12 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| praise verb | /pɹeɪz/ | To give praise to; to commend, glorify, or worship. |
| shady adjective | /ˈʃeɪdi/ | Abounding in shades. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| ugly adjective | /ˈʌɡli/ | Displeasing to the eye; aesthetically unpleasing. |
| inspiration noun | /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/ | The drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm, as part of the act of breathing. |
| cloth noun | /klɒθ/ | A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes… |
| spit verb | /spɪt/ | To evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc. |
| salty adjective | /ˈsɔlti/ | Tasting of salt. |
| composition noun | /ˌkɑm.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/ | The act of putting together; assembly. |
| fold verb | /ˈfəʊld/ | To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself. |
| toffee noun | /ˈtɔfi/ | A type of chewy confectionery made by boiling sugar (or treacle, etc) with butter or milk, then cooling the mixture so that it becomes hard. |
| wasabi noun | /wəˈsɑːbi/ | A plant of the species Eutrema japonicum, cultivated for its edible root. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| break up verb | To break or separate into pieces. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| run through verb | To summarise briefly. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 11 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, ain't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shady /ˈʃeɪdi/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, composition /ˌkɑm.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/
- Long words — get the stress right: inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, composition /ˌkɑm.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/
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 praise, shady, topic.
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.