Shadowing Practice: Losing your mother tongue ⏲️ 6 Minute English - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
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Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
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I'm Sam.
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And I'm Rob.
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In this programme, we'll be hearing about an issue experienced by many child refugees who are forced to leave their home.
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The loss of their first native language,
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or mother tongue, as they start a new life learning to speak a new language in a new country.
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Julie Tadevi and her family left their home in what was then Czechoslovakia and is now the Czech Republic,
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during the Cold War when Julie was a small child.
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After several years travelling through Europe,
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they arrived in Canada as political refugees with no English.
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We'll be hearing about Julie's childhood when learning English started to replace her native language, Czech.
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And as usual, we'll be learning some new vocabulary as well.
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But first, I have a question, Rob.
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Julie's family left their home as political refugees,
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but every year millions of people are also displaced because of war,
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persecution, or the damaging effects of climate change.
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So, according to the United Nations,
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how many people around the world are currently living as displaced refugees? Is it A.
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3 million, B.
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53 million, or C.
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103 million?
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I'll guess it's 103 million.
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I'll reveal the answer later in the programme, Rob.
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Like many child refugees, Julie spoke only her mother tongue,
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Czech, at home with her brothers,
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sisters and parents who, in the beginning,
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spoke no English at all.
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Here she describes to Michael Rosen,
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presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme,
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Word of Mouth, going to an English-speaking school for the first time.
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So you went into school,
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not to start off with,
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really understanding what was going on, is that right?
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That's right, I just kind of interpreted things as best I could
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and my memory of that is that that was not particularly difficult or traumatic.
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I think by then I'd had the experience of being dunked into various unfamiliar languages numerous times
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and I had faith that it would sort itself out and that everything would be just fine and it was, of course.
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At school, Julie was dunked into unfamiliar situations,
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a bit like a biscuit being dunked into a cup of tea.
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Often, dunk means to dip something into a liquid,
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but here the meaning is that Julie was suddenly dropped into a new situation for a while,
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then taken out as her family travelled through Europe.
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By the time she arrived in Canada,
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Julie had been exposed to several other languages, including Italian and French.
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She had experienced many difficulties,
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but never given up hope of finding a new home.
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Julie had faith, in other words,
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trust or confidence, that everything would sort itself out,
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a phrase meaning to stop being a problem automatically without having to do anything.
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Over the following years, Julie faced many challenges,
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going to school and making friends,
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helping her parents as they struggled in the English-speaking world,
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and grieving for her native language,
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which she slowly forgot, and with it,
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the chance to speak Czech with her dad before he passed away.
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Julie shares her thoughts on losing and refinding her mother tongue in her book Memory Speaks.
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Through it all, Julie kept alive her belief that by speaking two,
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three, or even more languages,
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we don't forget who we are,
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but instead gain a sense of tolerance,
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an idea which she talked about with BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth.
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The idea that you can be both of Mexican ancestry,
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for example, and speak Spanish,
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and be a full-fledged American,
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or in my case, come from a country like the Czech Republic,
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continue to speak my language,
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and be Canadian, and very proudly so,
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and very invested in Canada as a society.
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There's a number of studies that suggest
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that the very presence of people with blended ideas in a society seem to lead to greater acceptance between groups.
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It creates the sense that this is not an either-or,
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that we can coexist, perhaps precisely because we have evidence that these cultures can coexist within a single person.
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For Julie, there's no contradiction in being a Canadian refugee speaking Czech or a Spanish who's a full-fledged or fully developed American.
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These are not either-or situations,
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cases where there is only a choice between two options with no third possibility.
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Instead, a peaceful coexistence can develop as shown in the life of Julie Sedevi herself.
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Right, it's time to reveal the answer to my question.
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How many people around the world,
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like Julie, are living as displaced refugees?
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Well, I said it was 103 million.
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Was I right?
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And that was the correct answer, Rob a number which,
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according to the UN, is only going to grow.
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Now it's time to recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme about losing our mother tongue,
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the native language we were brought up speaking by our parents.
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If something is dunked, it's dipped into a liquid like a biscuit and a cup of tea.
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But if someone is dunked into a situation,
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they're suddenly placed into a new and unfamiliar setting,
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before being removed again after a short time.
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If you have faith in something or someone,
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you have trust or confidence in them.
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The phrasal verb to sort itself out means to stop being a problem without having to do anything.
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The adjective full-fledged means completely developed.
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And finally, an either-or is a situation where only a choice between two options is possible with no third alternative.
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And that brings us to the end of this programme.
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Bye for now!
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Bye bye!
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English from the BBC.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will delve into the poignant experiences of child refugees who face the challenge of losing their mother tongue as they transition to a new language in a foreign land. Through the story of Julie Tadevi, a former political refugee from Czechoslovakia, you will gain insights into the emotional and linguistic hurdles many face when learning a new language. Additionally, this lesson will provide you with practical vocabulary that you can incorporate into your everyday conversations while practicing the shadowing technique to improve your English speaking skills.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Mother tongue - A person's first language or native language.
- Political refugees - Individuals who flee their home country due to political persecution or conflict.
- Dunked - To be put into a new situation unexpectedly; similar to how a biscuit is dipped in tea.
- Displaced - People who are forced to leave their home or country, often due to war or natural disasters.
- Hope - A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
- Faith - Trust or confidence in someone or something.
- Challenges - Difficulties that require a solution or overcoming.
- Sort itself out - To resolve itself without external intervention.
Practice Tips
To effectively enhance your speaking skills using the shadowing technique with this lesson, try the following strategies:
- Listen actively: Play the video transcript and pay close attention to the speed and tone used by the speakers. This will help you acclimate to the natural rhythms of English speech.
- Use a shadowing app: If you have access to a shadowing app, use it to repeat phrases and sentences immediately after hearing them. Focus on imitating both the pronunciation and intonation of the speakers.
- Start slowly: Begin by shadow-speaking at a slower pace. This will allow you to master difficult words and phrases before moving on to the normal speed of the transcript.
- Emphasize key vocabulary: When you encounter the key vocabulary from this lesson, practice shadowing those terms specifically, as they are not only useful but also represent critical themes in the context of refugee experiences.
- Record yourself: After shadowing, record your voice and compare it to the original audio. This will enable you to identify areas for improvement in your pronunciation and fluidity.
- Be patient and consistent: Regular practice using the shadowing technique will lead to improvements over time, so remain committed to your learning journey.
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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