Shadowing Practice: Lukas Graham - 7 Years (Lyrics) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Once I

was seven years old My mama told me go Make yourself some friends

or you'll be lonely Once I was seven years old It was a big,

big world, but we thought we were bigger Pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker By eleven,

smoking herb and drinking burning liquor Never rich, so we were out to make that steady bigger Once I was eleven years old,

my daddy told me Go get yourself a wife or you'd be lonely Once I was eleven years old

I always had that dream like my daddy before me So I started writing songs, I started writing stories Something about

that glory just always seemed to bore me Cause only those

I really love will never really know me Once I was twenty years old,

my story got told Before the morning sun when life was lonely Once I was twenty years old

I only see my goals,

I don't believe in failure Cause I know the smallest voices, they can make it major I got my boys with me,

at least those in favor And if we don't need before I leave, I hope I'll see you later Once I was twenty years old,

my story got told I was writing about everything I saw before me Once I was twenty years old

Soon we'll be thirty years old Our songs have been sold We've traveled around the world

and we're still roaming Soon we'll be thirty years old

I'm still learning about life My woman brought children for me

So I can sing them all my songs

And I can tell them stories Most of my boys are with me Some are still out seeking glory

And some I had to leave behind My brother, I'm still savvy Soon I'll be sixty years old My daddy got sixty-one Remember life

and then your life becomes a better one

I made a man so happy

when I wrote a letter once I hope my children come

and visit once

or twice a month Soon I'll be sixty years old Will I think the world is cold

or will I have a lot of children who can bore me Soon I'll be sixty years old

Soon I'll be sixty years old Will I think the world is cold?

Or will I have a lot of children who can hold me?

Soon I'll be sixty years old

Once I was seven years old

Mama told me go Make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely Once I was seven years old

Once I was seven years old I love you, you are the only one

Thank you.

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18 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Lukas Graham - 7 Years”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sixty, seven, lonely, twenty, eleven. This video has 33 sentences and 449 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:20. The speaker talks slowly, about 104 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 13 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
sixty noun	/ˈsɪksti/	A commercial lasting 60 seconds.
lonely adjective	/ˈloʊnli/	Unhappy due to feeling isolated from contact with other people.
daddy noun	/ˈdædi/	Also used as a term of address: a father; one's father.
eleven noun	/əˈlɛv.ən/	A cricket team of eleven players. Hence first eleven - the team of best cricket players (at a school), second eleven - the "B" team, etc.
thirty noun	/ˈθɝti/	A commercial lasting 30 seconds.
glory noun	/ˈɡlɔːɹi/	Great beauty and splendor.
mama noun	/ˈmɑmə/	Synonym of mother (“a female parent”).
steady adjective	/ˈstɪdi/	Firm in standing or position; not tottering or shaking; fixed; firm.
liquor noun	/ˈlɪk.ɚ/	A liquid obtained by cooking meat or vegetables (or both).
herb noun	/hɜːb/	A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season.
litter noun	/ˈlɪt.ɚ/	Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
savvy adjective	/ˈsæv.i/	Shrewd, well-informed and perceptive.
roam verb	/ɹoʊm/	To wander or travel freely and with no specific destination.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
leave behind verb	To abandon.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	children who can
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	were learning · was writing
Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction	you'll be · will never really know · I'll see
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	we're still roaming · I'm still learning

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 17 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

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 sixty, lonely, daddy.

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 →

Shadowing Practice: Lukas Graham - 7 Years (Lyrics) - Learn English Speaking with Video

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