Shadowing Practice: LV3 024 Books - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
1
Books Some books have happy stories.
2
Happy stories make me smile.
3
Some books have scary stories.
4
Scary stories make me afraid.
5
Some books have adventure stories.
6
Adventure stories make me excited.
7
Some books have information.
8
School books make me smart.
9
Some books have comics.
10
Comic books make me laugh.
11
Some books have recipes.
12
Cookbooks make me hungry.
13
Some books have sad stories.
14
Sad stories make me cry.
15
Reading is fun.
16
Books are my friends.

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 16 sentences and 74 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:10.

Key vocabulary in this video

11 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
adventure noun/ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/A feeling of desire for new and exciting things.
comic noun/ˈkɑmɪk/A comedian.
scary adjective/ˈskɛə.ɹi/Causing fear or anxiety
hungry adjective/ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.
recipe noun/ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/Any set of instructions for preparing a mixture of ingredients.
cookbook noun/ˈkʊkˌbʊk/A book or an encyclopedia of recipes and cookery tips.
laugh verb/læf/To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and…
smile verb/ˈsmaɪl/To have (a smile) on one's face.
smart adjective/smɑɹt/Exhibiting social ability or cleverness.
excited adjective/ɪkˈsaɪ.tɪd/Having great enthusiasm, passion and energy.
afraid adjective/əˈfɹeɪd/Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like adventure, comic, scary.

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 →