Shadowing Practice: Minecraft, But Every Drop is Godly - Learn English Speaking with Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Minecraft, But Every Drop is Godly”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: gosh, bro, godly, tico, dude. This video has 596 sentences and 5000 words to shadow. The speech runs for 22:53. The speaker talks fast, about 219 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gosh | /ɡɑːʃ/ | A mild expression of surprise or enthusiasm. |
| immortal adjective | /ɪˈmɔɹtəl/ | Not susceptible to death; living forever; never dying. |
| sword noun | /soɹd/ | A long bladed weapon with a grip and typically a pommel and crossguard (together forming a hilt), which is designed to cut, stab, slash and/or hack. |
| boom verb | /bum/ | To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound. |
| gamer noun | /ˈɡeɪ̯mə/ | A person who plays any kind of game. |
| diamond noun | /ˈdaɪ.ə.mənd/ | A glimmering glass-like mineral that is an allotrope of carbon in which each atom is surrounded by four others in the form of a tetrahedron. |
| pants noun | /pænts/ | An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers. |
| insane adjective | /ɪnˈseɪn/ | Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad. |
| goodness noun | /ˈɡʊdnəs/ | The state or characteristic of being good. |
| buddy | /ˈbʌdi/ | A person far removed from the conversation. |
| underground adjective | /ˌʌn.dəɹˈɡɹaʊnd/ | Below the ground; below the surface of the Earth. |
| activate verb | /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/ | To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate. |
| heck | /hɛk/ | Hell. |
| dodge verb | /dɑd͡ʒ/ | To avoid (something) by moving suddenly out of the way. |
| boot noun | /but/ | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. | |
| get out verb | To leave or escape. | |
| go up verb | To move upwards. | |
| watch out | Used to warn someone of an imminent danger. | |
| shut up | /ʃʌt ʌp/ | Stop talking (usually in the form of making annoying, irrelevant, or false comments, during a period of peace and quiet, or when one is not allowed to talk)… |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| get back verb | Return to where one came from. | |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm going to steal his drops.
- Can we make the pants?
- Hold on, how do I craft the pants?
- How did you get them?
- Wait, can you even break a respawn anchor?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have not broken · we've broken · haven't broken |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was killed · might be lit · might be cracked |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 208 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: netherite /ˈnɛðəraɪt/, thingy /ˈθɪŋi/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, smash /smæʃ/, trash /tɹæʃ/, polish /ˈpɑ.lɪʃ/, dimension /daɪˈmɛn.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, prototypical /ˌpɹoʊtəˈtɪpɪkəl/, obsidian /əbˈsɪd.i.ən/, immortality /ˌɪmɔːɹˈtæləti/
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 gosh, immortal, sword.
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.











