Shadowing Practice: My First Week as a Waiter: Taking Orders Without a Notepad - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Last month, I started my first job as a waiter.
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Well... I was excited, but honestly, I was terrified too.
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The restaurant was small, busy, and always full on Fridays.
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On my very first morning, the head waiter took away my notepad!
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Real waiters remember, she told me, tapping her forehead.
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No pen, no paper, just my memory.
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Seriously? I can't even remember my own phone number!
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Still, I practised every night with my flatmates.
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They ordered imaginary meals, and I repeated them back.
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Oh no... then came Friday, and a table of eight.
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I walked over, smiled, and asked, are you ready to order?
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One wanted the chicken, but with no onions.
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Another wanted the steak, medium rare, with the sauce on the side.
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And someone asked if the soup could be made without cream!
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I hurried back to the kitchen, repeating everything in my head.
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But when the food came out... something was wrong.
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I'd given the vegetarian pasta to the man who ordered the steak!
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My face went bright red... I just wanted to disappear.
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I'm so sorry, I said. I'll swap them straight away.
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Luckily, the man just laughed and said, don't worry about it.
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He told me he'd been a waiter himself, years ago.
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And guess what? He gave me some advice I'll never forget.
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Give every seat a number, and always serve in the same order.
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So now, seat one is always the chair nearest the door.
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I also repeat every order back before I leave the table.
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So that's one chicken, no onions, and one steak, sauce on the side?
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Customers actually like it. It shows you're listening.
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By the end of the week, I didn't need my notepad at all!
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Last night, I served a table of ten without a single mistake!
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Ha, even the head waiter nodded and said, not bad.
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Now, can I get you anything else? Just ask!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “My First Week as a Waiter: Taking Orders Without a Notepad”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: waiter, steak, table. This video has 31 sentences and 319 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:08. The speaker talks at a steady 149 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 5 of its 31 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| waiter noun | /ˈweɪ̯təː/ | A male or female attendant who serves customers at their tables in a restaurant, café or similar. |
| steak noun | /steɪk/ | Beefsteak: a slice of beef, broiled or cut for broiling. |
| notepad noun | A pad of paper, often bound, in which one jots down notes; a notebook. | |
| onion noun | /ˈʌn.jən/ | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| flatmate noun | /ˈflætmeɪt/ | A person with whom one shares a flat. |
| terrify verb | /ˈtɛɹɪfaɪ/ | To frighten greatly; to fill with terror. |
| practise verb | /ˈpɹæktɪs/ | To repeat (an activity) as a way of improving one's skill in that activity. |
| nod verb | /nɑd/ | To incline the head up and down, as to indicate agreement. |
| vegetarian noun | /vɛ.d͡ʒɪˈtɛ.ɹi.ən/ | A person who does not eat animal flesh, or, in some cases, use any animal products. |
| imaginary adjective | /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪˌn(ɛ)ɹi/ | Existing only in the imagination. |
| forehead noun | /ˈfɔɹ.hɛd/ | The part of the face above the eyebrows and below the hairline. |
| pasta noun | /ˈpɑ.stə/ | Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating. |
| luckily adverb | /ˈlʌk.ɪ.li/ | In a lucky manner; by good fortune; fortunately. |
| swap verb | /ˈswɑp/ | To exchange or give (something) in an non-normal exchange (for something else). |
| disappear verb | /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/ | To vanish. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| take away verb | /ˌteɪk əˈweɪ/ | To remove something and put it in a different place. |
| walk over verb | To gain an easy victory. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I can't even remember my own phone number!
- I walked over, smiled, and asked, are you ready to order?
- I'm so sorry, I said.
- I'll swap them straight away.
- He gave me some advice I'll never forget.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was terrified · could be made |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | I'll swap · I'll never forget |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 9 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, can't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: vegetarian /vɛ.d͡ʒɪˈtɛ.ɹi.ən/, imaginary /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪˌn(ɛ)ɹi/
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 waiter, steak, notepad.
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.