Shadowing Practice: My Worst Experience in New York - Learn English Speaking with Video
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150 sentences
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So recently I went to New York City for the first time in my life.
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We went because Henry really wanted to go to this EDM music festival.
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I love the techno trolls.
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One more time.
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Bad representation of EDM.
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But you know, I've never been to American Big City.
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You'd think like, oh, it's so scary.
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There's so many stereotypes and tweakers.
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And I had a lot of like expectations of like the rat man and weird in New York.
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So it must be crazy.
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Even my dad would tell me and my mom like, oh, it's scary.
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Don't go there.
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It was the most sane and normal and comfortable experience I've ever had.
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We went to Times Square and it was so crusty and bright just like it is on TV.
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And we got to go to where the Twin Towers used to be.
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And there was a whole lot of nothing.
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And that was so fun.
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And then we got to try like
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New York pizza and you would think, oh, pizza is pizza.
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You know, how good can it be?
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Oh my God, the Ninja Turtles knew what's up.
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It was so good.
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All the stereotypes of New York that I had in my head, like it vanished in the public transport too.
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Like it wasn't that dirty.
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It was just like a few tweakers, but like that was normal, you know, it was normal.
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And we got to see the New York sewer grates.
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The steam is coming out and all.
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It looks so cool and like - WAH!
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What is that?
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Is that Ponchim from the new hit game
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Clash of Critters?
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Huh?
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My character design!
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Come here!
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Clash of Critters is a free -to -play mobile game, combining tower defense and monster catching and raising in the cutest way possible.
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You go on an adventure with these critters called Tatari, fighting off waves of enemies called Zobos across the world map.
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I've been playing all summer and it's genuinely one of my favorite pastimes on the go during trips, and while waiting for my animations to render.
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Even when I have to work, they can still fight battles all on their own.
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And I actually love these Tataru and their designs, especially Punch -Hip and his little ass -shaking move that deals AoE damage and summons clones.
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If that sounds familiar, that's
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because Lil' Guy literally learned from a Journey to the West comic book that he stole from a tourist.
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What a king.
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There are over 100 original Tataru to collect, so you'll definitely find your emotional support companion in no time!
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Also, I really appreciate that when the critters evolve, maybe you prefer the baby look than the angsty teen look.
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And guess what?
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You can change their appearance to stay baby forever!
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S tier.
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Every game should be doing this.
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Clash of Critters is available both on Android and iOS.
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Scan the QR code here, or click the link in my description and pinned comment to start your journey today!
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Thanks to Clash of Critters and Farlight Games for sponsoring the cutest portion of this video.
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Now back to New York City.
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So this story is not about any of the good shit though.
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All the good stuff I told you, forget about it.
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This story is about my very last day at New York in the hotel room.
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We're like, wow, we had so much nice experiences.
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Can't wait to fly back home and experience our normal everyday lives again.
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That's not in New York.
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We go to sleep.
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I vaguely having a dream where I'm like half asleep, half awake,
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where someone is begging for their life in the dream someone's going please please
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i'm begging please i'll do anything please i'm like half asleep
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so i'm like slowly waking up my eyes
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i'm like oh what's going on please please please
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i'll do anything please i still hear it this is not a dream bro
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that was real oh my god they're in the hallway
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so i like like turn my neck towards the door in the hallway
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and i hear the guy please please i'll do anything please i'm begging he's repeating like those phrases over and over
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and over again i'm terrified what what do you do in
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this situation do you call the police do you call them i don't know
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so like i come to a conclusion you know it's none of my business i should ignore it
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and close my eyes i cannot see please please
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but i can sure as hell hear
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because he keeps fucking going for like six more minutes and he's he's starting to add more lore into it he's like
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Please I have a wife.
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Oh you have a wife like boss boss who's boss?
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Where did he come from?
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No one else is talking in the hallway
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So I can tell he's on his phone or like talking to someone through a door
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This isn't the New York experience I was expecting like about seven minutes
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I was just laying in bed staring at the door and one eye open and then
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Henry's head slowly Did you hear that?
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Did you hear that?
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I'm not joking right now.
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I immediately rode over, grabbed my phone, and just started recording.
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I need to make sure I'm not crazy.
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We're just laying in bed, waiting for something to happen.
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Because what do you do?
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Like, genuinely, what do you do?
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Like I'm too scared to even look at the peephole.
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What if like someone's out there?
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You saw what happened.
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You died now.
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Dude, I can't go back home.
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I can't be stuck in New York.
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We look at the clock.
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It is 6 a .m.
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He should not be out and about in the hallway being this loud, right?
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And as he's like still going, I just hear like a door slam next door and a man comes out.
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What the f* are you doing, man?
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Do you have any idea what time it is?
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And the guy's just like, I'm so sorry.
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I'm just calling my friend.
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It's a friend now?
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I thought it was your boss. And then...
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Closes the door.
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And then you just hear...
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Please.
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He's still there!
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That's how paper -thin the walls are.
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And then he continues even longer until...
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We hear another door open in the hallway.
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It's someone who sounds like security.
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No, no, no. Okay.
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Why are you closed?
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I'm starting.
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No. It's fine.
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I don't look like I either.
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I will guess.
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I guess, I guess, yes, yes, yes.
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What's your rule number?
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Number two.
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What's your rule?
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That's my friend.
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Who's the friend of yours?
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The guy.
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What guy?
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The one who's on the side of the internet. Which one?
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I don't know.
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Eventually, I think the issue got de -escalated, the conversation got quieter and quieter, and it sounded like he got escorted by security.
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I think our neighbors called them up in the neighborhood.
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Everything else about New York was so dandy so fine
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Why on the very last day of our hotel stay did this have to happen?
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And when I told this story to my friends in VC Did someone that he knows like get kidnapped?
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That would explain the reason why he doesn't know where his
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friend's room is He could have been involved in a hostage situation
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Could have been on the phone with a very powerful group of people
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Maybe it was one of those things where like he borrowed money from someone uh shady
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and like negotiations fell through and he's begging to get back in the room to have another chance
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But they're not letting him back in.
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I don't know.
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I hope whatever happened to that guy.
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I hope he's genuinely okay I hope he sees his family
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and I hope his problems that he was having that night genuinely get solved
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But like can you not scare me next time, please?
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I was so scared I wanted to pee so bad, but I couldn't get out of bed
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So if you're from New York or just anyone who has any idea of what could be going on, please let me know what you think.
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Let me know your ideas and guesses so I'm not alone in this.
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Because it's been keeping me up at night.
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HEPA.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “My Worst Experience in New York”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: hear, door, critters. This video has 150 sentences and 1408 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:59. The speaker talks at a natural 176 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 25 of its 150 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hallway noun | /ˈhɔlˌweɪ/ | A corridor in a building that connects rooms. |
| genuinely adverb | /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/ | In a genuine manner; truthfully, truly. |
| pizza noun | /ˈpi.tsə/ | A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables. |
| scare verb | /skɛɚ/ | To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way. |
| scary adjective | /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ | Causing fear or anxiety |
| asleep adjective | /əˈsliːp/ | In a state of sleep; also, broadly, resting. |
| ignore verb | /ɪɡˈnɔː/ | To deliberately not listen or pay attention to. |
| everyday adjective | /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/ | Appropriate for ordinary use, rather than for special occasions. |
| thin adjective | /ˈθɪn/ | Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. |
| adventure noun | /ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/ | A feeling of desire for new and exciting things. |
| clock noun | /klɑk/ | A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day. |
| comic noun | /ˈkɑmɪk/ | A comedian. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| steal verb | /stiːl/ | To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it. |
| conclusion noun | /kənˈkluːʒən/ | The end, finish, close or last part of something. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| fall through verb | To be unsuccessful, come to nothing; to be cancelled; not to proceed. | |
| fight off verb | To succeed in defeating a challenge, or an attack. | |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. | |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| ride over verb | Synonym of ride roughshod over. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- You'd think like, oh, it's so scary.
- You know, how good can it be?
- Because what do you do?
- Do you have any idea what time it is?
- What's your rule number?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been playing · it's been keeping |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've never been · I've ever had |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | can't be stuck · have been involved |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who sounds · anyone who has |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 39 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, representation /ˌɹɛp.ɹə.zɛnˈteɪ.ʃən/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, representation /ˌɹɛp.ɹə.zɛnˈteɪ.ʃən/, animation /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ʃən/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, negotiation /nɪˌɡəʊ.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/
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 hallway, genuinely, pizza.
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.