Shadowing Practice: N3on Meets The Youngest Billionaire Ever! - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
Recommend Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 973 sentences and 8447 words to shadow. The speech runs for 45:08. The speaker talks fast, about 187 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| tender adjective | /ˈtɛn.dɚ/ | Sensitive or painful to the touch. |
| yacht noun | /jɑt/ | A slick and light ship for making pleasure trips or racing on water, having sails but often motor-powered. At times used as a residence offshore on a dock. |
| casino noun | /kəˈsiːnəʊ/ | A public building or room for gambling. |
| 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. |
| emerald noun | /ˈɛm.(ə.)ɹəld/ | Any of various green gemstones, especially a green transparent form of beryl, highly valued as a precious stone. |
| terrace noun | /ˈtɛɹəs/ | A flat open area on the topmost floor of a building or apartment |
| billionaire noun | /ˌbɪl.jəˈnɛɚ/ | Somebody whose wealth is at least one billion (10⁹) currency units (usually understood to exclude holders of hyperinflated currencies). |
| rush verb | /ɹʌʃ/ | To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully. |
| happiness noun | /ˈhæpinɪs/ | The emotion of being happy; joy; elation. |
| congratulations | /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/ | Expressing praise and approval, expressing approbation. |
| ambassador noun | /æmˈbæs.ə.dɚ/ | A diplomat of the highest rank sent to a foreign court to represent there their sovereign or country. (Sometimes called ambassador-in-residence) |
| fighter noun | /ˈfaɪtɚ/ | A person who fights; a combatant. |
| meter noun | /ˈmitəɹ/ | A device that measures things. |
| ethnicity noun | /ɛθˈnɪsɪti/ | The common characteristics of a group of people, especially regarding ancestry, culture, language or national experiences. |
| sibling noun | /ˈsɪb.lɪŋ/ | A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| back up verb | To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. | |
| look through verb | To take a view of the contents of; search in, either with the eyes or by hand. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 297 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: ethnicity /ɛθˈnɪsɪti/, clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rush /ɹʌʃ/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, shine /ʃaɪn/, sheikh /ʃeɪk/, exhibition /ɛksɪˈbɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, ambassador /æmˈbæs.ə.dɚ/, ethnicity /ɛθˈnɪsɪti/, exhibition /ɛksɪˈbɪʃən/, celebrity /səˈlɛb.ɹɪ.ɾi/
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 tender, yacht, casino.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if we didn't have money i wouldn't be · if you're free we'll link |
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to be · Used to have · used to live |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've ever played · I've never seen · I've been asked |
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.












