Shadowing Practice: National Geographic Reading Explorer 2 Unit 5 Digging into the Past - Learn English Speaking with Video
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12 sentences
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1
Climbing rivers like a boss, knocking rocks down like a boss.
2
Being a young girl loving dinosaurs is a little bit unusual
3
and everyone thought I was kind of weird but you sort of get over that.
4
And just to follow your passion is sort of great really.
5
I'm part of a research group which is based at the University of Oslo.
6
We're searching for these marine reptile fossils in rocks that were deposited under water, but through time have been lifted up.
7
Being a paleontologist, I realise that it's actually quite back-breaking sometimes.
8
The feeling of finding something is amazing.
9
Just sort of turning over a rock and finding something underneath makes your heart leap.
10
I love paleontology because there's always new scientific discoveries popping up all the time.
11
New dinosaurs, new prehistoric animals.
12
There's always something new to discover and we know so little about the history of life.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “National Geographic Reading Explorer 2 Unit 5 Digging into the Past”. This video has 12 sentences and 152 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:27. The speaker talks slowly, about 105 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 76% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| dinosaur noun | /ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/ | Those animals of the clade Dinosauria that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct. |
| discovery noun | /dɪˈskʌv.ɹi/ | Something discovered. |
| unusual adjective | /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/ | Not usual, out of the ordinary. |
| passion noun | /ˈpæʃən/ | A true desire sustained or prolonged. |
| discover verb | /dɪˈskʌvə/ | To find or learn something for the first time. |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| realise verb | Non-Oxford British standard spelling of realize. | |
| deposit noun | /dɪˈpɑ.zɪt/ | Sediment or rock that is not native to its present location or is different from the surrounding material. Sometimes refers to ore or gems. |
| climb verb | /ˈklaɪ̯m/ | To traverse a slope or contour, either upwards (ascending) or downwards (descending). |
| underneath adverb | /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/ | Below; in a place beneath. |
| fossil noun | /ˈfɑsl̩/ | The mineralized remains of an animal or plant. |
| leap verb | /ˈliːp/ | To jump. |
| paleontologist noun | One who studies paleontology. | |
| paleontology noun | /ˌpeɪli.ənˈtɑləd͡ʒi/ | The study of the forms of life existing in prehistoric or geologic times, especially as represented by fossils. |
| prehistoric adjective | /ˌpɹiː.hɪsˈtoɹ.ɪk/ | Of or relating to the epoch before written record. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get over verb | To overcome. |
| lift up verb | To elevate to a higher position. |
| pop up verb | To come up with a "pop" sound. |
| turn over verb | To flip over; to rotate uppermost to bottom. |
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 | is based · were deposited |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have been lifted |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | group which is |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, passion /ˈpæʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, paleontology /ˌpeɪli.ənˈtɑləd͡ʒi/, prehistoric /ˌpɹiː.hɪsˈtoɹ.ɪk/
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 dinosaur, discovery, unusual.
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.