Shadowing Practice: Natural Vocabulary for Speaking English FLUENCY TRAINING - Learn English Speaking with Video
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All right, are you ready?
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We're going to do some listening and speaking practice.
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Natural English vocabulary.
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Let's look at our first vocabulary phrase, a happy medium.
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A happy medium right down the middle.
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It's down the middle.
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It's a happy medium.
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Now, this phrase, a happy medium, refers to finding a nice balance or a middle ground.
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Yeah, you got to find the nice middle ground, the happy medium.
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It's a friendly way of describing a suitable compromise, a good compromise that avoids extremes.
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Too far left, too far right, that's an extreme.
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You want to bring it in, bring it to a happy medium.
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Okay, so this expression is really helpful
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when you're trying to choose a balanced option between two different ideas or solutions, a compromise.
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Now, I have some example sentences.
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I want you to listen carefully as I say it twice and then repeat after me.
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I try to find a happy medium between working and spending time with my family.
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I try to find a happy medium between working and spending time with my family.
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I try to find a happy medium between working and spending time with my family.
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Say it again.
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Okay, got it.
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Here's one more.
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I need to find a happy medium between saving money and having fun.
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I need to find a happy medium between saving money and having fun.
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Go.
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I need to find a happy medium between saving money and having fun.
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Try it again.
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Okay, we all need to do that, right?
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I'm trying to find a happy medium between using my phone and spending time offline.
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I'm trying to find a happy medium between using my phone and spending time offline.
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I'm trying to find a happy medium between using my phone and spending time offline.
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Go for it!
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Okay.
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Our next phrase is, for the first time in blank.
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For the first time in years.
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For the first time in ages.
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For the first time in 20 years.
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For the first time in months.
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There's many ways we can use this.
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So the phrase, for the first time in years, is a warm way to describe doing something you haven't done in a long time.
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It reflects a special moment of reconnecting with familiar activities,
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like traveling, catching up with friends, or picking up a hobby again.
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Picking up a hobby again.
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If you pick it up again, you restart.
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You restart a hobby again.
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All right, you can personalize it by replacing in blank years with specific periods like for the first time in three months,
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or for the first time in a while, in a long time, in ages.
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All right, here's a sentence.
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Listen carefully.
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I'm going to say it once, and you repeat.
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I saw my high school friends for the first time in 10 years.
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Okay, I said it a little bit different than what's going to show up here.
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I saw my high school friends for the first time in years.
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That's right.
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I said in 10 years, didn't I?
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Okay, let's try again.
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Let's try again.
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Here we go.
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I visited my hometown for the first time in seven years.
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I visited my hometown for the first time in seven years.
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I went to the gym for the first time in three months.
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Good for you.
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I went to the gym for the first time in three months.
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Say it.
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All right, one more.
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She finally smiled and felt a sense of peace for the first time in years.
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She finally smiled and felt a sense of peace for the first time in years.
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Okay, our next phrase is play out.
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How is this going to play out?
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This phrase, play out, is used to describe how a situation,
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problem, or event unfolds how it will unfold, how it will play out, what will happen.
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People often use it when they want to express that an event ends up in a certain way.
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It ends up in a certain way, it plays out in a certain way.
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For example, saying, let's see how this situation plays out.
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Let's see how this situation plays out.
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That's like saying, let's watch how this situation develops.
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Let's watch and see what happens.
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Let's see how this situation plays out. And here's another example.
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It didn't play out the way I expected.
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It didn't play out the way I expected.
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That means it didn't turn out, it didn't happen, the outcome wasn't what I thought it would be.
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It didn't turn out the way I thought it would.
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All right, it didn't play out the way I expected.
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All right, you got the feel for how to use that?
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In everyday conversation, it's common to see the phrase, see how, play out.
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Such as, we'll see how it plays out.
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We'll see how it plays out.
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Or, let's see how things play out.
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Meaning, let's see how things develop.
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Let's see how things develop.
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Let's see what happens, what occurs, how it plays out.
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Okay, I think we got it.
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We got it.
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Let's practice.
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Repeat after me.
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Before we make a decision, let's see how this situation plays out.
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Okay, let's try again.
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We'll just have to wait and see how things play out.
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We'll just have to wait and see how things play out I'm curious to see how this story will play out
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I'm curious to see how this story will play out
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Okay, we got it, play out now our next one is gloss over we don't want to gloss over this phrase
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it's a very good
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and common phrase don't gloss over it all right the phrase gloss over is a friendly informal way of saying
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to hide to hide something or overlook something ignore it that might be inconvenient
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you don't want to talk about it so you ignore it you hide it gloss over it.
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It's often used when someone tries to smooth over a mistake.
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Smooth over a mistake means make a mistake not seem so bad, or avoid talking about something uncomfortable.
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It's an uncomfortable topic.
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I don't want to talk about it, so I'm just going to gloss over it.
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For instance, to gloss over one's mistake means to hide a mistake, to not draw attention to it.
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And gloss over the problem.
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Suggests addressing an issue lightly without your full attention.
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You're not giving it your full attention.
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You might say something a little bit about it.
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That's why we say gloss over the problem.
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I'm just glossing over the problem.
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It's not a big deal.
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Don't worry about it.
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All right, let's practice using gloss over.
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Listen and repeat.
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Did you notice that she was trying to gloss over her mistake? Did you notice that?
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Did you notice that she was trying to gloss over her mistake?
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He barely mentioned the problem at today's meeting.
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He just glossed over it.
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Again, he barely mentioned the problem at today's meeting.
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He just glossed over it.
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He barely mentioned the problem at today's meeting.
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He just glossed over it.
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He glossed over the fact that he had been fired.
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He glossed over the fact that he had been fired?
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How can you gloss over that fact?
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That's a pretty big fact.
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All right, that's how we use glossed over.
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Now, that's it for today.
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We had four phrases.
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I think that's enough for today.
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Good workout.
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Keep moving forward.
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Take it one step at a time, and I will see you in the next training video.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Natural Vocabulary for Speaking English FLUENCY TRAINING”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: medium, gloss, phrase, mistake, glossed. This video has 139 sentences and 1262 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:34. The speaker talks slowly, about 109 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 85% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| compromise noun | /ˈkɑmpɹəˌmaɪz/ | The settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions. |
| hobby noun | /ˈhɑ.bi/ | An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. |
| offline adjective | /ɔfˈlaɪn/ | Of a system, currently not connected (generally electrically) to a larger network. For example, a power plant which is not connected to the grid, or a computer… |
| ignore verb | /ɪɡˈnɔː/ | To deliberately not listen or pay attention to. |
| carefully adverb | /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/ | With care; attentively, circumspectly. |
| curious adjective | /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/ | Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying. |
| smooth adjective | /smuːð/ | Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough. |
| uncomfortable adjective | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | Not comfortable; causing discomfort. |
| blank noun | /ˈblæŋk/ | The white spot in the centre of a target; hence (figuratively) the object to which anything is directed or aimed, the range of such aim. |
| hometown noun | /ˈhoʊmˌtaʊn/ | An individual’s place of birth, childhood home, or place of main residence. |
| vocabulary noun | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning. |
| restart verb | /ˈɹiːˌstɑɹt/ | To start again. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| everyday adjective | /ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/ | Appropriate for ordinary use, rather than for special occasions. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| play out verb | To play (a game etc.) to its conclusion. |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
| move forward verb | To cause to make progress. |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- All right, are you ready?
- We're going to do some listening and speaking practice.
- There's many ways we can use this.
- I'm going to say it once, and you repeat.
- How can you gloss over that fact?
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 29 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, didn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, inconvenient /ˌɪn.kənˈviːni.ənt/, personalize /ˈpɜː.sə.nə.laɪz/
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 phrase, compromise, hobby.
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.