Shadowing Practice: Need Conversation Practice? Right This Way! - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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This is gonna be so fun.
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We're studying seven English conversations and you're going to be speaking.
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Tons of English speaking practice here.
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When you're learning another language, you just need to speak it as much as you can to build that conversational ability.
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You'll watch a conversation and we'll define any terms you might not know.
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Then you will be speaking both parts.
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You need to speak out loud for this.
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Don't leave me hanging in silence.
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Then after all the conversations, we'll review the vocabulary and then you can watch them all one more time.
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I'm Rachel, I have a background in opera singing, and I've been teaching the American accent to non -native speakers for over 20 years.
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Scan this QR code or go to rachelsenglish .com slash free to get my free course, The Top 3 Ways to Master the American Accent.
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It will change the way you think about speaking American English.
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In the first conversation, you owe a friend money from a trip.
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Hey, I just wanted to remind you that you still owe me money for the hotel in Cancun.
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Oh my gosh, thank you so much for reminding me, it totally slipped my mind.
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If something slips your mind, that just means you forgot.
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No problem.
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Do you have Venmo.
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Venmo is an app popular in the United States for sending money to your friends.
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Yes, I do.
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What's your handle?
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A handle is a unique username for an app.
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For example, on Instagram, my handle is Rachel's English.
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I'll text it to you.
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Okay, thanks.
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I will get on that.
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I will pay you right away.
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Now, we need to have you practice speaking.
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I'll play person one, And you play person two.
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I'll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.
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Hey, I just wanted to remind you that you still owe me money for the hotel in Cancun.
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No problem.
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Do you have Venmo?
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I'll text it to you.
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Now you be person one.
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Oh my gosh, thank you so much for reminding me.
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It totally slipped my mind.
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Yes, I do.
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What's your handle?
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Okay, thanks.
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I will get on that.
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I will pay you right away.
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Now you're calling a friend who broke her foot to offer help.
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Hey Jane, I heard you broke your foot.
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Can you believe it?
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I tripped on the stairs.
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Oh my gosh, are you immobilized?
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Immobilized means prevented from moving normally.
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Yeah, I'm in a boot and I'm non -weight -bearing for six to eight weeks.
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Non -weight -bearing means I can't stand or walk on my foot.
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Wow, how can we help?
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Would it be helpful for us to take Tim to school?
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We've got most days covered, but actually it would be great if you could take him on Friday.
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Great, no problem.
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7 .30 okay?
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That's perfect, he'll be all ready to go.
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Thank you so much.
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Perfect.
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Now we need to have you practice speaking.
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I'll play person one, and you play person two.
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I'll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.
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Hey Jane, I heard you broke your foot.
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Oh my gosh, are you immobilized?
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Wow, how can we help?
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Would it be helpful for us to take Tim to school?
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Great, no problem.
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730 okay?
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Perfect.
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Now you be person one. Can you believe it?
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I tripped on the stairs.
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Yeah, I'm in a boot and I'm non -weight bearing for six to eight weeks.
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We've got most days covered, but actually it would be great if you could take him on Friday.
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That's perfect.
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He'll be all ready to go.
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Thank you so much.
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Do you love babies as much as I do?
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Hey, we want to come by to meet the new baby.
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Would Sunday work?
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Oh my gosh, that's so sweet.
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Yeah, we have nothing planned.
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Does one work for you?
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Yes, we want to bring some food for you guys.
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Are there any dietary restrictions or foods you absolutely hate.
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A dietary restriction is a food that you cannot have because you have an allergy to it, or maybe you've chosen not to, like if you're vegan.
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I don't have any food allergies, but I can think of a peanut allergy, or maybe someone who's lactose intolerant.
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Those people would have dietary restrictions.
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No, no restrictions, and we like pretty much everything.
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Great, we'll see you then.
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Oh good, I'm so excited for you to meet him.
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Now, we need to have you practice speaking.
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I'll play person one, and you play person two.
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I'll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.
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Hey, we wanna come by to meet the new baby.
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Would Sunday work?
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Yes, we wanna bring some food for you guys.
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Are there any dietary restrictions or foods you absolutely hate?
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Great, we'll see you then.
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Now you be person one.
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Oh my gosh, that's so sweet.
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Yeah, we have nothing planned.
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Does one work for you?
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No, no restrictions, and we like pretty much everything.
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Oh good, I'm so excited for you to meet him.
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Now you're chatting with a colleague.
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Hey Rachel, how are you?
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Great.
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It is such a relief to be heading into the weekend with The Johnson Project done fun.
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Heading into is a phrasal verb that means going into something.
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For example, I was heading into the kitchen when I saw a mouse run across the floor.
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But we also use it for time, when we're at the beginning of a chunk of time, like heading into the weekend.
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Or I could say, I'm heading into the summer with no vacation plans.
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Yeah, totally, you put in so much overtime for that.
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I did.
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That was a tight deadline.
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A deadline is the date at which you need to have something done.
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A tight deadline is one where you're not sure if you have enough time to complete the task.
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Tight deadlines are stressful.
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Now, we need to have you practice speaking.
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I'll play Person 1, and you play Person 2.
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I'll put on -screen the text for you to say out loud.
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Hey Rachel, how are you?
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Yeah, totally.
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You put in so much overtime for that.
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Now, you be person one.
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Great.
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It is such a relief to be heading into the weekend with the Johnson Project done.
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I did.
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That was a tight deadline.
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I hope you never lose your job.
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Hey, how are you?
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Honestly, not very good.
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Last week I was laid off.
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We use the word fired when someone is let go from their job for poor performance or for doing something wrong.
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But we usually use laid off when it wasn't the person's fault but the company was downsizing or something like that.
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Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
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Yeah, it's a huge bummer.
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My whole team was let go.
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Oh no. So, not doing great today.
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That's hard.
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I'm really sorry.
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Thanks.
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I'm just taking a few days to lay low and then I'll start looking for work next week.
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Good luck.
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Now, we need to have you practice speaking.
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I'll play person one, and you play person two.
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I'll put on -screen the text for you to say out loud.
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Hey, how are you?
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Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
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Oh no. That's hard, I'm really sorry.
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Good luck.
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Now you be person one.
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Honestly, not very good.
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Last week I was laid off.
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Yeah, it's a huge bummer.
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My whole team was let go.
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So, not doing great today.
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Thanks.
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I'm just taking a few days to lay low, and then I'll start looking for work next week.
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Now you're calling a babysitter.
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Hey Dana, I was calling to see if you could babysit on Friday.
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Why I was calling instead of I am calling sometimes we
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use the past continuous tense to ask questions I was calling to see
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if you could babysit I was wondering
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if you wanted to go out to dinner with me it
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just adds an extra layer of politeness oh I can't I'm not free
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that evening you could also decline by saying I'm not available I already have plans
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or I'm all booked up I am free Saturday evening though I'm sure we can change our reservations.
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Let's do Saturday.
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Does seven o 'clock work?
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It does.
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Great.
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Thank you.
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See you then.
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You're welcome.
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Now we need to have you practice speaking.
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I'll play person one and you play person two.
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I'll put on screen the text for you to say out loud.
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Hey Dana, I was calling to see if you could babysit on Friday.
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I'm sure we can change our reservations.
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Let's do Saturday.
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Does seven o 'clock work?
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Great, thank you.
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See you then.
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Now you be person one.
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Oh, I can't.
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I'm not free that evening.
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I am free Saturday evening though.
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You're welcome.
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In our final conversation, you're chatting with a friend about an upcoming trip.
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So when do you leave for London?
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Tomorrow night.
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So you're taking the red eye?
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A red eye is an overnight flight.
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Brutal.
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I cannot sleep on planes.
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I can, so I'm not worried about that, but the jet lag will be tough.
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Jet lag is when your body has a hard time adjusting to a new time zone.
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Well, just douse yourself in lattes your first day.
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To douse something means to pour liquid over it to soak it.
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Of course, this is a joke.
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I don't actually mean to pour lattes on your head.
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I just mean drink a lot of coffee.
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I do love a good latte.
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Then knock yourself out with sleeping pills the first night.
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To be knocked out means to be made unconscious, like if you got hit in the head with something, but we also use it to describe sleeping very deeply.
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Yeah, I'll do that.
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I do want to get on that new time zone quickly since it's such a short trip.
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Now, we need to have you practice speaking.
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I'll play person 1, and you play person 2.
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I'll put on -screen the text for you to say out loud.
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So when do you leave for London? him.
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So you're taking the red -eye?
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Brutal, I cannot sleep on planes.
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Well, just douse yourself in lattes your first day.
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Then knock yourself out with sleeping pills the first night.
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Now you be person one.
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Tomorrow night.
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ICAM, so I'm not worried about that, but the jet lag will be tough.
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I do love a good latte.
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Yeah, I'll do that.
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I do want to get on that new time zone quickly since it's such a short trip.
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Great.
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Now let's review all the vocabulary we learned learned.
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We'll review them out of order.
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Put anything that is new to you that you're learning right now in the comments below as a list.
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Nouns.
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Red eye.
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A red eye is an overnight blight.
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Venmo.
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Venmo is an app popular in the United States for sending money to your friends.
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Dietary restriction.
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A dietary restriction is a food that you cannot have because you have an allergy to it, or maybe you've chosen not to, like if you're vegan.
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I don't have any food allergies, but I can think of a peanut allergy, or maybe someone who's lactose intolerant.
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Those people would have dietary restrictions.
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Jet lag.
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Jet lag is when your body has a hard time adjusting to a new time zone.
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Deadline, a deadline is the date at which you need to have something done.
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A tight deadline is one where you're not sure if you have enough time to complete the task.
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Tight deadlines are stressful.
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Handle, a handle is a unique username for an app.
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For example, on Instagram, my handle is Rachel's English.
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Now some verbs.
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Douse.
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To douse something means to pour liquid over it to soak it.
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Of course, this is a joke.
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I don't actually mean to pour lattes on your head.
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I just mean drink a lot of coffee.
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Heading into.
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Heading into is a phrasal verb that means going into something.
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For example, I was heading into the kitchen when I saw a mouse run across the floor.
251
But we also use it for time, time, when we're at the beginning of a chunk of time, like heading into the weekend.
252
Or I could say, I'm heading into the summer with no vacation plans.
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Knocked out, to be knocked out means to be made unconscious, like if you got hit in the head with something, but we also use it to describe sleeping very deeply.
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Laid off, we usually use laid off when it wasn't the person's fault but the company was downsizing or something like that.
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Now some adjectives, adverbs, or other descriptors.
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Immobilized.
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Immobilized means prevented from moving normally.
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Non -weight -bearing.
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Non -weight -bearing means I can't stand or walk on my foot.
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And finally, other expressions and phrases.
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Something slips your mind.
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If something slips your mind, that just means you forgot.
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I was calling.
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Why I was calling instead of I am calling.
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Sometimes we use the past continuous tense to ask questions.
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I was calling to see if you could babysit.
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I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me.
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It just adds an extra layer of politeness.
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And now we'll see all that vocabulary in context and watch the conversations again.
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Hey, I just wanted to remind you that you still owe me money for the hotel in Cancun.
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Oh my gosh, thank you so much for reminding me.
272
It totally slipped my mind.
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No problem.
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Do you have Venmo?
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Yes, I do.
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What's your handle?
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I'll text it to you.
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Okay, thanks.
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I will get on that.
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I will pay you right away.
281
Hey Jane, I heard you broke your foot.
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Can you believe it?
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I tripped on the stairs.
284
Oh my gosh, are you immobilized?
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Yeah, I'm in a boot and I'm non -weight -bearing for six to eight weeks.
286
Wow, how can we help?
287
Would it be helpful for us to take Tim to school?
288
We've got most days covered, but actually it would be great if you could take him on Friday.
289
Great, no problem.
290
7 .30 okay?
291
That's perfect.
292
He'll be all ready to go.
293
Thank you so much.
294
Perfect.
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Hey, we want to come by to meet the new baby.
296
Would Sunday work?
297
Oh my gosh, that's so sweet.
298
Yeah, we have nothing planned.
299
Does one work for you?
300
Yes, we want to bring some food for you guys.
301
Are there any dietary restrictions or foods you absolutely hate?
302
No, no restrictions and we like pretty much everything.
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Great, we'll see you then.
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Oh good, I'm so excited for you to meet him.
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Perfect.
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Hey Rachel, how are you?
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Great.
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It is such a relief to be heading into the weekend with the Johnson Project done.
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Yeah, totally.
310
You put in so much overtime for that.
311
I did.
312
That was a tight deadline.
313
Hey, how are you?
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Honestly, not very good.
315
Last week I was laid off.
316
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
317
Yeah, it's a huge bummer.
318
My whole team was let go.
319
Oh no. So, not doing great today.
320
That's hard.
321
I'm really sorry.
322
Thanks.
323
I'm just taking a few days to lay low and then I'll start looking for work next week.
324
Good luck.
325
Hey Dana, I was calling to see if you could babysit on Friday.
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Oh, I can't.
327
I'm not free that evening.
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I am free Saturday evening though.
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I'm sure we can change our reservations.
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Let's do Saturday.
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Does seven the clockwork it does great thank you see you then you're welcome so when do you leave for london
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tomorrow night so you're taking the red eye brutal i cannot sleep on planes i can
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so i'm not worried about that
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but the jet lag will be tough well just douse yourself
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in lattes your first day i do love a good latte then knock yourself out with sleeping pills the first night Yeah, I'll do that.
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I do want to get on that new time zone quickly since it's such a short trip.
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I would love it if every day this week, you watched the training part of the video where you participate out loud in the conversation.
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The more you practice speaking, the easier it becomes.
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Here's an idea, try making up your own responses within the conversations.
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Just anything to get you thinking and speaking.
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Don't forget to head over to rachelsenglish .com free to get my free course, The Top 3 Ways to Master the American Accent.
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Keep your learning going now with this video and don't forget to subscribe with notifications on.
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I absolutely love being your English teacher.
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That's it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Need Conversation Practice? Right This Way!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: speaking, gosh, heading, calling, restriction. This video has 344 sentences and 2829 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:36. The speaker talks at a steady 137 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| gosh | /ɡɑːʃ/ | A mild expression of surprise or enthusiasm. |
| restriction noun | /ɹɪˈstɹɪkʃən/ | The act of restricting, or the state of being restricted. |
| deadline noun | /ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/ | A time limit in the form of a date on or before which something must be completed. |
| dietary adjective | /ˈdaɪəˌtɛɹi/ | Pertaining to a prescribed diet; (generally), relating to what a person or animal eats. |
| remind verb | /ɹəˈmaɪnd/ | To cause one to experience a memory (of someone or something); to bring to the notice or consideration (of a person). |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| slip verb | /ˈslɪp/ | To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction. |
| allergy noun | /ˈæl.əɹ.d͡ʒi/ | A disorder of the immune system causing adverse reactions to substances (allergens) not harmful to most and marked by the body's production of histamines and… |
| pour verb | /poɹ/ | To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it. |
| helpful adjective | /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ | Furnishing help; giving aid; useful. |
| boot noun | /but/ | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. |
| accent noun | /ækˈsɛnt/ | A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to… |
| stairs noun | /ˈstɛɹz/ | A contiguous set of steps connecting two floors. |
| brutal adjective | /ˈbɹuːtəl/ | Savagely violent, vicious, ruthless, or cruel, often in an unintelligent manner. |
| pill noun | /pɪl/ | A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lay off verb | (of an employer) To dismiss (workers) from employment, e.g. at a time of low business volume or through no fault of the worker, often with a severance package. | |
| knock out verb | To strike or bump (someone or something) out. | |
| run across verb | To cross by running. | |
| book up verb | To reserve or book all of something, for example by purchasing all the tickets. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| speak out verb | To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Don't leave me hanging in silence.
- I'll text it to you.
- Wow, how can we help?
- Do you love babies as much as I do?
- Does one work for you?
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 laid · is let · was let |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've chosen |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was heading · was downsizing · was calling |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | practice speaking · start looking |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 109 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I'll, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, restriction /ɹɪˈstɹɪkʃən/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/, vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, unconscious /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, continuous /kənˈtɪn.juː.əs/, participate /pɑːˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/
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 gosh, restriction, deadline.
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.