Shadowing Practice: Never Stop Discovering | Civil and Environmental Engineering - 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
C1Where Does Stormwater Go?
C1FAR FROM SHORE MyView Literacy Fifth Grade Unit 2 Week 1 Read Aloud
C1Why Is So Much of the Amazon Still Unexplored?
C1What if the world runs out of sand? | The Royal Society
B2Exploring Work Integrated Learning (WIL) at SEBE
C1Cambridge 10 Test 4 Section 4 Listening
C1Your Life as Every Industrial Engineer Rank
C1Nature-based Solutions in action: Lessons from the energy and water sectors
B2We Sank A Giant Barge! Onboard Cameras Capture The Seafloor Impact.
B2I MADE A RIVER AQUASCAPE FOR THE PERFECT NANO FISH! Aquascape Tutorial
B2CAE8 O TEST1 PART3
B2OU 3MT 2018 Finalist: Subhashini Gamagedara
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Never Stop Discovering”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: river, study, flood. This video has 17 sentences and 232 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:23. The speaker talks at a natural 168 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| flood noun | /flʌd/ | An overflow of a large amount of water (usually disastrous) from a lake or other body of water due to excessive rainfall or other input of water. |
| experiment noun | /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/ | A test under controlled conditions made to either demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of… |
| laboratory noun | /ˈlæb(ə)ɹəˌtɔɹi/ | A room, building or institution equipped for scientific research, experimentation or analysis. |
| pump noun | /pʌmp/ | A device for moving or compressing a liquid or gas. |
| basin noun | /ˈbeɪsɪn/ | A wide bowl for washing, sometimes affixed to a wall. |
| adjust verb | /əˈd͡ʒʌst/ | To modify. |
| consequence noun | /ˈkɑn.sɪ.kwəns/ | An effect; something that follows a cause as a result. |
| particle noun | /ˈpɑɹtək(ə)l/ | A very small piece of matter, a fragment; especially, the smallest possible part of something. |
| hydraulic adjective | /haɪˈdɹɔːlɪk/ | Pertaining to water. |
| gravel noun | /ˈɡɹævəl/ | Small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast. |
| downstream adjective | /ˌdaʊnˈstɹiːm/ | Toward the lower part of a stream; with the current (of a river, brook, or other flow of fluid). |
| upstream adjective | /ʌpˈstɹiːm/ | In a direction against the flow of a current or stream of fluid (typically water); upriver. |
| tsunami noun | /(t)suːˈnɑːmi/ | A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption; often a… |
| flume noun | /fluːm/ | A ravine or gorge, usually one with water running through. |
| pebble noun | /ˈpɛbəl/ | A small stone, especially one rounded by the action of water. |
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 born |
Pronunciation to watch
- Long words — get the stress right: experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, laboratory /ˈlæb(ə)ɹəˌtɔɹi/
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 flood, experiment, laboratory.
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.