Shadowing Practice: October 16, 2026 - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Train – The train is moving very fast.
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Transportation – Modern transportation helps us travel worldwide.
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Engine – The engine needs to be fixed.
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Practical – The car is practical for driving in the city.
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Feet – It was a great feat to win a trophy and a medal.
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Soar – The hawk is soaring through the sky.
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Aircraft – The aircraft is flying high into the sky.
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Teleport.
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The alien will teleport the sheep into its vehicle.
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Rocket.
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The rocket is soaring away from the planet.
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Hang glider.
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The hang glider is flying above the water.
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Propeller.
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The propeller has three blades.
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Carriage.
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The horse is pulling a carriage.
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Gas.
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The man is putting gas into his car.
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Solar.
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The solar panels are collecting sunlight.
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Hot air balloon.
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The hot air balloons are floating into the sky.
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Going places.
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In the modern world, it's easy to travel.
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Planes fly us across oceans in less than a day.
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We speed between cities in cars, buses, and trains.
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We are so used to traveling like this that we don't often think about it.
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It wasn't always this simple to get around.
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Transportation has changed a lot in the past 100 years.
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Before cars, people rode in carriages pulled by horses.
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In fact, cars were first called horseless carriages.
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The first car was made in 1672 but used a steam engine and didn't go very fast at all.
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Cars didn't become popular until the 1900s.
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Nowadays, cars use gas, electric, and even solar -powered engines.
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They are much faster and also more dangerous.
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The first aircraft wasn't a plane.
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It was a balloon.
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In 1783, a hot air balloon carried a person through the sky for the first time.
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It was amazing, but it wasn't very practical.
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The balloon went wherever the wind blew it.
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It wasn't until the 1900s that people achieved controlled flight.
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The Wright brothers flew the first airplane in 1903.
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It had wooden propellers and flew only 120 feet.
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Even though it was a short flight, it was a remarkable feat.
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Their success let the world know
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that controlled flight was possible air travel has come a long way since the wright brothers
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we send people to the moon in rockets airplanes carry hundreds
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of people at once hang gliders soar through the sky like birds
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and we still have big dreams can you imagine traveling to distant planets
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or teleporting from korea to america in less than a second for early people space flight was just a dream.
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But we did it!
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Maybe our modern dreams are possible too!

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “October 16, 2026”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: balloon, sky, carriage, engine, flight. This video has 53 sentences and 420 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:46. The speaker talks at a natural 152 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 79% 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:

WordPronunciationMeaning
balloon noun/bəˈlun/An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible.
practical adjective/ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/Relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis.
rocket noun/ˈɹɑk.ɪt/A cylindrical projectile that can be fired to a great height through combustion, (specifically) a type of firework of this form, typically exploding with light…
airplane noun/ˈɛɹˌpleɪ̯n/A powered heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings: a fixed-wing aircraft with at least one engine or electric motor.
carriage noun/ˈkæɹɪd͡ʒ/The act of conveying; carrying.
medal noun/ˈmɛdəl/A stamped metal disc used as a personal ornament, a charm, or a religious object.
collect verb/ˈkɑlɪkt/To gather together; amass.
wooden adjective/ˈwʊdn̩/Made of wood.
remarkable adjective/ɹɪˈmɑɹ.kə.bl̩/Worthy of remark; notable; interesting.
wherever/(h)wɛɹˈɛvɚ/Regardless of the place in, at or to which.
blade noun/bleɪd/The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
distant adjective/ˈdɪstənt/Far off (physically, logically or mentally).
sheep noun/ˈʃiːp/A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
trophy noun/ˈtɹoʊfi/An object, usually in the form of a statuette, cup, or shield, awarded for success in a competition or to mark a special achievement.
nowadays adverb/ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/At the present time; in the current era.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
get around verbTo move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters nowhas changed · has come
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itbe fixed · was made
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around nowis moving · is soaring · is flying

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as wasn't, didn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like balloon, practical, rocket.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →