Shadowing Practice: Ordering in a Restaurant in Slow German (for German Beginners) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Ordering in a Restaurant in Slow German”. This video has 224 sentences and 1302 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:50. The speaker talks slowly, about 101 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 33% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 41 of its 224 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hunger noun | /ˈhʌŋɡɚ/ | A need or compelling desire for food. |
| vegan noun | /ˈviːɡən/ | A person who does not eat, drink or otherwise consume any animal products |
| 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. |
| seed noun | /siːd/ | Any propagative portion of a plant which may be sown, such as true seeds, seed-like fruits, tubers, or bulbs. |
| delicious adjective | /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/ | Pleasing to the sense of taste; tasty. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| interactive adjective | /ˌɪn.tɚˈæk.tɪv/ | Interacting with or communicating with and reacting to each other; influencing or having an effect on each other; acting or capable of acting on each other or… |
| bald adjective | /bɔːld/ | Having little or no hair, fur, or feathers. |
| lekker adjective | /ˈlɛkə(ɹ)/ | Tasty, nice, fun, great. |
| ciao | /t͡ʃaʊ/ | Hello, hi. |
| edamame noun | /ˌɛdəˈmɑːmeɪ/ | Fresh green soybeans boiled as a vegetable. |
| sesame noun | /ˈsɛsəmi/ | A tropical Asian plant (Sesamum indicum) bearing small flat seeds used as food and as a source of oil. |
| condense verb | /kənˈdɛns/ | To concentrate toward the essence by making more close, compact, or dense, thereby decreasing size or volume. |
| dort verb | To become pettish; sulk. | |
| euer adverb | Early Modern spelling of ever. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, can't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, interactive /ˌɪn.tɚˈæk.tɪv/, edamame /ˌɛdəˈmɑːmeɪ/
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 hunger, vegan, vocabulary.
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.































