Shadowing Practice: Part 1: Everything I made for my Nonno’s 100th birthday! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Here is everything that I made and served at my Nono's 100th birthday party
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because when someone you love reaches a milestone this big, a simple lunch won't do.
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After coming home from a massive grocery haul, I put on my apron and got to work and as usual, dessert came first.
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Nono's all -time favorite dessert is tiramisu, so of course that had to be the cake for a special B -Day and since we were feeding the entire family,
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I made the biggest tiramisu I had ever made in a pan I specifically bought for this.
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Next, I got started on roasting tomatoes for one of two pasta dishes as I'd be serving.
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You see that muscle?
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Seriously, look at that.
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Clearly delirious.
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I moved on to peeling, chopping, and seasoning a ton of potatoes as a side to go
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in the oven before working on my late nonna Pompeia's famous breaded artichoke arts that everyone loves.
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Making one of her recipes today made it feel like she was truly part of the celebration.
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I'm inside working hard cooking, and my dad and Ginger are just out here lounging, laying in the sun.
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After a quick five minute break, I got back inside, finished the roasted tomato sauce, and started working on the second pasta dish of the day,
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Linguini alle Vongole, Nonno's all -time favorite pasta dish that always brings him back to being a medical student in Naples, Italy.
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To make my life easier, I steamed and cleaned the clams with the help of Anthony, and while I did that, my mom put out the antipasto as people started arriving,
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including the one and only guest of honor, Nonno Biagio.
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Nonnino, ciao bella.
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Come stai?
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Siamo elegante oggi.
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Mamma mia.
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One by one, everyone greeted him
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and brought him gifts he truly looked like the king holding court
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and i loved it because he deserves it the amount of love in
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that room was a testament to the life he has lived
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no no has always shown up for everyone in his family
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and his community and at 100 years old all
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that love comes right back to him at this point i made a quick change into my party dress but immediately
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because with everyone there it was finally time to fire up the fried calamari
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which honestly was a bit chaotic in the moment.
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It's acting like he helps at all.
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But calamari is best served fresh hot out of the fryer.
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Only the best for an oddno.
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He approved, but informed us that he needed a little cold beer to wash them down, so we got on that stat before frying up the rest.
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While everyone enjoyed the calamari, charcuterie, and the rest of the appetizers, I started firing up the main course.
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My friends over at Lobel sent over the most insane thick -cut ribeyes I have ever seen, and with steaks this beautiful,
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there's not much you have to do other than heavily salted and grill it to perfection.
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I set up Grillmaster Anthony and in the meantime ran back inside to get the pastas ready to go.
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I used hiragatoni for the roasted tomato sauce and of course linguine for the clams.
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Shout out to our friend Gianluca for helping me toss, toss, toss this pasta before finishing it off with some fresh parsley.
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I ran back out to go check on the steaks, which were looking amazing.
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I pulled them off the grill and while they rested, I plated it out of the final garnishes of the pasta
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and then sliced up these gorgeous steaks i mean it truly
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could not have come out more perfect a huge shout out to my dad anthony
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and friends who helped us pull this all together we sat out all the food
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and everyone dug in
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and i got to sit with the birthday boy for a bit before it was time to finish up
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that massive tiramisú with some cocoa powder and topping it with yes none other than
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Part 1: Everything I made for my Nonno’s 100th birthday!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: pasta, calamari, steaks, toss, anthony. This video has 48 sentences and 677 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:00. The speaker talks fast, about 226 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 76% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| pasta noun | /ˈpɑ.stə/ | Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating. |
| dish noun | /dɪʃ/ | A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle. |
| steak noun | /steɪk/ | Beefsteak: a slice of beef, broiled or cut for broiling. |
| toss verb | /tɔs/ | To throw with an initial upward direction. |
| roast verb | /ɹoʊst/ | To cook food by heating in an oven or over a fire without covering, resulting in a crisp, possibly even slightly charred appearance. |
| tomato noun | /təˈmeɪ.toʊ/ | A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit. |
| shout verb | /ʃaʊt/ | To utter a sudden and loud cry, as in joy, triumph, exultation or anger, or to attract attention, to animate others, etc. |
| fry verb | /fɹaɪ/ | To cook (something) in hot fat. |
| grill noun | /ɡɹɪl/ | A grating; a grid of wire or a sheet of material with a pattern of holes or slots, usually used to protect something while allowing the passage of air and… |
| dessert noun | /dɪˈzɝt/ | The last course of a meal, consisting of fruit, sweet confections etc. |
| thick adjective | /θɪk/ | Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension. |
| muscle noun | /ˈmʌs.əl/ | A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement. |
| insane adjective | /ɪnˈseɪn/ | Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad. |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| gorgeous adjective | /ˈɡoɹd͡ʒəs/ | Sumptuously dressed. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| finish up verb | To complete the last details of a task. | |
| get back verb | Return to where one came from. | |
| put out verb | To blind (eyes). | |
| run back verb | To take someone home by car; to give someone a lift to their house. | |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
| sit out verb | To decline to participate; particularly, to decline to dance. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has lived · has always shown · have ever seen |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | steaks, which were · friends who helped |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'd, I'm, won't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dish /dɪʃ/, shout /ʃaʊt/, celebration /ˌsɛl.ɪˈbɹeɪ.ʃən/, perfection /pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/, charcuterie /ʃɑɹˈkutəɹi/
- Long words — get the stress right: celebration /ˌsɛl.ɪˈbɹeɪ.ʃən/, calamari /kæləˈmɑːɹi/, tiramisu /ˌtɪɹəˈmisu/, antipasto /ˌæntiˈpɑstəʊ/, appetizer /ˈæpɪˌtaɪzə/
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 pasta, dish, steak.
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.