Shadowing Practice: Queen interview: Brian May on We Will Rock You - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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It was an acknowledgement that our audience had become part of the show
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and we could no longer just regard it as a one-way experience.
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We weren't just playing to an audience, they were interacting and changing what we were.
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So this was a way of embracing it.
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And I know when the idea happened, it was Bingley Hall in the Midlands.
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And one particular night when the audience sang everything quite deafeningly.
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You could hardly hear yourself play, you know, which was wonderful.
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And this is probably fairly normal these days, but you have to understand in those days, it didn't happen to rock groups.
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Rock groups really played and people sat there and they listened or they stood and listened or they banged their heads.
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They did not sing along to Led Zeppelin, you know, not normally.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 11 sentences and 142 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:54. The speaker talks at a natural 159 words per minute, close to everyday conversation.
Key vocabulary in this video
13 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| regard noun | /ɹɪˈɡɑːd/ | A steady look, a gaze. |
| bang noun | /ˈbæŋ/ | A sudden percussive noise. |
| embrace verb | /ɛmˈbɹes/ | To clasp (someone or each other) in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug. |
| interact verb | /ɪn.təˈɹækt/ | To engage in communication and other shared activities (with someone). |
| acknowledgment noun | /əkˈnɑ.lɪd͡ʒ.mənt/ | The act of acknowledging |
| deafeningly adverb | /ˈdɛfənɪŋ(ɡ)li/ | In a deafening manner. |
| sing verb | /ˈsɪŋ/ | To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice. |
| normally adverb | /ˈnɔː.mə.li/ | Under normal conditions or circumstances; usually; most of the time |
| hardly adverb | /ˈhɑɹdli/ | Barely, only just, almost not. |
| fairly adverb | /ˈfeɹ.li/ | In a fair manner; fair; not biased or skewed or favouring a certain party |
| audience noun | /ˈɔːdi.əns/ | A group of people within hearing; specifically, a large gathering of people listening to or watching a performance, speech, etc. |
| particular adjective | /pɑrˈtɪk.jə.lɚ/ | Specific; discrete; concrete. |
| wonderful adjective | /ˈwʌndəfl̩/ | Tending to excite wonder; surprising, extraordinary. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | know, which was |
Pronunciation to watch
- Long words — get the stress right: acknowledgment /əkˈnɑ.lɪd͡ʒ.mənt/, deafeningly /ˈdɛfənɪŋ(ɡ)li/, particular /pɑrˈtɪk.jə.lɚ/
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 regard, bang, embrace.
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.