Shadowing Practice: Question Intonation - One Easy Tip to Remember! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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When asking questions in English, sometimes your voice needs to go up at the end, and sometimes it needs to go down.
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In this video, you'll learn an easy tip to help you choose which one. Do you like pizza?
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What's your favourite pizza?
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Here's the one easy tip to help you choose if your intonation goes up or down.
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Ask yourself, what's the answer to my question?
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If the answer to your question is yes or no, then the intonation in your voice needs to rise or go up.
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Questions that start with the words can,
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do, are, is or have usually have an answer of yes or no. So our intonation needs to rise. Are you hungry?
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Hungry. Does he eat meat?
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Meat.
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Have you tried durian?
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durian durian for all other questions our voice needs to fall
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or go down when we ask the question questions that start with words like what when where how and
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why don't have yes no answers
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so our intonation goes down how are you hungry hungry hungry why doesn't
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he eat meat meat meat when did you try durian durian durian
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Okay, let's compare two sentences. Are you hungry?
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Hungry Hungry How are you hungry?
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Hungry Does he eat meat?
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Meat?
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Why doesn't he eat meat?
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meat. Have you tried durian?
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Durian.
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Durian.
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When did you try durian?
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Durian.
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Durian. Do you like pizza?
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Pizza What's your favourite pizza?
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Pizza Now it's your turn. Are you hungry?
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Why doesn't he eat meat?
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When did you try durian? Do you like pizza?
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Remember this easy tip next time you're asking a question in English and make sure you get your intonation right!
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Subscribe to my YouTube channel to get more videos about asking questions in English.
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Bye for now!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Question Intonation - One Easy Tip to Remember!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: durian, hungry, meat, pizza, intonation. This video has 34 sentences and 297 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:11. The speaker talks slowly, about 71 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 19 of its 34 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
12 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hungry adjective | /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
| pizza noun | /ˈpi.tsə/ | A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| subscribe verb | /səbˈskɹaɪb/ | To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name). |
| durian noun | /ˈdʊə.ɹi.ən/ | Any of several trees, genus Durio, of Southeast Asia. |
| intonation noun | /ɪntəˈneɪʃən/ | The rise and fall of the voice in speaking. |
| meat noun | /mit/ | The flesh (muscle tissue) of a killed animal used as food. |
| favourite adjective | /ˈfeɪv.ɹɪt/ | Most-liked. (In other words, [person]'s favorite [noun] = the [noun] that [person] likes the most.) |
| sentence noun | /ˈsɛn.təns/ | The judicial order for a punishment to be imposed on a person convicted of a crime. |
| choose verb | /t͡ʃuːz/ | To pick; to make the choice of; to select. |
| rise verb | /ɹaɪz/ | To move upwards. |
| channel noun | /ˈt͡ʃænəl/ | The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. |
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do you like pizza?
- What's your favourite pizza?
- Ask yourself, what's the answer to my question?
- Have you tried durian?
- When did you try durian?
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 6 contractions and reduced forms, such as doesn't, don't, you'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 hungry, pizza, compare.
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.