Shadowing Practice: Read and Repeat English Story (Intermediate) – Lesson 94: Connected Reading, Shadowing - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
290 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Well, hello, all of my students.
2
I hope you're having a fantastic day.
3
My name is Jay
4
and welcome to another English lesson here on the channel where I have the opportunity to help you with your English comprehension,
5
vocabulary, and your English fluency.
6
Today, I have a read and repeat lesson.
7
Now, it is a C1 leveled story, so it's somewhat intermediate.
8
Of course, if you hang around until the end, I will have a quiz of today's lesson.
9
Richard was shocked, shocked when he learned that his younger brother,
10
David, had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
11
Also called MS. OK, before I explain, let's read and repeat.
12
Richard was shocked. When he learned that.
13
His younger brother, David. Had been diagnosed with.
14
Multiple sclerosis.
15
Okay, so one key word is diagnosed.
16
So when a person is diagnosed with something, they have usually been examined by someone.
17
It doesn't necessarily have to just be a doctor.
18
Okay, you can look at a child, you can look at your spouse or a loved one, and you could diagnose certain things.
19
You can look at their facial expression and you could diagnose from your observation,
20
are you feeling okay?
21
So basically a diagnosis is an examination where someone comes up with an opinion or a conclusion.
22
Let's continue to find out what happened with Richard and David.
23
He never he had never heard of the disease disease before
24
and spent hours reading about how it affects the nervous system.
25
Let's read and repeat.
26
He had never heard. Of the disease before. And spent hours reading. About how it affects. About how it affects.
27
The nervous system.
28
Excellent job.
29
So, of course, a disease can be defined as a sickness.
30
OK, now, sometimes we use the word disease to discuss someone that may have an illness that is serious.
31
OK, you wouldn't say if a person had a cold that that's a disease, you would just say, hey, you're sick.
32
OK, but there are certain sicknesses that are considered major or serious.
33
OK, so we define those as diseases and some sicknesses don't have man made cures.
34
OK, so they consider it to be an incurable disease or sickness.
35
All right.
36
Now, notice the word affects affects.
37
Now, there's another word called affect.
38
It's spelled with an E instead of with an A.
39
They sound the same, but they mean two different things.
40
OK, so effect and affect sound the same again, but they mean two different things.
41
So what does affect mean?
42
All right.
43
What does the word affect mean?
44
It simply means how something influences a person, how something works on a person.
45
Okay.
46
So they wanted to know how multiple sclerosis affected a person.
47
Okay.
48
So the context of effect here has to do with how it works on a person, how it influence,
49
how it troubles someone's health or someone else.
50
Okay.
51
And I'm trying to keep it very basic and simple because I know many of you, you're taking notes, you're listening,
52
you're writing, and I want to give you the general concept of what something means.
53
Now, the nervous system, the nervous system,
54
notice MS or multiple sclerosis affected the nervous system.
55
Say that with me.
56
Nervous system.
57
OK, it's the part of a person's body where how can I describe it?
58
Matter of fact, let me just read.
59
I know how to describe it, but let me just read a simple definition.
60
The nervous system is the body's command center.
61
That's a great way.
62
Made up of nerve tissue that sends and receives electrical signals throughout the body.
63
OK, so.
64
When I told you guys in one of my lessons a few weeks ago
65
that I was stung by a yellow jacket right on my head.
66
OK, the nervous system sent a signal to me to let me know I'm injured right here.
67
OK, and I knew it was going to hurt because I saw that yellow jacket come in fast.
68
It was like, bye.
69
And for the first second, it didn't hurt.
70
But in just a few moments, oh, it started throbbing on my head.
71
It affected my nervous system.
72
When a person gets bitten by a rattlesnake, the poison affects the nervous system.
73
OK, so it's the part of our body that sends signals to the brain to let us know what's happening,
74
what's going on.
75
MS or multiple sclerosis cause muscle weakness,
76
balance issues and fatigue or tiredness, fatigue.
77
So Richard knew they had to make changes in their home.
78
Man, what an awesome brother to not cast his brother away now that he has some challenges.
79
So let's read and repeat.
80
MS could cause muscle weakness.
81
Now, let me say MS also could be an abbreviation for the state of Mississippi.
82
OK, MS, Mississippi.
83
But here, MS stands for multiple sclerosis.
84
Let's continue.
85
MS could cause muscle weakness, balance issues and fatigue.
86
So Richard knew they had to make changes in their home.
87
Balance issues.
88
So when a person has balance issues, they may can't stand straight.
89
You may see them do this often.
90
Muscle weakness.
91
They may can't pick up simply something like a bottle of water
92
or they cannot write with a pen because they're having muscle issues.
93
And so when you see someone battling with that, I think it's important to be empathetic.
94
And it should also cause us to reflect, to be grateful that we have our health and our strength.
95
But let's find out what happens.
96
First, we see that Richard studied and then he decided to make necessary changes in their home.
97
Um, I had some friends of the family and I told you guys in my last video,
98
um, how I had a friend who passed on last week and how she had her legs amputated,
99
uh, probably about a year or so before she passed.
100
But when I went back over their house, after she was bound to a wheelchair, they had to make changes in the home.
101
They had to put a ramp in the front yard so she could get into the house.
102
They moved some of the equipment around or some of the furniture around in the house.
103
I was telling you about my neighbor who's elderly and he fell.
104
He's considering getting a hospital bed.
105
So when he falls on the floor or needs to get in the bed, he can pull himself in.
106
So depending on what a person is going through, they often or might have to make changes in their home.
107
And that's when the bills start adding up because it costs money to make certain changes.
108
Let's find out what happens.
109
He immediately, immediately, immediately or quickly or suddenly or without haste immediately started notice rearranging,
110
rearranging, say that rearranging or changing furniture to make it easier for David to move around.
111
And they even installed handrails on the bathroom.
112
You know, before we read and repeat that sentence,
113
I can remember my grandparents and I didn't understand as a child why they had a chair in the shower.
114
I didn't understand why my mother -in -law and sometimes other elderly people, when you go to use their restroom,
115
it's like they have a high chair on the toilet.
116
You know, it's sitting way up.
117
I didn't understand as a child that as you get older, your body changes.
118
And so to help assist yourself in life,
119
sometimes you have to purchase certain things or make rearrangements in your home.
120
I can remember, you know, taking a bath as a kid, taking a shower.
121
You didn't think anything about it.
122
Why does my grandmother have this showerhead that's seemingly on a rope that you have to hold.
123
It's because when you are going through things in your body or getting older, you don't want to slip and fall.
124
So you get these things to make life more comfortable.
125
Isn't it amazing how our perspective changes from being young to older and just experiencing life.
126
OK.
127
All right.
128
Let's read and repeat.
129
He immediately started rearranging furniture to make
130
it easier for David to move around.
131
And they even installed handrails in the bathroom.
132
Excellent job.
133
Let's continue.
134
As the days passed,
135
Richard became more aware of David's struggles or he became more conscious of some of his brother's challenges.
136
You know, sometimes we're not empathetic or we think about what other people go through until we experience it for ourself.
137
There's a saying that we have in English.
138
We say, put yourself in my shoes or some people will say until you've walked a mile in my shoes.
139
And that simply means you don't know what I'm going through until you sit down
140
and talk to me or you've been through it yourself.
141
And so now we see that Richard is becoming more conscious of what his brother has to deal with.
142
But sometimes it's normal for us to be able to open our own door for ourselves
143
when we go in a restaurant or a hotel.
144
But imagine someone who has multiple sclerosis and they can't open the door.
145
Sometimes we take for granted feeding ourselves.
146
You know, when I bless my food now, sometimes I get strange looks because I thank God not only for my food.
147
I not only ask him to bless my food,
148
but I've gotten to the point now to where I realize it's a blessing to be able to feed yourself.
149
Oh, I'm telling you, until you have to constantly feed someone else.
150
or you see someone just struggling to bring a fork to their mouth just to feed themselves.
151
It makes you grateful.
152
I don't know about you.
153
It just makes me grateful.
154
OK.
155
And so now that's where Richard is.
156
Notice, let me start from the beginning.
157
As the days passed, Richard became more aware of David's struggles
158
and he found ways to help without making his brother feel helpless.
159
Let's read and repeat.
160
As the days passed, Richard became more aware of David's struggles.
161
And he found ways to help without making his brother feel helpless.
162
I've got to pause and tell you guys this story.
163
So there's some people that may have different ailments in their body or struggles in their body or pain,
164
and they don't want anybody to help them.
165
They it may be because of pride or maybe they don't want you to have pity on them.
166
It could be a number of reasons.
167
And some people will tell you, look, I've got it.
168
Leave me alone.
169
Don't bother me.
170
I got to tell you guys this story.
171
So you know that I strive to have three free lessons for you guys every week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
172
But I have a life outside of this.
173
And I have other things that I do, schools that I visit, kids that I mentor.
174
You guys know I do landscaping, you know, to help pay the bills.
175
I cut grass.
176
And so yesterday.
177
My lawnmower broke and well, it didn't break.
178
I thought it was broken.
179
And so I had to take it to the to the repair shop, which was about 30 minutes away.
180
And then I had to figure out how I was going to finish cutting my yard.
181
So I called up a friend of mine and he and I asked him, could I use his lawnmower?
182
And he said, sure, no thing, no problem.
183
So I went over to get it.
184
And here here's the story.
185
So while we're loading up the lawnmower, he's telling me about a neighbor and it was an elderly woman or an older woman.
186
And her grass had grown up to about your knees.
187
It was knee high.
188
It was thick.
189
It was making the neighborhood look bad.
190
So what he did was he went over to cut her yard for free.
191
I mean, he went over there, knocked on the door and asked if he could cut her yard.
192
He wasn't going to charge her.
193
She didn't come to the door.
194
So he began to cut the yard and he finished cutting the yard, making it look presentable.
195
And how about this woman called the police?
196
she called the sheriff on him because he gave her a free yard cutting.
197
Okay.
198
And so he asked the sheriff, what are you going to do?
199
Lock me up.
200
I'm trying to be a good Samaritan.
201
And he said, no, don't worry about it.
202
We understand.
203
And he just left.
204
So a few weeks later, the neighbor on the other side of the house started smelling something.
205
And so they came and got my friend and said, do you smell that? And he said, yeah.
206
So they were concerned.
207
He had worked at a funeral home before.
208
So he figured something was dead at that house, a pet, an animal or something.
209
So they go to knock on the door and the smell got stronger.
210
And come to find out, they called the police.
211
The sheriff came over, knocked down the door.
212
And that same woman was in the house, laid on the floor dead after about three weeks or so.
213
And just a sad story.
214
But I told that story because it made me think of this story that I have here.
215
Some people, no matter their condition, they don't want your help.
216
You can try to help them be nice, be courteous.
217
And for whatever reason, they're just mean.
218
Look, don't let that stop you from being nice and realize there are just some mean folk in this world.
219
And what's amazing is, I mean, we all are going to die one day,
220
but who wants to be remembered as being that person that died?
221
It was just mean to your own neighbors.
222
Wow.
223
OK, I've extended today's lesson by sharing that story.
224
Let's continue.
225
The diagnosis, although challenging.
226
gave them more time together as Richard became more involved in David's daycare.
227
Let's read and repeat the diagnosis,
228
although challenging, gave them more time together as Richard became more involved in David's daily care.
229
They began spending their evenings talking more.
230
So now they're cherishing their time, sharing stories and even planning small trips.
231
That David could enjoy without over exerting himself.
232
So when you talk about over exerting.
233
it simply means you're not going to use too much energy to do something.
234
Have you ever tried to lift something and you knew it was heavy,
235
but you tried to lift it anyway and you ended up hurting your back or straining yourself?
236
You overexerted yourself.
237
Okay.
238
It being just me and my wife, sometimes I try to get her to move stuff with me.
239
Help me move this.
240
And she's like, I can.
241
I'm like, Yes, you can.
242
I get her sometimes to over exert herself.
243
Let's read and repeat.
244
They began spending their evenings.
245
Talking more.
246
Sharing stories.
247
And even planning small trips. That David could enjoy.
248
Without over exerting himself.
249
Excellent job.
250
OK, one more sentence.
251
The changes in their living arrangements were difficult at first.
252
But they brought the but they bought the brothers closer than ever before.
253
Let's read and repeat the changes in their living arrangements.
254
living arrangements arrangements were difficult at first but they brought the brothers closer than ever before
255
excellent job now look i'm sorry guys sometimes i get
256
so into these videos and i made this one a little bit longer than I usually do,
257
but consider that bonus time together since I didn't give you three videos this week.
258
Okay, let's read through today's story at a faster pace without stopping,
259
and let's see if you can keep up as well as understand what I'm reading.
260
Richard was shocked when he learned that his younger brother David had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or MS.
261
He had never heard of the disease before and spent hours reading about it, about how it affects the nervous system.
262
MS could cause muscle weakness, balance issues and fatigue.
263
So Richard knew they had to make changes in their home.
264
He immediately started rearranging furniture to make it easier for David to move around.
265
and they even installed handrails in the bathroom.
266
As the days passed, Richard became more aware of David's struggles
267
and he found ways to help without making his brother feel helpless.
268
The diagnosis, although challenging, gave them more time together as Richard became more involved in David's daily health care.
269
They began spending their evenings talking more,
270
sharing stories, and even planning small trips that David could enjoy without overexerting himself.
271
The changes in their living arrangements were difficult at first, but they brought the brothers closer than ever before.
272
All right, let's look at a few quiz questions and then I'm going to let you go.
273
Number one, answer these in the comments section.
274
What does diagnosed mean?
275
Number two, what does fatigued mean or fatigue?
276
And number three, what is, I forgot, the nervous system?
277
What is the nervous system?
278
Well, I hope you have enjoyed today's lesson.
279
Wow, I had a great time talking about something.
280
and teaching you something that you may not have known about.
281
Now, if you want my lessons on PDF form, be sure to join my Patreon.
282
The link is in the description.
283
And as I always say, thank you so much for hanging out with me.
284
And if you have a friend that's also trying to improve their English, be sure to share today's lesson with them.
285
I'm about to go make another video English lesson for my Parlay with Jay channel.
286
So make sure you check that out where you can get some English listening lessons to help strengthen your English listening.
287
All right.
288
Until next time, enjoy your day.
289
And I hope you join me on my next English lesson.
290
Thank you.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
![Learn Advanced English Vocabulary - "Fear" English Words, C-1 [Lesson #14]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Kd7VkzewbVY/mqdefault.jpg)
C11
Learn Advanced English Vocabulary - "Fear" English Words, C-1 [Lesson #14]
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
B11
Learn English From The Movies - Minions & Monsters Makes Bank, Is Clever, But Loses Its Magic
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
![Learn Advanced English Vocabulary - "Cooking" English Words, C-1 [Lesson #7]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aW7sRGF41BA/mqdefault.jpg)
C11
Learn Advanced English Vocabulary - "Cooking" English Words, C-1 [Lesson #7]
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
![Learn Advanced English Vocabulary - "Delicious" English Words, C-1 [Lesson #13]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lu81jUEJPAI/mqdefault.jpg)
C11
Learn Advanced English Vocabulary - "Delicious" English Words, C-1 [Lesson #13]
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
Learn English From The News - Violence Erupts In France Macron Warns Groups Are Exploiting Protests
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
English Comprehension & Conversation Practice (Lesson #12) + English Questions
Daily Conversation
B22
Learn English From The News - U.S. Bans Nearly $1B in Canadian Imports as Trade Dispute Escalates
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B14
Learn English Through Story - Read and Repeat Shadowing (Lesson #65) - English Shadowing
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C13
Learn English From The News - Google, Elon Musk's SpaceX Discuss Launching Data Centers Into Orbit
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B1Read and Repeat English Lesson 6 - American English Connected Reading, English Speech Comprehension
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1Learn English From Podcast Ep. 66 - "Family Time" In English
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
![Learn Advanced English Vocabulary - "Sick" English Words, C-1 [Lesson #11]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/fU-huNMz-ug/mqdefault.jpg)
B2Learn Advanced English Vocabulary - "Sick" English Words, C-1 [Lesson #11]
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
C11
221 sentences
LISTENING to English with Advanced SHADOWING Speaking Practice
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
147 sentences
INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH STORY 🌧️ Rainy Days 🎨 B2 | Level 4 - 5 | BRITISH ENGLISH ACCENT WITH SUBTITLES
British AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B27
321 sentences
Special delivery | Learn English with real-life stories | Bonus 127
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
93 sentences
美音连读练习 American English Connected Reading | A trip to a forest
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
373 sentences
Read out loud with me! Practice vocabulary, pronunciation and connected speech | Harry Potter
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B127
27 sentences
LEARNING ENGLISH - LESSON 1 ( Repeat and Remember)
British AccentBusiness EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B24
24 sentences
Sound American With Shadowing Exercises in English
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C17
44 sentences
The Real Secret to English Fluency
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C113
263 sentences
English Podcast for Learning English B2 C1 Health and Wellness
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C16
222 sentences
Improve Your English Speaking with (B2–C1) Shadowing Practice | Repeat After Me
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Read and Repeat English Story (Intermediate) – Lesson 94: Connected Reading, Shadowing”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Richard, nervous, lesson, brother, changes. This video has 290 sentences and 2988 words to shadow. The speech runs for 25:54. The speaker talks at a steady 115 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| muscle noun | /ˈmʌs.əl/ | A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement. |
| fatigue noun | /fəˈtiːɡ/ | A weariness caused by exertion; exhaustion. |
| arrangement noun | /əˈɹeɪnd͡ʒmənt/ | The act of arranging. |
| weakness noun | /ˈwik.nɪs/ | The condition of being weak. |
| shock noun | /ʃɔk/ | A sudden, heavy impact. |
| furniture noun | /ˈfɝ.nɪ.t͡ʃɚ/ | Large movable item(s), usually in a room, which enhance(s) the room's characteristics, functionally or decoratively. |
| diagnosis noun | /daɪəɡˈnəʊsɪs/ | The process of, or an instance of, identification of the nature and cause of a medical condition or illness. |
| sickness noun | /ˈsɪknɪs/ | The quality or state of being sick or diseased; illness; an illness. |
| installed verb | /ɪnˈstɔːld/ | readied for use |
| grateful adjective | /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ə)l/ | Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful. |
| knock verb | /nɑk/ | To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood. |
| sheriff noun | /ˈʃɛɹɪf/ | (High Sheriff) An official of a shire or county office, responsible for carrying out court orders, law enforcement and other duties. |
| elderly adjective | /ˈɛldɚli/ | old; having lived for relatively many years. |
| helpless adjective | /ˈhɛlplɪs/ | Unable to defend oneself. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| move around verb | To relocate to new homes repeatedly; to not live in any one place for long. |
| add up verb | To take the sum of; to total. |
| call up verb | To retrieve from personal or computer memory. |
| come over verb | To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse. |
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I hope you're having a fantastic day.
- Let's find out what happens.
- You know, it's sitting way up.
- You didn't think anything about it.
- I don't know about you.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | had been diagnosed · is diagnosed · can be defined |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have usually been examined · you've walked · you've been |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | friend who passed · someone who has · shop, which was |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 52 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, bath /bɑːθ/, bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, grandmother /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shock /ʃɔk/, sheriff /ˈʃɛɹɪf/, shoe /ˈʃu/, conscious /ˈkɑn.ʃəs/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/
- Long words — get the stress right: necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, electrical /ɪˈlɛktɹɪkəl/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/
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 lesson, muscle, fatigue.
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.