Shadowing Practice: Read with me in Beginner English - Paris in Paris - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hi, welcome to Learn English with Camille.
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I'm Camille and I'm so glad you're here.
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In today's video, I'm going to be reading a short story from my book,
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60 Beginner English Short Stories using the top 2,000 words in English.
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This book is available on Amazon or my website www.learnenglishwithcamille.com.
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If you have this book and you want to follow along, I am on page 132.
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So this story is called Paris in Paris and it's a really fun story.
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I hope you like it.
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I'm going to read the whole story
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and then I'm going to go over it part by part
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and at the end we will do a grammar tip and we will do a few multiple choice questions.
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So each story in this book has five multiple choice,
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five fill in the blank, and five matching exercises.
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We won't have time to do all of those today.
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So let's go ahead and get started.
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Paris in Paris.
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Paris is a college student from the US.
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This semester she's studying abroad in Paris, France.
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Yes, her name is Paris and now she lives in Paris.
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She hears this joke every day.
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Wait, your name is Paris and you're in Paris?
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Oui, she says and smiles politely.
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Paris is taking a French language class at the local university.
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She knows some French, maybe A2 level.
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She can order food, ask for directions, and say, I'm sorry I'm American.
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She uses that one a lot.
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In In class, her teacher speaks mostly in French.
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Paris understands about 60%, well, maybe 50%.
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Today, the teacher says, écrivez une petite présentation.
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Paris writes a short presentation.
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She writes about her hobbies, reading, coffee, and cats.
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When she reads it out loud, she says, J'aime lire, boire du café, et chat.
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The class laughs, not in a mean way, just surprised.
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The teacher gently says, En français, j'aime les chats.
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If you say, et chat, it sounds like you want to drink coffee and cats.
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Paris turns bright red.
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No, just coffee, not cats.
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Later that day, she goes to a bakery.
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She wants one croissant.
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She says, je suis un croissant.
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The baker looks confused.
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Paris realizes she said, I am a croissant.
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She laughs and corrects herself.
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Je voudrais un croissant, back in her room Paris texts her mom good news I am not a croissant
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and also I love it here she may mix up words
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but she's learning and laughing
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and that's the best way to do it okay maybe you
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don't speak French that's okay throughout these 60 stories there's a few of them like this one
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when I mixed in a tiny bit of French there's one with a tiny bit of Spanish
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and a tiny bit of Italian just a little bit
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and I'm curious to see if you're French speaking you obviously would have understood this more
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and related to it in a fun way
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and same for the other stories and I love languages
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and language learning so I wanted to just include a tiny bit of it in this book.
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So let's go ahead and start back from the beginning and I will explain things so you can understand.
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So Paris is the name of a person.
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If you didn't understand that, we can name our child Paris.
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It's a girl name.
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So Paris is a college student.
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In America, we say college student, university student but it's very common to hear college which means after high school.
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So when you're going to college usually you're around 18 years old.
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So she's from the U.S the United States that's an abbreviation.
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This semester she's studying abroad.
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So in the U.S college is divided into two semesters.
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So this semester would mean like one semester of classes.
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I think it would be like half of the year.
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So this semester, this half of the year, she's in Paris, France.
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And yes, like you said, like you heard, her name is Paris.
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And so a joke is something that is funny.
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So people think it's funny because her name is Paris and she lives in Paris.
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Okay so the word we it just means in French.
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I'm sure you know it even if you don't speak French.
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Yes it means yes so she smiles politely.
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She smiles nicely.
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She's taking a French language class at a local university.
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So that means just a university right in town.
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And then if you're watching this, Paris knows about A2 level French.
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Maybe you know A2 level English.
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So that means she can order food, ask for directions, and say, I'm sorry, I'm American.
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I'm sure you can say that with your country too.
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So if you're speaking English and you don't understand something, you can just say, I'm sorry,
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I'm in whatever your nationality is wherever you're from
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and that will give you some grace with people and they'll be like no worries no worries so okay
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in class her French speaks mostly in French
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so mostly means the majority most of it so in most of this story it's English, like 90% of this story is English,
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there's just a tiny bit of French, right?
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So Paris understands 60%, so we say when you see the little percentage sign,
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we say percent, so 60%, well maybe, maybe is like you're guessing, you're not sure, maybe 50%,
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maybe she understands little less.
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So today the teacher says and then it's just a French line
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which means write a little presentation and
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so right after I say the English of that
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so you guys can understand Paris writes a short presentation
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so it's just a short thing presenting something that's what a presentation is.
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She writes about her hobbies.
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Hobbies are things you like to do.
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So her hobbies are reading which right now we're reading.
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I think everyone knows coffee and everyone knows cats.
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So she reads out loud like I was doing with this story.
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I was reading out loud and the French
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that I have in there I basically had her make a little mistake in French
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and the class laughed because it was funny
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but it wasn't like in a mean way like oh you
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are a dumb girl no it was just like oops
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that was funny because in language learning we make silly mistakes
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and it's good to laugh at ourselves and not get stressed out about it
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so in this story she says that she likes to drink coffee
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and cats so that was like the humor of it
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and she turns bright red meaning her cheeks when we
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when our cheeks turn red that means we are embarrassed something happened
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and so she's like no no no i don't like drinking cats just coffee okay
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so later that day she goes to a bakery a bakery is a place
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that sells bread and usually sweet treats anything that you would put in the oven we call that bakery like cookies cakes,
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muffins, all of that would be categorized as bakery and in English we say croissant, croissant.
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I know it's not the French pronunciation but that is how we say it.
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So she said I am a croissant, another little part of humor in the story.
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I hope you guys like my humor.
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I like to just have fun when writing these.
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So she realizes meaning she's like oh my gosh she realized
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what she just said she was aware of what she just said
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and that's when she corrected herself and ordered a croissant in the correct way
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so that would be the equivalent in English of saying like yeah I am a croissant
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or I am cake
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or I am a muffin that's what she did in French instead of I want or I would like.
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And then she corrects herself.
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It's good as a language learner to correct yourself if you recognize
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that you said something wrong oh no problem just change it up.
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So back in her room Paris texts her mom so I think everybody knows what texting is
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on your cell phone you message somebody you text them
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and she says she she tells her mom she's not a croissant
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and that she loves it in paris um so yeah
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that is the story the grammar tip like i mentioned there's
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32 grammar tips is using the present simple verb tense and we use that tense to talk about habits,
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routines, facts, or things that are generally true.
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For example, I use this notebook every day.
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Use is the present simple verb tense.
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Or she goes to class in the morning.
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Goes.
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They read before bed.
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Read.
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So that is the present simple.
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We're going to go on to a couple of multiple choice questions.
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These are on page 134.
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So I think you're going to get these right.
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If you don't, maybe go watch the video again.
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Take some notes.
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Okay.
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Where is Paris studying?
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A London, B Rome, C Paris.
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If you want you can write these answers in the comments too.
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The answer is C Paris.
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Remember the name of the story Paris and Paris?
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Okay we're going to go to another one.
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Do you remember what level is her French?
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A. She doesn't speak any.
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B. Advanced.
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C. A2.
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Give you guys just a second.
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And by the way, at the end of all the stories, I have the answer key.
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So then you can go and make sure that your answers are correct.
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And it is A2.
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Okay, so let's go to one more.
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What does she accidentally say at the bakery?
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Does she say, I eat cats, I want 10 croissants, I am a croissant?
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Let me know this one in the comments, and I'll let you know if you're correct.
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If you're still here at the end of this video,
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that shows me that you really want to learn English and you're dedicated and that makes me so proud of you.
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As I mentioned at the beginning, if you want to learn with all of these stories,
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this is like months worth of studying English and you can find this book on Amazon or my website.
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Thank you so much for being here.
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If you want more videos like this, let me know as well in the comments.
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Thank you.
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Bye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 173 sentences and 1728 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:06. The speaker talks at a steady 123 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| semester noun | /sɪˈmɛstɚ/ | Half of a school year (US) or academic year such as autumn or spring semester. |
| bakery noun | /ˈbeɪ.kə.ɹi/ | A place in which bread (and often other baked goods such as cakes) is baked and/or sold. |
| presentation noun | /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/ | The act of presenting, or something presented. |
| hobby noun | /ˈhɑ.bi/ | An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| tense noun | /tɛns/ | The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists. |
| humour noun | /ˈhjuːmɚ/ | The quality of being amusing, comical, funny. |
| abroad adverb | /əˈbɹɔːd/ | Beyond the bounds of a country; in foreign countries. |
| cheek noun | /t͡ʃiːk/ | The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity. |
| verb noun | /vɝb/ | A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being. |
| percentage noun | /pə(ɹ)ˈsɛntɪd͡ʒ/ | The amount, number or rate of something, regarded as part of a total of 100; a part of a whole. |
| confused adjective | /kənˈfjuːzd/ | unable to think clearly or understand |
| curious adjective | /ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/ | Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying. |
| silly adjective | /ˈsɪl.i/ | Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance. |
| routine noun | /ɹuˈtin/ | A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| read out verb | /ˌɹiːd ˈaʊt/ | To read something and say the words to inform other people; to call. |
| follow along verb | To continue behind or beside an animal, person, vehicle or other object, especially as a companion. | |
| go over verb | To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze. | |
| mix up verb | To mix or blend thoroughly and completely. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 42 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: presentation /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, nationality /ˌnæʃ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, abbreviation /əˌbɹi.viˈeɪ.ʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: accidentally /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/, nationality /ˌnæʃ.əˈnæl.ɪ.ti/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, abbreviation /əˌbɹi.viˈeɪ.ʃn̩/, categorize /ˈkætɪɡəˌɹaɪz/
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 semester, bakery, presentation.
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 | is called · is divided · would be categorized |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was doing · was reading |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | is taking · you're watching · you're speaking |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | I'm going to be · I'm going to read · I'm going to go |
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.