Shadowing Practice: READING EXPLORER FOUNDATIONS UNIT 4 4A I’VE FOUND THE TITANIC! - Learn English Speaking with Video

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4. A.
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I've found the Titanic.
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A. As a boy, Robert Ballard liked to read about shipwrecks.
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He read a lot about the Titanic.
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My lifelong dream was to find this great ship, he says.
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B. On August 31st, 1985, Ballard's dream came true.
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He found the wreck of the Titanic.
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The ship was in two main parts lying four kilometers under the sea.
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Using video cameras and an undersea robot, Ballard looked around the ship.
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He found many items that told the sad story of the Titanic's end.
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For example, he found a child's shoes, a reminder of the many deaths that happened that night in 1912.
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C. In 1986, Ballard visited the Titanic again.
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This time, he reached the ship in a small submarine.
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A deep-sea robot took photos inside the ship.
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When other people saw the photos, they wanted to visit the ship too.
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D. When Ballard returned in 2004, he found the Titanic in very bad condition.
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Other explorers had taken away about 6,000 items like clothes, dishes and shoes.
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Some even took pieces of the ship.
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They think these things should be moved to a safer place, but Ballard doesn't agree.
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E. Ballard believes that taking things from the Titanic is wrong.
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Instead, he wants to put lights and cameras on and around the shipwreck.
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This way, people can see the great ship and remember what happened to it.
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As long as she needs protection, says Ballard, the Titanic will always be part of my life.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “READING EXPLORER FOUNDATIONS UNIT 4 4A I’VE FOUND THE TITANIC!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: ship, Ballard, Titanic. This video has 23 sentences and 246 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:41. The speaker talks at a steady 146 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 12 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
robot noun/ˈɹoʊ.bɑt/An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal.
shoe noun/ˈʃu/A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of…
dish noun/dɪʃ/A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle.
reminder noun/ɹɪˈmaɪndə(ɹ)/Someone or something that reminds.
cloth noun/klɒθ/A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes…
wreck noun/ˈɹɛk/Something or someone that has been ruined.
explorer noun/ɛkˈsplɔːɹə(ɹ)/One who explores something
submarine noun/sʌb.məˈɹiːn/A boat that can go underwater.
lifelong adjective/ˈlaɪf.lɔːŋ/Extending for the entire duration of life.
shipwreck noun/ˈʃɪpɹɛk/A ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy; a ruined vessel or its remains.
undersea adjectiveExisting, relating to, or made for use beneath the sea, that is, beneath the sea surface, inside the sea.
item noun/ˈaɪ.təm/A distinct physical object.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
look around verbTo inspect a building or area.

Pronunciation to watch

  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shoe /ˈʃu/, dish /dɪʃ/, shipwreck /ˈʃɪpɹɛk/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like robot, shoe, dish.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →