Shadowing Practice: Real English Conversation: Advanced English Lesson - Learn English Speaking with Video

This is the English lesson you have been waiting for.

Do you want to finally express yourself naturally in English?

Would you like to be able to watch movies and TV shows in English without using subtitles?

Well, I have some good news.

You're in the right place.

Today, you are going to learn the number one method to help you be able to use real life English

that real English speakers use in the real world.

Not that old textbook stuff that no one actually uses, but real English.

So how are you going to do that?

You are going to test out my proven conversation breakdown method

that thousands of my students have used to be able to express themselves better

and go out into the real world and actually be able to use English and feel confident.

If you're new here, hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.

And I have been teaching real life English here on my

YouTube channel for over the past 10 years to now more than 7 million of you.

I can't believe it.

Thank you so much for learning English with me.

And this week, like every week, I have created a special PDF worksheet just for you so that you never forget what you've learned in today's lesson.

This is like a mini textbook.

It includes every phrase, the entire transcript of the conversation you're about to see.

Plus it includes a special bonus.

This is a bonus that is not in today's video.

It is only available in the worksheet.

It is a speaking practice.

You will get the chance to practice speaking with me and all you need to do is download the worksheet, click on the link within the worksheet,

and it is yours, my gift to you.

So how can you get this worksheet plus the bonus speaking practice?

All you need to do is click on the link in the description, enter your name and email address, and voila, just like that,

the worksheet and the bonus speaking practice will land in your email inbox.

What are you waiting for?

Go ahead and download it.

Many of you have said, Vanessa, I love your conversations with other English speakers, and that's what you're going to see today.

You are going to meet my sister, Charisse.

We're talking about the city where she lives, and this is an essential conversation topic.

We often talk about where we live or where we came from,

where we grew up, and I want you to be able to talk about this topic with confidence.

So let me know in the comments, what city do you live in, tell me something about it and maybe even use some of the vocabulary you're going to learn today.

Because after you see this conversation clip with my sister, something special is going to happen.

We are going to dive deep into some of the vocabulary that was used in this conversation clip.

My husband, Dan, and I are going to break down some of the key vocabulary

so that you can use it as well when you go out into the real world.

And if you enjoy this conversation breakdown method, I want to invite you to join me in my course, The Fearless Fluency Club.

We break down real life conversations like this every single month.

Plus you have the opportunity to join me for a weekly live stream lesson.

You can ask me any questions you need to about English

and many students join each other to speak on Zoom and really use what they've learned every single week.

You can click on the link in the description to join us right now for only $5 for the first month.

Try it out.

See if it works for you.

I am sure you're going to love it.

All right.

I will tell you some more about the Fearless Fluency Club in a little bit,

but for now, let's go on and meet my sister and see a portion of our conversation about where she lives.

Let's go.

Hi, everyone.

I'm here with my sister, Charisse.

Some of you who've been in the course for a long time might recognize her, but we're glad to chat again.

And we're going to talk about where she lives, which might be a place you visited, might be a place you're interested in.

And we can just talk about the city and different things because the U.S is such a huge place.

Yep.

It's a lot of variety.

So where do you live?

I live in San Diego, California.

Cool.

Which is in the lower eastern, southeastern portion of California.

Yeah, like as south as you can get in California.

It is.

I need more south than we'd be in Tijuana.

Yeah, you said you can see Mexico from...

Yeah, from a highway that we go on all the time.

Okay.

Yeah, it's very close.

Cool.

So we could go probably any time, but haven't been yet.

Uh-huh.

And you haven't been there long.

So let's start at the beginning.

Why did you move to San Diego?

Because there's many places in the U.S.

You've lived many places.

I know.

Why San Diego?

I think every time I do a video, it's a different place.

I know.

But this, the reason we moved to San Diego is primarily because my husband is in the military.

He flies helicopters for the Navy and one of their primary bases is located in San Diego.

So there is a huge military population and community that lives there.

So when he finished his training, he was sent to San Diego,

which is one of the best places you can live if you're in the military because it's a great city, beautiful weather.

And you're kind of forced to live wherever they tell you to live.

So if you're going to be forced to live somewhere, good it's a great place.

I know.

I was very happy that that was the location.

So that's the why.

Yeah.

Why we're there.

And how long have you been there?

Over a year.

So for cool places in San Diego.

100

Now I've never been there, but I've seen lots of your cool pictures.

101

I'm curious what kind of recommendations do you have?

102

Should anyone want to visit or maybe look up San Diego and just get to know a different city?

103

Yeah, definitely.

104

Do you have any recommendations for typical places to visit or like off the beaten path places?

105

Sure.

106

I mean, I have a few of both.

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I mean, if you want to visit someplace that every tourist should see, everyone knows about, it's not a secret, then going to La Jolla Cove.

108

Okay.

109

There are sea lions and seals that live there.

110

And you can go and walk around and there's a specific spot where they all live.

111

And they're on these rocks and on the beach and you can watch them like swimming together.

112

And a lot of times they're just laying on the rocks because they need to, they get cold easily, I think.

113

So they need to lay on the sun to warm up.

114

From the cold Pacific Ocean.

115

Yeah, so they lay on the rocks most of the time

116

so they're fun to observe and people love it

117

so that's really cool

118

and you can get very close i mean it's not you shouldn't touch them

119

but you can get pretty close and get some cool pictures

120

so definitely go into la jolla cove um la jolla shores which is next to it is a very popular beach

121

i would definitely recommend going there

122

if you're going to go to a beach the water is pretty clear cool as far as hiking goes what

123

if anyone wants to surf?

124

Oh La Jolla Shores that's the place okay yeah I mean

125

if you want to go somewhere where people expect you to be a beginner

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and won't judge go to La Jolla Shores

127

so you can feel comfortable I'm not sure if any of you are professional surfers?

128

If you're professional then go to Black's Beach

129

but okay that's like the one that people go to and they're very good would you go there?

130

Probably not just

131

because to get there you have to hike down a very

132

steep trail carrying a surfboard I mean it's quite dangerous getting

133

to the water sometimes from these that's another barrier remote beaches

134

yeah that's maybe one of the off the beaten path ones is Black's Beach other popular places they look out

135

so like the are already popular maybe go to Mission Trails

136

Mission Trails they have lots of cool hiking that's kind of

137

the opposite of the beach life you can go rock climbing up there bring your own equipment

138

and climb like scale the side of the mountain

139

which is pretty cool um then off the beaten path i

140

have at least one recommendation we want all the juices that i'll share okay

141

or at least that i can explain where it is um it's

142

so sunset cliffs is very popular but if you want to go somewhere like Sunset Cliffs without all the people, you can go to a place in Del Mar.

143

Del Mar is more up north.

144

It's only like 20 minutes more north, but if you go, it's like around 11th Street in Del Mar,

145

you get off the, you just park your car, walk towards the ocean, kind of climb over this guard rail and then...

146

No trespassing, climb over there.

147

People walk there all the time, but just and not a lot of people know about it.

148

And there's a railroad track.

149

It's an active railroad track, so you have to be careful when you cross it.

150

But you cross that, and then there's this trail.

151

So you're on this ridge, and then there's a huge cliff, and then there's the ocean.

152

And it's like the most pristine, beautiful, untouched ocean.

153

You see a few surfers, like one or two and that's it and then you just have like the most beautiful views of

154

the cliffs of the city of everything and hardly anyone there

155

and del mar is a very nice upscale neighborhood

156

so all the houses are also fun to look at

157

when you walk down so it's like a ridge it's a little trail

158

and you can you're in nature you get the beach

159

but you're also not in the sand So if you don't want to get all sandy, this is a nice option for just a walk, a picnic.

160

I had my wedding pictures there.

161

So I really do love this spot.

162

It's beautiful.

163

It's really the perfect spot.

164

So that would be my one recommendation for an off the beaten path idea.

165

Cool.

166

That sounds fun.

167

I mean, I can't wait to visit hopefully next year.

168

I'll take you.

169

Yeah.

170

It'll be great.

171

I'll respond back, let you guys know.

172

Yeah.

173

You're going to love it.

174

Yeah.

175

for sharing about San Diego and your surf experience, personal life.

176

Yeah, of course.

177

Hope it was interesting.

178

Yeah.

179

We got to know another place that you live.

180

I know.

181

I wonder where I'll be next.

182

Maybe Florida.

183

We'll see.

184

I never know.

185

Well, thank you so much, everyone.

186

Thanks for joining us.

187

Thank you, Cherise.

188

Thank you.

189

Thanks.

190

Bye.

191

Well, great work listening to that portion of our conversation,

192

the full conversation we are going to be studying this month in the Fearless Fluency Club.

193

And now it's time to break down three key vocabulary phrases that you heard in that conversation.

194

My husband, Dan, and I are going to give you a lot of sample sentences.

195

We're going to tell some stories.

196

We're going to make this as memorable as possible so

197

that they will stick in your mind and you'll be able to use them too.

198

All right, let's go to vocabulary.

199

All right.

200

Are you ready to get started?

201

I'm ready.

202

Let's do it.

203

The first expression that we're going to talk about is actually two for one.

204

It is primary and primarily.

205

This has to do with the main thing, the main reason, the main aspect of something.

206

In the conversation with Charisse, she said that they moved to San Diego primarily because her husband is in the military.

207

So we can get the sense that the number one reason is because her husband is in the military.

208

There's a small chance they would have moved there anyway, but the biggest reason, the primary reason,

209

so if we want to use it as an adjective, we can say primary reason, is because he's in the military.

210

So here we can use it in two different ways, two different parts of the sentence.

211

Yes, and you can even use this as a noun.

212

For instance, a lot of times we use this in business, I think.

213

If you have an important project, you might say, it is primary that we complete this this week.

214

So that's saying that this is the first thing we have to do, or it's the main thing, or the most important thing.

215

It's primary.

216

And I would say this is a little more of a formal word.

217

You don't really say it throughout the day.

218

Like, even if you said something like, I primarily like cereal for breakfast.

219

Even that you could say, but it just doesn't sound quite right.

220

You would like casually, you would just say, oh, I love to eat cereal in the morning, or I mostly like to eat cereal.

221

But you could say, I primarily like to eat cereal.

222

Yeah.

223

I would recommend using this maybe in more slightly, more formal situations.

224

You can use it in daily conversation if you wish, and that's totally fine.

225

But I think my sister used it because this was an interview.

226

So maybe she felt like it was a more structured conversation and she used the word primarily, and it's also just personal choice.

227

Yes.

228

So you primarily use primarily in formal situations.

229

Yes.

230

One other example I'd like to give is we use this in an academic setting often to talk about

231

when you're doing research, we might say, I found some really important primary sources.

232

And this means that you're not studying someone else's...

233

Let's say you're studying about World War II and there's a historian who has explained big concepts about World War II.

234

This is not a primary source.

235

Instead, a primary source would be a diary or a journal or someone who experienced that situation,

236

World War II, themselves.

237

So this is a primary source.

238

It's like the first source.

239

So we usually say that those are either the most accurate

240

or potentially the most biased because they are only seeing it through their eyes.

241

They're not seeing the big picture, but primary sources.

242

Yes, they are at least the closest to the actual event.

243

So they're the first people to really witness this event.

244

So that's why it's primary.

245

Yeah.

246

So you might see this in an academic setting where your professor might say,

247

all right, we're going to be looking at some primary sources today about Native Americans or whatever it might be, something that is the first source.

248

All right.

249

Let's watch the original clip from the conversation so that you can see how Charisse used primarily.

250

Let's watch.

251

The reason we moved to San Diego is primarily because my husband is in the military.

252

He flies helicopters for the Navy.

253

The reason we moved to San Diego is primarily because my husband is in the military.

254

The reason we moved to San Diego is primarily because my husband is in the military.

255

The next expression is pristine, and this means pure, untouched by humans.

256

Or it could just mean clean.

257

So for example, you could say to somebody, wow, your house looks pristine.

258

Well this wouldn't actually mean that it's untouched by humans because it was built by humans and you live in there, but it just kind of means that you cleaned it up

259

so much that it doesn't even look like anybody's lived here yet.

260

That would be pristine.

261

That would not be our house.

262

That would not be our house.

263

But oftentimes we use this and I think the fundamental meaning of this would be in nature.

264

If you go see something pristine, that means not many people live there.

265

It's in a natural state.

266

And usually it would mean it's beautiful.

267

So if you're in the middle of the jungle and it's hot and sweaty and muggy and there's bugs all over you, it might be very natural, but you probably wouldn't say pristine.

268

There has to be kind of a calming element.

269

So people often use this for the ocean.

270

That's how Sharice used it.

271

We saw the most pristine beach and it was beautiful.

272

What a beautiful view.

273

No people were there.

274

It was pristine.

275

It wasn't cluttered with umbrellas and people.

276

It doesn't mean that there wasn't trash.

277

That's part of it, but it also just means there was no sign of humans.

278

It was just the way it is originally.

279

There was water and sand and the dunes and the trees.

280

It was pristine.

281

This is something that you might find off the beaten path, is something pristine, especially in nature.

282

Yes.

283

Do you think you can use this for people?

284

Vanessa looks pristine.

285

You could ...

286

I don't really think so, actually.

287

But I don't really think so.

288

You might possibly hear this, but it's maybe if someone is completely fake or unreal, they look pristine.

289

How her hair and her makeup just looks so perfect.

290

Maybe your hairstyle is pristine.

291

She's like a doll.

292

Yeah.

293

I think because people like that are very rare or maybe with social media, it's more popular.

294

I don't know.

295

But this type of thing is less common than a place or a view.

296

We use this often for nature.

297

So I wonder if there's anywhere near where you live that's pristine.

298

Maybe it's a lake.

299

I often think of bodies of water for some reason.

300

Like the lake was pristine.

301

The ocean was pristine.

302

And there's no sign of humans or very little sign of humans.

303

And it's just breathtaking.

304

All right.

305

Let's watch the original clips that you can see how pristine was used.

306

Let's watch.

307

You're on this ridge.

308

And then there's a huge cliff and then there's the ocean and it's like the most pristine, beautiful, like untouched ocean.

309

The most pristine, beautiful, like untouched ocean.

310

The most pristine, beautiful, like untouched ocean.

311

The final expression today is spot.

312

Spot.

313

Okay.

314

So we might think that a leopard has spots.

315

This is one way to use it, very figure or very literal, but we often use it more figuratively to talk about a place or a location.

316

We might say, yeah, it's a great spot.

317

You got to visit it.

318

That could be a restaurant.

319

That could be a good view, but it's talking about a particular location.

320

So when you're visiting a new city or you're going to visit someone else's city, or maybe someone's going to visit your city, Maybe you might say, are there any spots I need to visit?

321

Or, oh, is there a good spot that I can eat falafel?

322

Or that's a good falafel spot.

323

You got to check it out.

324

So this is a very casual conversational way to talk about place.

325

Yes.

326

Very casual.

327

Yes.

328

It's my favorite spot.

329

And sometimes this can't even be very localized.

330

I need to find a spot to eat as in literally a place to sit down or I can't find a spot.

331

Yeah.

332

This would be like wherever you're sitting, maybe it's in a big field or a grassy park, or there's a bunch of benches somewhere.

333

You need to find a spot to sit.

334

Yeah.

335

It could even be in a restaurant where there's a bunch of seats and it's really crowded.

336

There's not a spot to sit in.

337

So I need to wait until someone leaves.

338

We don't have any spots available, like places.

339

Yes.

340

And I would say this is mostly destinations.

341

This wouldn't really be your home, right?

342

Home is my favorite spot.

343

Eh, nah.

344

You could say in the living room, there's a lot of spots to sit.

345

Okay.

346

That's true.

347

Like if you're having a bunch of guests over or just in general, you could say, there's a lot of comfortable spots to sit, or there's only one comfortable spot to sit and our cat is always there.

348

So we could say it in that way, but not talking about your home.

349

Like my home is a nice spot.

350

That's a little bit weird.

351

No. All right, let's watch the original clip from the conversation to talk about a spot meaning a place.

352

And you can always check out the lesson guide for some

353

more examples about how to use this to talk about another city, your own city, and to describe places around you.

354

All right, let's watch.

355

And it's cool to have a little hidden secret too that's a good view and doesn't seem like it's too far away.

356

No, yeah, it's really the perfect spot.

357

So it's really the perfect spot.

358

It's really the perfect spot.

359

It's really the perfect spot.

360

Great work learning those three key vocabulary phrases that real English speakers use in the real world.

361

And if you enjoyed today's conversation breakdown method, I want to invite you to join me in the Fearless Fluency Club,

362

me along with thousands of other motivated English students,

363

where you will be able to study and really immerse yourself in a real life conversation like this every single month.

364

Plus you will grow your real life vocabulary, pronunciation, phrasal verbs.

365

And every single week I host a live streamed English lesson where you can answer my questions,

366

you can get feedback, and you are there to be able to study with me me.

367

And after this live stream lesson every week, students meet together on Zoom and practice speaking together.

368

The only way to improve your speaking skills is to practice speaking, and this is a great way to do it.

369

My student Volker from Germany said, the biggest game changer was when I found your course.

370

I gave a presentation in front of 50 salesmen and I became more and more confident.

371

That's amazing.

372

My student Garg from Thailand said, last month I was working onsite with colleagues and I had to speak in English.

373

I had been studying with Vanessa for four months and at that event, I realized, oh my God, I can communicate in English.

374

I have the confidence to communicate with my colleagues.

375

Garg, I'm very happy for you.

376

My student Sezem says, my colleagues and friends have noticed my English.

377

They told me, how have you improved your English? so amazing.

378

I always thought English was difficult, but after your classes, I have changed my mind.

379

Thanks a lot.

380

Sosom, I'm very happy for you that English is not as difficult as you thought, and you are able to see improvement.

381

That is the goal.

382

So if you would like to join me and all of these wonderful students in the Fearless Fluency Club, right now you can join for only $5 for the first month.

383

This is a trial offer so that you are able to test out the course, see if it's a good fit for you.

384

If it is, you're welcome to stay and become a confident English speaker.

385

And if it is not, no problem.

386

You can cancel your subscription at any time.

387

It is hassle free.

388

So all you need to do is click on the link in the description

389

and join me in the Fearless Fluency Club and all of these wonderful motivated students.

390

Well, thank you so much for learning English with me

391

and I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.

392

Bye.

393

But wait, do you want more?

394

I recommend watching this video next where you will meet my neighbors, Lindsay and Dani.

395

We will use the conversation breakdown method to understand our conversation about moving from the big city

396

to a small town and you will be able to express yourself more fluently in English.

397

I'll see you there.

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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 →

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