Shadowing Practice: Restaurant English: What does "The works" mean? - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
Same Channel
B2Red Note Q&A - Half a Million Followers and Monetizing
A2Restaurant English: Can I have the salmon?
B1What's the Wi-Fi password??
A2Useful Illness and Medicine English
B1Useful Airplane English: You're in my seat
A2Useful Restaurant English: How to order food
B1Restaurant English: How to Make a Reservation
A2Learn Useful Restaurant English
B1Useful Hotel English: How to talk to the front desk
A2Useful Restaurant English Phrases and Vocabulary
B1Restaurant English: How to order coffee
A2Restaurant English: How to order your food #english #learnenglish
B1Hotel English: How to check in #english #learnenglish
A2Airport English Conversation #english #learnenglish
B1Useful Visa Interview English!!!
A2Useful Restaurant English: How to pay the bill
B1Useful Business Meeting English #learnenglish #english
A2Restaurant English: What does "On the side" mean?
B1Restaurant English: How to order your meal and talk to the waiter
B1Useful Airport English Conversation
Recommend Video
A2Unit 5: At the Restaurant - iziEnglish.net
A2🍔 Ordering Fast Food in English Chicken Sandwich Combo Conversation
A2🍽️ At the restaurant customer confused #english #englishtips #shorts
A2This ONE Phrase Will Save You at Any Restaurant 🔥 | English Reading and Listening Practice #english
A2It's rude AND strange in English
A2English at a dairy, #learnEnglish #foryou #viral #trending #Englishtips Amilea George
A2Hotel English | Checking Into a Hotel & Room Service | Travel English Conversation Practice
A2EnglishPod 1 - Elementary - Difficult Customer
A2English At a Restaurant #shorts
A2Ordering a Steak: Rare, Medium or Well Done?
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Restaurant English: What does "The works" mean?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: burger, double, example. This video has 23 sentences and 159 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:00. The speaker talks at a natural 158 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 76% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 9 of its 23 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
14 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| burger noun | /ˈbɝ.ɡɚ/ | A hamburger. |
| patty noun | /ˈpæti/ | A flattened portion of ground meat or a vegetarian equivalent, usually round but sometimes square in shape. |
| topping noun | /ˈtɑpɪŋ/ | Any food item added on top of another, such as sprinkles on ice cream or pepperoni on pizza. |
| beef noun | /bif/ | The meat from cattle or other bovines; especially, that from adults. |
| bacon noun | /ˈbeɪ.kən/ | Cured meat from the sides, belly, or back of a pig. |
| onion noun | /ˈʌn.jən/ | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| tomato noun | /təˈmeɪ.toʊ/ | A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit. |
| waiter noun | /ˈweɪ̯təː/ | A male or female attendant who serves customers at their tables in a restaurant, café or similar. |
| lettuce noun | /ˈlɛt.ɪs/ | An edible plant, Lactuca sativa and its close relatives, having a head of green or purple leaves. |
| hamburger noun | /ˈhæmˌbɜɹ.ɡɚ/ | A hot sandwich consisting of a patty of cooked ground beef or a meat substitute, in a sliced bun, usually also containing salad vegetables, condiments, or both. |
| avocado noun | /ˌɑvəˈkɑdoʊ/ | The large, usually yellowish-green or black, savory fruit of the avocado tree. |
| cheeseburger noun | /ˈtʃizˌbɝ.ɡɚ/ | A hamburger containing cheese (usually one or more slices of processed cheese). |
| pickle noun | /ˈpɪkəl/ | A cucumber preserved in a solution, usually a brine or a vinegar syrup. |
| sling noun | /ˈslɪŋ/ | An instrument for throwing stones or other missiles, consisting of a short strap with two strings fastened to its ends, or with a string fastened to one end… |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What would you like to order?
- Can I get a burger please?
- I don't want to work.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't. 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.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like burger, patty, topping.
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.