Shadowing Practice: Sarah Kay - Miles from Any Shoreline - Learn English Speaking with Video
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31 sentences
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1
Miles from any shoreline.
2
I frequently miss entire days caught in my brain's spider webs.
3
But if I happen to look up in time to notice that the darkness still has a little daylight left to swallow,
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I will ivy up the fire escape to catch whatever embers of the day are still slow dying behind New Jersey.
5
And last week, through the fog of my loneliness, I realized the living room was slippery pink,
6
which I knew meant a light show must be on display.
7
So with a quickness I reserved for emergencies, I scampered to the roof, and sure enough, an explosion of upside -down clementine,
8
cotton candy, cloud wisps was tie -dying the Hudson River neon.
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And I swear, I am not a lightweight, but I was color drunk immediately, dizzy with gasp and skyward reaching,
10
hoping my fingers might find a bell I could ring
11
that would summon all of New York City to look up and west.
12
But there was no bell and no one to call, just my own astonishment still willing to answer after the first ring how predictable.
13
One good sunset and I release my nihilism like rose petals behind a bridal gown.
14
Look, I have married my cynicism and renewed my vows.
15
But it didn't stop the streetlights from coming on at the exact moment I passed beneath them
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when nobody else was in the park to see it, like the whole city was winking.
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And yes, I blushed, the way I do whenever someone beautiful flirts with me.
18
I haven't stopped thinking about death.
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I am just wringing every last jaw drop from the tissue between heartbreaks.
20
On a long run outside the city, along a highway and miles from any shoreline,
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I found a starfish alone on the asphalt.
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An unsolvable mystery with no witness to corroborate.
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And there I was again, wandering the streets of Bewilderville, population one.
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What else could I possibly do but swing wide the doors of my delight to this patron saint of unbelonging,
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fragile and whole and so far from home.
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If you too have been the one nobody asked to dance, I have a starfish I'd love to introduce you to.
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And I don't have any proof, but one time the wind or my ancestors
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or unseasonal warmth carried three hawks to my kitchen windowsill to rattle my coffin to cocoon
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and two of them left
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but one of them stayed eyed me through the glass like a promise
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or a dare so lately I am trying to pick up when the universe calls Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 31 sentences and 434 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:24. The speaker talks at a steady 127 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 74% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- finger /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ (noun) — A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
- cloud /ˈklaʊ̯d/ (noun) — A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
- mystery /ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/ (noun) — Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown.
- lately /ˈleɪt.li/ (adverb) — Recently; not long ago; of late; not long since.
- saint /seɪnt/ (noun) — A deceased person whom a church or another religious group has officially recognised as especially holy or godly; one eminent for piety and virtue.
- introduce /ˌɪntɹəˈdus/ (verb) — To cause (someone) to be acquainted (with someone else).
- cotton /ˈkɑt.n̩/ (noun) — A soft, fibrous, usually white substance consisting of fine hairs, especially the substance around the seeds of a plant of genus Gossypium.
- swing /ˈswɪŋ/ (verb) — To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
- tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/ (noun) — Thin, woven, gauzelike fabric.
- dare /dɛ(ə)ɹ/ (verb) — To have enough courage (to do something).
- darkness /ˈdɑɹk.nɪs/ (noun) — The state of being dark; lack of light; the absolute or comparative absence of light.
- candy /ˈkæn.di/ (noun) — Crystallized sugar formed by boiling down sugar syrup.
- spider /ˈspaɪ̯dɚ/ (noun) — Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
- beneath /bɪˈniːθ/ — Below.
- explosion /ɛkˈsploʊ.ʒən/ (noun) — A violent release of energy (sometimes mechanical, nuclear, or chemical); an act or instance of exploding.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- look up /ˌlʊk ˈʌp/ (verb) — To have better prospects.
- pick up (verb) — To lift; to grasp and raise.
- think about /ˈθɪŋk əˌbaʊt/ (verb) — To ponder.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, haven't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: beneath /bɪˈniːθ/, warmth /wɔɹmθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/, explosion /ɛkˈsploʊ.ʒən/, blush /ˈblʌʃ/, asphalt /ˈæʃfɑlt/, starfish /ˈstɑː(ɹ)fɪʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: predictable /pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/, astonishment /əˈstɑːnɪʃmənt/, corroborate /kəˈɹɑbəɹeɪ̯t/, cynicism /ˈsɪn.ɪˌsɪzəm/
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 finger, cloud, mystery.
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.