Shadowing Practice: SEtalk: The Real Reason We Laugh - Learn English Speaking with Video

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34 sentences
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1
When did you last laugh out loud?
2
I bet it wasn't because of a joke.
3
That sounds strange, but it's true.
4
Most of our laughter has nothing to do with jokes.
5
A few years ago, my dad spent a month in hospital.
6
My sister and I visited him every evening, and we were very worried.
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One night, she tried the hospital sandwich and made a terrible face.
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We started laughing, and we couldn't stop for ten minutes!
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It wasn't even funny, but we felt so much better.
10
I wanted to know why that happened.
11
An American scientist called Robert Provine studied this for years.
12
His team sat in malls and parks, and they listened to people.
13
Every time someone laughed, they wrote down what was said before it.
14
They collected over a thousand laughs,
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but fewer than one in five came after a joke!
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Most came after ordinary sentences about everyday life.
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So, if laughter isn't about jokes, what is it about?
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Provine found that we laugh thirty times more with other people!
19
When we're alone, we hardly laugh at all.
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Laughter is a signal that tells people we're friends and we're safe.
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Later, scientists at Oxford tested something else.
22
People watched a comedy video together, or they watched a boring one.
23
Then the scientists checked how much pain they could take.
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The people who laughed could take much more pain!
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Laughing makes the brain release chemicals that make us feel good.
26
My dad is fine now, and he loves this story.
27
Every time we eat together, someone mentions that sandwich.
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And every time, we laugh again!
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So, don't wait for something funny to happen.
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Call a friend, share a silly story, and laugh together.
31
If you laugh with someone, you become closer.
32
Laughter isn't about jokes.
33
It's about people.
34
Thank you.

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SEtalk

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “SEtalk: The Real Reason We Laugh”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: laugh, joke, scientist. This video has 34 sentences and 302 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:25. The speaker talks at a steady 125 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

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
laughter noun/ˈlæftɚ/The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound.
scientist noun/ˈsaɪəntəst/One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research…
sandwich noun/ˈsæn(d).wɪd͡ʒ/A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food.
everyday adjective/ˈɛvɹiˌdeɪ/Appropriate for ordinary use, rather than for special occasions.
ordinary adjective/ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/Having regular jurisdiction; now only used in certain phrases.
silly adjective/ˈsɪl.i/Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
thirty noun/ˈθɝti/A commercial lasting 30 seconds.
collect verb/ˈkɑlɪkt/To gather together; amass.
fewer/ˈfjuː.ɚ/Less; a smaller amount of something non-integral commonly expressed as an integer
mall noun/mɔːl/A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct.
bore verb/boɹ/To inspire boredom in somebody.
laugh verb/læf/To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and…
joke noun/ˈd͡ʒoʊ̯k/An amusing story.
strange adjective/stɹeɪnd͡ʒ/Not normal; odd, unusual, surprising, out of the ordinary, often with a negative connotation.
signal noun/ˈsɪɡnəl/A sequence of states representing an encoded message in a communication channel.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
write down verbTo produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

  • When did you last laugh out loud?
  • I bet it wasn't because of a joke.
  • When we're alone, we hardly laugh at all.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 9 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, isn't, wasn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

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 laughter, scientist, sandwich.

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 →