This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Shopping English Dialogue”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: size, skirt, shirt, English, perfect. This video has 107 sentences and 649 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:54. The speaker talks at a steady 110 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. 22 of its 107 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
skirt noun	/skɚt/	A separate article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower torso and part of the legs.
lesson noun	/ˈlɛs.ən/	A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
clothing noun	/ˈkloʊðɪŋ/	Any of a wide variety of articles, usually made of fabrics, animal hair, animal skin, or some combination thereof, used to cover the human body for warmth, to…
flower noun	/ˈfloʊɚ/	A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens…
cotton noun	/ˈkɑt.n̩/	A soft, fibrous, usually white substance consisting of fine hairs, especially the substance around the seeds of a plant of genus Gossypium.
purple noun	/ˈpɝ.pl̩/	A colour between red and blue; violet, though often closer to magenta.
phrase noun	/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/	A short written or spoken expression.
dialogue noun	/ˈdaɪəˌlɑɡ/	A conversation or other form of discourse between two or more individuals.
subscribe verb	/səbˈskɹaɪb/	To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
thumb noun	/ˈθʌm/	The shortest and thickest digit of the hand that for humans has the most mobility and can be made to oppose (moved to touch) all of the other fingers.
quiz noun	/kwɪz/	A competition in the answering of questions.
floral adjective	/ˈfloɹəl/	Of, pertaining to, or connected with flowers.
swipe verb	/swaɪp/	To grab or bat quickly.
beginner noun	/bəˈɡɪnɚ/	Someone who is just starting at something, or has only recently started.

Sentences worth repeating

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

How can I help you?
Do you have anything for kids?
How old are your children?
Can I see it, please?
Can I try it on?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction	will see · I'll take · I'll show
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	I'm looking
Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming	are going to a · I'm going to try

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 15 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, thumb /ˈθʌm/

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 skirt, lesson, clothing.

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 →