Shadowing Practice: Shorts - Edinburgh Castle - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland.
2
It is a very beautiful old city.
3
About 400,000 people live in the city and 6 million people visit every year.
4
Every year in August there is a festival in the city with a lot of theatre, music, dance and comedy.
5
The original city was built on the Royal Mile.
6
This is a street in Edinburgh's old town.
7
The Royal Mile is about 1.6 kilometres long.
8
It starts at Holyrood Palace and finishes at Edinburgh Castle.
9
It is called the Royal Mile because it connects two royal homes.
10
The castle is nearly a thousand years old.
11
It stands on an enormous piece of volcanic rock and it looks down on the rest of the city.
12
King David I of Scotland was the first king who built on the rock in about 1130.
13
He built this chapel and named it Queen Mary's Chapel, after his mother.
14
For the next 300 years, the castle was at the centre of wars between England and Scotland.
15
In the 15th century, the castle became the home of the King of Scotland.
16
Each new king added to the castle.
17
In 1511, James IV built the Great Hall.
18
In the 16th century, James VI added extra defences to the castle entrance.
19
In the 18th century, Scotland officially became part part of the United Kingdom.
20
The last battle at the castle was in 1745 when Prince Charles Edward Stuart, who was nicknamed Bonnie Prince Charlie,
21
tried to capture the castle.
22
In the early 19th century, the castle was a prison, but it is now a tourist attraction.
23
About one and a quarter million people visit the castle every year.
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They come to see the buildings and to hear the stories.
25
They also come to see and hear the one o'clock gun.
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Soldiers fire this every day at exactly one o'clock.
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But they really come for the views of the city of Edinburgh.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Shorts - Edinburgh Castle”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: castle, Scotland, royal, century, built. This video has 27 sentences and 314 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:38. The speaker talks slowly, about 86 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 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
14 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| castle noun | /ˈkɑːsəl/ | A large residential building or compound that is fortified and contains many defences; in previous ages often inhabited by a nobleman or king. Also, a house or… |
| chapel noun | /ˈt͡ʃæp.əl/ | A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church. |
| soldier noun | /ˈsoʊld͡ʒɚ/ | A member of a ground-based army, of any rank, but especially an enlisted member. |
| capture verb | /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/ | To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem. |
| entrance noun | /ˈɛn.tɹəns/ | The action of entering, or going in. |
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| enormous adjective | /ɪˈnɔː.məs/ | Extremely large; greatly exceeding the common size, extent, etc. |
| attraction noun | /əˈtɹækʃn̩/ | The tendency to attract. |
| nickname noun | /ˈnɪkneɪm/ | A familiar, invented name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing, often based on some noteworthy characteristic. |
| volcanic adjective | /vɔlˈkænɪk/ | Of or pertaining to a volcano or volcanoes. |
| kilometre noun | /kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/ | An SI unit of length equal to 10³ metres. Symbol: km |
| officially adverb | /əˈfɪʃ.(ə.)li/ | In an official manner; according to official rules or regulations. |
| comedy noun | /ˈkɑmədi/ | a light, amusing play with a happy ending |
| defence noun | /dɪˈfɛns/ | The action of defending, of protecting from attack, danger or injury. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| look down on verb | To regard or treat as inferior. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, attraction /əˈtɹækʃn̩/, officially /əˈfɪʃ.(ə.)li/
- Long words — get the stress right: kilometre /kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/, officially /əˈfɪʃ.(ə.)li/
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 castle, chapel, soldier.
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.