Shadowing Practice: Shrek - That's what friends are for - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Shrek - That's what friends are for”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: donkey, swamp, forgive, guess. This video has 84 sentences and 445 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:02. The speaker talks at a steady 147 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. 20 of its 84 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| donkey noun | /ˈdɑŋ.ki/ | A domestic animal, Equus asinus asinus, similar to a horse. |
| swamp noun | /ˈswɑmp/ | An area of wet (water-saturated), spongy (soft) land, often with trees, generally a rich ecosystem for certain plants and animals but ill-suited for many… |
| forgive verb | /fɚˈɡɪv/ | To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against. |
| ogre noun | /ˈoʊ.ɡɚ/ | A large, grotesque, brutish humanoid monster, typically marked by great strength and a propensity to kill or devour humans. |
| hideous adjective | /ˈhɪd.i.əs/ | Extremely or shockingly ugly. |
| jackass noun | /ˈd͡ʒækæs/ | A male donkey. |
| magnetism noun | /ˈmæɡ.nəˌtɪz.əm/ | The property of being magnetic. |
| smelly adjective | /ˈsmɛli/ | Having a bad smell. |
| sloppy adjective | /ˈslɑ.pi/ | Composed of or covered in slop; very wet. |
| stubborn adjective | /ˈstʌbɚn/ | Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something. |
| stab verb | /stæb/ | To pierce or to wound (somebody) with a (usually pointed) tool or weapon, especially a knife or dagger. |
| onion noun | /ˈʌn.jən/ | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| insult noun | /ɪnˈsʌlt/ | Action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude; (countable) a particular act or statement having this effect. |
| install verb | /ɪnˈstɔl/ | To connect, set up or prepare something for use |
| wrap verb | /ɹæp/ | To enclose (an object) completely in any flexible, thin material such as fabric or paper. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| back off verb | To move backwards away from something. | |
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| go around verb | To move or spread from person to person. | |
| go away verb | To depart or leave a place. | |
| shut up | /ʃʌt ʌp/ | Stop talking (usually in the form of making annoying, irrelevant, or false comments, during a period of peace and quiet, or when one is not allowed to talk)… |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What are you doing?
- It is, around your half, see?
- She wasn't talking about me?
- What are you asking me for?
- Why don't you just go ask her?
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 18 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. 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.
- 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 donkey, swamp, forgive.
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.