Shadowing Practice: Slow English Podcast - Why am I learning Chinese? B2+ - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello, and welcome back to my Slow English Podcast.
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Why am I learning Chinese?
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This podcast is for you to practice your English listening while being engaged in real-life stories about me.
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I've been learning Chinese for four years now.
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On and off.
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For four years.
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Because I get lazy sometimes.
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I'm sure you know how hard it is to find motivation every day to study a new language.
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To sit down and read or write or take a lesson.
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And it's the same for me.
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I get really lazy and unmotivated to study Chinese sometimes.
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And that was actually a huge inspiration for me to start with my Slow English podcast.
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I found a YouTube channel.
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I found a YouTube channel who told slow Chinese stories.
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Her channel is called Lazy Chinese and she uses comprehensible input.
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But it was the first time that I actually felt excited.
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Excited because I understood the language I had been practicing for four years
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and it was so easy to understand.
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And without even trying, I was learning so many new words
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and practicing so many new grammar structures just by listening
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and looking at her slow hand gestures and facial gestures.
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I was so inspired to continue studying Chinese
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because it was the first time I actually understood Chinese because she was speaking so slow.
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The first time after four years of studying,
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practicing, listening, I finally felt progress and achievement.
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And when you don't feel progress or achievement,
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when you don't feel like you're improving at something
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it's hard to keep giving your best at improving it's hard to give your 100% percent.
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So I thought how many students,
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especially my own students, feel the same way?
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Feel like they don't understand English and they never will.
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Only because it takes a long time to see progress in the real world.
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But in a slow, demonstrated way,
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so many people would realize that they actually do understand English.
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They actually understand much more than they think.
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So I decided one day to make a video,
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specifically a TikTok, where I spoke slowly
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and I made lots of hand gestures at a speed that anyone could understand.
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using hand gestures in a way where you could understand even
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if you had never studied English because body language speaks much louder than words.
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The video did amazing.
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Everyone felt exactly how I imagined they would feel.
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And my TikTok went viral.
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The next day, I woke up to my phone going crazy.
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And I knew I had to make more videos.
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Longer, shorter, on YouTube, on TikTok.
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As many as I could make.
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Now, here we are today.
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And I'm still trying to come up with creative ideas
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every day to find new ways for you to understand and speak English with confidence.
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Confidence, the only thing that matters.
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My dad, for example, he came to the USA
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when he was 17 years old and he didn't know a lick of English.
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He would just walk around with his dictionary and speak,
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order food, buy groceries, ask for directions.
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He had no other option.
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He was thrown into the deep end right away when he arrived in the u.s
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he only had himself and a will to learn confidence it's all you need fake it until you make it
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His dedication is admirable.
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And I know for a fact, that's where I got mine.
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When you truly believe something,
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no matter how absurd it could be at the moment,
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If you really believe, you can make it a reality.
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Just pretend or fake it until you make it.
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But anyways, going back to the topic about why I am learning Chinese,
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A lot of people ask me why I decided to learn Chinese.
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And to be honest, my sister was the one to inspire me.
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She used to be obsessed with learning Chinese.
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And all she did was study and practice Chinese.
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We got to talking and I was overwhelmed with the same desire to go to China someday.
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I also loved the complexity of Mandarin and how challenging it would be to learn it.
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It has no similarities whatsoever.
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And I can't imagine learning a language with no similarities whatsoever between each other.
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Imagine if I have been learning Chinese for four years
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and I can barely form a full sentence and Chinese people are learning English the same way.
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It's very difficult.
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But I also loved the idea of being an English,
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Spanish, and Mandarin teacher.
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That would be a dream for me.
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So, I started studying Chinese.
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And I was determined in learning Chinese.
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I found the best podcasts to listen to.
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I watched every video of anyone who had successfully learned Mandarin,
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and I even started taking Chinese classes online.
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I had a great teacher.
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She was so patient
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and she was always able to turn a casual
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conversation into a grammar lesson where I learned new words,
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new grammar structures, and I never felt burnt out or frustrated after a lesson.
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I always felt energized and inspired to continue learning Chinese.
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I used to teach English online and I've been inspired by many teachers in my life.
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my parents included my mom
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and dad have to be the most dedicated
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and hard-working teachers my mom was born to be a teacher she is patient
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and graceful she's always willing to help without rushing
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or judging you
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and thoughtful in all of her lessons you can feel
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the care she puts into every lesson my dad students always have the highest scores
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and the kids love him.
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They both put so much work into teaching kids
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and I know firsthand that teaching kids is a challenge.
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It's hard to make a lesson entertaining, educational, and memorable.
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But my mom and my dad both work very hard to do just that.
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That's where my passion for teaching comes from.
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All in all, you don't have to end up living in a place where they speak that language to learn that language.
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Because at the end of the day,
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the journey of learning a language is the most important part.
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Learn for you.
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Enjoy the journey.
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Savor every new word you manage to remember.
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Relish in every win.
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It's a privilege to learn.
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Don't take it for granted.
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Thank you for joining Miss Honey's class.
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I hope you enjoyed this chat with me.
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And don't forget to subscribe for more English practice and like this video for more chats like these.
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See you next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Slow English Podcast - Why am I learning Chinese? B2+”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Chinese, English, learning, language, lesson. This video has 117 sentences and 1096 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:29. The speaker talks slowly, about 71 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gesture noun | /ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃɚ/ | A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech. |
| inspire verb | /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ | To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by… |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| grammar noun | /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ | A system of rules and principles for the structure of a language, or of languages in general. |
| similarity noun | /ˌsɪm.ɪˈlæɹ.ɪ.ti/ | Closeness of appearance to something else. |
| whatsoever adverb | /ˌ(h)wʌtsoʊˈɛvɚ/ | In any way; at all; whatever. |
| admirable noun | /ˈæd.məɹ.ə.bəl/ | The quality, state, or an example of being admirable. |
| comprehensible adjective | /kɒmpɹəˈhɛnsɪbəl/ | Able to be comprehended. |
| energize verb | /ˈɛnəd͡ʒaɪz/ | To invigorate; to make energetic. |
| firsthand adjective | /ˈfɜːstˌhænd/ | Direct, without intermediate stages. |
| frustrate verb | /ˈfɹʌsˌtɹeɪt/ | To disappoint or defeat; to vex by depriving of something expected or desired. |
| graceful adjective | /ˈɡɹeɪsfʊl/ | Having or showing grace in movement, shape, or proportion. |
| obsess verb | /əbˈsɛs/ | To be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion. |
| overwhelm verb | /ˌoʊ.vɚˈwɛlm/ | To engulf, surge over and submerge. |
| relish verb | /ˈɹɛlɪʃ/ | To give (something) (a pleasant) flavour or taste; to make appetizing. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come up with verb | To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been learning · have been learning |
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to be · used to teach |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being engaged · is called · was thrown |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 13 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: relish /ˈɹɛlɪʃ/, dedication /ˌdɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/, dictionary /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/, facial /ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: similarity /ˌsɪm.ɪˈlæɹ.ɪ.ti/, whatsoever /ˌ(h)wʌtsoʊˈɛvɚ/, admirable /ˈæd.məɹ.ə.bəl/, comprehensible /kɒmpɹəˈhɛnsɪbəl/, dedication /ˌdɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/
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 gesture, inspire, podcast.
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.