Shadowing Practice: Slow English Story Time 💬 I'm an actress! (B1+) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
B1
Hello everyone and welcome back to English Cozy Chat,
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Hello everyone and welcome back to English Cozy Chat,
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a slow English podcast which helps you to learn English in a fun and natural way.
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I am Maria
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and today we are going to talk about how I was in a play in Spain
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and how this really made me feel out of my comfort zone.
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Now, to do something outside your comfort zone means to do something that you are not comfortable with.
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Now, where I live in Spain,
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the local language is Catalan,
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and that is a language that I am fluent in.
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However, I am still learning and getting better at it every day.
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So this play that I was in was in Catalan.
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I have never done much theater in my life.
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I really love movies.
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I love plays, but I have not done much acting at all in my life.
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But where I live at the school where my kids go,
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once a year, there is a group of parents that get together to do a play for the students.
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This is organized with the school,
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and they invite parents to volunteer,
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and to volunteer means to offer to do something, usually for free.
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So they ask for volunteers to be in this play.
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I live in Spain and more specifically in Catalonia.
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And Catalonia is a region of Spain where Catalan is the local language.
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So for this play, it is always in Catalan.
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There are many different roles in this play,
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and the roles are the characters of the play,
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but there is a big group of townspeople.
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And these townspeople have a very important role and a fun role as well.
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and in years past I have always been one of the townspeople mainly because the townspeople don't have to speak.
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Now I am fluent in Catalan.
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However, I am still learning and trying to get better every day,
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but I have never felt comfortable speaking in a large group situation in Catalan.
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So that's why I always just chose to be a townsperson,
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which is a smaller role in the play.
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But this year, I volunteered to have a speaking part.
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They were looking for people to have these larger roles and were having trouble finding people who wanted to talk.
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So I decided that I would volunteer to have a speaking part.
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Now, this was very big for me because Catalan is not my language,
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and I didn't really know how I would do.
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But I thought, hey, why not?
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Why not just try?
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So we had many rehearsals,
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and rehearsals are practices when everyone gets together and practices the play.
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We had many rehearsals, so I had many opportunities to practice.
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And it's actually really funny because we had many practices and I always practiced my speaking part.
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And on the very last practice before the play,
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there was a new person there who,
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she is my friend, but this was the first day that she had come to the rehearsal.
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and after we practiced the play once,
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she pulled me aside and said,
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Maria, this word is pronounced like this.
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It's not like this.
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I was pronouncing a word completely wrong and there had been several times
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when that everyone listened to me and they knew I was saying it wrong,
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but they didn't correct me,
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which I find so funny because if I was in an English play
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and I knew that someone who was not a native English speaker was saying a word completely wrong,
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I would tell them just because that person wants to say that word right.
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And it's important to let them know that it is pronounced in a different way.
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Now, I was so happy that my friend told me this before the play
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because everyone would have seen me pronounce that word wrong and very wrong.
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I was completely wrong in the way that I was saying it.
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So I was really happy that she told me.
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And also, I was very surprised that no one else told me this when they knew I was saying it wrong.
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There were always around 30 people watching me say my lines and listening to me saying this word wrong,
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and no one told me.
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I think people are more concerned that they don't want to embarrass that person.
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Maybe they would think that I would be offended or embarrassed when they told me that.
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But the truth is, if I am learning a language,
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I want to speak it correctly,
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especially if I am in a play in front of lots of other people.
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So I just found this kind of funny and I was very glad
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that my friend corrected me before we had the actual play.
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Okay, so now on to how the rest of the play went.
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In one of my recent episodes,
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I was explaining how I had to make up a dance choreography.
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And I didn't actually explain why,
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but it was for this play.
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the townspeople of the play
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and myself did a dance at the end of the play to a very popular song
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and at the end of the play we did the dance
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and then all of the kids got up and were dancing and we were dancing with them.
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And it was just a really,
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really fun moment that I will honestly remember forever.
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And also when we did the actual play,
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I felt really proud because I thought I did a good job of saying my lines and I really felt good.
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Beforehand, I was a little bit nervous because we were doing the play in front of the whole school.
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but when I got out there I really felt like I did a good job and so did everyone else.
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Being in this play really put me outside of my comfort zone.
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To do something outside of your comfort zone is to do something that you're not comfortable with.
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And since Catalan is a language that I'm still learning,
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doing this play was definitely outside of my comfort zone.
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and after the play was finished,
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I really felt so proud because I felt like I did a good job
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and I was also happy that my kids saw me do this.
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They know that Catalan is not my first language
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and they were proud to see their mom up there doing something really different and pushing herself,
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which I was.
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When you do something outside of your comfort zone,
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it can make you feel extra proud in the end.
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If you never push yourself to do something that makes you feel a little bit uncomfortable,
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maybe you don't grow as much as you really have the potential to do.
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Every time that I do something outside of my comfort zone,
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I always feel much better afterwards.
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Maybe I feel nervous beforehand,
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but afterwards I always feel really good.
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So in the end, I am really happy that I did this.
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It was so much fun with all of the parents at the end of the play
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and to see how much the kids really enjoyed it.
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And it just made me feel really proud.
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I hope this video inspires you to do something outside of your comfort zone.
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Let me know in the comments if there's anything that you have done that's outside of your comfort zone.
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Thank you all so much for watching or listening.
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I hope you have a wonderful day,
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and I cannot wait to see you in the next episode.
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Bye!
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Context & Background
In this episode of "Slow English Story Time," Maria shares her personal experience of stepping outside her comfort zone by participating in a theater play in Spain. Living in Catalonia, where the predominant language is Catalan, she recounts her journey from being a supportive townsperson to taking on a speaking role in the play. This transformation reflects her growth in language skills, highlighting the importance of practice and community involvement in overcoming language barriers. Maria's story serves as an inspiring example for language learners embracing challenges to improve their English speaking abilities.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “I am still learning and getting better” - A humble acknowledgment of your learning journey.
- “To do something outside your comfort zone” - A useful expression for encouraging personal growth.
- “I decided that I would volunteer” - A phrase that promotes community engagement and initiative.
- “We had many rehearsals” - A reminder of the importance of practice in achieving fluency.
- “This word is pronounced like this” - An example of sharing and helping others improve their language skills.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
If you're looking to improve English pronunciation through shadowing, here’s a practical guide using Maria's story. The shadowing technique involves listening to a speaker and simultaneously repeating what they say, aiming to mimic their pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm.
- Choose Your Material: Start by listening to the audio from the video. Ensure that you catch the nuances of Maria's speech, particularly her expressions and how she emphasizes certain phrases.
- Break it Down: Focus on one section at a time. For example, start with her description of volunteering. Listen closely, and repeat after her, mimicking her intonation.
- Use a Shadowing App: Utilize apps designed for shadow speech practice that allow you to slow down audio clips. This will make it easier to follow along and adjust your pronunciation as needed.
- Record Yourself: As you shadow, record your voice to compare how closely you match Maria's speech. Pay attention to any differences in pronunciation.
- Seek Feedback: Share your recordings with a language partner or teacher and ask for constructive criticism. This feedback can provide insights into areas that need improvement.
Embracing the shadowing technique is an effective way to enhance your English skills. Just like Maria's experience in the play, stepping out of your comfort zone allows for real improvements and deeper learning.
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.
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