Shadowing Practice: Speaking English: You NEED This Vocab! - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

468 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

You're a walking noodle.

What does it mean in English to be a walking noodle?

Stay tuned and you'll find out.

Let's learn useful American English vocabulary as I tell my sister -in -law about a recent trip to Colombia.

So, Rachel, I didn't hear about your Colombia trip yet.

Tell me everything.

It was so, like, adventurous.

It was so unlike anything that I've done.

You know, all of my travel lately has been with family, or a lot of it.

Or if I'll go somewhere with some girlfriends, we'll go to like one spot and just stay there forever and do nothing and just chat.

But I was traveling with my friend from the Netherlands

and she has a much more adventurous style of travel than I do.

So it's perfect.

It got me right out of my comfort zone.

There are two terms from that segment I want to go over.

First, I said, it was so unlike anything that I've done.

Why say unlike anything that I've done, rather than different from anything I've done?

I'm Rachel, I have a background in opera singing, and I've been teaching the American accent to non -native speakers for over 20 years.

Scan this QR code or go to rachelsenglish .com slash free to get my free course, The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent.

It will blow your mind.

It will give you totally new ideas on how to get the sound you've always wanted.

So it's perfect.

It got me right out of my comfort zone.

There are two terms from that segment I want to go over.

First, I said, it was so unlike anything that I've done.

Why say unlike anything that I've done rather than different from anything I've done?

They're both grammatically correct, but when we're comparing something to all other prior examples, it works better to use unlike.

It's unlike anything I've ever done before.

She's unlike anyone I've ever met.

It's unlike anything I've ever tasted before.

They're both grammatically correct, but But when we're comparing something to all other prior examples,

it works better to use unlike.

It's unlike anything I've ever done before.

She's unlike anyone I've ever met.

It's unlike anything I've ever tasted before.

Like adventurous.

It was so unlike anything that I've done.

What's a comfort zone?

It's any circumstance in which I feel relaxed and confident in my abilities.

For example, when I was younger, I was comfortable babysitting one or two kids at a time.

Five, that was out of my comfort zone.

Pook had me traveling to places and in environments that I've never experienced before.

So I wasn't always totally relaxed.

Some of it was definitely outside my comfort zone, which is important to keep growing as a person.

So it was perfect.

It got me right out of my comfort zone.

Not only was I traveling with my friend, Puk, from the Netherlands, but I was traveling with Sarah, who gave the toast at my wedding. So, yeah.

Obviously, two people who I just love, and it was so good to be with them.

So I spent a couple days in Cartagena, and actually, did you know that I got to meet one of my students?

Did I share that?

Tell me about that.

Remind me of that.

I remember hearing that.

Yeah.

So he says, you know, I would, I'd love to have breakfast with you or coffee or just meet you for a few minutes.

And I was like, okay, you know, he's going to buy a plane ticket to come do this, but he totally did.

He took two days off work.

Kudos to him.

That's so awesome.

He flew up and we met for breakfast and you know, it was just, it was so fun.

I read, I, I knew he'd been a student in my academy for many years.

I had been seeing his name pop up.

And yeah, so just to actually meet him and have a conversation with him in real life was so fun.

So that was kind of the highlight of the Cartagena time.

Kudos to him.

Yes. So awesome.

What does kudos mean?

Basically, it means accolades.

I'm impressed.

A good job was done.

Kudos to you for studying hard and acing the test.

Kudos to me for getting tickets months ago.

It's been sold out now for weeks.

It comes from a Greek noun meaning praise or renown.

Kudos to you for working on your English -speaking skills and watching this video.

After Cartagena, what did we do?

We decided to go to a place that was very close.

So we went to an island off the coast of Cartagena.

And it's sort of built on like coral and mangrove.

That's crazy.

It was.

So there's not like big sandy beaches.

There were some sandy areas.

It sounds beautiful though.

It was amazing.

Mangrove is a tropical tree that grows in marshes or tidal shores, noted for its interlacing above -ground roots.

When we left the island,

we went to a town called Baru and reached its port by going through a mangrove forest and it was so cool.

So we stayed at this cute little hotel called Hotel Coralina Island.

Shout out to them.

If you're ever in the vicinity, go stay.

A shout out is a message of appreciation or support that you give in a public setting.

I want to give a shout out to my husband David for being so supportive of everything I do.

Hotel Coralina Island, shout out to them.

If you're ever in the vicinity, go stay.

But we have this cute little three person room

and it had its own little private deck that was built right out on the coral.

So it was like the coral, the deck, and then just the water splashing.

Wow.

100

And it had a hammock.

101

Did you hear that when you were sleeping at night?

102

The water?

103

Um, I mean, I couldn't because I use earplugs.

104

Oh, right, right, right.

105

No matter where I am, I use noise -canceling earplugs.

106

You've heard of noise -canceling headphones, I would guess.

107

They have tiny microphones that pick up the sounds around you and then create an opposite sound wave to cancel it out.

108

That way you can hear your music, movie, podcast, or conversation better.

109

But I used to be a very light sleeper, so I wanted something really small that would cancel noise and not bother me when I sleep.

110

So I found these earplugs that have worked well for me.

111

But you maybe could have.

112

I don't know.

113

But it was just, it was gorgeous and one of the things I

114

so appreciated about it is they did not have in their public spaces, they didn't have music going.

115

You know, a lot of places will have speakers and there's always music and you can't get away from it.

116

That drives me crazy.

117

It just really, like, that is not serene to me.

118

No. I need, like, silence and quiet.

119

And this place, you know, we were traveling in the off season, so we were not, there was not a lot of other tourists around.

120

So it was very quiet and peaceful.

121

If something drives you crazy, it makes you really annoyed or frustrated.

122

You can't get away from it.

123

That drives me crazy.

124

Having no quiet absolutely drives me crazy.

125

Serene is an adjective that means calm and peaceful.

126

It's the opposite of how you feel if something is driving you crazy.

127

So Lisa comes to Mexico with me every spring break and knows how much I love to snorkel.

128

Right?

129

Like every day there I'm going out.

130

That's my girl.

131

She goes out.

132

I'll just be like, okay, I'm heading out.

133

If I'm not back in two hours, come looking for me.

134

So from the hotel, they have a snorkeling trip that you can take.

135

And it was fantastic.

136

I mean, do you think that was one of the best snorkeling places you've ever done?

137

I would say it's tied with the spot in Mexico.

138

When comparing two things, if they're tied, that means they're equal.

139

The two spots are equally great for snorkeling.

140

In some ways, it was more cool.

141

And in some ways, it was less cool.

142

So in Mexico where we go, I see a lot more variety of fish in a way that's very interesting, and I've seen sea turtles and lots of rays and that kind of thing.

143

Variety of fish.

144

This means lots of kinds of fish.

145

It's not really a comment on the number of fish overall, but the number of different kinds of fish.

146

Here, I saw less varieties of fish, but the formations of what's growing was kind of more interesting.

147

Okay, so I made a grammar mistake here.

148

I said, I saw less varieties of fish.

149

But I shouldn't have said less.

150

I should have said fewer.

151

We need to use fewer if the noun is countable.

152

Can you count the number of varieties?

153

Yes.

154

So then I should have used fewer.

155

When you're using a non -countable noun like time, it took less time than I thought.

156

Then you use less.

157

I said, I saw less varieties of fish, but I should have said, I saw fewer varieties of fish.

158

Here, I saw less varieties of fish and I just, I had the time of my life exploring it.

159

This phrase means you absolutely enjoyed yourself so much.

160

Another similar expression is to say, I had a ball.

161

I just got back from my niece's wedding

162

and we had the time of our lives or

163

and we had an absolute ball and it was just me sarah

164

and cook who did the trip um

165

and yeah the boat just dropped us off

166

and we we just did our own thing

167

and it was you know they just left you there well

168

he was he then drove to a very nearby island like we could see him

169

but you know where we go in mexico you know i like to just swim out and do my own thing Amen.

170

I like to do my own thing.

171

This means I'm very independent.

172

I don't like making decisions as a group or being around a bunch of other people.

173

When snorkeling, I prefer to be on my own and to do my own thing.

174

But if you want to go to like the real choral part, you have to go with a guide.

175

Yeah.

176

And then that person takes you around and you're with a group of people and it's generally somewhat crowded.

177

There's lots of other people doing tours, doing tours, and you don't get to really choose what you look at when you just follow this person.

178

So that's what I really loved about this is I like to just be off on my own doing my own thing.

179

Yeah, you would like that.

180

I would like the safety of being with someone.

181

Yeah.

182

Like, don't let me drown.

183

Yeah, no, I had a blast.

184

I loved it.

185

And had a blast is another way to say had an amazing time.

186

It's just like I had the time of my life or I had a ball.

187

Yeah, no, I had a blast.

188

I loved it.

189

There's a little restaurant there.

190

You know, it's a small island.

191

So you basically take all your meals there

192

and it was on the sandy area under mangroves it was

193

amazing right up by the water what yeah I guess I

194

got to show you pictures like we would the places where

195

we would eat our breakfast I mean it was just

196

so good I am so jelly yeah I'll take you there someday okay what the heck does I'm so jelly mean?

197

You probably know what jelly is, but did you know that it can also be short for jealous?

198

Lisa wanted to eat at the restaurant at the Hotel Coralina Island.

199

But also there was this huge iguana like six feet long at one point that was just chilling in the dining area.

200

It was just, yeah, and the mangroves and just, it was, I loved it.

201

It was, also we did nothing there.

202

I mean, And we just, aside from the snorkeling, we just ate and relaxed.

203

I read a whole novel.

204

Like, I never do that.

205

Oh, that's so great.

206

It was so good.

207

So then after the two days, Sarah had to go back.

208

So we all came back to Cartagena.

209

She went to the airport.

210

Oh, another thing I forgot to tell you is when we were in Cartagena, we were walking back from dinner at like 10 at night one night.

211

And this guy saw me on the street and stalked me and said, are you a professor on YouTube? and he was someone who had been following me.

212

Oh, that's cool.

213

And we found out.

214

I bet he was surprised.

215

He was surprised.

216

He walked down the street.

217

Yes.

218

And we started chatting with him.

219

He works at the airport.

220

Oh, cool.

221

And then when Sarah flew out two days later, he was working and they saw each other.

222

Oh, that's so nice.

223

And they chatted.

224

Yeah. So, yeah.

225

So then Pook and I decided, all right, we saw Cartagena.

226

We saw, you know, this beautiful island.

227

Let's do something totally different.

228

Now, Puk loves Columbia, and this was her fourth time there.

229

So she decided, yeah, go with her, because she knows what she likes to do.

230

We stayed in this hostel that she had stayed at before, and it wasn't easy to get to.

231

But then what you get for that is you get, again, a lot of serenity.

232

And one of the nights, we were the only people there.

233

Serenity is the noun form of the word we already learned, serene.

234

Serene is an adjective meaning calm and peaceful.

235

Serenity is the state or quality of being calm.

236

When you travel to an isolated place, you get serenity.

237

The setting of the hostel was very serene.

238

I felt a lot of serenity in the mornings there.

239

You know, but then what you get for that is you get, again, a lot of serenity and one of the nights we were the only people there.

240

Wow.

241

Yeah because of it being low season.

242

Anyway I highly recommend this place as well.

243

It was called Minca Mano Verde. So we get there.

244

It takes like five hours in the car and then we have to hire a four by four

245

because there's like kind of no road to get up there and it's so bumpy.

246

I mean it like it did not look at all like a road like it's part of it is

247

but then you go basically off road for the last maybe half hour to get to the hostel

248

and a lot of the places where you're turning there'll be these hairpin turns oh yeah

249

and the um the jeep or the 4x4 couldn't make it

250

so it would have to go and then do some reverse stuff like

251

that and then go and every time it reverses you know you're reversing backwards down the face of a mountain, not really, but kind of.

252

No. And you're just like, I hope these breaks work.

253

A hairpin turn is a turn in a road that is very tight.

254

You might find this going up the face of a mountain like I did.

255

A hairpin is used to hold long hair in place.

256

And a lot of the places where you're turning there'll be these hairpin turns.

257

How do they get that experience without going over?

258

I don't know.

259

I will say the guy who picked us up in two days to take us home, you could tell he was relieved when we got off that mountain.

260

I don't think he had a lot of experience.

261

But it was so, so what you get for that is you get, you're so immersed in nature.

262

Yeah.

263

Um, and if you get there, Yes, once you get there.

264

The word immersed has a couple of different meanings.

265

It can mean covered in liquid.

266

Immerse the fabric in dye.

267

It can also mean to be wholly involved in.

268

I immersed myself in Spanish for six weeks, living in Mexico and watching no TV in English.

269

When we say we're immersed in something, that means totally surrounded by it.

270

Nature was everywhere.

271

There was no feeling of city life and very little feeling of human impact.

272

At the Eco Hostel, I felt immersed in nature.

273

And I really loved it because I've sort of gotten in this habit, as you know, of going to bed early and waking up early.

274

Yeah.

275

And I would wake up at 6 and the sun would just be rising

276

and the amount of birds and birdsong was top notch.

277

I would just go out and sit on the hammock

278

or up on a stool and I mean literally just an hour wouldn't get out my phone.

279

Well, I would, but I'll tell you why in a second.

280

I would just sit there and listen and watch.

281

Top notch means the very best.

282

It was the best place to watch and hear birds that I had ever been.

283

The birding was top notch.

284

You can get a top notch education at that school.

285

So I think I told you, you know what I was doing with my phone?

286

I think I know.

287

Yes.

288

Was it the app I told you about?

289

It was.

290

So Lisa told me about this map app called Merlin.

291

Yes.

292

It says you press record and it will listen to the sounds and it will try to identify birds.

293

and I was having a great time just the amount of birds

294

that would pop up

295

and then I would try to find them you know like

296

oh this is what it looks like let me show you what the bird looks like right yeah

297

and like one time I heard a sound and I popped up

298

and it was like a green very beautiful green bird

299

and I looked up

300

and I saw a pack of six of them just flying overhead it was it was

301

so cool and I really wanted to see a toucan

302

and they're not they they don't like they kind of stay away from where people are

303

but so I never saw one

304

but it did pop up on my app like it had heard it yes

305

and that's so cool just knowing that I was with an earshot I love of

306

that bird yeah was sort of fun earshot means within a distance

307

that can be heard I was close enough to the toucan

308

to hear it even though I couldn't see it I was within hearing distance I was within earshot.

309

You can use in or within with earshot.

310

I can't talk about what happened right now because my kids are in earshot, but I'll tell you later.

311

Just knowing that I was within earshot, one day I went on this really big hike that I didn't think was going to be that big.

312

So Peck doesn't really want to hike.

313

She's 71.

314

She likes to bike, but she also didn't like the idea of me hiking by myself.

315

Yeah, I don't like that idea either.

316

She was like, Rachel, they say don't hike in mountains alone and don't go swimming in the ocean alone.

317

You know she's a very smart friend.

318

She's a smart friend.

319

But I was like, but I'm so independent.

320

I was like, I get it.

321

But if I want to hike, I'm going to go for a hike.

322

So there was one other person that had been staying in our hostel the night before.

323

And she goes up to him.

324

He was leaving that day.

325

She goes up to him and she goes, hey, you should go on this hike with Rachel at Jaguar Falls.

326

He was not planning on doing this.

327

And he's like, okay.

328

So this guy and I set off on this hike that we think is going to be four to five hours, which is a good long hike.

329

Um, but it ends up being seven and a half.

330

Set off is a phrasal verb that means to begin a journey.

331

We set off on our hike at sunrise.

332

And I didn't, I didn't have the best footwear for it.

333

So I have these little ankle socks and keen hiking water shoes.

334

Footwear is anything you wear on your feet.

335

Socks, shoes, boots, sandals, pumps, water shoes, and so on.

336

You do not want to go on a long hike without proper footwear.

337

And the ankle socks kept slipping below and it was rubbing and causing the worst blister.

338

And this guy I was hiking with was so sweet, Fernando.

339

He offered me his socks and I was like, no, You need to keep your own socks.

340

But anyway, I got blisters.

341

A blister is caused by friction, rubbing, or burning.

342

Ouch.

343

It's a bubble on the skin filled with fluid.

344

It took so long to get there.

345

We kept really not knowing where we were going.

346

Luckily, I was with a Colombian who spoke obviously perfect Spanish.

347

So he was asking directions along the way.

348

We finally find where we need to go

349

and we get like the we pay a little entrance fee to go to the last part.

350

And we get there and it's so much bigger than I thought it was going to be.

351

And even though we're not that close to it, it's basically like getting sprayed with a hose.

352

It's just like the mist.

353

It's just this wall of mist.

354

Mist is a cloud of tiny droplets of water like what was coming off of the falling water at Jaguar Falls.

355

This is the mist that surrounded the hostel the next day.

356

A wall of mist is a large defined cloud of mist that might move towards you that might obstruct vision.

357

We also use the phrase wall of with smoke.

358

As the house went up in flames, a wall of smoke came towards me.

359

It's like getting sprayed with a hose.

360

It's like the mist.

361

It's just this wall of mist.

362

So then you're all damp.

363

Yes, like soaking wet by the end of the time.

364

Was it pretty?

365

It was so pretty, but I don't really love having wet feet.

366

I hate having wet feet.

367

For a second, I was like standing behind a rock so the mist couldn't hit my feet, but it was hitting the whole rest of my body and just dripping down.

368

And at a certain point, I just had to be like, you know what?

369

We're going to have soaking wet socks and that's okay.

370

Soaking wet means completely wet, no dry parts left.

371

I fell into the river, so I wasn't just damp.

372

I was soaking wet.

373

There was also a part where we had to, there was a pretty big river.

374

And she said, if you start, if it starts raining, leave right away because the river gets high fast and you won't be able to cross it.

375

But even in its little river state, I could barely cross it.

376

I mean, it was very, very strong.

377

Even though it was only maybe knee deep, I had to go down on all fours because it was knocking me over.

378

Oh, my gosh.

379

And I, like, took off my shoes on the bank and threw them across to the other bank.

380

I don't know what to do with her sometimes.

381

I'm just saying adventure, right?

382

Like a good adventure.

383

So anyway, seven and a half hours later, I see the hostel.

384

I mean, at this point, our legs are shot.

385

Yeah.

386

And our feet.

387

Yeah.

388

If something is shot, that means it's exhausted.

389

It's used up.

390

It doesn't work well anymore.

391

For example, when it comes to your car, you don't want to hear, your brakes are shot.

392

You need to replace them.

393

After the long hike, my legs were shot.

394

I see the hostel.

395

I mean, at this point, our legs are shot.

396

Yeah, you're a walking noodle.

397

I'm a walking noodle.

398

Like, we didn't bring that much food.

399

What did my sister -in -law mean by walking noodle?

400

Well, think of a cooked noodle, weak, floppy.

401

I once heard someone who fainted being described as a wet noodle.

402

The body has no strength.

403

This person just sank to the floor.

404

Here, by being a walking noodle, she's saying my body was so weak and wobbly.

405

I hardly had any strength left.

406

Because we didn't think it was going to be… anyway.

407

It was so exhausting.

408

So you were wet?

409

Yes.

410

Tired?

411

Hungry?

412

A little grouchy?

413

No. No?

414

Still very happy.

415

It was fun because Fernando's English was about as good as my Spanish.

416

So we were speaking in both languages the whole time.

417

And I mean, I had a seven and a half hour long conversation with this person.

418

That's interesting.

419

You know, that's...

420

Right, right.

421

Life rarely gives you that opportunity.

422

That kind of adventure.

423

Yeah.

424

So we had fun together, got home, and he decided he needed to stay again that night because it was so late.

425

He couldn't get home.

426

Because she got him into something.

427

Pook.

428

I blame Pook.

429

Okay, that's true.

430

So we get back and we all stay the night there again.

431

And then the next day he leaves and Pook and I still have the whole next day.

432

And because of having done that hike, I decided to do nothing that day.

433

I affirm that decision.

434

It was so good.

435

If someone says they affirm your decision, that means they agree with you.

436

They think you made the right decision.

437

That after he left, no one else was there except me and Pook and the staff.

438

There was a massive rainstorm

439

that had a tin roof it was just I can't even explain it was just

440

so I will I will remember that day

441

if any time I need to just reset my nervous system I'm just gonna imagine being there

442

so it was gorgeous and after that we had one one more night

443

in Colombia and we were gonna spend it in a town called Santa Marta

444

which is like four hours maybe five hours from the airport

445

and my flight was in the afternoon so we're just gonna go back

446

that last day but with the day in between leaving the hostel

447

and staying in Santa Marta we were like what do we

448

want to do there's a national park near Santa Marta called Tirona

449

and we decided we were to do in the hostel I was researching what to do in Tyrona

450

and I was using ChatGPT

451

which you know like you're saying your neighbor was having come

452

you know writing with ChatGPT getting through writer's block whatever it's it can be really good for planning a trip

453

because it's like scouring all the information right it already gathered yeah stuff together for you but then you You don't know.

454

You wouldn't say, but then. But then.

455

That's not a good start.

456

You don't, it's not like sure, but it's acting sure.

457

You know what I mean?

458

So it was telling us things that weren't necessarily true.

459

Scour has a couple of different definitions.

460

Here it means to search thoroughly, to look everywhere.

461

We scoured the hotel room for my lost engagement ring, but never did find it.

462

I learned my lesson planning my day in Tyrona National Park with ChatGPT, and I will share that story in a video soon.

463

But just as a teaser, it does involve a horse.

464

I hope you've enjoyed this video.

465

I absolutely love teaching about the stress and music of spoken American English.

466

Keep your learning going now with this video and don't forget to subscribe with notifications on.

467

I absolutely love being your English teacher.

468

That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Same Channel

2,766

English Words You’re Probably Mispronouncing ❌Difficult English Pronunciation | Rachel’s English

Daily ConversationWorking Adults

Mixing Up V & W sounds: American English Pronunciation

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

Learning English—How to learn ENGLISH SPEAKING—Learning English with movies | Rachel’s English

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

Weddings! 2-Syllable Words Stress in American English

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

TO BE Contractions -- American English Pronunciation

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

Unvoiced vs. Voiced: American English Pronunciation

Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

318 sentences

Speak American English Around Town

Travel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

121 sentences

How to Increase Vocabulary - Studying English Vocabulary

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

375 sentences

Study English | American English Pronunciation | What Makes American English Sound AMERICAN?

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

113 sentences

Improve Your English Speaking Skills | English Restaurant conversation practice

Travel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

263 sentences

9 English Learning Lies You Probably Believe

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

487 sentences

Real English Conversation: Advanced English Lesson

Travel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

25 sentences

Why I did the English routine #speakenglish #englishspeaking

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

125 sentences

First Day in London| Learn British English Through Story

Travel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

43 sentences

How to speak about famous people

IELTS PrepBusiness EnglishDaily Conversation

Want to become fluent in English? Watch this! 🇬🇧🇺🇸

369

7 sentences

Want to become fluent in English? Watch this! 🇬🇧🇺🇸

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

240 sentences

Speak English With Me – Think in English Day 2 | English Speaking Practice

Interview EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

173 sentences

Native English Phrases Speaking Practice with Vocabulary

Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Speaking English: You NEED This Vocab!”. This video has 468 sentences and 4719 words to shadow. The speech runs for 26:52. The speaker talks at a natural 176 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% 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
hike noun	/haɪk/	A long walk, usually for pleasure or exercise.
hostel noun	/ˈhɑstəl/	An overnight lodging place for travelers, with dormitory accommodation and shared facilities, especially a youth hostel.
noodle noun	/ˈnu.dəl/	A string or flat strip of pasta or other dough, usually cooked (at least initially) by boiling, and served in soup or in a dry form mixed with a sauce and…
earshot noun	/ˈɪɹˌʃɑt/	A distance from which sound is still audible.
immerse verb	/ɪˈmɜɹs/	To place within a fluid (generally a liquid, but also a gas).
kudos noun	/ˈkuˌdoʊz/	Praise; accolades.
serenity noun	/səˈɹɛnɪti/	The state of being serene; calmness; peacefulness.
sock noun	/sɑk/	A knitted or woven covering for the foot.
mangrove noun	/ˈmæŋɡɹoʊ̯v/	Any of various tropical and subtropical evergreen shrubs or trees chiefly of the Rhizophoraceae family that have aerial roots and grow in clumps in brackish…
serene adjective	/səˈɹin/	Calm, peaceful, unruffled.
snorkel noun		A hollow tube, held in the mouth, or mounted on and opening into a diving mask, used by swimmers for breathing underwater.
hairpin noun	/ˈhɛɚ.pɪn/	A pin or fastener for the hair.
soak verb	/soʊk/	To be saturated with liquid by being immersed in it.
noun noun	/naʊn/	A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, word, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea…
notch noun	/nɑtʃ/	A V-shaped cut.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
go out verb	To leave, especially a building.
pop up verb	To come up with a "pop" sound.
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
go back verb	To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
go over verb	To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.
end up verb	To bring to a conclusion.
fly out verb	To travel by airplane to a destination.
fly up verb	To ascend rapidly

Sentences worth repeating

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

Stay tuned and you'll find out.
It was so unlike anything that I've done.
Can you count the number of varieties?
Was it the app I told you about?
You know what I mean?

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've done · has been · you've always wanted
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	been sold · was built · was called
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	zone, which is · people who I · someone who had
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was traveling · were sleeping · were traveling

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 115 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: thoroughly /ˈθʌɹ.ə.li/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: earshot /ˈɪɹˌʃɑt/, shout /ʃaʊt/, friction /ˈfɹɪkʃən/, marsh /mɑɹʃ/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: serenity /səˈɹɛnɪti/, adventurous /ædˈvɛn.t͡ʃɚ.əs/, vicinity /vəˈsɪnəti/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like hike, hostel, noodle.

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 →

Shadowing Practice: Speaking English: You NEED This Vocab! - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Students (Part 6) 💯

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Students (Part 5) 🌟

Welcome to Rachel's English!

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Students (Part 1) ✅

English Conversation: Job Interview🧑🏻‍💼

English Sounds - OW [aʊ] Diphthong - How to make the OW as in NOW Diphthong

How to Improve Spoken American English - Sound like a Native Speaker

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Students (Part 7) 🥇

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Students (Part 3) 🎯

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Students (Part 4) 🚀

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Students (Part 2) 🏆

American English Pronunciation: EH [ɛ] vs. AA [æ] Vowels

Complement vs. Compliment 🤗

American English - AH [ɑ] Vowel - How to make the AH Vowel

English Words You’re Probably Mispronouncing ❌Difficult English Pronunciation | Rachel’s English

Mixing Up V & W sounds: American English Pronunciation

Learning English—How to learn ENGLISH SPEAKING—Learning English with movies | Rachel’s English

Weddings! 2-Syllable Words Stress in American English

TO BE Contractions -- American English Pronunciation

Unvoiced vs. Voiced: American English Pronunciation

Speak American English Around Town

How to Increase Vocabulary - Studying English Vocabulary

Study English | American English Pronunciation | What Makes American English Sound AMERICAN?

Improve Your English Speaking Skills | English Restaurant conversation practice

9 English Learning Lies You Probably Believe

Real English Conversation: Advanced English Lesson

Why I did the English routine #speakenglish #englishspeaking

First Day in London| Learn British English Through Story

How to speak about famous people

Want to become fluent in English? Watch this! 🇬🇧🇺🇸

Speak English With Me – Think in English Day 2 | English Speaking Practice

Native English Phrases Speaking Practice with Vocabulary

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?