Shadowing Practice: Speaking Faster in 30 Days - Day 2 Shadowing Technique - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
I am so happy you came back for day two.
2
Seriously, the fact that you're here right now means you are already doing better than most people.
3
Most people start a challenge and stop on day one, but not you.
4
You showed up again.
5
That is huge.
6
That is genuinely huge.
7
And if this is your very first time here, welcome.
8
We are doing a 30-day English shadowing challenge, and every single day we come back with a new episode, new practice, and a whole lot of fun.
9
So please, before we go any further, hit that subscribe button right now.
10
And the bell, too.
11
Tap the bell so you never miss a day, because trust me, you do not want to miss what's coming.
12
Jenny, tell them, should they subscribe?
13
I mean, yes, obviously.
14
But also, James, you say that is huge about everything.
15
Yesterday it was huge, today it's huge.
16
Because it is huge, Jenny.
17
Every day is huge.
18
Each day is a new opportunity to grow.
19
Am I wrong?
20
You're not wrong.
21
You're just very enthusiastic.
22
But yes, everyone, welcome back, welcome if you're new, and please do subscribe.
23
This series genuinely builds day by day, so you want to follow along from the beginning if you can.
24
And if you missed day one, go back and watch it first.
25
We explain everything about what shadowing is and how to do it correctly.
26
Today, we're building on that foundation.
27
And today, oh, today is so good.
28
Jenny, should we just tell them?
29
Go ahead.
30
I can see you physically cannot hold it in.
31
Today, we're practicing English shadowing using movies.
32
Yes, movies.
33
One of the most fun, most natural, most exciting ways to hear real English in the world.
34
And I have been waiting to do this episode since we planned this whole series.
35
because I love movies.
36
I grew up watching movies.
37
Movies basically taught me how to tell stories.
38
So the idea of using movies to help people learn English, I mean, come on, it doesn't get better than that.
39
And there's actually a really solid reason why movies are such a powerful tool for language learning.
40
And it's not just because they're fun, even though that matters a lot.
41
Movies give you language in context.
42
When you hear a character say something in a film, you don't just hear the words, you see their face, you hear their voice, the emotion, the speed, the tone.
43
You see the situation around them.
44
All of that extra information helps your brain understand
45
and remember the language so much more deeply than just reading a sentence in a textbook.
46
It's like, okay, let me give you an analogy.
47
Imagine you're trying to learn the word nervous.
48
You could read a definition in a dictionary, nervous, feeling worried or anxious.
49
Okay, fine.
50
But now imagine you watch a scene in a movie where
51
a character is about to walk on stage for the first time
52
and their hands are shaking and they keep taking deep breaths and they whisper to their friend, I'm so nervous right now.
53
Suddenly, you don't just know the word, you feel it.
54
You understand it in your body.
55
That's what movies do.
56
They make language real.
57
Exactly.
58
And that emotional connection is actually very important for memory.
59
There is research that shows we remember things better when they are connected to emotions.
60
So when you learn a word or a phrase from a movie scene that made you laugh or cry or feel excited,
61
your brain holds onto it much more strongly than if you just memorized it from a list.
62
Which is why I still remember lines from movies I watched 20 years ago.
63
Like, I can quote entire scenes from certain films, word for word, and I wasn't even trying to memorize them.
64
I just watched the movie, I loved it, and the words stayed with me forever.
65
And that's exactly the experience we want to create for you as an English learner.
66
We want phrases to stick in your brain because you connected with them emotionally, not because you forced yourself to memorize them.
67
So today, we are going to do two things.
68
First, Jenny and I are going to talk about how to use movies for shadowing.
69
the right way to do it, the mistakes to avoid. And second, and this is the fun part we are actually going to
70
practice together we'll say some movie style lines out loud nice
71
and slow and you shadow along with us sound good sounds great
72
so let's start with the how
73
because here's the thing a lot of people have heard the advice watch movies in english to improve your english
74
and a lot of people have tried it
75
and a lot of people felt like it didn't really work
76
they watched an english movie they didn't understand very much they felt frustrated
77
and they gave up does that sound familiar to anyone oh absolutely i've heard this from
78
so many students they say i tried watching english movies
79
but i couldn't understand anything and the people speak too fast
80
and there are too many accents
81
and i just ended up turning on subtitles in my own language
82
and basically watching it in my own language and i completely understand that feeling because watching movies passively, just sitting back and watching,
83
is very different from using movies actively for language learning.
84
Right.
85
Passive watching is fine for entertainment, but if you want to improve your English, you need to be active,
86
you need to engage, and shadowing is one of the best ways to make movie watching active.
87
So here is the method we recommend, step by step.
88
Step 1.
89
Choose the right movie.
90
This is really important.
91
start with a film that is full of complicated words, heavy accents, or very fast speech.
92
Start with something clear, modern, and not too complicated.
93
Animated movies are actually fantastic for this.
94
Films like Toy Story, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, the language is clear, the emotions are very easy to understand,
95
and the sentences are not too long or complicated.
96
Oh, I love that recommendation.
97
And I know some people might think, animated movies?
98
Those are for children.
99
And honestly, the language in those films is so natural, so warm, so expressive, it's perfect for a learner.
100
And the stories are wonderful too.
101
So you actually enjoy watching, which means you're more likely to keep going.
102
Exactly.
103
And here's another great option.
104
Movies you have already seen in your own language.
105
If you already know the story, you already know what's happening in each scene.
106
So your brain is not working hard to follow the plot.
107
It's free to focus completely on the English sounds and words.
108
That makes shadowing so much easier.
109
That's such a smart tip.
110
I never thought about it that way before, but it makes so much sense.
111
Like if I watch a movie I already love in English, I'm relaxed, I'm comfortable, I'm not stressed about the story,
112
so I can really focus on how the characters are speaking, not just what they're saying.
113
Exactly.
114
Okay, step three, pause and replay.
115
This is the most important step for shadowing with movies.
116
You don't have to watch the whole film in one go without stopping.
117
In fact, for shadowing practice, you should stop all the time.
118
You hear a line you like, you pause.
119
You replay it two or three times.
120
You listen carefully to the sounds, the rhythm, the emotion in the voice.
121
And then you say it out loud yourself.
122
You try to copy not just the words, but the feeling behind the words, the tone, the energy.
123
Yes, and this is where shadowing movies becomes really powerful.
124
when you copy a movie character's voice, you're not just learning words, you're learning how real people express emotions in English.
125
How they sound when they're excited, when they're scared, when they're in love, when they're angry.
126
That emotional variety is almost never something you get from a textbook.
127
Okay, I have to tell a quick story here.
128
Is that okay?
129
Can I have 30 seconds?
130
You're going to tell it whether I say yes or no, so.
131
Fair point, fair point.
132
Okay, so I had a student once.
133
Lovely person, very hardworking, but she was really scared of speaking English.
134
Like, genuinely scared.
135
She would go completely silent whenever she had to speak.
136
And I asked her, what do you love?
137
What makes he happy?
138
And she said, I love Disney movies.
139
I've watched them since I was a little girl.
140
And I said, perfect.
141
Go home, watch your favorite Disney movie in English with English subtitles, and pick one line, just one line that you love and shadow it.
142
Say it again and again until it feels natural in your mouth.
143
And she came back the next week and she said, James, I picked a line from Moana.
144
I must have said it 50 times, and now it just comes out of my mouth naturally.
145
And I said, that's it.
146
That's the whole secret.
147
One line, 50 times, natural.
148
That's a beautiful story, and it really does capture something true about the process.
149
You don't need to shadow the whole movie.
150
You don't even need to shadow a whole scene.
151
Sometimes one perfect sentence practiced many, many times teaches you more than 100 sentences practiced once.
152
One line, 50 times.
153
I'm going to make that a t-shirt, too.
154
You need to open a store.
155
Okay, so let's also talk about what to listen for when you shadow a movie line, because it's not just about the words.
156
There are three things I want you to pay attention to.
157
Ginny, do you want to take this one?
158
Sure.
159
So the first thing to listen for is stress.
160
In English, we stress certain words in a sentence.
161
We say them a little louder, a little longer, and this stress changes the meaning and the feeling of the sentence.
162
For example, I love this movie sounds different from I love this movie.
163
Same words, different stress, slightly different meaning.
164
So when you shadow, try to notice which words the speaker makes bigger and louder.
165
The second thing to listen for is the speed, but not just overall speed.
166
Listen for where the speaker slows down and where they speed up.
167
Native speakers don't speak at the same speed the whole time.
168
They slow down on important words.
169
They speed up on smaller words like and, the, a, of.
170
It creates a kind of wave.
171
Fast, slow, fast, slow.
172
And when you start to feel that wave in your own speaking, your English suddenly sounds so much more natural.
173
And the third thing, this is my favorite, is emotion.
174
Listen to what the character's voice does when they feel something.
175
When a character is excited, their voice goes higher, faster.
176
When they're sad, it gets slower, softer.
177
When they're angry, there's a sharpness to every word.
178
And when you shadow, try to bring that emotion into your own voice, too.
179
Don't shadow like a robot, shadow like an actor.
180
Put the feeling in.
181
like an actor.
182
I love that.
183
And I know it might feel embarrassing at first.
184
You're sitting alone in your room and you're pretending to be a movie character
185
and your voice is going up and down and you feel completely ridiculous.
186
I know.
187
But that embarrassment, that's just your brain getting used to something new.
188
Push through it because on the other side of embarrassed is confident.
189
I promise.
190
All right.
191
Are we ready for today's practice session? So ready.
192
Okay, everyone, here's how this is going to work.
193
We're going to give you some movie-style sentences, the kind of short, clear, emotional lines you might hear in a film.
194
Ginny and I will each say them slowly and clearly, and your job is to shadow.
195
Say them right after us, out loud, full voice, with the same emotion.
196
Ready?
197
Let's go.
198
Okay, I'll start.
199
These are sentences about friendship, because friendship is one of the most common themes in movies, and the language around it is very natural and useful.
200
I'll say each one twice.
201
Shadow after me.
202
You are my best friend in the whole world.
203
You are my best friend in the whole world.
204
Come on, say it.
205
Imagine you're saying it to someone you really love.
206
Put that feeling in your voice.
207
You don't know what I would do without you.
208
You don't know what I would do without you.
209
Oh, that one gets me every time.
210
So much feeling in that sentence.
211
Okay, I'm going to give you some lines about being brave, because every great movie has a moment where someone has to be brave.
212
Here we go.
213
I am scared, but I'm going to do it anyway.
214
I am scared, but I'm going to do it anyway.
215
That's a good one.
216
Short sentences, simple words, but so much meaning.
217
This is hard, but I am not going to give up.
218
This is hard, but I am not going to give up.
219
Say that one again, everyone, and this time really mean it, because that sentence isn't just a movie line.
220
That sentence is about your English learning journey, too.
221
Oh, Ginny!
222
That gave me actual chills!
223
Ha ha!
224
Okay, let's do one more set, a little longer this time.
225
I'm going to give you a short, movie-style paragraph, two or three sentences together.
226
Shadow along with me, try to say it at the same time as me, or just a tiny bit behind here we go i used
227
to think i couldn't do this everyone told me it was too hard
228
but i kept going one step at a time
229
and now here i am beautiful now you say it out loud one more time don't rush feel every word
230
and i want to point out something about
231
that paragraph did you notice the sentence length short sentences i used to think i couldn't do this
232
Everyone told me it was too hard.
233
Each sentence has one clear idea.
234
That is very common in movies, especially in emotional moments.
235
Short, clear, powerful sentences.
236
And that rhythm, short sentence, short sentence, short sentence, is something you can use in your own speaking too.
237
That's such a good point, Jenny.
238
And I want to add, the words in those sentences are not complicated at all.
239
Used to, couldn't, too hard, kept going, one step at a time.
240
These are everyday words, but together in that rhythm, with that emotion, they feel so powerful.
241
That's the magic of movie language.
242
It takes simple words and makes them feel big.
243
Which is actually a great lesson for your own English speaking.
244
You do not need long, complicated words to sound impressive.
245
You need the right simple words in the right order with the right feeling.
246
That's it.
247
I want to frame that quote and put it on my wall.
248
The right simple words in the right order with the right feeling.
249
Jenny, that was genuinely wise.
250
Thank you.
251
I have my moments.
252
Okay, so before we wrap up today, I want to give everyone a little homework.
253
And I know, I know, homework sounds scary, but I promise this homework is actually really fun.
254
Tonight, or whenever you have a little free time, I want you to find a movie you love, or a movie you have seen before in your own language.
255
Watch one scene in English, with English subtitles, and pick just one line, one sentence, one line that you like.
256
Maybe it made you laugh, maybe it moved you, maybe you just liked the sound of it.
257
Pick that one line, and say it out loud ten times.
258
Shadow it.
259
Copy the voice, the emotion, the rhythm.
260
Just ten times.
261
That's it.
262
That's your homework.
263
If you want to share your line with us, leave it in the comments below.
264
Tell us what movie it's from and what the line is.
265
We would love to read them.
266
Honestly, the comments on this channel are so wonderful.
267
You all share so much and it really does make us smile every day.
268
Every single day.
269
We read every single comment.
270
So please, share your movie line with us.
271
Let us know how day two went.
272
Was it fun?
273
Was it scary?
274
Did you feel like a movie star?
275
Because you should.
276
out here doing the work and that deserves some celebration
277
and tomorrow day three we are going to keep building each
278
day we add a little bit more the practice gets a little richer the sentences get a little more varied
279
but always simple always clear at a pace you can follow
280
we are not rushing anywhere 30 days together one day at a time
281
and if you haven't subscribed yet please please please Do it right now.
282
Tap subscribe, tap the bell notification, and you will get every single episode as soon as it comes out.
283
We don't want you to miss a day of this journey because every day matters.
284
Every day really does matter, and so do you.
285
Thank you for being here, thank you for practicing, and thank you for trusting us with your English learning.
286
That means more to us than we can say.
287
It really does.
288
Okay, go find your movie, pick your line, Say it 10 times and we will see you tomorrow for day three.
289
Bye everyone!
290
Bye!
291
Keep shadowing!
Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging in the shadowing technique is one of the most effective methods to improve English pronunciation and fluency. By watching films and mimicking characters' dialogues, learners immerse themselves in real-life language scenarios. This method, known as shadowspeak, allows you to hear authentic speech patterns, intonations, and emotions, providing a rich context that traditional textbook learning often lacks. Every time you shadow a scene, you are not just repeating words; you are capturing the essence of how language is used naturally. This can significantly enhance your conversational skills, making you sound more fluent and confident.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In this video, the hosts highlight a few key English structures and expressions that are important for learners:
- “That is huge” - This phrase emphasizes significance or importance. Understanding how to express enthusiasm or emotion is crucial in everyday conversations.
- “Should we just tell them?” - This rhetorical question exemplifies casual speech and encourages engagement, a useful structure for keeping conversations lively.
- “Am I wrong?” - This form of questioning invites feedback and is a practical way to ensure clarification in discussions.
- “Welcome if you’re new” - A common phrase to greet newcomers, reinforcing inclusivity and friendliness in social interactions.
Practicing these expressions within their context today will enhance your understanding of how they are used in conversational English, which can be beneficial in both formal and informal settings.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you embark on learning through films, be aware of some common pronunciation challenges:
- “Huge” - This word is often mispronounced due to its unusual sound combination. Focus on articulating the "h" and the "j" sound smoothly.
- “Should” - Native speakers often blend this word when speaking quickly. Pay attention to its rhythmic placement in sentences to enhance shadow speech.
- “Tell” - This word can be tricky due to its vowel sound. Practice this by exaggerating the "e" sound to solidify your pronunciation.
By identifying and practicing these tricky words, you will further learn English with YouTube in a way that is both enjoyable and effective. Embrace the challenge of shadowing, and you'll find yourself improving not only in pronunciation but also in overall language comprehension.
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.