Shadowing Practice: speaking ONLY chinese challenge (with subtitles ofc) | 中文 vlog - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “speaking ONLY chinese challenge”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: egg, beer, drinking, chinese, movie. This video has 386 sentences and 2433 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:26. The speaker talks at a steady 148 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 74% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| salad noun | /ˈsæl.əd/ | A food consisting principally of raw vegetables (especially greens, e.g. lettuce), other savoury ingredients (typically cooked), fruit, or confectionary; often… |
| cider noun | /ˈsaɪ̯.dɚ/ | An alcoholic, often sparkling (carbonated) beverage made from fermented apples. |
| scary adjective | /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ | Causing fear or anxiety |
| juice noun | /d͡ʒuːs/ | A liquid made from plant, especially fruit. |
| poll noun | /poʊl/ | A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion. |
| contribution noun | /ˌkɑntɹɪˈbjuʃən/ | Something given or offered that adds to a larger whole. |
| spray noun | /spɹeɪ/ | A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid. |
| potato noun | /pəˈteɪ.təʊ/ | The edible starchy tuber of the plant species Solanum tuberosum. |
| urge verb | /ɜːd͡ʒ/ | To press; to push; to drive; to impel; to force onward. |
| lemon noun | /ˈlɛmən/ | A yellowish citrus fruit. |
| creativity noun | /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/ | The ability to use imagination to produce a novel idea or product. |
| vegetable noun | /ˈvɛd͡ʒ.tə.bəl/ | A plant raised for some edible part of it, such as the leaves, roots, fruit or flowers, but excluding any plant considered to be a fruit, grain, herb, or spice… |
| sponge noun | /spʌnd͡ʒ/ | Any of various marine invertebrates of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica. |
| thick adjective | /θɪk/ | Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension. |
| wash verb | /wɑʃ/ | To clean with water. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Are you excited for the movie?
- You guys have to join the show?
- Are we actually making this fun?
- You want like a black and white?
- Did you see that I was standing there?
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 | hasn't seen · I've seen · Have you seen |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might have · might be |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm talking · I'm not drinking · I'm drinking |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | are going to be · gonna be · are going to watch |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 154 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, cloth /klɒθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: contribution /ˌkɑntɹɪˈbjuʃən/, wash /wɑʃ/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, dish /dɪʃ/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: contribution /ˌkɑntɹɪˈbjuʃən/, creativity /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/, competitor /kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/, auditorium /ˌɔ.dɪˌto.ɹi.əm/, karaoke /ˈkæ.ɹiˌəʊ.ki/
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 salad, cider, scary.
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.























