Shadowing Practice: STOP Making These CRINGE English Mistakes - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello, welcome to possibly the best video I've ever made on the channel.

I don't know.

Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I'm excited.

It's a really good one.

All right, buckle up.

We're going for a ride.

By the way, sorry about the noises.

Okay, I'm in Guadalajara, Mexico.

There's trucks.

I'm right near a busy road.

There's construction.

There's music, ambulances, dogs barking.

You know the deal.

You know the drill.

This video is worth watching, I promise.

All right, enough said.

Let's get into it.

The first thing I want to talk about is something

that I see all the time in the comment section of my videos.

It's an extremely common mistake and confusion because of other English teachers telling you that you can use get,

the word get, instead of understand.

I've talked about this briefly before in a video that I made in Spanish,

but I really want to talk about this topic more completely this time and in English so that there's no confusion.

And also because I got a lot of new students that don't know about this.

So here's the truth.

Get and understand are not interchangeable.

You cannot just replace understand with get.

It only works in very specific contexts.

And honestly, it's difficult to explain.

So I'm going to generalize and simplify it for you.

In general, when we use get in the context of understanding,

it's more about understanding the point of what somebody is saying or understanding the point of something.

For example, we use it a lot with jokes.

Did you get the joke?

It's like, did you understand the point of the joke?

Did you understand why the joke is funny?

Did you get it?

No, I didn't get it.

I didn't get the joke.

When somebody says, I don't get what you're saying.

I didn't get what you said.

It's that they didn't understand the point.

They didn't understand what you are really communicating, what you are saying.

But here's the thing.

And this is where I see all the mistakes in my comment section.

When we talk about understanding a language, like for example, understanding the language that you're speaking,

understanding the English that I'm speaking, the words that I'm saying.

When we talk about understanding a language, we use understand.

And if you use get, a lot of the time it's going to seem very strange and not like a native speaker.

So this is the problem.

I make videos talking in English and you guys want to tell me in the comments that you understand my English.

You understand me talking.

And so I see comments like, I got you completely.

Thank you.

Native speakers from the U.S probably wouldn't say that.

I got you also has a whole different meaning that we use nowadays, especially in my generation.

Nowadays, when somebody my age tells you, I got you, it's like, what kind of music do you like?

Oh, I like rock music.

Okay, I got you.

And I put on rock music.

It's like, okay, I'm going to do what will be good for you.

It's a totally different meaning.

If we want to say that we understand the language that you're speaking, we would just use understand.

We would say, I understood everything you said.

I understand your English perfectly.

I understand your videos.

I understand you when you talk.

Here's another comment I saw.

I got the class perfectly.

That sounds like you bought the class or you obtained the class.

That doesn't sound like you understood the class.

See, this is the problem.

GET has so many meanings.

So if you don't use GET exactly the way that native speakers use GET, it's very ambiguous.

It's not so clear what you mean.

Obviously, because I'm an English teacher and I understand that there's this confusion and based on the context, I understand what this person is trying to say.

I understand that they're trying to say that they understood the class.

They understood my English.

But I'm trying to help you actually talk like native speakers

so that you avoid confusion with other people and so that you can sound better in English.

So in this case, it would be so much better to just say, I understood the class perfectly.

I totally understood the class.

Here's another example.

Someone said that they sometimes use subtitles when the accent is hard to get.

That is very strange.

Native speakers wouldn't say that.

We wouldn't say your accent is hard to get.

We would say your accent is hard to understand.

It's hard to understand your accent because accent is like part of language.

It's a part of speaking a language.

For example, if somebody starts speaking Japanese and I don't know Japanese, I'm not going to say I don't get you

or I don't get what you're saying or I didn't get that because that sounds like it means something else.

I would say, sorry, I don't understand you because I don't know Japanese.

I don't understand Japanese.

Okay, so bottom line, what I want you to take away from this is understand is a totally normal word to use.

There is nothing formal or robotic about the word understand.

I use understand all the time.

It only has one meaning basically.

So it's very clear what you're trying to say and it's used

100

when we talk about understanding a language and it's also used in any context where you want to use understand.

101

The truth is that you don't actually need to use get.

102

You could always use understand in every context even when we're talking about the point of what you're saying.

103

You know I don't understand your point.

104

You don't actually have to use get.

105

Yes, native speakers use get to replace understand sometimes, but in very specific contexts, like I mentioned.

106

And it's rarely used when we talk about understanding a language

107

or an accent or pronunciation or anything that has to do with that, because get is more about understanding the point of what you're saying.

108

So if you want to avoid mistakes, you could always use understand.

109

But if you want to use get, I recommend paying attention to the ways that native speakers use get to replace understand when you consume content in English,

110

when you watch and listen to content in English.

111

See how they use it and you can copy that.

112

I think the problem is that so many of you have learned this not from content in English,

113

but from videos of English teachers on the Internet saying you'll sound more like a native speaker

114

if you use get instead of understand.

115

That is extremely misleading and it's false a lot of the time.

116

It really depends on the context.

117

All right, enough said.

118

Next topic.

119

So for this video, I just took screenshots of random comments that I saw on my videos where there are common mistakes.

120

So I'm going to show you what someone said

121

and you can pause the video and guess what the mistake is and then I will explain what it is.

122

All right, the first one.

123

Is amazing, Lau.

124

I like so much this kind of videos.

125

All right, what are the mistakes here?

126

There are more than one.

127

The first one is starting a sentence with is that's not a question.

128

You're probably only going to start a sentence with is if it's a question.

129

Is it amazing?

130

I don't know. Is it?

131

If you're not asking a question, you're not going to start the sentence with is.

132

You're going to start it with it or its because you can put it and is together.

133

It's amazing, Lau.

134

You can't have a sentence in English without a subject.

135

You can't say is amazing.

136

Is is the verb.

137

Amazing is the adjective.

138

Where's the subject?

139

Where's the thing?

140

It.

141

It's amazing.

142

Thank you very much.

143

But also, it's amazing is very vague.

144

This person just wrote that randomly.

145

I don't know what they're trying to say.

146

I don't know if they're trying to say that the class was amazing.

147

The video is amazing.

148

The topic of the video.

149

I don't know.

150

So it's better to be more specific and write a complete thought, right?

151

Like this video was amazing.

152

This class is amazing.

153

Something like that.

154

The next mistake is, I like so much this kind of videos.

155

Well, actually there's two here.

156

This kind of video, video, this kind of video.

157

We don't say this kind of videos.

158

We say this kind of video, even though there are many, but you're just saying this kind of video, this type of video.

159

And the other mistake is, I like so much.

160

We don't say I like so much.

161

There are two ways that you're going to express that you really like something.

162

Well, actually three, if you include saying I love, you can always say I love this kind of video.

163

But if you want to use like, you can say I really like this kind of video.

164

Or you can say I like this kind of video a lot.

165

I like this kind of video a lot.

166

Personally, I think the best one is I really like this kind of video.

167

Super natural, super comfortable, super common native speaker.

168

I really like this kind of video.

169

We use this form to express this all the time.

170

I really like this.

171

I really like it.

172

I'm glad you like this kind of video.

173

All right, the next one.

174

Have you ever been in Colombia?

175

Very common mistake.

176

And I think there's confusion because been is from the verb to be.

177

And so people are thinking about being in a place and that's logical.

178

But unfortunately, English is very strange here.

179

And when we say, have you been, we're not really talking about being in a place.

180

We're talking about having gone to a place.

181

We're really saying, did you go to this place?

182

It's about going to a place, not being in a place.

183

I know that we are not using the verb go or gone, but that's the way we think about it.

184

That's the way that we use it.

185

That's the way that we mean it.

186

We're going to say, have you been to Columbia?

187

You can think of have you been as just like, have you gone?

188

Have you gone to?

189

It's the same thing, the same meaning, even though it's the verb to be and not the verb to go.

190

So have you ever been to Colombia?

191

Yes, I have been to Colombia.

192

I went to Medellin for about three months last year.

193

And actually, it's funny that you're asking me because I am going back to Colombia in two days.

194

But this time I am going to Bogotá and I'm very excited because I've never been to Bogotá, but I spent some time in the Andes when I lived in Ecuador.

195

You know, I went to the capital of Ecuador.

196

I went to Quito.

197

I went to many cities in the Andes of Ecuador.

198

So I'm familiar with this kind of place, but I've never been to the Andes in Colombia and I'm excited to go back to Colombia in general.

199

So to answer your question, yes, I've been to Colombia and I'm going back.

200

Alright, the next thing I want to talk about is not necessarily a mistake.

201

It's like a personal preference, but it's my recommendation.

202

As a 27-year-old native speaker from the United States who understands the culture

203

and the way that we use English and the way that we have used English over the years.

204

I see a lot of comments with people trying to make words shorter.

205

Like, instead of saying you, they just write the letter you or instead of writing and they just write the letter N.

206

And I also always see people instead of writing thank you or thanks, they try to make that shorter, like THX or something like that.

207

I understand why people are doing this.

208

I understand that they think that this is the way

209

that native speakers use the language and it seems more like a native speaker, more natural, more advanced, whatever.

210

Or it's cool.

211

It's like internet text language.

212

I don't know.

213

But honestly, this is how we texted when it was 2007.

214

And we had those phones that you had to text like this, you know, the flip up phones.

215

And we were just discovering texting for the first time.

216

And I mean, I was a kid and it was harder to text then.

217

So we, you know, we created all these like short ways of texting.

218

But nowadays we have the full keyboard with all the letters and texting isn't really like a new thing anymore.

219

And I think that we have matured a bit.

220

And so I currently don't know any native speakers who actually text like that.

221

These things we've kind of stopped doing over the years.

222

We don't do this anymore.

223

And honestly, not only does it look like you're stuck in 2007, but it kind of looks childish.

224

Of course, there are always going to be people that do it.

225

Of course, there are native speakers that do it.

226

And sometimes we do it to be like funny or cute, like kind of like a throwback, like vintage, you know, like this is how we used to do it.

227

But in general, just texting, writing normally, we don't use this stuff very often.

228

What you are going to see all the time, what native speakers do use all the time are the abbreviations for entire phrases.

229

Like instead of by the way, we write BTW or instead of to be honest, we write TBH.

230

We love to abbreviate entire phrases,

231

but it's not so common to shorten individual words unless that word is like really long or annoying.

232

Like for example, sometimes instead of though, I will write just T-H-O, like though, like a short version because the rest of the word is not even pronounced.

233

It's like irrelevant.

234

So yeah, we do that for certain words that are like long and ridiculous, but in general, we usually just abbreviate entire phrases.

235

I write LOL all the time, which stands for laugh out loud.

236

It's just my way of saying like, haha, there are many common abbreviations, but they're usually four entire phrases,

237

not just one three letter word shortened to one letter, like you becoming you.

238

That's like unnecessary.

239

It's like you're doing too much.

240

Like you're trying to be too much in the text slang.

241

It's like just write normally.

242

So once again, it's not a big deal if you write that way.

243

We all understand it.

244

It's not necessarily a mistake if you're just like texting, you know, it's okay.

245

But if you want to seem more like an adult or more mature in English and more normal,

246

I would just write you and and and stuff like that normally just write thank you.

247

So that's just my advice because I see that a lot of my comments too.

248

You know, I'm always keeping it real with you guys.

249

I miss making these videos talking about real English, talking about common mistakes.

250

I'm always trying to give you my perspective as a native speaker who uses the language in real life situations

251

and tells you how it really is.

252

And I think that's about it.

253

All right.

254

So I'll see you in the next video.

255

Bye bye.

256

When I say it like that, that comes from when native speakers talk on the phone in the States, like, yeah, yeah.

257

Bye bye.

258

It comes from that like this like bye-bye not like bye-bye but like bye-bye bye-bye all right bye-bye

📺 Same Channel

✨ Recommend Video

243 sentences

The Trick To Sounding Fluent? Always Explain Why

Business EnglishInterview EnglishDaily Conversation

33 sentences

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES? IN?ON? AT? FOR? | Learn English for 30 days | Lesson 7 |

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

36 sentences

Why English Movies Are So Difficult to Understand

Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

497 sentences

Don't Waste Your Time Learning English Like This!

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

167 sentences

Why is English Pronunciation So CONFUSING? | Silent Letters

Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

127 sentences

2 Grammar MISTAKES that ADVANCED Students Make

Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

355 sentences

English Conversation Practice | 12 English Verb Mistakes You Should Stop Making Now

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

460 sentences

Best Way For You To Speak English

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

389 sentences

How To Go From B1 To B2 Level of English (What ACTUALLY Works)

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

185 sentences

20 British English Phrases That Textbooks Don't Teach You!

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “STOP Making These CRINGE English Mistakes”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: English, speaker, native, mistake, write. This video has 258 sentences and 2662 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:47. The speaker talks fast, about 180 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
accent noun	/ækˈsɛnt/	A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to…
verb noun	/vɝb/	A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being.
confusion noun	/kənˈfjuːʒən/	A lack of clarity or order.
litter noun	/ˈlɪt.ɚ/	Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
phrase noun	/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/	A short written or spoken expression.
nowadays adverb	/ˈnaʊ.ə.deɪz/	At the present time; in the current era.
abbreviate verb	/əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/	To make shorter; to shorten (in time); to abridge; to shorten by ending sooner than planned.
abbreviation noun	/əˌbɹi.viˈeɪ.ʃn̩/	The result of shortening or reducing; abridgment.
shorten verb	/ˈʃɔɹtn̩/	To make shorter; to abbreviate.
mature adjective	/məˈt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹ/	Fully developed; grown up in terms of physical appearance, behaviour or thinking; ripe.
adjective noun	/ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/	A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent.
generalize verb	/ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹə.laɪz/	To speak in generalities, or in vague terms.
interchangeable adjective	/ɪntɚˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒəbl̩/	Freely substitutable; that may be swapped at will.
mislead verb	/mɪsˈliːd/	To lead astray, in a false direction.
simplify verb	/ˈsɪmplɪfaɪ/	To make simpler, either by reducing in complexity, reducing to component parts, or making easier to understand.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
go back to verb		To stem from; to originate in.
do over verb	/ˈduˌoʊvɚ/	To cover with; to smear or spread on to.
go back verb		To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
take away from verb		To subtract a quality from; make something seem not so good or interesting.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I'm excited.
Did you get the joke?
It's like, did you understand the point of the joke?
Did you understand why the joke is funny?
We're really saying, did you go to this place?

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 ever made · I've talked · have learned
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the best
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now	I'm being · We're going · is saying
Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming	I'm going to generalize · it's going to seem · I'm going to do

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 91 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: confusion /kənˈfjuːʒən/, abbreviation /əˌbɹi.viˈeɪ.ʃn̩/, shorten /ˈʃɔɹtn̩/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, childish /ˈt͡ʃaɪldɪʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: abbreviate /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/, abbreviation /əˌbɹi.viˈeɪ.ʃn̩/, generalize /ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹə.laɪz/, interchangeable /ɪntɚˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒəbl̩/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/

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 accent, verb, confusion.

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: STOP Making These CRINGE English Mistakes - Learn English Speaking with Video

A fun video we made in Ecuador in 2022 (in English)

The #1 English Mistake That Drives Me CRAZY

30 Minute REAL American English Speaking Practice

17 Phrasal Verbs I Heard in Conversation Today

Which American Accent Is Better?

7 Ways You're Overcomplicating English Learning

The Best TV Show to Learn American English

What's REALLY Your English Level? (Not What You Think)

45 Minute American English Speaking Practice

Connected Speech You NEED to Know in English 🇺🇸

REAL American English Conversation With Native Speakers

A Day in My Life in Vietnam (English Listening Practice)

9 English Learning Lies You Probably Believe

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing Practice (REAL American English)

Speak With Me: 30 Minute English Speaking Practice

Think You Can Speak REAL English? Try This Advanced Challenge!

Speak With Me: Realistic English Speaking Practice

AVOID THIS If You're Learning English 🚫

Why You Don't Understand Movies/TV in English

Your English Is Advanced If You Sound Like This

The Trick To Sounding Fluent? Always Explain Why

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES? IN?ON? AT? FOR? | Learn English for 30 days | Lesson 7 |

Why English Movies Are So Difficult to Understand

Don't Waste Your Time Learning English Like This!

Why is English Pronunciation So CONFUSING? | Silent Letters

2 Grammar MISTAKES that ADVANCED Students Make

English Conversation Practice | 12 English Verb Mistakes You Should Stop Making Now

Best Way For You To Speak English

How To Go From B1 To B2 Level of English (What ACTUALLY Works)

20 British English Phrases That Textbooks Don't Teach You!

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?