Shadowing Practice: Stop Translating and Start Thinking in English While We Cook - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Stop Translating and Start Thinking in English While We Cook”. This video has 356 sentences and 3905 words to shadow. The speech runs for 29:52. The speaker talks at a steady 131 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 79% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| onion noun | /ˈʌn.jən/ | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| boil verb | /bɔɪ(ə)l/ | To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas. |
| egg noun | /ɛɡ/ | An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell… |
| taco noun | /ˈtɑkoʊ/ | A Mexican snack food made of a small tortilla (soft- or hard-shelled) filled with ingredients such as meat, rice, beans, cheese, diced vegetables, and salsa. |
| dish noun | /dɪʃ/ | A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle. |
| butter noun | /ˈbʌtɚ/ | A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk). |
| peel verb | /piːl/ | To remove the skin or outer covering of. |
| packet noun | /ˈpæk.ɪt/ | A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel |
| stove noun | /stoʊv/ | A heater, a closed apparatus to burn fuel for the warming of a room. |
| layer noun | /ˈleɪ̯ɚ/ | A single thickness of some material covering a surface. |
| poison noun | /ˈpɔɪ.zən/ | A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested. |
| spicy adjective | /ˈspaɪsi/ | Of, pertaining to, or containing spice. |
| cinnamon noun | /ˈsɪnəmən/ | A small evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and southern India, Cinnamomum verum or Cinnamomum zeylanicum, belonging to the family Lauraceae. |
| sharp adjective | /ʃɑɹp/ | Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut or pierce easily; not dull, obtuse, or rounded. |
| stomach noun | /ˈstʌmək/ | An organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| heat up verb | To heat, to cause to become hotter. | |
| cut up verb | To cut upward. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come over verb | To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse. | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| take out verb | To remove. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do you have any guesses?
- Wait, what am I saying?
- Tell me, what is your favorite dish to cook?
- What's your favorite dish that you can cook?
- Do you guys like the mic?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If I had a pan I would cut · if i like something then i will just · if i like a song i'll just |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've added · you've ever seen · have ever tried |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was taught · have been diced · are cut |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | start boiling · start cutting · finished cleaning |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 152 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I'll, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, thicken /ˈθɪkən/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dish /dɪʃ/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, wash /wɑʃ/, disruption /dɪsˈɹʌpʃən/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/
- Long words — get the stress right: ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, accidentally /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, unlimited /ʌnˈlɪm.ɪ.tɪd/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/
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 onion, boil, egg.
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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