Shadowing Practice: Stop Translating in Your Head! Do This Instead - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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This is why you can't speak fluently.
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So, what do you do in your free time?
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Oh, um...
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Okay, um, I usually play...
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Hey, where are you going?
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This happens because you keep translating from your mother tongue to English.
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And translating is the enemy of fluency let me give you an example there's a farmer who grows tomatoes
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and sells them for 50 cents per kilo a customer goes to the supermarket to buy tomatoes
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and he or she ends up paying two dollars a kilo
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so what happened 50 cents two dollars yes
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because the supermarket paid 50 cents to the the farmer added $1.5 per kilo and sold to the customer.
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But you might say, what does this have to do with English?
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Let me explain.
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In this example, the farmer is your brain.
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The supermarket is your mother tongue.
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And the customer is your English.
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You understand the connection?
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It goes from your brain to your mother tongue to English.
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But is there a way to improve this?
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Of course, cut the middleman, remove your mother tongue and connect your brain to English.
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That's the solution.
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Yes, you need to train your brain to think directly in English and put the mother tongue aside.
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And in this video, I'm going to show you four techniques that will help you think in English.
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Label everything.
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I've talked about this technique a lot.
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This is a very good one.
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The goal is to help your mind see things in your surrounding in English rather than in your mother tongue.
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Because normally when you look at this and if I ask you what is it, you would think about the name in your mother tongue first.
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But I want you to label the things in your surrounding environment, in your house, in your room, in your office, in English.
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Now you can have sticky notes or you can just point at them and name them every day.
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That's a plant.
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This is a dining table.
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chairs, a curtain, a ring light,
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camera, microphone, laptop, this thingy.
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Now, here's a pro tip.
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If you don't know the name of something, what would you do?
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You would Google the name in your mother tongue.
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What is X in English?
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Here's my suggestion.
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Don't do it because, again, you're going from your mind to your mother tongue to the English word.
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Go directly to the English word. But how?
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Describe on Google what this does and Google will show you the name.
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I almost dropped my phone.
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So you go on Google and you describe this.
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Something to hold cell phone on the desk and
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yes this is a phone holder a phone holder see how
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i got to the name without using my mother talk as
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the middleman now i know this is a phone holder pause this video now
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and look around you try to name the items in English.
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Do this every day.
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Be a sports commentator.
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What do sports commentators do?
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They describe every action that is happening on the football pitch.
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You are already seeing what's going on.
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They're passing the ball, they're trying to come up with a strategy to reach the goal and to score a goal.
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But the commentator keeps describing the actions.
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Yeah, isolated.
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Schedule here.
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Oh, yes!
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Now, here's what I want you to do.
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I want you to be the commentator of your daily life.
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Pretend you are a commentator, and as you are doing your daily tasks, describe them.
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Speak your actions out loud as you are doing them.
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Scene one.
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Oh, I picked up my phone.
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What is it going to do now?
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I am going to send a message to my friend.
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I'm looking for my friend.
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What was his name again?
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Jack.
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Where is Jack?
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Oh, there he is.
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Oh, look at my t-shirt.
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I'm going to have to adjust it, especially around the collar.
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Oh, maybe I need to wash it.
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Look at that beautiful plant.
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I really like it.
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I received it as a gift.
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Oh, I really need to have some coffee.
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But what kind of coffee?
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I'm thinking about the kind of coffee I want to have.
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Maybe I should add some milk.
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But hey, no, it's 5 p.m.
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If I have coffee, I won't be able to go to bed.
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I'm gonna shut up now, but you get the idea.
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I want you to talk about what is happening as it is happening.
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In the morning, you're in the kitchen preparing coffee for yourself.
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In the afternoon, you're going for a walk.
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You see people on the street.
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Just describe what's happening.
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Very important note, do not worry about grammar.
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We are not focusing on accuracy.
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It doesn't matter if you make mistakes.
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The point here is for your mind to connect everyday actions
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to English rather than first thinking about them in your mother tongue and then translating to English.
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Learn chunks, not single words.
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How do you speak?
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You use your knowledge to form sentences.
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And where is your knowledge?
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It's in your head.
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So what does your brain do?
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Your brain goes in and retrieves the knowledge.
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It goes in, it looks for a word, takes the word out, done.
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It goes in again, takes another word out.
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It goes in and takes another word out.
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It goes in and takes a sentence structure out.
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And this has to happen over and over and over again to form a single sentence.
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How can we make this happen faster?
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What if when your brain goes in, instead of retrieving one word,
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it takes out a bunch of words at the same time?
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hmm but how can
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that happen let's say instead of taking the word decision out
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it takes the word make an important decision out decision make
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an important decision rather than retrieving one word your brain can retrieve a group of words
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but how can you do that instead of learning single words,
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learn groups of words, also known as collocations.
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Yes, instead of learning single words, learn collocations.
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Think about the word decision.
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Decision is a noun.
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It's one word.
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Instead of learning decision alone, search for common collocations of this word.
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How?
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You can use a tool called Ausdick.
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It's a collocation dictionary.
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Let me show you how it works.
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You go to ausdick.com and you search for your word.
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In this case, it's decision.
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And then you can find the collocations we have now in collocations, big, crucial, faithful, important.
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We have verb collocations arrive at come to make reach take
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so let's say we write down three verb collocations make come to
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and reach and we also write down three adjective collocations big crucial
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and faithful now we can mix
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and match we can make chunks make a big decision reach a crucial decision come to a faithful decision
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and And now try to use these chunks in sentences.
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I need to make a big decision about my future career.
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The doctor reached a crucial decision about the best way to treat the patient.
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She came to a fateful decision to quit her corporate job and travel the world.
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Now, in your brain, instead of having the single word decision, you have three chunks of words.
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Make a big decision.
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Reach a crucial decision.
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Come to a fateful decision.
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And this time when your brain goes in to retrieve something it doesn't retrieve decision.
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It retrieves three collocations.
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Three chunks.
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And it will speed up the processing time by a lot.
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So learn collocations.
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Now before we get to the last technique which I think is the best and the most effective in short term, let me tell you something.
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If you want to take your English to the next level, I have prepared a free English mini course.
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Over 10 days, you will receive five complete lessons based on your level of English, beginner, intermediate or advanced.
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You choose your level, we will send you the lessons that are perfectly fit for you.
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In each lesson, you have videos, PDF files, AI tools that can help you learn and improve and teacher feedback.
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And it's absolutely free.
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If you want to join our mini course, simply click on the link above this video or scan this QR code with your phone and fill out the form.
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You will receive your first lesson immediately.
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No payment, no credit card, just learning.
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All right, let's get back to the lesson.
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The sink or swim technique.
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I don't know how you learned to swim, but this is my story.
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Back when I was six years old, one day my father took me to a swimming pool.
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He picked me up and threw me into the deep part of the swimming pool.
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I was six years old.
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That was my first time.
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So I was basically fighting for my life.
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I had two options, whether to swim or to sink and drown.
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And so I did it.
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I learned how to tread water and to stay afloat.
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But yeah, I was traumatized.
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Don't do this.
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That's not good.
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Or maybe it is.
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Anyways, I want you to do the same with your English.
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I want you to jump into the water and then learn how to stay afloat. But how?
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Let me ask you a couple of questions.
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What is the language on your phone?
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Go to settings, general, language.
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What's the language?
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Is it set to English or your mother tongue?
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How about your laptop, your computer, your iPad, your tablet?
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If they are not set to English, go ahead right now and change the settings.
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Change it to English.
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And it's going to be a very interesting challenge
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because you will have to learn how to use your phone because you need it every day.
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You will have to learn how to navigate your laptop because you use it every day.
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It's just like jumping into the deep pool and then trying to learn how to swim.
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And there is a very good thing about this technique.
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You already know where the buttons are.
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So it's just a matter of trying a bit hard to understand what the words say
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because you already know where they are.
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And this will help you a lot.
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Because little by little, you will get used to the environment in English.
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And your brain will rely less on your mother talk.
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So right now, go ahead and change the settings.
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And that's it, guys.
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I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.
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Go to the comments section and let me know if you are going to do any of the four techniques.
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And don't forget to give the video a thumbs up and click subscribe.
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See ya.
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Thank you.

Why practice speaking with this video?

Speaking fluently in English often eludes learners because they rely too much on translating from their mother tongue. This video emphasizes the importance of thinking directly in English instead of using your native language as a middleman. When you practice sounding out sentences in real-time, you not only improve your fluency but also develop a natural way to express thoughts. This is especially beneficial for those preparing for IELTS speaking practice, as it requires speaking without hesitation or translation.

By implementing the techniques shared, you'll enhance your ability to communicate effortlessly, which is essential for any social interaction or assessment where shadowspeak is key. Using the tips from this video can help you transition smoothly into saying what you mean without pausing to think about how to say it in your native language.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

The speaker's narration contains several key expressions and structures that can enhance your speaking skills:

  • “This happens because…” - A useful phrase for explaining reasons, essential for presenting logical arguments.
  • “Let me explain.” - A common expression that signals clarity and structure in your explanation, improving conversational flow.
  • “Now you can have…” - This phrase is helpful for giving advice or suggesting actions, a frequent occurrence in discussions.
  • “Here's my suggestion.” - Useful in conversations where you offer recommendations, perfect for informal or formal discussions.

Incorporating these structures into your practice can fortify your grammatical range while shadow speaking, making your language use more varied and engaging.

Common Pronunciation Traps

In the video, certain words and phrases may present pronunciation challenges for learners. Pay particular attention to:

  • “Farmer” - Ensure you stress the first syllable correctly: FAR-mer.
  • “Supermarket” - This word can be tricky; it's pronounced as SU-per-mar-ket, with the emphasis on the first syllable.
  • “Description” - Many learners struggle with this; practice saying it as de-SCRIP-tion.

Paying close attention to these pronunciations will help refine your speaking skills. Utilize a shadowing app to practice these words in context, reflecting the speaker's natural rhythm and intonation.

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.