Shadowing Practice: Stop Using Your Inbox as a To-Do List - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hey guys, Chris with Fork Park here.
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Staying organized if you're a strata manager, very, very difficult thing to do.
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You've got, you know, you've got 10 buildings, you might have, you know, 20 to -do things, 20 tasks for each building.
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You could have 400 items on your to -do list very easily.
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And if you're relying on the old way of doing things, that's, you know, using pen and paper and a notepad or,
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you know, you've got a spreadsheet even or a a word document
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or something like
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that it's just not going to scale very well for a couple properties it's no problem
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when you start getting into switching back
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and forth between multiple properties it's not going to work
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so you need a software solution um whatever
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that is we use asana here at our office
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but it can be anything it can be monday .com
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or any kind of project management software um slack things like
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that the one thing that i'd caution you to do
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and absolutely don't do this is using your emails as your task list
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and I see strata managers strata agents get in trouble doing
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this all the time where they're they're using their emails essentially as their to -do list
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and that doesn't work very well
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because you're going to have way more emails than you can actually things
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that you can do during the day so
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if you get 200 emails say that's average for a strata
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agent during the day there's no way you can do 200
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things during the day you can maybe answer those emails
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but you're only going to be able to do a couple things other than answering emails during the day
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so you want to make sure those are intentional
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and those are planned and those are put somewhere in project management software
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so that when they're done you can check them off and move on to the next thing.
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If you're relying on emails as your task list you know maybe there's a super important thing
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that came in in the afternoon by the time you get
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around to checking them in the evening that's already on the third
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or fourth page so you've never you're not even addressing the most important things
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so do not no matter what you do
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and no matter what kind of software
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or no matter what kind of program you use to stay
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organized as a strata manager do not rely on your emails
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as your task list I guess that's the most important thing of the lesson for today hope
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that helps if you're looking for anything in the strata world please don't hesitate to reach out and please follow us
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Stop Using Your Inbox as a To-Do List”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: emails, strata, task, software, manager. This video has 38 sentences and 452 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:14. The speaker talks fast, about 202 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 12 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| rely verb | /ɹɪˈlaɪ/ | To trust; to have confidence in; to depend. |
| organize verb | /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/ | To arrange in working order. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| essentially adverb | /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/ | In essence: by nature. |
| caution noun | /ˈkɔːʃ(ə)n/ | Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm. |
| hesitate verb | /ˈhɛz.ə.teɪt/ | To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination. |
| intentional adjective | /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/ | Intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily. |
| slack adjective | /slæk/ | Lax; not tense; not firmly extended. |
| stratum noun | /ˈstɹeɪ.təm/ | One of several parallel horizontal layers of material arranged one on top of another. |
| asana noun | /ˈɑːsənə/ | A body position, typically associated with the practice of yoga. |
| notepad noun | A pad of paper, often bound, in which one jots down notes; a notebook. | |
| spreadsheet noun | /ˈspɹɛd.ʃit/ | A computer application for organization, analysis, and storage of data in tabular form. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| reach out verb | To extend one's hand(s) forward; to reach for something. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most important |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | you're relying · is using · they're using |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | it's just not going to scale · it's not going to work · you're going to have |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 18 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, you've, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, caution /ˈkɔːʃ(ə)n/, intentional /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/, spreadsheet /ˈspɹɛd.ʃit/
- Long words — get the stress right: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, intentional /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/
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 rely, organize, lesson.
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.