Shadowing Practice: Story 28 What to be - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Story 28 What to be”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: write, teacher, paper. This video has 16 sentences and 155 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:31. The speaker talks slowly, about 102 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
12 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| policeman noun | /pəˈliːsmən/ | A police officer, usually a male. |
| fireman noun | /ˈfaɪɹmən/ | Someone (especially male) who is skilled in the work of fighting fire. |
| writer noun | /ˈɹaɪ.təɹ/ | A person who writes, or produces literary work; an author can refer to themselves as "the writer". |
| smile verb | /ˈsmaɪl/ | To have (a smile) on one's face. |
| cry verb | /kɹaɪ/ | To shed tears; to weep, especially in anger or sadness. |
| baseball noun | /ˈbeɪs.bɔl/ | A sport common in North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia, in which the objective is to strike a ball so that one of a nine-person team can run… |
| teacher noun | /ˈti.t͡ʃɚ/ | A person who teaches, especially one employed in a school; preceptor. |
| sell verb | /sɛl/ | To transfer goods or provide services in exchange for money. |
| coach noun | /koʊt͡ʃ/ | A wheeled vehicle, generally pulled by a horse. |
| choose verb | /t͡ʃuːz/ | To pick; to make the choice of; to select. |
| grow verb | /ˈɡɹəʊ/ | To become larger, to increase in magnitude. |
| excited adjective | /ɪkˈsaɪ.tɪd/ | Having great enthusiasm, passion and energy. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I can't make up my mind, he said.
- Then, that's what you should write, she told him.
- One day, you'll know which one to choose.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should write |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | you'll know |
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 policeman, fireman, writer.
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.