Shadowing Practice: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐SUPER pronunciation lesson!! | how to Learn English fast for 30 days | - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hello hello hello everybody my name is Steve Ford welcome to English for 30 days this is lesson 9
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and I've got a great lesson prepared for you so stay tuned
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so in case you're new to my channel you can subscribe you can also smash
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that like button to support my work today we're going to be working on we're going be studying
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and having some fun with the topic of family.
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Everybody's got a family, right?
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You have a family, I've got a family, everybody's got a family.
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And we're going to talk about some very common words with family, also with food, that many people,
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even advanced speakers of English, often confuse.
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So let's go.
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Your mother's sister, it can also be called what?
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Well, do you think you would say aunt
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or aunt now a lot of my students will read
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that as aunt that's not right for north americans maybe some north americans might pronounce it like
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that but it's an exception
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so you want to remember this is a big tip for from me to you is that when we pronounce
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the a n sound it is extremely nasal so
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when you think of ant i want you to think of sheep because that's how you want to pronounce it.
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Ant.
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Ant.
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Ant.
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Ant.
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Yeah, you got it.
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Ant.
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Now, one of my students, she likes when English is simple, and I totally understand.
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And a curiosity, maybe you didn't know this, is that the pronunciation of ant, your mother's sister, is the same as this guy here.
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That's also aunt.
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So aunt, aunt.
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Those are homonyms.
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They're exactly the same in pronunciation.
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Now you could also have your dad's brother, your mom's brother.
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That would be, and in this case we would say uncle, uncle.
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So I would like I'd like you to try to think of words that have similar vowel sounds to uncle.
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So what can I think of?
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Sung?
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Hmm.
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Kung Fu?
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Oh, hiya!
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Maybe your uncle knows kung fu?
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What happens is a lot of people think that your uncle, that this guy here, is pronounced like ankle.
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But it's not.
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Your ankle, that's a bit of a different sound.
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So that's more like sang, rang, bang, ankle.
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Ung, uncle, ang, ankle.
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Now in my case I don't have kids but I do have Charlie.
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And for Charlie I'm his and we would say, what do you think?
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We would say dad.
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This reminds me of a story
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when my wife first came to Canada she was afraid of what to call my father
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because when you're married you call your spouse's father this here
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and she was afraid
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that she was gonna say this here she was terrified yeah
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she was always oh my gosh i'm afraid to say it i'm afraid to say it
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so we would say dad now that is classic a pronunciation in north american English
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and you will see
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that the standard pronunciation is a very open a ah ah look how wide my mouth is opening ah
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so we would say dad compare that to dead that's a much shorter sound debt and
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other words that rhyme with dead bed
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so just like we have dad in bad you could have dead
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and bed two different questions are you dad are you dead this next one here the children
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of your uncle we would call those your cousin yeah be careful not to call that cuisine cuisine
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which is a nice word to say like a very sophisticated fine kind of dining cuisine
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cuisine cousin so totally different always try to think of vowel sounds
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that are similar so cousin cut cupboard butter compared
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that to to cuisine that's a loan word from French
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and we try to preserve the pronunciation a little bit cuisine cuisine quit quick
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so I'm gonna give you a few more because speaking of cuisine
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when we're talking about food
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and it's all too common for my intermediate students especially sometimes advanced students to confuse to mix up this
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and this so this is chicken and this is kitchen
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so you want to be careful that it's a chicken in the kitchen and not a kitchen in the chicken.
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Of course, when you're in the kitchen, you're probably looking at night.
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A lot of people, they open the fridge, look around, see what they want to eat.
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And then what would we say here?
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You can see in the fridge, in this picture here, one thing.
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In this picture, another thing.
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So here, snacks in the fridge, and here, snakes in the fridge.
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It's your choice.
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I'm going with this one.
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I'm going with snacks in the fridge.
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How about you?
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Of course, another classic one, one I've mentioned in many of my videos, is he's got a big Coke, or he's got a big cock.
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Hmm.
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So going back to that fridge, this is another thing
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that a lot of my students will mix up there's a beer in the fridge
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and there's a bear in the fridge
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so once again try to think of similar words that rhyme
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so beer fear here compare that with bear care hair okay everybody I hope
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that you enjoyed this lesson talking about words
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which we often confused in English many people confused
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that are related to family and food so many and I hope
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that you had fun as much fun as I did doing this video
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and if you would like to subscribe to my channel I invite you to do that here
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if you'd like to watch more videos especially for this English for 30 days challenge you can do
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that here you can also do the free quiz
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and I hope to see you in our next English lesson bye everybody

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What You'll Learn

This video is a goldmine for english speaking practice, focusing on two key skills: mastering tricky homonyms and nailing vowel sounds that even advanced learners mix up. You’ll learn to pronounce "aunt" (your mother’s sister) and "ant" (the insect) correctly—they’re homonyms! Plus, you’ll finally tell "uncle" apart from "ankle," a common mix-up. These skills will make your speech clearer and more natural, whether you’re talking about family or bugs.

Listen For These Sounds

Pay close attention to the nasal "a-n" sound in "aunt"—it’s not "awnt" but a sharp, nasal "ant," like the insect. The video also highlights the difference between the "ung" sound in "uncle" (think "kung fu") and the "ang" sound in "ankle" (like "bang"). These subtle vowel shifts are crucial for being understood. Practice shadowspeak by repeating these words right after the speaker—imitate the nasal tone and vowel length to lock in the correct pronunciation.

Say It Like a Native

To sound natural, mirror the speaker’s rhythm and stress. "Aunt" is short and sharp, with no extra emphasis—don’t drag out the "a" sound. "Uncle" has a soft "u" and a stressed "n," while "ankle" emphasizes the "a" and "k." Use shadow speak techniques: pause the video, repeat the words, and record yourself to compare. This video is perfect for learn english with videos because it ties pronunciation to real-life examples (like family members and insects), making it easy to remember. With daily practice, you’ll start sounding more like a native in no time—just 30 days of shadowspeaks can make a huge difference!

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itbe called · is pronounced
Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around nowwe're going · is opening · we're talking
Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see comingwe're going to be · we're going to talk · gonna say
Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or predictionwill read · will see · will mix

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 →