Shadowing Practice: Sweet Skills: "How to" build a Robot - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Sweet Skills: "How to" build a Robot”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: robot, hayley, motors, Emma, flowers. This video has 44 sentences and 323 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:16. The speaker talks at a steady 143 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 7 of its 44 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| robot noun | /ˈɹoʊ.bɑt/ | An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal. |
| flower noun | /ˈfloʊɚ/ | A reproductive structure in angiosperms (flowering plants), often conspicuously colourful and typically including sepals, petals, and either or both stamens… |
| attach verb | /əˈtæt͡ʃ/ | To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively). |
| spin verb | /spɪn/ | To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction. |
| brick noun | /ˈbɹɪk/ | A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building. |
| goodness noun | /ˈɡʊdnəs/ | The state or characteristic of being good. |
| creativity noun | /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/ | The ability to use imagination to produce a novel idea or product. |
| reckon verb | /ˈɹɛkən/ | To count; to enumerate; to number; also, to compute; to calculate. |
| stabilize verb | /ˈsteɪ.bəˌlaɪz/ | To make stable. |
| unbalanced adjective | not balanced, without equilibrium | |
| motor noun | /ˈməʊtə/ | A machine or device that converts other energy forms into mechanical energy, or imparts motion. |
| button noun | /ˈbʌtən/ | A knob or disc that is passed through a loop or (buttonhole), serving as a fastener. |
| teach verb | /ˈtiːt͡ʃ/ | To pass on knowledge to. |
| expert noun | /ˈɛk.spɜːt/ | A person with extensive knowledge or ability in a given subject. |
| tournament noun | /ˈtʊɹnəmənt/ | A series of games; either the same game played many times, or a succession of games related by a single theme; played competitively to determine a single… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Alright girls, how do we begin?
- Emma what do you think?
- I think it's pretty good.
- Should we go and take this baby for a spin?
- All right how do we get it moving?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | brick, which is · direction which will |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | they're going to teach · we're going to put · gonna ride |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 9 contractions and reduced forms, such as you've, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 robot, flower, attach.
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.