Shadowing Practice: Talking about mistakes πŸ‘ŽβŒπŸ€¦ Real Easy English - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hello and welcome to Real Easy English,
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Hello and welcome to Real Easy English,
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the podcast where we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn.
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I'm Neil.
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And I'm Beth.
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You can find a video version of this podcast and a worksheet to help you learn on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
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How are you today, Beth?
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I'm okay, Neil.
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I'm a little bit tired.
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How are you?
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I'm very well.
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I'm fine.
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Great.
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Good, good.
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Well, today we're going to talk about mistakes.
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So hopefully I won't make many mistakes being tired.
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No, mistakes.
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Mistakes can be things that are wrong,
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like a mistake in a maths problem.
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But we can also use mistake to talk about really big things in life,
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decisions that you've made, actions that you've taken.
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Yes, that's true.
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So I think let's start the conversation.
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Let's do it.
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So, Beth, have you made any mistakes recently?
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Yes so I recently left my suitcase on a train by mistake Oh no
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So I was travelling from home to Leeds on the train And I got to the station at Leeds
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And there were loads of people and they were football fans and they were singing really loudly.
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And I just wanted to get off the train.
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And that's what I did.
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And then I realised about half an hour later that I didn't have my suitcase.
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Oh, no. So that's a bad mistake.
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Did you get it back?
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I did.
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I was so lucky.
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The train stopped at Leeds.
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So when I realized I ran and said to the people on the platform,
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my suitcase is on the train and they held the train for me and I ran up the platform.
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I grabbed my suitcase and then they blew the whistle and the train went.
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I was so lucky.
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But yeah, that was a big mistake.
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And I will not make that mistake again.
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Everybody says that.
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So earlier we said that mistakes can be small things like my suitcase,
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but there are big mistakes that we can make.
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So have you ever made a big mistake, do you think?
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Yeah, well, once I had a job that I really, really enjoyed.
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I was teaching at a school in Prague in the Czech Republic teaching English.
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And I loved the job and I had loads of really good friends.
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But I had this feeling that I needed to go move somewhere else,
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do something else with my life.
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And so I resigned.
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But then about a week or so later,
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I realized I really, really didn't want to leave that school.
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So I went back to the boss and I said,
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I've changed my mind.
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I want to stay.
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And he said, well, it's too late because I've given your job to somebody else.
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Oh, no, that's so sad.
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So you left your job, left Prague?
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No, actually, a bit like your suitcase, Beth.
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it ended up being okay because the person who took my job then decided that he didn't want the job either.
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So in the end, I did stay.
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So when we make mistakes,
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Neil, sometimes we then have a regret or we regret the thing that we did.
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That means that we feel bad about it or we wish that we'd done something differently.
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Do you have any regrets?
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Yeah, when I was a kid,
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I guess I was probably 12 or 13,
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I had some piano lessons and I quit as soon as I could.
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My parents gave me that choice and I regret that
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because I love music and I play guitar and I think I would have enjoyed playing piano.
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I always think, to be honest,
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you shouldn't have any regrets because whatever you've done,
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you've learned something from it.
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Even if something bad happened,
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then you know for next time.
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And it's a kind of self-improvement thing.
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That is a very positive attitude to mistakes, Beth.
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Yeah, I think it's important to learn from your mistakes.
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And that's a common expression in English,
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to learn from your mistakes.
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Let's recap the vocabulary we've learnt in this podcast, starting with mistake.
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And a mistake is an action that is wrong or that you do when you don't mean to.
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And we can make a mistake.
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That means we do something wrong.
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Or we can do something by mistake,
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which means we do something accidentally, without meaning to.
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For example, I left my suitcase on the train by mistake.
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We also heard regret, which means feel bad or sorry about something you've done or a mistake that you've made.
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And we heard learn from your mistakes,
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which means remember the mistake and then not do it again the next time.
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That's it for this episode of Real Easy English.
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You can test yourself on what you've learned with a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
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See you then.
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Goodbye.
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Bye.
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you

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice speaking and listening skills by exploring the theme of mistakes. The conversation between Neil and Beth provides real-life examples of how mistakes can range from small slip-ups to significant life decisions. Engaging with this content will help you not only understand the language better but also encourage you to express your own experiences with mistakes. You'll learn how to articulately share stories and reflect on lessons learned, which is vital for improving your conversational English skills.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Mistake – An error or something done incorrectly.
  • Recently – In the near past; not long ago.
  • Suitcase – A large case that is used for carrying clothes and personal items when traveling.
  • Grab – To take hold of something quickly.
  • Platform – The area beside the railway track where passengers wait for trains.
  • Big mistake – A significant error that has serious consequences.
  • Lucky – Having good fortune; fortunate.

Practice Tips

To enhance your speaking abilities through this video, consider using a shadowing app to replay segments of the conversation. Listen closely to the intonation, speed, and rhythm as Neil and Beth chat. Start by focusing on a small section of their dialogue. Pause after each sentence or phrase and repeat what you hear, aiming to match the tone and pace. This method, often referred to as shadowspeak, can significantly improve your pronunciation and fluency.

Be mindful of the speed of the dialogue. If you find it challenging, try slowing it down before attempting to shadow the conversation. Remember, your goal is to mimic not just the words but also the emotional undertone. Engaging in shadow speech will help you gain confidence while speaking about personal experiences, especially when discussing themes such as mistakes, making it easier to carry similar conversations in real life. Lastly, don't hesitate to record yourself while practicing, as this will help you identify areas for improvement and track your progress over time.

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 β€” 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 β€” making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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