Shadowing Practice: Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do (Lyrics) - Learn English Speaking with Video
B1Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do
B15 Seconds of Summer - Teeth (Lyrics)
B1Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For? (Lyrics)
B1Taylor Swift - right where you left me (Lyrics)
B1Metronomy - The Look (Official Video)
B1Michael Jackson - Bad (lyrics)
B1Katy Perry - Firework (Lyrics)
B1Hate That I Made You Love Me - LIVE from The Eternal Sunshine Tour (edit by Monster Films)
B1I'll Do It (Slowed Down Version)
B1Lily Allen | Fuck You (Official Video - Explicit Version)
B1Taylor Swift - Patient Zero (Official Lyric Video)
B1Not My Problem // Lyrics
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: nobody, trust, dead. This video has 26 sentences and 396 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:31. The speaker talks at a steady 113 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% 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 13 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| actress noun | /ˈæk.tɹɪs/ | A female who performs on the stage or in films. |
| nickname noun | /ˈnɪkneɪm/ | A familiar, invented name for a person or thing used instead of the actual name of the person or thing, often based on some noteworthy characteristic. |
| belong verb | /bɪˈlɒŋ/ | To have its proper place. |
| starring verb | That which has the specified actor or actors, especially those in lead roles, in its cast. | |
| feast noun | /ˈfiːst/ | A holiday, festival, especially a religious one |
| karma noun | /kərm(ə)/ | The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth. |
| tilt verb | /tɪlt/ | To slope or incline (something); to slant. |
| underline verb | /ˈʌndɚˌlaɪn/ | To draw a line underneath something, especially to add emphasis. |
| drama noun | /ˈdɹɑmə/ | A composition, normally in prose, telling a story and intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue. |
| hole noun | /hoʊl/ | A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; a dent; a depression; a fissure. |
| laugh verb | /læf/ | To show mirth, satisfaction, or derision, by peculiar movement of the muscles of the face, particularly of the mouth, causing a lighting up of the face and… |
| kingdom noun | /ˈkɪŋdəm/ | A realm having a king or queen as its actual or nominal sovereign. |
| cake noun | /keɪk/ | A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 15 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, can't, I'll. 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 actress, nickname, belong.
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.