Shadowing Practice: The AI Industry is a Complete Mess - Learn English Speaking with Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 269 sentences and 3909 words to shadow. The speech runs for 21:19. The speaker talks fast, about 183 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lab noun | /læːb/ | A Labrador retriever. |
| monitor noun | /ˈmɑ.nɪ.tɚ/ | Someone who watches over something; a person in charge of something or someone. |
| frontier noun | /ˈfɹʌntɪə/ | The part of a country which borders or faces another country or unsettled region. |
| medicare noun | The Canadian public health insurance system. | |
| breach noun | /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/ | A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence. |
| portal noun | /ˈpɔːɹtl̩/ | An entrance, entry point, or means of entry. |
| routine noun | /ɹuˈtin/ | A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure. |
| artificial adjective | /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/ | Man-made; made by humans; of artifice. |
| vulnerable adjective | /ˈvʌln(ə)ɹəbl̩/ | More or most likely to be exposed to the chance of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. |
| mathematics noun | /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/ | An abstract representational system studying numbers, shapes, structures, quantitative change and relationships between them. |
| rogue noun | /ˈɹoʊɡ/ | A scoundrel, rascal or unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person. |
| complicated adjective | /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/ | Difficult or convoluted. |
| elsewhere adverb | /ˈɛlsˌʍɛɹ/ | Synonym of somewhere else: in, at, or to some other place. |
| infrastructure noun | /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/ | An underlying base or foundation for a building, organization, or system. |
| roughly adverb | /ˈɹʌf.li/ | In a rough manner; without kindness, softness, or gentleness. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| shut down verb | To close, terminate, or end; to stop operating, either permanently or temporarily. |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| go along verb | To participate, cooperate, or conform. |
| go around verb | To move or spread from person to person. |
| go off verb | To explode. |
| heat up verb | To heat, to cause to become hotter. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 52 contractions and reduced forms, such as isn't, didn't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, shock /ʃɔk/, fiction /ˈfɪkʃən/, commissioner /kəˈmɪ.ʃə.nəɹ/
- Long words — get the stress right: artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, complicated /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/, infrastructure /ˈɪnfɹəˌstɹʌkt͡ʃə/, developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like lab, monitor, frontier.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | i've been using · has been leaking |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if there's legal punishments, labs will be |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has infiltrated · has been proposed · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | had been handed · was accused · been delayed |
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.















