Shadowing Practice: The Best Books to Learn ANY Language FAST - Learn English Speaking with Video

Most of the time, people get into trouble with novels because they're just far too hard for them.

They end up spending their whole time with their head in the dictionary looking up words.

If you need a translation to understand, it's too hard.

Read something that's at your level and you won't need translation.

I've had a lot of questions come in about different ways to learn vocabulary from reading

and the best books to use if you want to read to learn a language.

I do quite a lot of episodes on reading.

This is going to be a rapid fire one.

I'm gonna very quickly go through a bunch of different types of books

that you can read and if they're helpful or not.

So, questioners in this order.

So Salomon asks, Holly, I'm really lazy and I want to avoid learning vocabulary.

Is it possible to learn a language solely through reading?

For example, building up rudimentary vocabulary through reading children's books or comics.

Then Restless Falcon asks, would comic books be more effective than a novel?

And would reading a favorite book in your chosen language help?

And then Gary Miller asks, It sounds familiar.

I've been attempting Duolingo for too long.

Okay, finally, you're ready to be converted.

And it feels like I'm getting nowhere.

Yeah.

How would I know what level of book do I need?

Do I need to try a children's book, or should I move up to another age group level?

Help!

All right, Gary, we're going to help.

So, what types of books should we read?

Should we be reading children's books, comic books?

Okay, let's go through this step by step.

First of all, if you do any reading, you've got to make sure that you are following a process that makes sense.

I have a very specific six-step process for reading.

There's a link in the description.

You can download the whole process in one PDF for free.

Do read that.

Make sure you understand how to read properly because there's really no point.. well, there's always a point.

Reading is always good, right?

But you're going to learn so much more if you just read according to a specific process.

So before we get into the rapid fire, what do the experts say?

So So there's a big meta study that was conducted in 2025, so last year as of the time of recording,

from Sanger's Vandersander-Vellier, I'm not quite sure how to pronounce that, et al.

Learning a language through reading a meta-analysis of studies on the effects of extensive reading on second

and foreign language learning from the Education of Psychology Review.

So big meta studies, a serious study,

and they found that encouraging learners to engage in individual silent reading of longer target language texts of their own choice,

but attuned to their proficiency level, promoted a variety of second and foreign language skills.

Okay, so we know that reading helps you get better at foreign languages.

What has been found in this meta study, which is a study of studies,

is that the key here is that it's text of your own choice and it's attuned to your level, right?

Which means to make this really, really simple, you've got to choose what you want to read and it's got to be at the right level for you.

And long-time listeners will understand that this is basically compelling input and comprehensible input, meaning that we have to read stuff we're interested in, not what our teacher gives us to read,

and it's got to be not too easy, not too hard.

If we do those things and we do it by ourselves with quiet so we're focused, then we will improve.

So can I read children's books?

Generally, I would say no. Avoid children's books.

Why?

Because so much of the vocabulary is just irrelevant to you.

If you have kids and you've read storybooks to your kids, you'll know what I'm talking about here.

You don't need to know about super worms and squiggly, wiggly worms and all these crazy, useless vocabulary.

Best to avoid that.

Now, when we get onto things like Harry Potter, I think it's a slightly different story.

Harry Potter is like, is it a kid's book?

Yeah, maybe.

But there's also plenty of adults that enjoy that, right?

So I know lots of people that have learned foreign languages using Harry Potter.

I met one lady in Japan, she was English, and she spoke fantastic Japanese.

She told me how she learned Japanese by having two versions of Harry Potter, the English book and the Japanese book, side by side.

And she just literally read through the entire series and taught herself Japanese that way.

The point about Harry Potter is that if you love it as much as many people do, doesn't matter, the difficulty doesn't matter,

you will find a way to learn it and read it and learn a language from it.

So if you love something the way that many people love Harry Potter, absolutely go for it, knock yourself out.

Comic books, nothing wrong with comic books other than the fact that there isn't actually that much text in there.

If you think about how much text there is on the page of a comic book versus an actual narrative book, there's just a lot less stuff.

And so, by all means, but just be aware that there's less text, and also it can be very, very truncated, people speaking in very short sentences,

power language, it's not particularly natural.

So comic books wouldn't be my first choice, but hey, if you love comic books, like Japanese learners love manga, for example, then by all means go for it.

What about graded readers?

Graded readers are fantastic because they are written specifically for the language learning purpose.

Now, obviously I'm biased, I publish books of short stories, in fact, I just published, here's my latest one, Ukrainian, just recently came out a couple of weeks ago.

Actually, I don't know if it is out, I think I just got an early copy myself.

I really like this one with the cover.

So Grady readers are...

I'm sure you don't need me to repeat at this point, but the thing about Grady readers is that if they are interesting stories and you pick the one at the right level,

then that's all you can ask for, really.

Parallel texts.

Now, parallel texts are where you've got the target language on one side

and then on the opposite page you've got the English translation.

Don't read those because.. so people like to use parallel texts because they say, well, it can help me understand.

To which I would say, well, that means you're reading something that's far too hard for you.

If you need a translation to understand, it's too hard.

Read something that's at your level and you won't need the translation.

And it's far better to operate purely in the target language because that way you're having to struggle.

And struggle is what promotes learning, so ditch the parallel texts.

What about non-fiction?

Yes, non-fiction is fantastic.

Non-fiction can actually be easier than fiction because the language tends to be simple.

Again, the key here is read something that you are interested in.

If you love reading about medieval torture, I don't know how this came to mind.

I was looking at something recently.

Then read about medieval torture.

Oh, my God.

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Pick something you're interested in.

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Can I read novels?

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I guess by this we mean native speaker level novels.

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I would say avoid unless you're at the level where you can really understand and appreciate it.

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Most of the time, people get into trouble with novels because they're just far too hard for them,

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which means that they just end up spending their whole time with their head in the dictionary looking up words.

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Or they just, there's so much they don't know that they're unable to just glean much benefit from the process.

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It's far better to read at your level, and that way you can just soak up a lot more.

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With that said, again, I know many people that have learned a language by reading Harry Potter in parallel texts,

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which is like a native speaker level parallel text, like breaking all my rules.

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Like, if you love something, that trumps everything.

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You can disregard all of my rules if you're reading something that you love, right?

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So I'd say native-speaker novels, no, unless you just can't help yourself, in which case go for your life.

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What about screenplays or books with dialogue?

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Yeah, I really like these.

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I mean, I've got in my bookshelf behind me, I've got a lot of books of Japanese screenplays, so to be clear, that's books where you have,

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like it's taken from a movie and you just have script of the movie, the dialogue, so there's no or very little narrative text in there.

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It's all just what the characters say.

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In fact, we have some books called 101 Conversations, we'll put a link in the description, which are exactly that.

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Stories told through dialogue formats.

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So yeah, dialogues, I think, are great.

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And then lastly, can I read translations of books I've already read?

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Yes, that's a really great thing to do, actually, because when you're reading a translation of a book you've already read, so let's say you've read a book in English and now you're reading the translation in Japanese.

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The big advantage you've got in this scenario is that meaning is taken care of, which means that you understand what's going on.

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That's going to help you interpret the target language a lot more easily.

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Now, it's still going to be very difficult for you

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if you are at a lower level and the book is at native level.

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That's not ideal, but it's better than picking up some random novel

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that you've never read before and trying to read that for the first time.

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Now, what if it's boring?

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If it's boring, you're reading the wrong thing.

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Read something you enjoy.

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How do I know that it's time to move on to something harder?

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I'd say if you're getting bored because it's all a bit too easy and you understand everything, then yeah, you can probably move on to something harder.

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But generally though, do remember

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that the ideal spot to be reading in is where you understand 80 to 90 percent of the text that's already there.

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So even if you understand, nine out of every ten words, that doesn't mean it's too easy.

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In fact, that's ideal for you to be able to pick up a bunch of new stuff.

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So I think you'll know when it's time to move on to something harder.

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Honestly, as long as you are reading to your interests and you're engaged by what you're reading, then the level, I think,

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is probably less important just because you're going to naturally know.

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So anyway, I hope that is useful for all of you guys, Salomon Restless and Restless Falcon and Gary Miller.

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Again, for my six step reading process, check the link in the description.

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That will be helpful for you.

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And I'll see you back in the next episode of the podcast.

✨ Recommend Video

426 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 144 sentences and 1910 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:56. The speaker talks fast, about 192 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% 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
comic noun	/ˈkɑmɪk/	A comedian.
translation noun	/tɹænzˈleɪʃən/	The conversion of text from one language to another.
parallel adjective	/ˈpæ.ɹəˌlɛl/	Equally distant from one another at all points.
vocabulary noun	/vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/	A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning.
fiction noun	/ˈfɪkʃən/	Literary type using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts, usually written as prose.
reader noun	/ˈɹi.dɚ/	A person who reads.
dialogue noun	/ˈdaɪəˌlɑɡ/	A conversation or other form of discourse between two or more individuals.
meta adjective	/ˈmɛtə/	Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level.
ideal adjective	/aɪˈdi(ə)l/	Pertaining to ideas, or to a given idea.
bore verb	/boɹ/	To inspire boredom in somebody.
helpful adjective	/ˈhɛlp.fl̩/	Furnishing help; giving aid; useful.
narrative noun	/ˈnæɹ.ə.tɪv/	The systematic recitation of an event or series of events.
rapid adjective	/ˈɹæp.ɪd/	Very swift or quick.
engage verb	/ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/	To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied.
input noun	/ˈɪnpʊt/	The act or process of putting in; infusion.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
end up verb		To bring to a conclusion.
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.
look up verb	/ˌlʊk ˈʌp/	To have better prospects.
pick up verb		To lift; to grasp and raise.
build up verb		To erect; to construct.
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
read through verb		To thoroughly read something to check or proofread it.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 63 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, you've, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: translation /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/, fiction /ˈfɪkʃən/, dictionary /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/, publish /ˈpʌblɪʃ/, bookshelf /ˈbʊkˌʃɛlf/
Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, dictionary /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, irrelevant /ɪˈɹɛləvənt/

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 comic, translation, parallel.

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has been found · you've read · have learned
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be converted · was conducted · has been found
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	study, which is · description, which are

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 →

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