Shadowing Practice: The Best Way To Learn English (In my humble opinion.) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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So, I heard you wanted to learn English, well I think you've come to the right place.
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So, I heard you wanted to learn English, well I think you've come to the right place.
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I'm Bob the Canadian, and in this video I will give you what I think is an excellent plan that will help you learn English.
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(upbeat music) Well, welcome to this video where I'm going to share with you what I think is the best way to learn English in the year 2020.
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If this is your first time here though, don't forget to click that red subscribe button below and give me a thumbs up if this video is helping you learn English.
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Before we get started though, before I share the plan with you, there's a few things that you're going to need.
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You're going to need about one hour a day, Monday through Friday, in order to use this English learning plan.
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If you don't have an hour a day though, you can use 30 minutes, just make sure that you use the majority of the time for the things that I recommend for that day.
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The other thing you're going to need is a notebook and a pen, and you're going to need to choose an English song, an English book to read, and an English television show.
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If you have all those things, I think you'll be ready.
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Oh, you'll also need an internet connection, which I'm pretty sure you have because you're watching this video.
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When you're learning a language like English, it's important that you spend an equal of time reading, writing, listening, speaking, and learning new vocabulary.
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The way this plan works is I'm going to ask you to do those five things each day of the week Monday through Friday.
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So on Mondays, the first day of the week, I want you to focus on reading in English.
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I want you to read the book that you have chosen.
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And if you're having a little trouble understanding the book, if you can get the book in your own language as well, you can read one chapter in English and then read the next chapter in your own language and flip back and forth, that is a great strategy.
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On Mondays as well, I want you to read the news in English.
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So if you have a news app on your phone or can access the news on a website, please read the news in English on Mondays as well.
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And the third thing I would like you to do on Mondays is to go to a website called Simple Wikipedia.
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I'll put a link in the description below.
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Simple Wikipedia is the English language version of Wikipedia but in a simpler form.
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So there's the regular Wikipedia, but there is Simple Wikipedia which helps people who are learning English to read and understand the articles better.
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So I'd like you to do those three things for about 30 to 40 minutes.
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While you are doing those things, you should be writing new vocabulary words into your notebook along with a short definition of them.
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Once you're done, all that, I want you to use the rest of your time to practice your writing, to practice your listening, and to practice your speaking.
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So reading on Monday takes most of the time, but the other three components will take a small amount of time, but I want you to attach them to your reading.
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So to practice your English speaking, I want you to read part of your book out loud just to yourself.
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To practice your writing on Monday, I want you to write out a few passages from the book.
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And to practice your listening, it would really cool if you could find the audio version of the book you are reading and listen to it a bit.
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So that is Monday, on Monday your focus is reading, spend 30 to 40 minutes reading, and then the rest of your time practice the other aspects of learning the language but in a way that is still related to the book you are reading.
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On Tuesdays, your focus will be writing.
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I want you to spend 30 to 40 minutes writing in English.
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The first thing you should do is write in your notebook.
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You should write down five things that you did the day before so that you can practice writing in the past tense.
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You should also write down five things that you are going to do the next day so that you can practice writing in the future tense.
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You should also go to YouTube and leave a few comments in English on a few videos.
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This is a really good way to practice your English as well.
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Many times if you leave a comment on an English video, someone will respond, sometimes even the creator.
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So go to YouTube and write a few comments to some of your favorite YouTube creators.
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It doesn't all have to be me, by the way, you can write comments on other videos as well.
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The next thing I would like you to do is go back to your notebook and write down a few things that you like and dislike about the book you are reading.
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This is a really good way for you to start to express your likes and your dislikes in English.
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It's a very good thing to learn to be able to do.
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You should also in your notebook try to write about five to 10 sentences in English that summarize the book you are reading or summarize what you have just read in the book that you are reading.
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So do all of that, while you are doing it I know you are writing, but you might have to look up new words to use.
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Make sure you put those words in your notebook as well.
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Hopefully you have a little vocabulary section that you're building where you put a few words in on Monday and now it's Tuesday, you'll put a few more words in.
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So Tuesday is writing, you've spent 30 to 40 minutes writing, now it's time to practice a little bit of reading.
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So read over the things that you wrote.
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It's time to practice a little bit of listening, so maybe put some of your comments into Google Translate and click the little speaker button so you can hear what your English sentences sound like out loud.
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And then certainly read your English sentences out loud in your own voice so that you can practice a little bit of speaking.
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I forgot to mention this about Mondays, but if you are done, the work of the day, on Monday if you're done, your reading, on Tuesday now if you're done, your writing, spend the balance of time doing a little of Duolingo, maybe just listening to the song that you chose.
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Because the song you chose should be something that you're just listening to throughout the week.
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Anyways, that was Tuesday where your focus was writing.
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On Wednesdays, I want you to focus on listening.
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This might end up being your favorite day to study English if you use this plan.
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I want you to watch your television show in English.
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I want you to listen to your song a few times in English.
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I think you should watch a few YouTube videos in English.
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And if you do have the audiobook for the book you are reading, I want you to listen to a few chapters from the audiobook.
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This should be a great day because most of these listening activities will fill your hour, but at the end of the hour if you still want to do a bit of work, there's a few things that you could do.
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You could read a little bit about the television show that you are watching.
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You could write a little bit about the television show you are watching.
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Or you could write about how the song makes you feel.
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You could say some of the same lines as people in the television show.
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You could shadow or mimic what the actors are saying.
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This is a great way to work on your accent.
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And you could sing along to the song, that's a great thing to do as well.
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And, of course, during all of this you should still be adding words to your notebook, new vocabulary words that you are learning as you watch your show, listen to your song, and do the other listening activities.
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On Thursdays, I want you to focus on speaking.
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So for the one hour that you study English on Thursdays, 30 to 40 minutes of that hour you should be spending speaking English.
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The best way to practice speaking English is to hire an English tutor who you can meet via FaceTime or Skype.
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There are websites like Preply, there's a link below in the description, or Cambly or iTalki, where you can hire a native English speaker to have a conversation with you.
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If you have the money and you can afford it, this is money well spent.
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It is a really, really good investment.
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The fact that you know you will be talking to a native English speaker every Thursday will actually make you work harder on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Friday each week in order to get ready for that session.
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When you do talk to a native English speaker, talk about the television show that you are watching, talk about the book that you are reading.
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You'll have a lot of things that you can share with them in an English conversation.
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If you cannot afford to hire someone, you still need to speak English on Thursdays.
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You can just talk out loud to yourself, you can narrate your life.
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I did another video where I explained a few of those things.
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I'll put a link up there.
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But certainly on Thursdays, do whatever you can to get in 30 minutes of speaking in English.
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The rest of the time on Thursday you can do whatever you need to do.
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Maybe listen to your song again and sing out loud, that's also speaking, read your book but read it out loud, that's also speaking.
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Or watch your TV show, and kind of, again, shadow or mimic some of your favorite actors.
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Anyway, Thursday is the day that you should be speaking English a lot.
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On Fridays, I want you to focus on vocabulary.
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On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you wrote down new words and their definition in your notebook, hopefully you were doing that.
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On Friday, I want you to read over all of the new words.
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I want you to say them out loud.
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I want you to use the new words in a sentence.
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And I want you to just practice them till you have them memorized.
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If you are familiar with websites like Quizlet, make a Quizlet set using all of your new words and practice it and practice it over and over again.
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If you are more comfortable making flashcards or simply writing the vocabulary out many, many times, do that instead, but Friday, you should just be spending all of your time, the entire hour, making sure that you have all your new vocabulary memorized.
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I think you'll really benefit from this one.
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So you just spent Monday through Friday learning English.
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What do you do on the weekend?
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Well, there's a few things that you should do on the weekend to make this English learning plan really work.
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You should find a new song every weekend, you should look for a new English song that you can use in the following week.
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If you are done reading your book, you should go to the library or order a new English book online or borrow one from a friend.
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If you are done watching all of the episodes of the television show you were watching, you should get a new television show to watch or find a new television show to watch.
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Or you could just take a break.
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Sometimes taking a break from learning actually refreshes your mind and makes you better able to learn the next week.
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Anyways, Bob the Canadian here, I hope you like this plan.
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I'm going to put the plan in the description below so that if you want a copy that you can copy and paste and modify for your own usage, it will be down there.
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But yes, I'm Bob the Canadian, you're learning English with me.
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Thank you so much for watching.
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If you're new here, don't forget to click wherever the red subscribe button is.
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Click that and give me a thumbs up if this video helped you learn just a little bit more English, or if it at least gave you a plan that you can use going forward to learn as much English as you can.
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Hope you're having a great day, and I wish you all the best in 2020 as you continue to learn English.
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(upbeat music)
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Context & Background

In the video titled "The Best Way To Learn English (In my humble opinion)," Bob the Canadian shares his insightful approach to mastering the English language. He emphasizes the importance of dedicating time to various aspects of language learning, including reading, writing, listening, and speaking. By structuring his recommendations around a weekly plan, Bob helps learners channel their efforts efficiently. For anyone eager to enhance their English speaking practice, this video provides a fantastic framework, especially as it integrates the shadowing technique—a method proven to improve English pronunciation and fluency.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • “Can you help me with this?” - A common phrase for seeking assistance.
  • “I would like to order...” - Useful for dining out and making purchases.
  • “What do you think about...?” - Great for engaging conversation and inviting opinions.
  • “I’m looking forward to...” - A polite way to express anticipation.
  • “Could you please repeat that?” - Perfect for clarifying understanding in conversations.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To make the most of the learning plan Bob outlines, consider adopting a shadowing technique to improve your English speaking practice. This method involves listening to a speaker (like Bob) and attempting to mimic their speech patterns, intonation, and pronunciation in real-time. Follow these steps to effectively implement this strategy:

  1. Preparation: Begin by watching the video and understanding the context. Take notes on key phrases and vocabulary that resonate with you.
  2. Initial Listening: Play the video once without attempting to speak along. Focus on the speaker's pronunciation and pacing.
  3. Shadowing Exercise: Play a short segment of the video (10-20 seconds) and pause after each sentence. Attempt to imitate exactly what you hear, paying attention to how Bob articulates each word.
  4. Repeat: Continue this process, gradually increasing the length of the segments as you grow more comfortable. Ensure you practice each phrase until you feel confident in your pronunciation.
  5. Recording: Consider recording yourself while shadowing. This allows you to compare your pronunciation with the original speaker, helping you identify areas that need improvement.
  6. Daily Practice: Incorporate these shadowing sessions into your routine, dedicating time consistently to enhance your English pronunciation and fluency over time.

By implementing this structured approach to your English learning, particularly through the powerful shadowing technique, you can significantly improve your communication skills. Remember, practice makes perfect, so stay dedicated to your daily routine, and watch your confidence soar!

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.

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