Shadowing Practice: The Carpenters - Yesterday Once More (Lyrics) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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![Yesterday Once More | The Carpenters | Lyrics [Kara + Vietsub HD]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8O_qHlmzzhk/mqdefault.jpg)
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Carpenters - Yesterday Once More”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: woe, sing, ling, shines, starting. This video has 21 sentences and 264 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:52. The speaker talks slowly, about 68 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 14 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| shine verb | /ʃaɪn/ | To emit or reflect light so as to glow. |
| melt verb | /mɛlt/ | To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat. |
| melody noun | /ˈmɛl.ə.di/ | A sequence of notes that makes up a musical phrase. |
| linguistics noun | /lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks/ | The systematic and scholarly study of language. |
| shingle noun | /ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/ | A small, thin piece of building material, often with one end thicker than the other, for laying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or sides of a… |
| goody noun | /ˈɡʊdi/ | A small amount of something good to eat. |
| memorize verb | /ˈmɛm.əˌɹaɪ̯z/ | To fully learn so as to have entirely available to the memory; to learn by heart, commit to memory. |
| sing verb | /ˈsɪŋ/ | To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice. |
| smile verb | /ˈsmaɪl/ | To have (a smile) on one's face. |
| favourite adjective | /ˈfeɪv.ɹɪt/ | Most-liked. (In other words, [person]'s favorite [noun] = the [noun] that [person] likes the most.) |
| yesterday noun | /ˈjɛstɹdeɪ/ | The day immediately before today; one day ago. |
| wonder noun | /ˈwʌndɚ/ | A sense of awe, astonishment and curiosity, inspired by unexpected events, novel experiences and inexplicable circumstances, sometimes accompanied by surprise… |
| clearly adverb | /ˈklɪɚli/ | In a clear manner. |
| memory noun | /ˈmɛm.ə.ɹi/ | The ability of the brain to record information or impressions with the facility of recalling them later, usually at will. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 9 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, I'd, they'd. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shine /ʃaɪn/, shingle /ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/
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 shine, melt, melody.
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.