Shadowing Practice: The Complete Beginners Guide to Adobe Photoshop | FREE Course | Course overview & breakdown - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello and welcome to the complete beginner's guide to Adobe Photoshop.
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Gareth here from tastycheats .com.
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This is a course created for beginners to Adobe Photoshop.
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The topics that are going to be covered in this course are the basics.
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So whether you have the most up -to -date version of Photoshop or you're using an older version, you should be able to to follow along just fine.
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For this course, I'll be using Adobe Photoshop CC 2014.
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In this series, we will be starting from the very beginning
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and working our way across 33 episodes to learn all the basics and create a project from scratch.
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Now, this may seem like a lot of episodes, but trust me, after this creative adventure, you will be able to use Adobe Photoshop like a pro.
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After watching this series, you will be able to create your very own artwork in Photoshop ready for print and digital use.
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So what are we going to create on this course?
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For this course, we are going to carry out a design project.
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We are going to explore a design scenario where we will need to produce book cover artwork for a children's book.
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We are going to work to a fictional brief and create this book cover design.
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So why a book cover design?
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Well, this creative exercise is going to include all the basic tasks a designer will need to know as a beginner.
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To create this project, we will be working with all the common creative tools.
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We will be working with typography, we will be using Photoshop effects, and we will be managing a complex workflow.
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We will not only be learning how to create the artwork, but how to manage the project in a smart way.
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So let's take a look at the finished document.
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So here we are in Adobe Photoshop, and here you are looking at the finished book cover design we are going to build up to.
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So this composition includes a lot of design and illustrative elements.
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But if we look over in the layers panel, it's all contained in five neat layer folders.
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Along the way, we will be focusing on each of these design elements individually, such as the header graphic, the logo, and the paper birds.
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Finally, we will bring them all together to finish the complete composition.
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Once we have finished the book design, we will then export the artwork to the correct format for a printer to print the design to specification.
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So to help break down the process, I have structured the course in three main sections.
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Introduction, essential practice, and create a project.
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In the introduction section, I will be introducing you to Photoshop
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and bringing you up to speed with some of the things
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you need to be aware of before we continue onto the essential practice section.
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In the essential practice section, we are going to look closely at some of the creative tools and principles in Photoshop.
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Here, you will have the opportunity to get hands -on with the various Photoshop exercise documents I have designed
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and prepared for you to practice with.
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When we get to the create a project section, we will be using all that we have learned in the essential practice section to create a project from scratch.
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If you wish to follow along with this course, you can download the entire project folder for free.
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The link is in the description.
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This folder contains all the work documents, fonts, and project files necessary to follow along.
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If you wish to skip ahead or back at any point in the course, you can find every episode link in the descriptions of each video.
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Now, I also suggest you download the PDF worksheet.
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You can save this to your computer and come back at any point.
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This is an interactive PDF which has been designed to enhance this course experience.
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This contains all the relevant video and project download links.
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So I recommend you download this PDF.
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You can also find the link in the description.
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This PDF has also been designed to make it easy for you to share with fellow students
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and friends who also wish to learn Photoshop.
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Simply send this PDF around and others will be able to enjoy this course.
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So that's the overview of this Photoshop beginners course.
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Once you have downloaded the project PDF and the project folder, let's get into it.
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And we are going to begin with the first video in the course, Interface Introduction to Adobe Photoshop.
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See you in the next video.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 52 sentences and 768 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:25. The speaker talks at a natural 174 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| artwork noun | /ˈɑɹtˌwɝk/ | A painting, drawing, sculpture or other piece of creative, visual art. |
| folder noun | /ˈfoʊldɚ/ | An organizer that papers are kept in, usually with an index tab, to be stored as a single unit in a filing cabinet. |
| beginner noun | /bəˈɡɪnɚ/ | Someone who is just starting at something, or has only recently started. |
| element noun | /ˈɛləmənt/ | One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based. |
| layer noun | /ˈleɪ̯ɚ/ | A single thickness of some material covering a surface. |
| composition noun | /ˌkɑm.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/ | The act of putting together; assembly. |
| scratch verb | /skɹæt͡ʃ/ | To rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| format noun | /ˈfɔːɹ.mæt/ | The layout of a publication or document. |
| adventure noun | /ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/ | A feeling of desire for new and exciting things. |
| designer noun | /dɪˈzaɪnɚ/ | A person who designs something, or who designs things as a profession. |
| introduce verb | /ˌɪntɹəˈdus/ | To cause (someone) to be acquainted (with someone else). |
| principle noun | /ˈpɹɪn.sɪ.pəl/ | A fundamental assumption, fundamental law or guiding belief. |
| explore verb | /ɪkˈsploɹ/ | To examine or investigate something systematically. |
| logo noun | /ˈloʊ.ɡoʊ/ | A visual symbol or emblem that acts as a trademark or a means of identification of a company or organization. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| follow along verb | To continue behind or beside an animal, person, vehicle or other object, especially as a companion. | |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. | |
| carry out verb | /ˈkæ.ɹi aʊt/ | To hold while moving it out. |
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 | have finished · have structured · have designed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be covered · has been designed · been designed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | PDF which has · friends who also |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | I'll be · will be · will need |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: composition /ˌkɑm.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/, fictional /ˈfɪkʃənəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: composition /ˌkɑm.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/, interactive /ˌɪn.tɚˈæk.tɪv/, individually /ˌɪndɪˈvɪd͡ʒ(u)əli/, illustrative /ɪˈlʌs.tɹə.tɪv/, typography /taɪˈpɑɡɹəfi/
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 artwork, folder, beginner.
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.