Shadowing Practice: The Devilish Angels | 3 Girls vs 1 Brilliant Guy - Learn English Speaking with Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Devilish Angels”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Charlie, Brianna, Madison, Maddie. This video has 380 sentences and 3176 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:46. The speaker talks fast, about 201 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 79 of its 380 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| grandma noun | /ˈɡɹænmɑː/ | Grandmother. |
| babe noun | /beɪb/ | A baby or infant; a very young human or animal. |
| sandwich noun | /ˈsæn(d).wɪd͡ʒ/ | A dish or foodstuff where at least one piece, but typically two or more pieces, of bread serves as the wrapper or container of some other food. |
| cafeteria noun | /ˌkæ.fə.ˈtɪ(ə).ɹi.ə/ | A restaurant in which customers select their food at a counter then carry it on a tray to a table to eat. |
| popcorn noun | /ˈpɑp.kɔɹn/ | A snack food made from corn or maize kernels popped by dry heating. |
| stare verb | /stɛɚ/ | To look fixedly (at something). |
| dump verb | /dʌmp/ | To release, especially in large quantities and chaotic manner. |
| scream verb | /skɹiːm/ | To cry out with a shrill voice; to utter a sudden, sharp outcry, or shrill, loud cry, as in fright or extreme pain; to screech, to shriek. |
| scholarship noun | /ˈskɑːləɹʃɪp/ | A grant-in-aid to a student. |
| cinema noun | /ˈsɪn.ə.mə/ | A movie theatre, a movie house. |
| butt noun | /bʌt/ | Body; self. |
| clumsy adjective | /ˈklʌmzi/ | Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous. |
| gravy noun | /ˈɡɹeɪvi/ | A dark savoury sauce prepared from stock and usually meat juices; brown gravy. |
| flirt verb | /flɚt/ | To throw (something) with a jerk or sudden movement; to fling. |
| dummy noun | /ˈdʌmi/ | A stupid person. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. | |
| hang up verb | To put up to hang. | |
| clean up verb | To make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy. | |
| come back from verb | To become successful, confident or effective again after an injury, setback, failure, embarrassment, etc. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| fall down verb | /fɔl ˈdaʊn/ | To fall to the ground. To collapse. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Wow, you don't even know my name?
- I'm in your biology class?
- Wouldn't that be fun for us?
- I just meant, what's the surprise?
- What's the word I'm looking for?
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 craving · I've been avoiding · I've been looking |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | hasn't noticed · haven't felt · have ever heard |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be kidnapped · was surrounded · was taken |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | guys who changed · Those who can |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 158 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: scholarship /ˈskɑːləɹʃɪp/, sushi /ˈsuːʃi/, dashboard /ˈdæʃˌboɹd/, impatiently /ɪmˈpeɪʃəntli/, perfection /pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: cafeteria /ˌkæ.fə.ˈtɪ(ə).ɹi.ə/, biology /baɪˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, humiliate /hjuːˈmɪliˌeɪt/, impatiently /ɪmˈpeɪʃəntli/, influencer /ˈɪnflu.ənsə(ɹ)/
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 grandma, babe, sandwich.
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.































