Shadowing Practice: The Elephant: Big Ears, Long Nose - Learn English Speaking with Video

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16 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Look, an elephant!
2
It is so big!
3
And I am small.
4
Its ears are big.
5
My ears are small!
6
Flap, flap, flap!
7
Its nose is long.
8
My nose is short!
9
The long nose is a trunk.
10
It drinks with its trunk!
11
Slurp... and splash!
12
Oh no, I am wet!
13
Elephants are very heavy.
14
Wait... what is that?
15
A baby elephant!
16
Small, like me!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This A1 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Elephant: Big Ears, Long Nose”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: flap, elephant, nose. This video has 16 sentences and 63 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:39.

Key vocabulary in this video

9 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
elephant noun/ˈɛlɪfənt/A large mammal of the family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea, having a trunk, and native to Africa and Asia.
ear noun/ˈɪə̯/The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
trunk noun/tɹʌŋk/The usually single, more or less upright part of a tree, between the roots and the branches.
splash verb/splæʃ/To hit or agitate liquid so that part of it separates from the principal liquid mass.
flap noun/flæp/Anything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or that is attached by one side or end and is easily moved.
slurp verb/slɝp/To eat or drink noisily.
nose noun[nəʊ̯z]A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell.
heavy adjective/ˈhɛv.i/Having great weight.
drink verb/ˈdɹɪŋk/To consume (a liquid) through the mouth.

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like elephant, ear, trunk.

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 →