Shadowing Practice: The English words you don't learn unless you go to England. - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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There are certain British words that every British person uses every day.
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There are certain British words that every British person uses every day.
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But what are they?
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In this video, I'm going to show you seven proper British words that you don't learn unless you go to England.
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I'm also going to show you the world around me and teach you English using it.
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For example, this is a cat.
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I'm stroking the cat.
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On top of that, I'm going to hide a secret British word within this video and it's going to appear in many different contexts so see if you can spot it before I tell you at the end.
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Whoops!
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Dropped my tea.
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Speaking of tea, another very common British thing is a cup of tea which we would commonly call a cuppa.
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Now a cuppa can be coffee or tea but it's more common that it's tea and it comes from a cup of tea which got shortened to cup a tea which now got shortened even more to cuppa.
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A cuppa.
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A proper British cuppa.
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Now let's make one but first I need to ask my friends because it's good to be polite in England.
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All right, Tree.
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All right, Jay.
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Fancy a cuppa?
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Two sugars, no three.
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Actually, I'm a tree, I don't care.
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Hey up, Tree.
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Hey up, Jay.
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Shall I pop the kettle on?
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Do birds live in my branches?
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Yes, pop that kettle on.
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Pop.
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Now, I'm going to brew the tea, which is to pour the boiling water from the kettle into the mug and to brew is to let that tea bag infuse inside the mug for the flavors to develop.
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Now I'll tell you what I fancy while I wait for this tea to brew I fancy a cheeky biscuit.
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Bickeys.
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These are McVitie's digestive biscuits and they are very British.
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McVitie's were invented in 1892 because apparently they help with digestion.
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Turns out that they don't help with digestion but the name stuck and now nobody cares.
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The next step when having a cup of tea in England is to dunk your biscuit.
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A cheeky dunk.
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Now I've been using the word cheeky a lot.
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What does it mean?
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Cheeky means doing something slightly indulgent that maybe you shouldn't do.
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Perhaps you would use it with food, a cheeky biscuit, you might use it with a drink, a cheeky coke, or you might use it with a spontaneous decision, a cheeky detour.
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I might say to my friend, fancy a cheeky pint?
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And my friend might say, go on then, just a cheeky one.
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Now guys, later on in about one hour I'm going on a boat ride to the place where King Kong the movie was filmed and I need to book my tickets so...
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Sugar!
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Gutted man!
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My screen is just cracked you can see the crack across the screen Gutted.
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Oh, gutted.
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Gutted means deeply disappointed, devastated.
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It's that gut feeling you get when something goes wrong.
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Oh man, Tree, I am gutted.
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Don't worry, Jay.
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Every cloud has a silver lining.
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Yeah, I suppose you're right.
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In every bad situation, there's a positive side.
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That's a nice way of looking at it.
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Speaking of that, let's look for some new words.
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She's licking her kittens.
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She's licking them to clean them.
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And we have here a cat and two kittens.
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Kittens are baby cats.
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Early this morning, these two kittens were playing with each other.
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They were play fighting, pouncing on one another.
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It was very funny, very cute, and a very good way to start the morning.
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I'm not gutted anymore.
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Now I've played with this kitten, I'm sweaty, but I'm feeling much better.
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In fact, I'm starting to feel tingly.
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I'm starting to feel excited.
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I'm very excited.
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I am buzzing.
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Why am I buzzing?
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Because later, I'm going on a boat ride.
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In fact, very soon, I'm going on a boat ride.
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I'm buzzing, I'm excited.
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All right, we're ready.
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Take off the tote bag, that's a tote bag, and put on my very fashionable life jacket.
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This is neon orange.
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Neon is like a bright version of a colour, and this is going to help me stay afloat if I fall in the water, which hopefully I don't because Chang behind the camera is holding a very expensive camera.
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These are the straps or the buckles and I'm clipping them.
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It's very hot, it's very sweaty, but I'm buzzing.
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Say hello.
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It's Uncle Lee from London.
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Remember me?
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This is very peaceful.
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So we're travelling again through the rivers, the rice fields, the mountains in Ninh Binh in Vietnam, northern Vietnam.
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And this is where they filmed King Kong, the film with the big gorilla, Peter Jackson's film.
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They filmed that here, or at least a part of that.
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And you can see why, because it looks otherworldly.
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Otherworldly meaning of another world.
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It looks alien.
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It looks like a landscape that could be on another planet.
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Now, I have a question for you.
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Have you ever seen any landscapes like this?
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What is the most phenomenal, spectacular, otherworldly landscape that you have witnessed in your lives?
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Let me know in the comments.
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So we are moving forward on the water.
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We are rowing on the water.
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and this is an oar.
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She is using the oar to row and the texture of this rock is a bit sharp, we might say jagged or rugged.
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There is a lady wearing a non-lar riding a bicycle along the edge of the river.
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Around me there are giant limestone mountains with trees on the edge of them.
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It's beautiful innit, it's gorgeous innit, it's hot innit.
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I just use the words innit, which you might hear British people use all the time.
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And innit is a combination of isn't it, innit.
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And we use it as like a tag question.
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So it's nice innit means it's nice, wouldn't you agree?
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I would also use innit to agree with someone.
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someone.
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If someone says this is gorgeous, I would say in it.
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Like, isn't it?
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Yes, it is, basically.
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I agree with you.
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That is proper British, innit?
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Okay, now we are heading into a cave.
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Right, guys, it's about to get dark.
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Now we're going into a cave.
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Flip you around so you can see.
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Have you ever been in a cave before?
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Nice, innit?
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Nice, innit?
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That was good.
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So inside this cave, there is a cool breeze.
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A breeze is a light wind, and cool is the opposite of warm.
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So cool can also mean good, nice, but in the context of weather and temperature, cool means quite cold, nicely cold.
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It feels like a pleasant adjective.
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It's a cool breeze.
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Now I need to watch.
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I don't bang my head.
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Right, now we're getting out of the boat and going on to the land.
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We've just taken a short rest, a five minute break before we get back on the boat and we're walking around these gardens.
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There are flowers either side of the path and giant mountains surrounding us.
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I actually feel very small in this landscape.
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It's pretty colossal, pretty huge, pretty giant.
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So now we're walking over a creaky bridge.
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Can you hear the creek?
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That sound is called creaking and it's associated with horror films.
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A creaking wooden bridge.
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Hopefully it doesn't collapse and fall.
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Oh my goodness.
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I'm lost for words honestly.
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So the final English word of of the day is cheers.
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Now normally you might know cheers as the word that you use when you clink the glasses together.
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That's one use.
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Another use is to say thank you.
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Cheers mate means thanks my friend.
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And the final lesser known use is saying goodbye.
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Cheers.
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Cheers.
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you later.
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Now it's not goodbye, it's just cheers see you later.
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I'm gonna get back on this boat, we're gonna get back to land and after that I'm gonna reveal the hidden word that I've been sprinkling throughout this video.
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So stick around.
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Oh, proper British day.
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Proper good that innit?
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That is the secret word that I've been sprinkling sprinkle in throughout this video the word proper and it's an intensifier it can be substituted with very really or incredibly that is proper British now if you want to practice with all the words you learned in this video then you can do that on Sprout language.com you can practice speaking with J.I.
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which is an AI version of me and he understands all of the context in this video so you can speak with him to put what you learned into practice.
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That is proper good.
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I'll see you there.
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Nice, isn't it?

Context & Background

In the video titled "The English words you don't learn unless you go to England," the speaker immerses viewers in everyday British life, focusing on commonly used words and phrases that are not typically taught in traditional English courses. The setting showcases various aspects of British culture, such as making a cup of tea, interacting with friends, and enjoying traditional snacks like biscuits. Through this engaging context, learners are encouraged to absorb authentic language and understand how these expressions fit into daily conversations.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • Cuppa - A casual term for a cup of tea, widely used among friends and family.
  • Cheeky - This word describes a playful or slightly indulgent action, often used in informal settings (e.g., "fancy a cheeky pint?").
  • Pop the kettle on - A phrase that means to boil water for tea; it embodies the warmth of British hospitality.
  • Gutted - An expression of deep disappointment or sadness when things don't go as planned.
  • Biscuit dunking - Refers to the British custom of dipping a biscuit into tea, often an enjoyable and social activity.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To effectively engage with the phrases and context presented in the video, consider the following shadowing guide.

  1. Watch the video attentively: Focus on the speaker’s pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. Pay attention to how the phrases flow within the conversation.
  2. Start with shadow speech: Repeat sentences immediately after the speaker. This technique helps you incorporate their pronunciation into your speech patterns.
  3. Use a shadowspeak method: Record yourself mimicking the speech and listen back to evaluate your accuracy and clarity.
  4. Practice phrases in isolation: Take each phrase, such as "fancy a cuppa," and integrate it into your own sentences or conversations to enhance your vocabulary.
  5. Incorporate into daily practice: Utilize a shadowing app or a journal to note down phrases and create dialogues. Regular use will help you improve English pronunciation and fluency.

Through these practical steps, you can combine the joy of British language with effective language-learning techniques, perfectly aligning with your IELTS speaking practice goals.

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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