Shadowing Practice: The Fastest Way to Improve Your Communication - Learn English Speaking with Video
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116 sentences
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If you were going to give someone like one exercise
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or habit that they should build over the next 30 days to improve their communication, what would it be?
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Give me a thing about it, too.
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That's a tough one.
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Yeah, let me think about it.
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Oh, I know what it is.
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Hit me.
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I know exactly what it is.
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Oh, gosh.
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Well, you've done it many times.
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Oh, no. Record yourself and watch it.
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Ooh.
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cringe like the rest of us do
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at all of your weird little habits and facial expressions and how your hair looks and what you wore.
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Go ahead and cringe and be nice to yourself and be objective and look at it and adjust.
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It's the fastest way to learn what's going on
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and how you might want to adjust it to show up the way you want to show up.
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It's really the fastest way.
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So break it down.
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So we record ourselves for what, 60 seconds, three minutes?
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It doesn't need to be long.
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Just record, but try to record under real conditions.
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Like try to create the conditions that you're gonna be speaking in.
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So put your phone or your device or whatever it is up and then stand up if you're gonna be standing up.
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Oh, interesting.
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You know, do, or on Zoom, if you're gonna be presenting on Zoom, record it.
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Jump on Zoom and record it.
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That way you can see how you're coming across, how it feels.
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If you like it, a lot of times people watch it and they're like, oh, that's not nearly as bad as I thought.
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I don't seem nervous.
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So often it's really good feedback, but even the cringy feedback.
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Everyone feels that way the first time.
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It's weird.
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I sound so weird.
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Does my voice actually sound like that?
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Yes, it does.
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Oh my gosh.
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When I was younger, I remember getting in a debate with someone because they heard themselves like, I don't sound like that.
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And I was like, yes, you do.
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No, I don't there's something wrong with recording
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it's like what do you mean exactly this is exactly how you sound i read somewhere
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that the reason for that is
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because you hear your voice internally all day long yeah and
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that there's some kind of discrepancy like cognitive dissonance or something
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when you then hear it recorded it's like just weird yeah well you're in i hope it is
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because if not then i do sound really weird
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but to your point like i do think
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there's almost an element of like exposure therapy where like you just
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you watch yourself a couple times
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it's not as bad as you think although you probably need
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to watch to see where do I need to improve right like there's certainly some questions
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you need to ask yourself about am I pausing long enough am I talking too quickly yeah
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and my advice would be when you watch it try to find one thing huh I could be more concise.
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And then that's it.
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Just let's focus on that.
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I can improve how I'm organizing my thoughts.
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I can try to say what I'm trying to say in fewer words.
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Maybe that's the focus.
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Or maybe I find I have a go -to filler word.
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One time I watched a video of myself and my takeaway was sometimes when I really want to emphasize a point, doing it with my chin.
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My chin is making the point.
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Right, right.
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And ever since then, when I feel myself doing that, relax with the chin, Cloud.
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It's okay.
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Relax with the chin, Cloud.
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Right?
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You've got to talk to yourself, you know?
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That's funny.
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There's a little bit of humor about it.
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But if you can just understand that it's going to be cringeworthy and it's going to be fine.
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And no one else cares.
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No one else cares.
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No one is sitting around thinking about how you did.
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Yeah.
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No one cares.
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That's actually maybe one of the most powerful things
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that I think helps me get over some nervousness of like
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people don't think about you as much as you think about you.
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Or at all.
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Right.
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It doesn't matter.
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Oh, there's this.
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I want to.
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I'll send you this after.
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There's this hilarious social media influencer.
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I think he's Australian.
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And what he does is apparently he used to be the super quiet, shy guy who had social anxiety
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and the way he got over it was basically realizing
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that you can do the most ridiculous things in public
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and no one actually cares so he'll like be on the subway
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and he just starts like dancing yeah and he records himself
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and then actually what happens is like people smile
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and he's like me knowing that like i'm just a character
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and it doesn't matter what's happening it's
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so funny right i'm just a person in target to this right exactly right then they'll forget about me tomorrow
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but it's funny because actually what really happens is he starts acting
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so carefree and joyful and then everyone around him likes it
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and they start right yeah exactly yeah um i love
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that there was a woman dancing in target the other day my dog are you serious yes
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i saw her from across the aisle it was some
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i don't remember what song it was like some awesome 80s song
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and i wanted to be dancing too
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and she kind of danced right she had the courage to do it yes
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and i was like
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and i looked at her like absolutely i love it absolutely you're dancing in this target that's
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so funny but Yeah, it's contagious.
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We're all walking around so like, I couldn't possibly.
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Right.
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That won't be okay.
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You know, I won't be okay.
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I'll be mocked.
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I'll be.
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Yeah, you just got to free yourself from that.
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Free yourself a little bit, at least just knowing.
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Yeah.
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No one cares about how I'm doing.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Fastest Way to Improve Your Communication”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: record, cares, weird, sound, exactly. This video has 116 sentences and 1011 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:07. The speaker talks fast, about 198 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| chin noun | /ˈt͡ʃɪn/ | The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth. |
| feedback noun | /ˈfiːdˌbæk/ | Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results. |
| relax verb | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | To make something loose. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| adjust verb | /əˈd͡ʒʌst/ | To modify. |
| gosh | /ɡɑːʃ/ | A mild expression of surprise or enthusiasm. |
| 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. |
| ridiculous adjective | /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/ | Deserving of ridicule; foolish, absurd. |
| anxiety noun | /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ | An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event. |
| exposure noun | /ɪkˈspəʊ.ʒə(ɹ)/ | The condition of being exposed, uncovered, or unprotected. |
| objective noun | /ɒbˈd͡ʒɛk.tɪv/ | A material object that physically exists. |
| courage noun | /ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/ | The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate. |
| fewer | /ˈfjuː.ɚ/ | Less; a smaller amount of something non-integral commonly expressed as an integer |
| hilarious adjective | /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/ | Very funny; causing great merriment and laughter. |
| cognitive adjective | /ˈkɑɡ.nɪ.tɪv/ | Relating to the part of mental functions that deals with logic, as opposed to affective which deals with emotions. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get over verb | To overcome. | |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. | |
| stand up verb | To rise from a lying or sitting position. | |
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| sit around verb | To spend time sitting idly, not doing anything important. | |
| walk around verb | To walk with no planned destination; to meander. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Does my voice actually sound like that?
- Just let's focus on that.
- I can improve how I'm organizing my thoughts.
- You've got to talk to yourself, you know?
- I'll send you this after.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 34 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, exposure /ɪkˈspəʊ.ʒə(ɹ)/, facial /ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, internally /ɪnˈtɜːnəli/, discrepancy /dɪˈskɹɛpənsi/
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 chin, feedback, relax.
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.