Shadowing Practice: The Nova Effect - The Tragedy of Good Luck - Learn English Speaking with Video
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1
A man named Eric is on a walk with his dog, Nova.
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While on the walk, Eric loses Nova after she pulls the leash from his hand in pursuit of a rabbit that happens to jump out of a bush as they pass by it.
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Eric chases after Nova but this only inspires her to run faster, until she completely eludes Eric's vision continuing on her pursuit of the rabbit, that has, by now, hidden somewhere in the other direction.
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After a great deal of time passes, it becomes clear that Nova has outrun her sense of orientation and is now lost.
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Eric spends the rest of the day and the days following searching for Nova. He notifies neighbors, enlists friends and family to help, puts up signs, and so on.
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A week goes by, nova is still missing eric is devastated beyond comprehension he thinks about how horribly unlucky it was that the rabbit jumped out at just the wrong time his hand position just in the wrong place to allow Nova to pull the leash from it About another week later, a woman shows up at Eric's front door, she has Nova.
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After nova and Eric reconnect in a chaotic, heart-warming display of affection, Eric thanks the woman.
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She introduces herself and tells Eric her name is Vanessa.
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She's beautiful, and about Eric's same age.
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Eric and Vanessa talk for a little while and seem to hit it off, In the following weeks they hang out several times and things goes so well, they soon begin dating.
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Eric finds her to be absolutely gorgeous, kind, funny, smart, spontaneous... all the right buzzwords for a perfect romantic partner in a story.
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Soon, Eric and Vanessa fall in love, the relationship is everything one could reasonably hope a relationship to be.
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erick thinks about how lucky it was that vanessa was who happend to be in the right place at the right time to find and return Nova A couple months go by, Eric is driving on his way to pick up Vanessa.
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While driving through an intersection, Eric is T-boned at full speed by a driver who distractedly runs a red light coming from the perpendicular side street.
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Eric is knocked unconscious as he and his car are sent in a thrashing 1080° spin.
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An hour or so later, Eric finds himself in a hospital.
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A doctor informs Eric of what has happened, and explains that he has suffered a severe head injury, and that they will need to run some immediate tests as well as a brain scan to determine the severity, and if there's any chance of permanent brain damage or internal bleeding.
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As his consciousness begins to more clearly return to him, Erick thinks about how unlucky it was to been going to get Vanessa in the exact direction at the exact time Eric is held overnight at the hospital.
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The next day, the doctor comes in into Eric's room: , the doctor asks.
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, Eric replies.
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, they doctor says.
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, Eric responds.
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Confused, Eric says: , says the doctor.
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, Eric asks with an escalating level of concern and confusion.
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The doctor pauses for a moment, and Eric looks at him unaware of what this means.
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"It's a tumor", the doctor goes on to saying , Eric asks.
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"... we ran the brain scan. Because of the brain scan we found the tumor. Normally we only catch a tumor like this "... Because we found the tumor right now, though, we cut it while it's still benign before it became malignant and grew into any other areas of your brain, which in almost all cases becomes fatal.
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Since it's still in this stage, though, we should be able to remove it almost entirely without any issue.
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, the doctor concludes.
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Eric starts to feel a weird, visceral tingling sensation and becomes slightly disoriented.
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Regardless, Eric looks around at the room.
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He thinks about how lucky he was to having going to get Vanessa in the exact direction at that exact time. He thinks about how lucky he was to have gotten in the car accident.
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He thinks about how weird it is to think this.
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In this moment, Eric realizes how little he knows about what anything actually is.
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That he has never and can never know what exists on the other side of anything that happens to him or because of him, no matter how good or bad, lucky or unlucky any of it might seem.
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Eric feels a strange, paradoxical sense of helplessness and liberation.
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About a week later, Eric undergoes brain surgery to remove the tumor.
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The surgery is successful.
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Eric is mostly as good as new, with exception to a scar running down the side of his scalp Several days later, after being released from the hospital, Eric is at home with Vanessa, recovering.
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To get some fresh air, he takes Nova out for a walk.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Nova Effect - The Tragedy of Good Luck”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: eric, nova, vanessa, doctor, brain. This video has 40 sentences and 817 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:30. The speaker talks at a steady 149 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% 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
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| nova noun | /ˈnoʊ.və/ | Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star. |
| tumor noun | /tuː.məɹ/ | An abnormal growth; differential diagnosis includes abscess, metaplasia, and neoplasia. |
| unlucky adjective | /ʌnˈlʌki/ | Unfortunate, marked by misfortune. |
| rabbit noun | /ˈɹæbɪt/ | A mammal of most genera of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail. (Those of the larger kind are instead called hares) |
| scan verb | /skæn/ | To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely. |
| leash noun | /liːʃ/ | A strap, cord or rope with which to restrain an animal, often a dog. |
| pursuit noun | /pɝˈsut/ | The act of pursuing. |
| disorient verb | /dɪsˈɔːɹi.ənt/ | To cause to lose orientation or direction. |
| distractedly adverb | In a distracted manner. | |
| enlist verb | /ɛnˈlɪst/ | To enter on a list; to enroll; to register. |
| escalate verb | /ˈɛs.kə.leɪt/ | To increase (something) in extent or intensity; to intensify or step up. |
| helplessness noun | /ˈhɛlplɪsnɪs/ | The state of being helpless. |
| horribly adverb | /ˈhɔɹəbli/ | In a horrible way; very badly. |
| outrun verb | /ˈaʊtɹʌn/ | To run faster than. |
| paradoxical adjective | /ˌpɛɹəˈdɑːksɪkəl/ | Having self-contradictory properties. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. |
| put up verb | To place in a high location. |
| run down verb | To hit someone with a car or other vehicle and injure or kill them. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: leash /liːʃ/, thrash /θɹæʃ/, comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/, intersection /ˈɪntəɹˌsɛkʃən/, sensation /sɛnˈseɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: disorient /dɪsˈɔːɹi.ənt/, paradoxical /ˌpɛɹəˈdɑːksɪkəl/, perpendicular /ˌpɜː.pənˈdɪk.jə.lə(ɹ)/, spontaneous /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/, severity /səˈvɛɹ.ə.ti/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like nova, tumor, unlucky.
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.