Shadowing Practice: The Pygmalion Effect - Learn English Speaking with Video
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The Pygmalion effect is the phenomenon whereby higher expectations lead to higher performance. It can be best understood by a circle where our beliefs about another person's abilities influence our actions toward the other person. This action has an impact on the other's beliefs about themselves. The beliefs about themselves cause the others actions toward us, which again reinforce our beliefs about that person. And so on and on and on. Let's look at an example and start with your beliefs. Imagine you are the coach of a basketball team and you observe your team on the first day: Chris and Joe are new members of your team. Chris reminds you of a famous player. Joe reminds you of an annoying boy from your high school years. Unconsciously you decide what to expect of each one of them. Your beliefs influence your actions: when Chris enters the court you are happy to see him. When he plays you push him to do better, practice harder, stay an extra hour. If he makes a mistake you explained to him how to improve. When Joe comes in you hardly notice him. You're glad to see him score but you don't give him much feedback and don't invest extra time in his training.
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When Joe does a mistake you are a little annoyed.
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Your actions impact their beliefs about themselves: Chris feels you appreciate him and he appreciates you in return. He believes in his own success. Joe feels you have little patience and appreciation for him he does not believe in his own success. Their beliefs about themselves causes their actions toward you: Chris finds more and more joy and playing and he never misses a training session. During the games, he gives a hundred percent all the time. Joe finds less joy in playing than before and doesn't give his full effort in the games. He starts to miss the training sessions sometimes. Which reinforces your beliefs about them: you see how Chris enjoys playing, how he trains hard and shows a fast increase in his performance. Joe seems not to be very motivated, his skills don't increase as much and he starts to show up less. You knew it right away. Thank God your instincts were right!
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The Pygmalion effect is also known as the Rosenthal experiment named after a research of Robert Rosenthal at Harvard. In a first study, he challenged test subjects to coach rats through a maze. Half the group were told their rats were extremely intelligent and specifically trained, the other half were told that their rats were dumb. In fact the rats were all the same.
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During the experiment however the "smart" rats performed well better than the "dumb" ones. This showed how the expectations of the coaches influenced even the performance of rats.
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Rosenthal then did the Pygmalion in school study together with Lenore Jacobson: at the beginning of the school year a group of elementary school teachers were told that some of their new pupils had extraordinary talent and potential. This information which was completely made up was given about random average students in each class. All students had done the IQ test in advance. By the end of the year the students that were described as more talented had significantly increased their performance in the IQ tests compared to the rest of the class. Robert Rosenthal concluded: "When we expect certain behaviors of others we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur." what do you think about this theory? And if you believe it is there a way to prevent ourselves from being shaped by others in a negative way? If you like this video and the way we explain the subject subscribe to our channel. We try to explain complex subjects and simple language and cartoons to support students all around the world in their learning. If you want to support us you can go to www.patreon.com/sprouts and donate, just $1 from many fans makes a big difference!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 6 sentences and 677 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:21. The speaker talks at a natural 156 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% 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
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| belief noun | /bɪˈliːf/ | Mental acceptance of a claim as true. |
| rat noun | /ɹæt/ | Any of the numerous members of several rodent families that usually have short limbs, a pointy snout, a long, hairless tail, and a body length greater than… |
| experiment noun | /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/ | A test under controlled conditions made to either demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of… |
| remind verb | /ɹəˈmaɪnd/ | To cause one to experience a memory (of someone or something); to bring to the notice or consideration (of a person). |
| expectation noun | /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/ | The act or state of expecting or looking forward to an event as about to happen. |
| reinforce verb | /ˌɹiː.ɪnˈfɔːs/ | To strengthen, especially by addition or augmentation. |
| occur verb | /əˈkɜː/ | To happen or take place. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| extraordinary adjective | /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/ | Out of the ordinary; exceptional; unusual. |
| elementary adjective | /ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/ | Relating to the basic, essential or fundamental part of something. |
| feedback noun | /ˈfiːdˌbæk/ | Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results. |
| invest verb | /ɪnˈvɛst/ | To spend money, time, or energy on something, especially for some benefit or purpose; used with in. |
| talented adjective | /ˈtæləntɪd/ | Endowed with one or more talents. |
| intelligent adjective | /ɪnˈtɛlɪd͡ʒənt/ | Of high or especially quick cognitive capacity, bright. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is also known · were told |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | information which was |
| Comparatives -er than / more … than — comparing two things | better than |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | enjoys playing |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 5 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, doesn't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, patience /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/, appreciation /əˌpɹiː.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, extraordinary /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/, elementary /ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/, intelligent /ɪnˈtɛlɪd͡ʒənt/
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 belief, rat, experiment.
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.