Shadowing Practice: The Red Rubber Ball - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Page 18.
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Read The Red Rubber Ball.
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High up on Antuco Mountain,
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Carlos kicks his red rubber ball so hard that it flies high in the sky like a shooting star.
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Far across the world, Ashanti is playing Daga with her friends.
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It's Ashanti's turn to be Daga, the boa constrictor.
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So she goes into the center of the circle.
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Her friends dance and skip around her while she acts like a snake and tries to tag the next Daga.
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It's fun to catch them.
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Ashanti is tagging a friend when something red drops out of the sky into the circle.
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Where did this come from?
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There is no ball in Daga.
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Ashanti laughs.
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She bounces the ball as hard as she can.
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It flies high and fast across the sky until she can't see it anymore.
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It flies over a forest, white cliffs, and a big blue ocean.
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Far away, Hyo and his brother are playing amok.
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Hyo plays with little dark pebbles, and his brother plays with little white ones.
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Hyo tries to line up five of his stones to win.
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Winning isn't easy.
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Hyo is finding the perfect place to put his stone when something red rolls into the middle of the game.
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What's this?
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You don't need a ball to play omok.
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Hyo smiles.
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Then he throws the ball as hard as he can.
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It flies far into the sky, over plains and seas.
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The Fernandez family is playing La Thancuna.
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Papa draws boxes in the sand.
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Mama writes names in the boxes, one for each day of the week.
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Matias tosses a stone, and Maria jumps over it.
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She lands in the next box without stepping on the line.
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Maria likes landing on one foot, and she puts her arms out to keep her balance.
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Something round bounces on her foot.
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Hey, what's this?
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There is no ball in this game.
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Everyone laughs.
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Maria tosses the ball in the air, and Matthias kicks it up into the sky.
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The whole family watches as the ball goes up and up until they can't see it anymore.
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High in the sky, the ball flies over lakes, canyons, and streams.
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Carlos holds out his arms and catches his red rubber ball.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 40 sentences and 372 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:19. The speaker talks at a steady 112 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 78% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| rubber noun | /ˈɹʌbɚ/ | Pliable material derived from the sap of the rubber tree; a hydrocarbon biopolymer of isoprene. |
| bounce verb | /baʊns/ | To change the direction of motion after hitting an obstacle. |
| toss verb | /tɔs/ | To throw with an initial upward direction. |
| sand noun | /sænd/ | Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in… |
| tag noun | /tæɡ/ | A small label. |
| plain noun | /pleɪn/ | An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees, especially a grassy expanse. |
| mama noun | /ˈmɑmə/ | Synonym of mother (“a female parent”). |
| snake noun | /sneɪk/ | Any of the suborder Serpentes of legless reptiles with long, thin bodies and fork-shaped tongues. |
| skip verb | /skɪp/ | To move by hopping on alternate feet. |
| cliff noun | /klɪf/ | A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face. |
| canyon noun | /ˈkænjən/ | A valley, especially a long, narrow, steep valley, cut in rock by a river. |
| papa noun | /ˈpɑːpə/ | Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father. |
| amok adverb | /əˈmɒk/ | Out of control, especially when armed and dangerous. |
| constrictor noun | /kənˈstɹɪk.tɚ/ | A muscle whose contraction narrows a vessel or passage or compresses an organ. |
| pebble noun | /ˈpɛbəl/ | A small stone, especially one rounded by the action of water. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go up verb | To move upwards. | |
| hold out verb | To hold (something) out; to extend (something) forward. | |
| line up verb | /laɪnˈʌp/ | To align; to put in alignment; to put in correct adjustment for smooth running. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as can't, don't, isn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
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 rubber, bounce, toss.
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.