Shadowing Practice: The Village of Small Feet - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

B2
Shadowing Controls
0% completed (0/78 sentences)
In China, there is a village where women have small feet.
⏸ Paused
All Sentences
78 sentences
1
In China, there is a village where women have small feet.
2
So small, an iPhone is bigger than them.
3
So small, even kids have bigger feet.
4
What is this village and why is this happening?
5
There's only 10 left in the world.
6
Wow, really only 10?
7
They are no longer around.
8
When I was in China, I heard about a village with small feet.
9
I couldn't believe it, so I took the first flight out to go see it for myself.
10
Let's go!
11
I left the rich part of China and landed here in a farming village
12
where mostly poor people live many of them have never seen a foreigner before we were the only tourists in town What's up?
13
Yeah!
14
Yeah!
15
Yeah!
16
Video!
17
Yoku!
18
Video!
19
Move!
20
Hey!
21
We walked around the village looking for women with small feet.
22
And unfortunately we couldn't find any.
23
We knocked on doors and people didn't want to talk to us and other people told us the women have died what happened?
24
they are no longer around we almost gave up and headed home until we saw a small room with a grandma and her son inside her name was Fuji Pang Hello, I'm Fuji Pang
25
She was 95 years old, but her feet looked like they belonged to a five-year-old.
26
Turns out she is the one we came to look for.
27
She's one of 10 people in the entire village still alive with this kind of feet.
28
In ancient China, if you wanted to be a beautiful woman, you had to get small feet.
29
so mothers would crush the feet of their daughters intentionally for years
30
so that they stop growing so they remain small in ancient china this was considered beautiful
31
it's a status symbol feet three inch small and you become the golden lotus She has been here for 60 years.
32
She left her for 60 years?
33
She left her for 60 years.
34
Why are her feet?
35
You said, she doesn't have to be able to do it.
36
How old did you start to do it?
37
I was 10 years old.
38
10 plus, she started to wrap her feet.
39
So maybe that's why she couldn't achieve a really small...
40
It doesn't make sense to us now, but 40 to 50% of all women in China were forced to have small feet for the rest of their lives.
41
I'm surprised this was considered a job.
42
Beautiful.
43
I mean, you know how it is.
44
Because the top of the foot looks kind of bulbous, you know what I mean?
45
Yeah.
46
Luckily, this tradition ended 90 years ago.
47
Most women with small feet have passed away, and the last small shoe factory closed in 1999.
48
It's beautiful.
49
It's beautiful.
50
It's beautiful.
51
They feel very beautiful.
52
The tradition may have died, but there are many others that continue to exist.
53
To this day, women still have to change their body to look beautiful.
54
In China, they make feet small.
55
In Britain, they make the waist small.
56
and in America, they make the breasts big.
57
So many painful ways for women to look beautiful in our society.
58
It's crazy.
59
I can't believe that just happened.
60
The meeting with Fujipeng was eye-opening to all of us because the price women paid and continue to pay is high.
61
The price of beauty is painful.
62
The price of beauty is unnecessary.
63
Let us change standards of beauty today so our kids in the future can just be themselves.
64
YouTube, if you like this video, then I think you're gonna love NAS Academy.
65
It's a new online school we just started to give you a voice.
66
Yes, making videos has given me a voice.
67
And with this voice, you can reach millions of people on the internet, tell them stories that you care about, and actually change their opinion.
68
This skill of making videos changed my life and I think it can change yours.
69
NAS Academy has a lot of courses that are live.
70
They're not pre-recorded so there is real people from the NAS Daily Team that teach you how to make videos like we do.
71
Give you your voice that you so desperately need in today's world.
72
If you're a business, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a family person, You need a voice on the internet.
73
And Nass Academy helps you get that voice.
74
Click on the link below if you want to see the courses that we offer.
75
We have very limited spots.
76
So grab yours today.
77
Thank you so much.
78
And I'll see you tomorrow for another video.
📱

Shadowing English

Now available on mobile devices, download now!

5.0
Download on theApp Store
GET IT ONGoogle Play

About This Lesson

In this lesson, learners will practice English skills by exploring the poignant story of a village in China known for its tradition of foot binding. The video discusses cultural practices regarding beauty standards, the impact on women, and the historical context of small feet in Chinese society. While watching the video, you will focus on listening comprehension, speaking, and vocabulary building. This engaging content provides an excellent opportunity to improve English pronunciation and fluency through shadowing techniques, leveraging captivating storytelling to enhance your learning experience.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Small feet: Refers to the traditional practice of foot binding which resulted in women having tiny feet as a beauty standard.
  • Cultural practice: A tradition or belief common to a particular society, in this case, foot binding.
  • Beauty standards: Societal expectations regarding physical appearance.
  • Status symbol: An indicator of social standing or wealth in the community.
  • Foot binding: The historical custom of tightly wrapping a young girl’s feet to prevent them from growing.
  • Golden lotus: A term used in ancient China for women with bound feet, symbolizing beauty.
  • Tradition: Practices that are passed down through generations.
  • Historical context: The background information that helps to understand events and practices from the past.

Practice Tips

To effectively use shadowing techniques for improving your English pronunciation, follow these tips as you watch "The Village of Small Feet". First, focus on matching the speaker’s speed and tone. The video has a conversational pace, making it suitable for learners at different levels. Begin by listening to short segments of the dialogue, then repeat immediately after the speaker. This method will help improve your intonation and rhythm.

Make sure to articulate clearly as you shadow the narrator’s words. Words like “cultural practice” and “status symbol” are crucial to the topic, so pay special attention to their pronunciation. Using a shadowing app can help by allowing you to listen and repeat segments at your own pace. Additionally, try summarizing what you heard in your own words to enhance comprehension.

As you immerse yourself in the lesson, remember to practice consistently. Use this shadowing site to track your progress and see how your speaking skills develop over time. Combining these techniques with videos like this one will significantly assist you in learning English with YouTube while making your learning experience both informative and enjoyable.

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.

☕ Buy us a coffee