Shadowing Practice: The Weeknd - The Hills - Learn English Speaking with Video
B1The Weeknd - Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)
B2The Weeknd, Playboi Carti - Timeless (Official Lyric Video)
B1The Weeknd - Blinding Lights (Official Video)
B1The Weeknd - Call Out My Name (Official Video)
B1The Weeknd - The Hills | Live Performance (Lyrics)
B2My Ordinary Life but slowed at best part
B2Gesaffelstein & The Weeknd - Lost in the Fire (Official Video)
![Summertime Sadness - Lana Del Rey [Lyrics/Vietsub]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FLDVfDh3BYg/mqdefault.jpg)
B2Summertime Sadness - Lana Del Rey [Lyrics/Vietsub]
B2Little Mix - Wasabi (Audio)
B2PARTYNEXTDOOR, Drake - SOMEBODY LOVES ME
B1The Weeknd - In Your Eyes Remix feat. Doja Cat (Audio)
B2Dave, Tems - Raindance (Lyrics)
B2FML
B25 Seconds of Summer - Teeth (Lyrics)
B2Arctic Monkeys - Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? (Official Video)
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Weeknd - The Hills”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: fucked, touch, hide. This video has 29 sentences and 434 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:32. The speaker talks at a steady 123 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| heel noun | /hil/ | The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. |
| gate noun | /ˈɡeɪ̯t/ | A doorlike structure outside a house. |
| temple noun | /ˈtɛm.pl̩/ | A house of worship dedicated to a polytheistic faith. |
| residential adjective | /ˌrɛzɪˈdɛnʃəl/ | Of or pertaining to a place of personal residence or to a location for such places. |
| babe noun | /beɪb/ | A baby or infant; a very young human or animal. |
| promo noun | /ˈpɹəʊməʊ/ | A reduction in consumer cost for a limited time for items or services rendered; a special. |
| rehab noun | /ˈɹiːhæb/ | Rehabilitation, especially to treat the use of recreational drugs. |
| decaf noun | /ˈdiːkæf/ | A decaffeinated coffee, tea, or soft drink. |
| info noun | /ˈɪnfoʊ/ | information. |
| touch verb | /tʌt͡ʃ/ | To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with. |
| judge verb | /d͡ʒʌd͡ʒ/ | To sit in judgment on; to pass sentence on (a person or matter). |
| catch verb | /kæt͡ʃ/ | To capture or snare (someone or something which would rather escape). |
| lie verb | /laɪ̯/ | To rest in a horizontal position on a surface. |
| photo verb | /ˈfəʊ̯.təʊ̯/ | To take a photograph of. |
| drug noun | /ˈdɹʌɡ/ | A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 23 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I'd, don'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 heel, gate, temple.
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.