Shadowing Practice: Toy Story 3 | Operation Playtime - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
Same Channel
Recommend Video
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 131 sentences and 660 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:40. The speaker talks at a steady 141 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% 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 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- whoa /woʊ/ — Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down.
- trash /tɹæʃ/ (noun) — Useless physical things to be discarded; rubbish; refuse.
- folk /foʊk/ (noun) — People, persons.
- attic /ˈætɪk/ (noun) — The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or…
- gather /ˈɡæðɚ/ (verb) — To collect normally separate things.
- squeeze /skwiːz/ (verb) — To apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once.
- transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/ (noun) — The process of change from one form, state, style or place to another.
- guarantee /ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/ (noun) — Anything that assures a certain outcome.
- grateful /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ə)l/ (adjective) — Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
- toy /tɔɪ/ (noun) — Something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child.
- spare /spɛɚ/ (adjective) — Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.
- accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/ (verb) — To finish successfully.
- buzz /bʌz/ (noun) — A continuous humming noise, as of bees; a confused murmur, as of general conversation in low tones.
- someday (adverb) — Sometime; at some unspecified time in the future.
- uncertainty /ʌnˈsɜːtənti/ (noun) — Doubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- come on /ˌkʌm ˈɒn/ — Come along with me; join me in going.
- play with (verb) — To fiddle with; make small adjustments to, for example to something mechanical in order to improve its performance.
- move on (verb) — To continue; to proceed; to go on.
- throw away (verb) — To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash.
- close up /kləʊzˈʌp/ (verb) — To close (remove a gap) completely or fully.
- come out /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ (verb) — To be discovered; to be revealed.
- get in (verb) — To get into or inside something, literally or figuratively.
- go for (verb) — To try for, to attempt to reach.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 35 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, gonna, we'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: trash /tɹæʃ/, transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/, accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/, decoration /ˌdɛkəˈɹeɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: uncertainty /ʌnˈsɜːtənti/, decoration /ˌdɛkəˈɹeɪʃən/, accessory /əkˈsɛs.(ə.)ɹi/, eternally /ɪˈtɜː.nə.li/
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 whoa, trash, folk.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've always said · We've done · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are gathered · being abandoned |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was messing · was coming |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | are you kidding · I'm calling · We're closing |
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.



![kung fu panda 3 2016 [2019] part 1](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BSrNJ1Lj4A4/mqdefault.jpg)








