Shadowing Practice: try not to laugh challenge - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “try not to laugh challenge”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: makeup, pounds, save. This video has 65 sentences and 444 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:54. Only 71% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 19 of its 65 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pound noun | /ˈpaʊ̯nd/ | A unit of weight in various measurement systems. |
| spray noun | /spɹeɪ/ | A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid. |
| pizza noun | /ˈpi.tsə/ | A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables. |
| butter noun | /ˈbʌtɚ/ | A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk). |
| burger noun | /ˈbɝ.ɡɚ/ | A hamburger. |
| peanut noun | /ˈpiˌnʌt/ | A legume resembling a nut, the fruit of the plant Arachis hypogaea, native to South America. |
| nipple noun | /ˈnɪp.əl/ | The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female therian mammals, milk is secreted. |
| express verb | /ɪkˈspɹɛs/ | To convey or communicate; to make known or explicit. |
| holiday noun | /ˈhɑləˌdeɪ/ | A day on which a religious event or secular celebration is traditionally observed. |
| cook verb | /kʊk/ | To prepare food for eating, typically by heating it, combining it with other ingredients, seasoning it, preparing it for serving, etc. |
| manage verb | /ˈmæn.ɪd͡ʒ/ | To direct or be in charge of. |
| nobody noun | /ˈnoʊ.bə.di/ | A person dismissed as unimportant. |
| literally adverb | /ˈlɪ.tə.ɹə.li/ | Without overstatement or understatement, or false or misleading words. |
| grow verb | /ˈɡɹəʊ/ | To become larger, to increase in magnitude. |
| shut verb | /ʃʌt/ | To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| get out verb | To leave or escape. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| shut up | /ʃʌt ʌp/ | Stop talking (usually in the form of making annoying, irrelevant, or false comments, during a period of peace and quiet, or when one is not allowed to talk)… |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm going to get the water.
- You want some peanut butter?
- How do you manage to do that?
- How many do you got?
- Cooking an egg right now, you feel me?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | I'm going to get · I'm going to go · gonna take |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | won't give · I'll go |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 95 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, ain'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 pound, spray, pizza.
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.