Shadowing Practice: trying every coffee shop in New York... (part 2) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Good morning guys.

Welcome back.

I'm gonna be drinking so much coffee.

It does worry me a little.

Today, as you guys already know, we're gonna be trying different coffee shops in New York.

I've done this video once before, about a year and a half ago when I first moved to New York, and some of you guys were messaging me saying that you wanted me to do another one.

Some of you, as in I think I saw one person ask.

There are so many coffee shops here.

I don't think even if I tried, I could physically go to each one.

What I am gonna do is I'm gonna try new coffee shops today

that I've not tried and I'm gonna compare them and rank them because I'm a big ranker.

I love ranking things.

Whenever I go out to eat with my friends, I always ask for a rating or a ranking in comparison to other places.

So take this as you will.

I'm like literally no professional and I'm also no food critic.

So we're kind of leaning into like the chef culinary side of things recently on here.

I'm actually a little scared because I remember the last time I filmed this video.

For some reason, I drank the whole coffee.

Every single coffee.

I could have just tried a couple sips, but no, I decided to drink the whole thing.

So this time, I don't want to do that because I was so sick the last time I filmed this video.

Anyways, guys, we have work to do today.

Find the best coffee.

Can I do an iced vanilla latte with skim milk please?

Yeah, I'm ready.

Thank you.

Today is the day I conquer my fear.

You guys know filming in public for me is a challenge.

Unfortunately, I think that it just always will be.

I have my list of coffee shops

that i'm going to be going to today So we're starting out at the first coffee shop.

This place is called manjool I wanted to start here

because this is like a newer coffee shop

and i've been here a couple times just for matcha It

honestly reminds me of an apple store in here Like truly

this is a coffee version of an apple store to me the architecture and the way it's decorated.

I Love I decided I wanted to do a baseline for wow.

Why am I like making this so formal?

Like we learned in school, you need a controlled variable.

So I am deciding to order the same latte from every coffee shop I go to today

because I need to be able to have like a baseline for comparison.

So I'm going to be ordering an iced latte with vanilla.

And update, I drink regular milk now.

I know this is like kind of revolutionary.

I used to only drink oat milk or almond milk.

This place actually doesn't have vanilla, I found out, which sucks.

But they had like a simple syrup starting off the bat.

I feel like it's gonna be quite milky just based on the look of it

I need to pace myself see I forget I have

so many more coffees to drink today I can't drink this whole thing right now.

I'm kind of disappointed.

I thought it would be better guys It's like not that good the matcha here.

I think is a lot better than the coffee.

So I expected the coffee to be just as good I just think the ratio is off.

There's such a high milk to coffee ratio in here It's

just being drowned out by the milk as you can even just see.

I just wish it tasted more like coffee.

This really just tastes like I'm drinking milk.

I feel like I can't even rate the coffee

because I can't even hardly taste the actual like quality of the coffee

and I also don't like that they didn't have vanilla here.

So honestly we're off to a really rough start.

Wow guys things are going downhill quickly Um, and i'm nervous filming in public final synopsis.

I love the aesthetic in here I love the architecture

and I also love

that there's a bathroom in here bathrooms in new york Especially

in coffee shops are just very hard to come by the coffee itself Very let down guys.

I feel like i'm being dramatic, but i'm really gonna give this like a three out of ten I know that's so low

and I partially feel bad giving it such a low rating

Maybe it was just this time like the person who made it.

Maybe it was just a little bit heavy on the milk I mean, I guess we can only go up from here.

Hi, can I just have an iced vanilla latte?

Okay, we'll get a milkshake.

Like skim milk?

We are at the next coffee shop.

This place is called Butler.

I have higher hopes for this one.

I mean, I guess we really can't go downhill from the last place.

I walk by this place all the time.

And every time I walk by it, I tell whoever I'm with that I really want to go in and try it.

But I haven't had the chance to stop in and try it yet.

So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

What drew me in initially, I'm going to be honest, was the aesthetic.

It's very cute.

You can see the pink tiles.

I love the branding.

I'm a sucker for marketing.

I guess we are off to a better start because this place does have vanilla unlike the other place.

Okay, it did take me a second to really, really think about what I think of this coffee.

It's all right.

Okay.

It's okay.

It's not my favorite, but it's not my least favorite.

I would say it's very Mediocre and I feel bad saying that like

when i'm literally sitting in the coffee shop I don't want

the employees to hear I think what it is is

that the coffee is like good itself But it's pretty like watered down

and it's not like i've been sitting here and it's been like melting or anything I just got it.

I would say it's pretty diluted It's not bad, but it's not something i'd ever really recommend to someone I will say I like the vanilla ratio

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that they put in here because I don't like it

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when they overdo it with the vanilla But also

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if they don't put enough in like I can't taste it

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I feel like the vanilla ratio is hard to master

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and I will say I do feel like that was done pretty well here But I don't like that.

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It's diluted and it tastes kind of watered down.

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It's kind of killing my vibe I'm gonna give this one a Six they do have a lot of food though.

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That looks quite good people are getting like sandwiches and stuff next to me So i'm sure that might be good.

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But since we're focusing on the coffee today, this isn't like your first priority.

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Wow I feel like I failed you guys like I chose some not great options, but let's hope it gets better.

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It can only go up from here I know I already said that So I'm gonna just do an iced vanilla latte.

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Thank you thank you one of the points i wanted to

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touch on this video is the price of the latte coffee nowadays is

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so expensive lattes especially new york can be like painful to buy at points i think i purchased a 12 latte before.

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It gets pretty bad.

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And I forgot to address the prices of the first two.

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So let's just backtrack really quick if you guys don't mind.

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The first latte I got from Manjul that was not very good was $7.62.

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I'd say for New York that's like pretty standard.

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The one that I just had at Butler was $7.24.

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So pretty similar.

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This one from Plant Shed which is where I'm at now Was 6 26.

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So that did surprise me.

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I thought it'd be a little bit more The reason I wanted to go to this spot

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because I did intentionally try to pick places for this video

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I didn't just randomly go to different coffee shops is

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because plant shed has both coffee and flowers and plants

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And it's a really nice place to get like flower arrangements

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that i've been but i've never actually gotten their coffee

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So I saved it for this video to finally try coffee from their cafe.

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This is what it looks like I'm sitting outside because there is no seating in there.

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So here we go.

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Taste test.

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I'm getting more comfortable filming in public, guys.

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I'm not.

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I'm just gaslighting myself.

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This is what I'm talking about.

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Okay, this is a good latte.

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Finally, we have something good.

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I feel like I probably, I hope I don't sound like a diva in the first two.

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Obviously, they were like, all right.

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But I'm filming this and trying to be a little bit critical.

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See, this is a really good latte.

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I would say this is a very solid, solid latte.

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The ratios to start off, I would say, are pretty much perfect, at least for how I like it.

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A good milk to espresso to vanilla ratio.

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It's also very smooth.

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It's not, like, too bitter.

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Sometimes the espresso can come off a little bitter, but the balance is definitely there.

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This is a very, like, timid latte, I would say.

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If you aren't, like, the biggest espresso person and you like a latte with not a ton of a strong coffee profile, this is pretty good because it isn't too strong.

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Also, I'm embarrassed because people are talking about me film right now.

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I like this.

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This is what I'm talking about, guys.

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This is what I'm talking about.

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I break this an 8 out of 10.

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I really like it.

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10s are reserved, you guys.

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A 10 is very difficult for me to give.

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I'm very happy and very happy I have a good latte that I really like.

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Can you guys just take one second to acknowledge the fact

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that I did just film this on the sidewalk with millions of people walking by me?

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I am starting to get a headache.

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I'm really committed you guys I guess is that what

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that means anyways I love plan shed I love the environment I love

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that you can get flowers there

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and the coffee is also really great the next place we're going is called cafe lyria let's go try it out

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I had to walk to find somewhere else to sit because

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that place was so insanely busy definitely the most crowded of all places I've been so far.

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I found this place on TikTok, actually.

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A lot of people really seem to like it.

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It had a really cool aesthetic in there.

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Like very retro.

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There was an old television.

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Some records.

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But just no seats.

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So I ended up sitting here.

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I don't even know where I am to be honest.

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But I'm ready to try this coffee.

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They didn't have vanilla.

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Guys, I don't know what is going on.

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I feel like most places do have vanilla.

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But instead she gave me like a honey sweetener that they have.

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This definitely has a bitter kind of sharp strong coffee flavor

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Definitely the most prominent espresso flavor of all of them so far.

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So yeah, all things considered this is pretty good I think it is just more of a preference thing

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if you like the sharper stronger prominent coffee espresso flavor Then

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you would probably prefer this of the other coffee shops i've been to i'm gonna rate this A seven

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and a half out of ten really good So I would go back

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and hopefully if I went back I could find a seat.

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I think that speaks for itself It's clearly the most popular of the places I've been so far

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Okay guys we are now at laughing man in tribeca This

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was a little bit of a trek from the other places

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I was at I did specifically want to try this place out

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because I've I don't know I've heard a lot about it Some celebrity I think started this coffee shop.

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I forget who hold on.

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Let me check.

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Oh Jackman Hugh started this coffee shop.

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The real reason I wanted to come here is because I read

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that a good portion of the proceeds are donated to charity, which I thought was really cool.

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I will say there's a lot of seating in there and a bathroom, so we're off to a really good start.

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Mmm, so good.

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I think this is my favorite one.

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We had such a crazy trajectory today.

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We started pretty low, and now we're here.

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The coffee is really smooth.

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It's not like too acidic, which I like.

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It has almost, I don't know if I want to say like nutty.

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Oh, I just drank my hair.

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Like a hint of almost like a nutty coffee bean flavor in a really good way.

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They didn't put too much milk in.

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It seems like that's been a theme today.

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A lot of milk.

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So I appreciate that the ratio is really good.

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And the vanilla is also good.

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I don't like vanilla that tastes really artificial.

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I can just tell.

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So this vanilla does taste more just like authentic vanilla bean.

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So I'm going to rate this, I think an eight and a half out of ten.

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So this would be my favorite of all the places.

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So let's go through and rank them.

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Obviously this is number one for me.

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My second favorite, which is a really close second, is Plant Shed.

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That was a bit smoother.

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Coffee kind of just like depends on my mood.

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Then number three, Cafe Lyria.

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Butler is number four for me.

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Would not go back there for coffee.

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I would go back for their food though.

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Their food looked pretty good.

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But ultimately the last place would be the first place

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that we went to manjul tasted like pure milk

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which is kind of crazy for a latte to just taste like straight milk

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so those are my rankings thanks for watching guys i i

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feel ill now i need to eat food immediately let me know

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if you guys would like to see a matcha version of

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this you guys know i've been getting into matcha recently

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so i think

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that would be really fun to try different matcha places around here anyways love you guys thanks for watching

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and I'll see you in my next vlog.

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Bye!

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.

Shadowing Practice: trying every coffee shop in New York... (part 2) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Speaking Goals for This Clip: Casual Fluency & Narrative Flow

Phrase Bank: Reusable Expressions for Daily Chats

Fix Your Weak Spots: Pronunciation & Rhythm with Shadowing

What is the Shadowing Technique?