Shadowing Practice: Trying the best BBQ in the WORLD with IShowSpeed - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Trying the best BBQ in the WORLD with IShowSpeed”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: rib, barbecue, beef, bro, brisket. This video has 19 sentences and 1968 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:34. The speaker talks at a natural 170 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 31 of its 19 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| beef noun | /bif/ | The meat from cattle or other bovines; especially, that from adults. |
| brisket noun | /ˈbɹɪskɪt/ | The chest of an animal. |
| rib noun | /ɹɪb/ | Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum. |
| bite verb | /baɪt/ | To cut into something by clamping the teeth. |
| smoker noun | /ˈsmoʊkɚ/ | A person who smokes tobacco habitually. |
| tender adjective | /ˈtɛn.dɚ/ | Sensitive or painful to the touch. |
| housemade adjective | Produced in house or by the establishment in which they are sold | |
| pancake noun | /ˈpæn.keɪk/ | An thin batter cake similar to a crepe, typically unleavened. |
| juicy adjective | /ˈd͡ʒuːsi/ | Having lots of juice. |
| sausage noun | /ˈsɔsɪd͡ʒ/ | A food made of ground meat (or meat substitute) and seasoning, packed in a section of the animal's intestine, or in a similarly cylindrical shaped synthetic… |
| cage noun | /keɪd͡ʒ/ | An enclosure made of spaced bars, normally to hold animals while providing some ventilation. |
| lean verb | /ˈliːn/ | To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating. |
| beeper noun | /ˈbipɚ/ | A simple computer speaker. |
| decadent adjective | /ˈdɛkədənt/ | Characterized by moral or cultural decline. |
| jalapeño noun | /ˌhɑ.ləˈpeɪn.joʊ/ | A cultivar of hot chili pepper, Capsicum annuum. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| burn up verb | To catch fire and burn until destroyed. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| pull up verb | /ˌpʊl ˈʌp/ | To lift upwards or vertically. |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| walk around verb | To walk with no planned destination; to meander. | |
| walk through verb | To explain (something) to (someone), step by step. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Where are you guys getting your meat?
- Beef pizza are you most excited to eat?
- What's your favorite food?
- You're still eating, bro?
- Are you like just trying it or really eating?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | has been doing · have been walking |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've ever tasted · has been · has never been done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been done |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the best · the most tender · the greatest |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 58 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, I'm, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: jalapeño /ˌhɑ.ləˈpeɪn.joʊ/, legendary /ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənˌdɛɹ.i/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like beef, brisket, rib.
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.












