Shadowing Practice: Understanding Disabilities (for students) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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What do you think of when you hear the word disability?
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Wheelchairs?
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Seeing eye dogs?
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Sign language?
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Do you think about invisible disabilities?
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Learning disabilities such as dyslexia?
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Mental health conditions like bipolar disorder?
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Or chronic illnesses like diabetes?
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These are all correct thoughts.
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It's important to understand that there are many different types of disabilities.
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Some Some can be seen and some cannot.
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It is also essential to understand that societal stereotypes about disabilities can cause barriers to success for a person with a disability.
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Remember that there is a person who is using a wheelchair to get around, a person who is using their seeing -eye dog to navigate the world,
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a person who is using sign language to communicate.
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Many of us have been taught that a disability is a limitation and that all people with disabilities want to be cured.
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We might think that it is the person with a disability who is responsible for making lifestyle changes, and not that it is the world around us that needs to change.
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But is any of this true?
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Meet Lily.
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Lily uses a wheelchair.
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She rides the bus every day to get to work, but sometimes the lift is broken and she's late.
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When Lily goes grocery shopping, she has to ask people to help her reach things on the top shelves.
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Whenever her friends want to go out to dinner, she needs to call ahead to make sure the building has a wheelchair ramp at the entrance
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and that the bathroom is accessible.
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Lily recently decided that she wants to move in with her boyfriend, but his building doesn't have an elevator.
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Lily experiences obstacles because our world was not built for, and often does not consider the needs of, people with disabilities.
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This raises a number of questions.
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Is Lily the problem, or should all buses have working lifts?
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Should all grocery stores make sure that their customers can easily shop for what they need?
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Should all restaurants be wheelchair accessible and all buildings have elevators?
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More and more people with disabilities, like Lily, are speaking up about their experiences.
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They, along with disability advocates, are challenging stereotypes and smashing stigma.
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They're loudly and proudly advocating for the world to be more inclusive
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and taking action so that people with disabilities can live free from discrimination.
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Having a disability does not make you less than.
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Disability is diversity.
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And diversity is beautiful.
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Even if we can't always see it, people with disabilities are all around us.
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And all of us have a responsibility to make the world more accessible, safe, and equal for people living with disabilities.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Understanding Disabilities”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: disabilities, Lily, disability, wheelchair, accessible. This video has 38 sentences and 442 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:40. The speaker talks at a natural 166 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 12 of its 38 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 |
|---|---|---|
| disability noun | /dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/ | A condition characterised by a significant limitation in a person's physical or intellectual powers or ability. |
| wheelchair noun | /ˈ(h)wilt͡ʃɛɹ/ | A chair mounted on large wheels for the transportation or use of a sick or disabled person. |
| accessible adjective | /əkˈsɛs.ɪ.bəl/ | Easy of access or approach. |
| diversity noun | /daɪˈvɜː(ɹ)sɪti/ | The quality of being diverse or different; a difference or unlikeness. |
| advocate noun | /ˈæd.və.kət/ | Someone whose job is to speak for someone's case in a court of law; a counsel. |
| grocery noun | /ˈɡɹəʊ.s(ə.)ɹi/ | Retail foodstuffs and other household supplies. |
| elevator noun | /ˈɛləˌveɪtɚ/ | Anything that raises or uplifts. |
| illness noun | /ˈɪl.nəs/ | An instance (episode) of a disease or poor health. |
| entrance noun | /ˈɛn.tɹəns/ | The action of entering, or going in. |
| cure verb | /kjɔː/ | To restore to health. |
| discrimination noun | /dɪskɹɪmɪˈneɪʃən/ | Discernment, the act of discriminating, discerning, distinguishing, noting or perceiving differences between things, with the intent to understand rightly and… |
| disorder noun | /dɪsˈɔɹdɚ/ | Absence of order; state of not being arranged in an orderly manner. |
| lifestyle noun | /ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/ | A style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group. |
| chronic adjective | /ˈkɹɑ.nɪk/ | Of a problem, that continues over an extended period of time. |
| communicate verb | /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/ | To impart or transmit (information or knowledge) to someone; to make known, to tell. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get around verb | To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | can be seen · have been taught · is broken |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | person who is |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should all |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | is using · are speaking |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as can't, doesn't, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: discrimination /dɪskɹɪmɪˈneɪʃən/, smash /smæʃ/, shelf /ʃɛlf/, limitation /lɪmɪˈteɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: disability /dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/, accessible /əkˈsɛs.ɪ.bəl/, diversity /daɪˈvɜː(ɹ)sɪti/, elevator /ˈɛləˌveɪtɚ/, discrimination /dɪskɹɪmɪˈneɪʃən/
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 disability, wheelchair, accessible.
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.