Shadowing Practice: Underwater lion dance wows crowds | Vietnam Today - Learn English Speaking with Video
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18 sentences
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1
The Mid -Autumn Festival is celebrated with the familiar sound of drums and colorful lion and dragon dances.
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But at the Institute of Oceanography in Nyachang, visitors can enjoy something quite different,
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an underwater lion dance where traditional culture meets the marine world.
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Underwater, the movements of the lions become slower and more fluid, creating a performance that feels both familiar and new.
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Organized by the Institute of Oceanography, the show offers visitors a unique mid -autumn experience.
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The movements look almost slow motion, smoother, and more graceful than lion dancing on land.
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I have a friend in Australia that does lion dance, but no more lion dance.
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I never see one in the water.
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It must be very difficult.
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But they did a good job.
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Making a lion swim underwater is no easy task.
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Performers must balance, coordinate and control their breathing while executing lion dance movements.
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The lion head is specifically made from composite and other water -resistant materials.
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All team members hold international diving certificates.
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We practiced the movements on land first so that we could coordinate smoothly once underwater.
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By bringing the lion dance underwater, we hope to showcase the ocean's beauty and encourage people to help protect it.
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The unusual performance also carries a message close to the work of marine scientists.
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By bringing tradition underwater, it offers visitors a different mid -autumn experience, while encouraging greater interest in and care for the ocean.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 18 sentences and 239 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:45. The speaker talks at a steady 137 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 73% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lion noun | /ˈlaɪən/ | A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe. |
| underwater adjective | /ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/ | Beneath the surface of the water; of or pertaining to the region beneath the water surface. |
| autumn noun | /ˈɔtəm/ | Traditionally the third of the four seasons, when deciduous trees lose their leaves, and temperatures and daylight hours decrease; typically regarded as… |
| visitor noun | /ˈvɪzɪtɚ/ | Someone who visits someone else; someone staying as a guest. |
| encourage verb | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. |
| coordinate verb | /koʊˈɔɹ.dəˌneɪt/ | To place in the same order or rank. |
| unusual adjective | /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/ | Not usual, out of the ordinary. |
| dragon noun | /ˈdɹæɡən/ | In European mythologies, a gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a lizard-like body, often a… |
| smooth adjective | /smuːð/ | Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough. |
| certificate noun | /səˈtɪf.ɪ.kɪt/ | A document containing a certified statement. |
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| fluid noun | /ˈflu.ɪd/ | Any substance which can flow with relative ease, tends to assume the shape of its container, and obeys Bernoulli's principle; a liquid, gas or plasma. |
| scientist noun | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research… |
| swim verb | /swɪm/ | To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means. |
| dive verb | /daɪv/ | To swim under water. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: smooth /smuːð/, breathe /bɹiːð/, smoothly /ˈsmuːðli/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, showcase /ˈʃoʊˌkeɪs/
- Long words — get the stress right: underwater /ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/, coordinate /koʊˈɔɹ.dəˌneɪt/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, certificate /səˈtɪf.ɪ.kɪt/
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 lion, underwater, autumn.
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 | is celebrated |
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.