Shadowing Practice: want to fix your English accent? (start here.) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hello to my 400,000 plus amazing subscribers.
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Welcome back to English is easy with Connor.
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Today we are going to be working on your English pronunciation and speaking skills.
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In particular we will be focusing on long vowel sounds to make your English sound more natural and native.
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Here's how it works.
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All you need to do is say the sentence that you see with me or repeat it after me.
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The sentence will get longer and more difficult as we go along.
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So click like and make sure you watch till the end to get best results.
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Here we are starting off at level one with a long A sound.
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Before we jump in, practice that sound with me.
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A, A, A, A, A, A, A.
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Okay, let's do a slow read of the level one sentence.
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Are you ready?
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace.
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Okay, great.
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Kate takes train, main.
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Yeah, let's try this again at a medium speed.
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A little bit faster now.
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Ready?
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace.
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And now, one last time at a quick native speed.
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Ready?
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace.
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Awesome job.
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Let's go ahead and level this sentence up to level two.
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As you can see, we have taken the sentence and we've stretched it longer.
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We have added some long E sounds.
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Let's practice that sound before we jump in.
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Say with me.
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E, E, E.
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Okay.
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Let's jump in with a slow read from the beginning,
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace.
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And she sees three elegant dresses in a window,
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but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one.
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Okay, so our main character here is out shopping, right?
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Getting a gift for her friend Grace.
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And what does she see?
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She sees three elegant dresses.
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What does elegant mean?
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maybe a little bit fancy nice looks really good maybe a long flowing dress could be an elegant dress
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and K however she does not buy the dress because she needs to see the price before she agrees.
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Let's say this whole thing again, this time at a medium speed.
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Are you ready?
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace.
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and she sees three elegant dresses in a window,
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but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one.
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Okay, that is really giving your mouth a workout, but let's try one more time at a fast native speed.
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This is how I would really speak and say the sentence naturally.
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Ready?
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace,
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and she sees three elegant dresses in a window, but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one.
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leveling up again here we are at level three we've stretched
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the sentence even longer with some long I sounds practice
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that sound with me I I I words like the Side and try,
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find, nice, tie, stylish, white.
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Those use the long I vowel sound.
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So this time, let's begin at a medium speed.
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Okay, from the beginning, a little faster,
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace.
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and she sees three elegant dresses in a window,
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but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one.
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So she decides to try a different store where she finds a nice silk tie and a stylish white shirt.
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okay yeah nice job guys can we try it again at
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a quick speed native speed here we go say with me
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace
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and she sees three elegant dresses in a window
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but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one
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so she decides to try a different store where she finds a nice silk tie and a stylish white shirt
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okay
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so she is at a different store a different shop we
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could say she finds a silk tie there okay stylish white
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shirt what is stylish means it looks good how could we say that a different way How could we paraphrase that?
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Maybe fashionable, a fashionable white shirt.
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Maybe we could say chic, a chic, chic white shirt.
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They both mean stylish.
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Looks good, right?
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Okay, let's level up once more to level four.
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Here we go.
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This sentence is becoming quite challenging,
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quite difficult you can see from here we have added the long o vowel sound oh though knows
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so slowly goes right okay so let's begin at a medium speed From the beginning,
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace.
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And she sees three elegant dresses in a window,
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but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one.
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So she decides to try a different store where she finds a nice silk tie and a stylish white shirt,
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though she knows her friend doesn't wear ties.
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So she slowly puts it back and goes to look for something else.
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Okay, nice.
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So I guess Kate's friend, she doesn't wear ties.
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So she puts the tie back and she puts it back slowly, slowly.
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And then she goes, goes to look for something else.
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All right.
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Are you guys ready for a quick speed?
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And then we will level up one final time.
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But before we do, if you haven't clicked the like button on this video yet,
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make sure you do that because it's the best way to support this video.
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All right, here we go.
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Fast speed.
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace.
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And she sees three elegant dresses and a window, but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one.
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So she decides to try a different store where she finds a nice silk tie and a stylish white shirt,
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though she knows her friend doesn't wear ties.
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So she slowly puts it back and goes to look for something else.
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You guys are doing amazing.
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This is the final boss of today's video.
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Uh-oh, the final boss.
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This is a really long and challenging sentence, and we've added the long U sound, okay?
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Say with me, uses.
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Say with me, cute, cute.
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How about boutique, boutique, like a small, cute shop.
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Okay, a boutique, beautiful, blue, truly useful, new.
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Okay, so let's start one last time from the beginning.
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And let's read at a medium speed.
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Here we go.
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Come on, guys, push.
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Kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend Grace
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and she sees three elegant dresses in a window but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one.
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So she decides to try a different store where she finds a nice silk tie and a stylish white shirt,
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though she knows her friend doesn't wear ties
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so she slowly puts it back and goes to look for something else
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and then she uses her phone to search for cute boutiques and finds a beautiful blue vase that would be
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truly useful for Grace's new apartment all right awesome job you guys
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that is a real challenge now we move on to the
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final read one last time let's jump in at a native
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speed really push yourself this is your last chance to speak in in this video
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so really give it your all give it your all that means give it all of your energy
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all right are you ready at a quick speed from the beginning
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kate takes a train to the main shopping street to find a great gift for her friend grace
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and she sees three elegant dresses in a window
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but she needs to see the price before she agrees to buy one
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so she decides to try a different store where she finds a nice silk tie
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and a stylish white shirt though she knows her friend doesn't wear ties
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so she slowly puts it back and goes to look for something else
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and then she uses her phone to search for cute boutiques
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and finds a beautiful blue vase
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that would be truly useful for Grace's new apartment alright guys
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if you made it all the way through
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that take your hand give yourself a pat on the back
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because you deserve it my friend long vowel sounds are a real challenge for a lot of English language learners but
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if you watch this video repeatedly maybe once a month once
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a week even once a day your pronunciation will improve so
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quickly
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if you'd like to support me even more as your YouTube
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English teacher become a channel member it's only one dollar it's
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probably the best language learning deal on the entire internet
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because it gets you access to hours
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and hours of bonus videos plus PDFs for my videos all you need to do is click join
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and to all of my members thank you
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so much your support makes this channel possible
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if you want more videos like this one stretching a sentence longer and longer to improve your spoken English,
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check out my comment down below.
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I will put the full Super Sentences Speaking Practice playlist there for you guys to check out.
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Thanks again, and I'll see you next time.
About This Lesson
Welcome to today's English speaking practice focused on enhancing your pronunciation and accent! In this session, we'll specifically concentrate on mastering long vowel sounds, which are essential for sounding more natural and native in English. This lesson will guide you through a series of sentences, gradually increasing in complexity. By the end of this lesson, you will confidently articulate phrases that contain long vowel sounds, improving your overall clarity in English. Get ready to engage in effective shadowing, as you will practice by repeating phrases after a native speaker!
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Train: A vehicle that runs on tracks, often used for transportation.
- Main: Referring to the primary or most important part.
- Elegant: Describing something that is stylish and sophisticated.
- Gift: An item given to someone as a present.
- Agree: To have the same opinion or to consent.
- Price: The amount of money required to purchase something.
- Beautiful: Pleasing to the senses or mind; attractive.
- Window: An opening that allows you to see outside or display items in a shop.
Practice Tips
To make the most of your English speaking practice, utilize the shadowing technique effectively. This involves listening and repeating after a native speaker to develop a more authentic accent. Start with a slow read of the sentences, focusing on the long vowel sounds like "A" and "E" demonstrated in the lesson. As you gain confidence, gradually increase your speed to match that of the speaker. This will help you achieve a more native-like pronunciation. Remember, during shadow speech practice, it’s essential to fully engage your mouth and articulate each sound clearly.
Don’t forget to repeat the phrases multiple times at different speeds—first at a slow pace to grasp the sounds, then at a medium pace for comprehension, and finally, fast native speed to build fluency. You might find it helpful to record your shadowing sessions and listen back for improvements. Engaging with this shadowing site regularly will lead to noticeable advancements in your pronunciation skills!
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.