Shadowing Practice: Watching the Eclipse in Spain - Learn English Speaking with Video

a couple of facets.

I got this one.

We have the glasses.

Good morning.

We are today in Spain because it is the day of the full solar eclipse.

It's literally like 10 o'clock right now, but I am so tired.

It's really hot here today.

It's going to be like 40 degrees.

I'm just getting ready super quickly because today we are in a new city that I have never been to before.

So we are in Solia and I have never seen it.

So we're gonna go outside and walk around the city before it gets too hot.

I don't really know why I'm bothering with the makeup because every day I put makeup on and it just

melts down my face and I'm gonna brush my hair quickly.

Here's the final look.

Look, my hair kind of needs a wash but that's fine.

I wanted to stop here super quickly

so we went to get a coffee in Soria

and now we are down by the river we are by the river duero um

and we're gonna just like take a walk

and go to this very very cool church but more on

that later i just bought from the cafe well my boyfriend

bought a couple croissants they're really small i'm not i'm not a big breakfast person

so they're just like a little snack

but i got two i got this one

which is like a little pistachio croissant you can see the pistachio

and this one which is a chocolate

that i don't actually know called filipinos like someone from the philippines i don't know anyway i'm gonna try

and i'll i'll let you know

which one's the best this one's really good it tastes a bit like um like a kinder bueno and this one

they're really good let's keep walking so we're now taking a walk in the park

because we're going to this like cool church

that has been built into the caves it's actually it's really really green here

which was surprising to me

because soria is like a city right in the center of spain it's right in the middle

but now we're heading over this bridge you can see here the bridge

and then up there that's the church that we're going to go to in a minute

the thumbnail is going to be the eclipse oh yeah okay now up these steps it is

so hot today

so this is like uh it feels very difficult like i feel like there's not a lot of oxygen in the air.

I think it's probably just because I'm not that used to it.

But here are the steps.

Apparently, I'm out of breath because we are one kilometre above sea level.

So we're like in the mountains.

So a little bit of context here because I did not film too much in the church

because I wanted to be respectful

but you enter the church by going through this cave and there's this stained glass image in the back.

We are now inside of this church which is built into a cave

so you can see behind me all of the cave walls, all of the rock.

Originally there was a saint or a man that lived in the caves

and then in the 1600s they built this church and it is so impressive

it's so cool

because you can see the rock everything is built into the

all of the walls are built into the rock it was free to enter

and honestly the whole thing was

so incredible to see the view as well was gorgeous from

the windows i also left a note in the guest book so if you visit see if you can find my entry.

This church is associated with a saint called San Saturio

which I guess in English is like Saint Saturio to say it with a more English accent

and one day a six-year-old boy fell out of one of the windows

so one of the windows up here He fell from one of the windows up here and the saint saved the boy.

They saved the boy and he survived the fall with no injuries.

And this is one of the stories that is associated with this church and with the saint that is here.

It was also very, very cool because it's a cave.

The temperature is much lower than outside and it's now like midday so it's hot here in Soria.

I don't think we have like a particular plan for now, just going to head into the city.

We're getting lunch at some point but mostly we're going to avoid being outside.

We decided it was time to head back towards the city, back to Soria.

We did take a quick pit stop.

a pit stop is like a quick break where you do something different

so we stopped over in another old church this one had these really cool arches outside it's really interesting

because this is very very old I think they said it's

from like the 1400s like the first like the 15th century

or 14th century but they're really old and apparently they don't really know how to preserve them.

They were very strict about like what we can and cannot do here but you cannot touch anything which is fair enough.

We're now leaving.

I'm still dying it's so hot.

It's around 1 pm so we're going to get vermouth

which is basically like a it's like pre-lunch they do here in Spain.

Like a little something to eat and something to drink

which is really good news because I need air conditioning so

and then we went back into the city now I want to make a whole video on this

but the food culture in Spain is very very different from the culture in the UK.

So for example, sometimes people will meet up for vermouth before they have lunch.

I don't think we have a direct translation for this in English, but we'd probably describe it as getting like a quick bite to eat before lunch

or maybe like nibbles or something like this.

We then went in for lunch and lunch is typically the bigger meal of the day.

We ordered lots of different plates to share.

We're going to share a few plates and I'm going to film with my phone because my camera's gonna die.

In the UK we normally order a plate for ourselves so like a plate each so I always like that in Spain.

We get to try lots of different things because we just share everything

and after that we got back into the car and went into the countryside to get ready for the eclipse.

We are now in a village in basically the middle of Spain.

We are going to go and watch the solar eclipse in about an hour, more or less like an hour and a half, no one hour.

I will probably film a little bit more of an explanation as to like what is happening

when I'm not at the eclipse

and I'm not sure how much I can film without ruining my camera but I'll try okay I'll try my best.

The solar eclipse is where the moon goes over the sun and it only happens once every 100 years in each country.

Spain was experiencing a total eclipse this year and it's the first time since 1912.

So I was super, super excited to go to Spain and hopefully see it.

100

You do need to be careful when watching the eclipse because the sun is incredibly,

101

incredibly bright and it's not good for you to just be staring directly at the sun.

102

You do have to wear these like special eclipse glasses.

103

We have the glasses and we're waiting for the eclipse now.

104

When you wear these you basically can't see anything except the sun.

105

The only problem was with the glasses it looked amazing

106

but with my camera it just could not see the eclipse

107

so every single video I took with my phone it just looks like an orange blob

108

and nothing else but this is when the eclipse was kind of happening.

109

This is like showing as a full sun then it's not the full sun.

110

My camera cannot do it.

111

There was some time when the moon was just about covering the sun

112

and at that moment you couldn't really see many things changing.

113

You could see that some of the shadows were changing.

114

For example, people would use like strainers, things used to strain water from food.

115

They would use strainers

116

and you could see how the sun was no longer circular in the shadows the shadows were changing but

117

when it came to the total eclipse we moved to a

118

new location with a better vantage point a better viewing point

119

in order to see everything go dark in the moment where the moon covers the sun completely.

120

You are allowed to take your glasses off and you can look at the sun.

121

I did think about narrating over the top of the eclipse

122

but I think everybody's reaction is so lovely that I want you to hear it for yourself.

123

One of the reasons why I did not film during the eclipse was because mostly we were speaking in Spanish.

124

I was in Spain so I did speak in English

125

when I was recording myself but nobody could really understand me

126

so I mostly was speaking Spanish but I'm going to let you watch the moments where the eclipse takes place.

127

Hello!

128

Yes!

129

Come back!

130

Wow!

131

What's going on?

132

Wow!

133

Wow!

134

Wow!

135

Wow!

136

Wow!

137

Wow!

138

Wow!

139

Wow!

140

Wow!

141

Wow!

142

Wow!

143

Wow!

144

Wow!

145

Wow!

146

Look over there!

147

Look, look!

148

Look at the sky!

149

No!

150

It won't show!

151

It won't show!

152

It won't show!

153

What?

154

And if you did it with the iPhone?

155

No!

156

I don't think you will even get it.

157

Did you get the moon?

158

Look at that crazy!

159

It was a 140 year old in Soria.

160

It was the most amazing place.

161

I could cry!

162

I feel quite emotional.

163

Look, it's starting to get out.

164

I thought it would be pitch

165

black almost like night time during the total eclipse

166

which lasted about a minute and a half but it was more like dusk you know it was more like the evening.

167

It was like sunset everywhere and you could look at the sun.

168

I thought my camera couldn't see it but it could but only when you looked kind of from one angle.

169

After the eclipse it was really it was quite late to be honest.

170

I think we ended up just walking back to the car

171

and having dinner but I honestly like I cannot remember what I had for dinner.

172

I can't remember what I had I think we just cooked cooked at home I would love to know

173

if you have seen an eclipse in your lifetime what was the experience like for you anyway

174

and that was my day pretty much I hope

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that you enjoyed this video and thank you

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so very much for watching I will see you in the next one bye

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Who Will Love This Video?

This video is perfect for intermediate learners aiming to boost IELTS speaking practice or everyday conversational skills. It’s full of casual, real-life dialogue—think morning routines, travel observations, and snack reviews—making it ideal for anyone wanting to sound more natural. If you’re using a shadowing site to practice, the speaker’s pace is relaxed but lively, so you can easily mimic her tone and rhythm. It’s like having a friend share a day in Spain, which makes learning feel fun, not forced!

Words & Idioms to Add to Your Toolkit

The video is packed with handy phrases. Here are a few to "steal":

"melts down my face": Describes makeup smudging from heat (great for talking about hot weather!)
"out of breath": Short of air after physical activity (useful for describing walks or workouts)
"more on that later": A casual way to say you’ll explain something in detail soon (perfect for storytelling)
"a little snack": A small amount of food (better than just "snack" for sounding natural)

These phrases are simple but powerful—they’ll make your English sound less scripted and more like a native’s.

How to Nail the Pronunciation

The speaker’s accent is clear and conversational, with a few key features to focus on for improve english pronunciation. Notice how she shortens words like "gonna" (instead of "going to") and "I’m" (instead of "I am")—this is common in casual speech. Practice shadowspeak by pausing the video and repeating her lines, especially when she talks about the heat: "It's so hot today" has a rising intonation that shows emphasis. Also, listen to how she says "Soria" (so-REE-ah) and "Duero" (DWAY-roh)—getting place names right will boost your confidence in real conversations. With a little practice, you’ll be mimicking her natural flow in no time!

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to it · used to strain
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	has been built · is built · are built
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have never been · have never seen · has been built
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	one which is · church which is · anything which is

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 technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Watching the Eclipse in Spain - Learn English Speaking with Video

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