Shadowing Practice: What is a placebo and how does it work? - Penn State Health - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
Recommend Video
B2Acupuncture 101: Benefits and Procedure | WebMD
B2The Pygmalion Effect
B2Why Do Most MEDICINES Cause SIDE EFFECTS ?
B2How-to Overview: Repatha® SureClick® Autoinjector
B2Ozempic Explained Like You're 5
C1Sequential, Multiple Assignment, Randomized Trial Designs With Dr Kidwell
B2What is Public Health? Episode 1 of "That's Public Health"
B2Fight brain-rot with Worked Examples
C1What Your A1C Numbers Really Mean | Pharmacist Explains
B2Was passiert wirklich, wenn du auf Zucker verzichtest? | Quarks
B2Hepatitis C: You Deserve a Cure
B2It’s Boring, But it Transforms Your Physique
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “What is a placebo and how does it work? - Penn State Health”. This video has 4 sentences and 62 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:22.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 10 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pill noun | /pɪl/ | A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| inactive adjective | /ɪnˈæktɪv/ | Not active, temporarily or permanently. |
| placebo noun | /pləˈsiː.bəʊ/ | A dummy medicine containing no active ingredients; an inert treatment. |
| sugar noun | /ˈʃʊɡə/ | A food consisting of small, sweet crystals, principally of sucrose, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used as sweetener and preservative. |
| drug noun | /ˈdɹʌɡ/ | A substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose. |
| subject noun | /ˈsʌb.d͡ʒɛkt/ | The noun, pronoun or noun phrase about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject is the actor. In clauses in the… |
| opportunity noun | /ˌɒp.əˈtjuː.nɪ.tɪ/ | A chance for advancement, progress or profit. |
| active adjective | /ˈæk.tɪv/ | Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting;—opposed to passive, that receives. |
| patient noun | /ˈpeɪ̯ʃənt/ | A person or animal that receives health care from a doctor, nurse, dentist, allied health practitioner, or other person educated in health care. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: sugar /ˈʃʊɡə/, patient /ˈpeɪ̯ʃənt/
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 pill, compare, inactive.
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.