Shadowing Practice: When NOT to use 'to' in English - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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are you going to home are you going home where are
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you going what are you doing you're watching a video my
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name is Ronnie I'm going to teach you one trick finally you will understand why
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in English we say I'm going to school or I'm going to work but when we talk about our beautiful,
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warm, and cozy home.
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We don't say to.
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Why?
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Why?
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Why?
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I don't know.
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It's just English, isn't it?
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I can give you some clues.
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I'll give you some words.
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You will get this right away.
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It will be easy for you to do.
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Mm -hmm.
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So, if you look at this sentence, It's, are you going home?
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A very, very big mistake that everyone says will be, are you going to home?
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And I go, no, no, no, don't say to, don't say to, no, no, no, no, no, no. Okay, okay, okay, are you going home?
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Yes, yes, yes, yes, don't say to, but why?
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You learned that when you are going someplace, you say to, for example, are you going to bed?
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We don't say to the bed, by the way.
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We just say bed.
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Are you going to bed?
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Are you going to work?
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Or you can use the past tense, okay?
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Did you go to work?
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Did you go to school?
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Did you go to www .engvid .com today and check out a new lesson?
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but when you say home you do not use to hmm
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so you know the rule may be
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that this is a noun this is a noun so
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when you use going to a place which is a noun you have to say to
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and then you come along and find this beautiful home
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and ronnie freaks out because you say to
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and then you don't understand why I don't know
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but I will give you a list of words that are places
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but all of these words on this board you cannot use with to.
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So, are you going abroad?
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You cannot ask someone, are you going to abroad?
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If you look in a dictionary, one of those books, or if you look on an online dictionary,
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it'll tell you that these are adverbs of location, whereas the other ones that you've learned are nouns.
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Huh?
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But hold on, home is a noun.
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Home is just this big exception going, no, I am a noun, I don't want to have to.
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All of these ones are not proper nouns, they're adverbs of location.
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Let's go through.
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Underground.
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Woo!
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Underneath the surface of the land.
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If you have ever been to London, there is a big system called the tube.
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It's also called the underground.
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Most places in the world call it the underground.
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In Canada, we call it the subway.
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Sub means under.
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So, So you can say, I'm going underground.
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I'm going underground.
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If you know the jam, wow, what an amazing band, Ronnie, I know.
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You will know the song called, I'm going underground.
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Maybe by the magic of video, we'll put that video for you.
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I'm going underground.
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I'm going downtown.
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Or you could say, uptown.
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I will just sing songs for everything, uptown girls, little bit of Billy Joel for you,
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uptown, downtown, you don't need the two,
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there, here, anywhere, nowhere, somewhere, you don't need two, in,
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inside, out, outside, upstairs, downstairs, don't use two, they're not nouns, their places.
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One other thing to be very careful about, please, when you say this, you want to say, up stairs and down stairs.
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Too many times, I hear people say, I went downstair.
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Oh, only one?
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Just one stair.
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Oh, I've made it.
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I went upstair.
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And then what did you do?
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You just stood there?
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Wow.
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Don't say downstair, upstair.
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Please use all of the stairs.
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Go up, okay?
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That'll be fun, more exciting.
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You can fall down the stairs, too.
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That's fun one, but again we don't say two.
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I'm going downstairs.
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I'm coming upstairs.
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If you are confused or if you have ever been confused about when to use two,
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the only advice I can give you is please remember this list of words.
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Once you have remembered this list,
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You'll go, oh, that was easy. That was easy.
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Yes, it was.
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Thank you.
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Goodbye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 91 sentences and 720 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:01. The speaker talks at a steady 120 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| noun noun | /naʊn/ | A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, word, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea… |
| underground adjective | /ˌʌn.dəɹˈɡɹaʊnd/ | Below the ground; below the surface of the Earth. |
| stairs noun | /ˈstɛɹz/ | A contiguous set of steps connecting two floors. |
| confused adjective | /kənˈfjuːzd/ | unable to think clearly or understand |
| downtown noun | /ˈdaʊ̯nˌtaʊ̯n/ | The main business part of a city or town, usually located at or near its center. |
| abroad adverb | /əˈbɹɔːd/ | Beyond the bounds of a country; in foreign countries. |
| dictionary noun | /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/ | A reference work listing words or names from one or more languages, usually ordered alphabetically, explaining each word's meanings or senses, oftentimes also… |
| upstairs adverb | /ˌʌpˈstɛɹz/ | Up the stairs; on or to a higher floor or level. |
| downstairs adverb | /daʊnˈstɛɹz/ | Down the stairs. |
| trick noun | /ˈtɹɪk/ | Something designed to fool, dupe, outsmart, mislead or swindle. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| whereas | /(h)wɛɹˈæz/ | In contrast; whilst on the contrary; although. |
| nowhere adverb | /ˈnoʊ.(h)wɛɹ/ | In no place. |
| tube noun | /tuːb/ | Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape. |
| exception noun | /əkˈsɛpʃən/ | The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come along verb | To accompany. | |
| fall down verb | /fɔl ˈdaʊn/ | To fall to the ground. To collapse. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've learned · have ever been · I've made |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | will understand · I'll give · will get |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | you're watching · are going · I'm going |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | I'm going to teach · I'm going to school |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 35 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, they're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dictionary /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/, exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/
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 noun, underground, stairs.
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.