Shadowing Practice: When Your Yearly Feedback Doesn’t Match Your Performance Score #corporate #animation - Learn English Speaking with Video
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41 sentences
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1
Hi, Veronica.
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Thank you so much for joining me for your yearly review and to see if you're going to be receiving an increase.
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So I just wanted to go over really quickly some of the feedback that we've gotten from some of your managers.
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Essentially, you've been doing great.
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You know, the scoring system is between a one to a five
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and you basically got 3 .5 to four across the board, which is great.
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We don't give anyone a five because I feel like there's always room for improvement.
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So we never give anyone a five.
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Okay.
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So why is the score of five there?
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If it's unattainable, why is it even on there as an option?
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The score of five is there so that you can always have something that you want to achieve.
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Like you always want to reach for the five.
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Um, so it's the maximum increase that you're going to receive is going to be a 5%.
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If you get a five, anything under a five, it's just going to be a little less.
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So for yours, it's going to be, you're going to receive a 3 % increase.
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Okay.
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Just because it is under that score of five
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so I brought with me a couple of my um projects
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that I've worked on this year and let me just read you this feedback
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that I got on this one um Veronica did an excellent job she was very thorough
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and delivered her project before the due date okay this one
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says Veronica is very proactive she always anticipates my needs
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and was able to deliver an exceptional project
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and this one says another slam dunk great job i cannot wait for our next project together
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so i guess my question is throughout the year
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when i'm doing these projects and receiving feedback stating
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that i'm doing excellent um how does
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that not translate to an excellent score of five
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when it comes time to give me my increase somehow some way at the end of the year
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when i'm getting my review i'm less than excellent i'm average versus the above average comments that I've gotten throughout the year.
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It's almost like the comments that I get throughout the year
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while I'm working do not match with what the comments are when it comes down to me getting my increase.
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So I'm not accepting 3%.
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I need my increase to reflect the work that I've done throughout the rest of the year.
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So, you know, if you can work on that, that'd be wonderful.
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um well I can't authorize any additional uh increase so
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I guess what I could do is take it back to leadership
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and see what their thoughts on everything are
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because I just can't approve it right now I can't approve more than three percent well I appreciate
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that I'll be waiting for your response
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 41 sentences and 480 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:32. The speaker talks fast, about 189 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| feedback noun | /ˈfiːdˌbæk/ | Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results. |
| approve verb | /əˈpɹuːv/ | To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory. |
| essentially adverb | /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/ | In essence: by nature. |
| reflect verb | /ɹɪˈflɛkt/ | To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface. |
| versus | /ˈvɝsəs/ | Against; in opposition to. |
| exceptional adjective | /ɪkˈsɛpʃənəl/ | Forming an exception; not ordinary; uncommon; rare. |
| slam verb | /ˈslæm/ | To shut with sudden force so as to produce a shock and noise. |
| thorough adjective | /ˈθʌɹoʊ/ | Painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail. |
| translate verb | /tɹænzˈleɪt/ | To change spoken words or written text (of a book, document, movie, etc.) from one language to another. |
| yearly adjective | /ˈjɪɹli/ | Happening once every year. |
| anticipate verb | /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/ | To act before (someone), especially to prevent an action. |
| dunk verb | /dʌŋk/ | To submerge briefly in a liquid. |
| authorize verb | /ˈɔθəɹaɪz/ | To grant (someone) the permission or power necessary to do (something); to permit; to sanction or consent to. |
| proactive adjective | /pɹoʊˈæk.tɪv/ | Acting in advance to deal with an expected change or difficulty. |
| unattainable adjective | /ˌʌnəˈteɪnəbəl/ | Impossible to attain or reach; unable to accomplish |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. |
| go over verb | To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 21 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, can't, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thorough /ˈθʌɹoʊ/, authorize /ˈɔθəɹaɪz/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, exceptional /ɪkˈsɛpʃənəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, exceptional /ɪkˈsɛpʃənəl/, anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, unattainable /ˌʌnəˈteɪnəbəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like feedback, approve, essentially.
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.