Shadowing Practice: Who Was the First Muslim in America? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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so who was the first muslim in america absolutely fascinating story
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i'm going to read another chapter from this book hidden history
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30 untold stories of islam in the west by joram van
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clever i'm linking the description below chapter 29 of this book is entitled mustafa azamori the first Muslim in America.
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Really interesting story.
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Now, he's better known in the West by his slave's name, which is Estebanico.
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Now, he lived from 1500 until approximately 1539, just over half a millennium ago.
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And he was the first Muslim, indeed the first African, to set foot on North American soil.
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little is known uh of his uh early years
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but according to historical accounts he was described as a muslim
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and as a negro al arabay quote unquote an arabic speaking black man he was originally from azimur
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which is now in morocco and in 1522 he was sold into slavery to the spanish nobleman Dorantes de Carranza.
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Six years later, Mustafa joined the so-called Navarrez expedition.
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If you go onto Wikipedia, by the way, you can read much more about this Navarrez expedition and the life in general of Mustafa Azimori.
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And this so-called Navarrez expedition departed from Spain all the way to Cuba.
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And from there, under the command of Captain Panfilo de Navarrez,
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he went to explore and colonize or the captain did to explore and colonize present day Florida.
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Now, the expedition quickly descended into disaster.
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The group faced shipwrecks, disease, death and even enslavement by Native American tribes.
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After spending several years in captivity in the region now known as Texas, Azimori managed to escape along with three other people three other
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people by 1534 only four survivors remained of the original 600 men who had left spain
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and one of them was a was the muslim azimori following their escape he posed as a healer
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and gradually learned the languages of the local tribes many native american communities showed him respect
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and even accompanied the group from village to village it must
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have been a striking sight an arabic-speaking north african muslim walking alongside three spanish conquistadors through 16th century america
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eventually after a journey of more than 3 000 kilometers on
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foot can you imagine 3 000 kilometers they reached a spanish
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outpost in mexico in july 1536 there is evidence uh suggesting
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that mustapha was freed upon arrival there he was added to the personal guard of the local spanish leader
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and he appeared he no longer appears in later records as
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a slave in 1539 he was chosen to lead a new expedition however the group was attacked
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and many lives were lost some sources claim
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that azimori was among the dead yet there is one account
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which reports that spanish explorers arriving years later encountered a dark-skinned medicine man living among a native american tribe
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so who knows maybe he survived now this theory
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that he did survive suggests that azimori may have faked his own death to escape these Spaniards once and for all,
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and finally to claim his freedom. Who knows?
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What exactly happened to Mustafa Azimori in the end may never be known.
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What is certain however is
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that Islam was already present in America long before the United States
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or the modern state of Mexico even existed and
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that Mustafa Azimori was the first Muslim ever to set foot on the American continent
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well before the arrival of the first protestant christians that's
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that book chapter 29 absolutely fascinating
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that we still have some records of this uh muslim traveler
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in america way before uh the protestant christians arrived the puritans who famously started from plymouth here in england
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and went to discover the new world i conquer it
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and ultimately ethnically cleanse and purge the country of the indigenous nations
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that existed in in north america but that's another uh story
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so who was the first muslim uh to be in america what i find interesting is
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that he you know this was in the 1500s this is centuries before um you know large-scale immigration happened
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but it's interesting that many many slaves were taken from africa later on
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and uh percentages vary but it could be a huge number of those were muslim slaves
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and most of them were forced to renounce their faith by their christian slave owners but that's another story as well
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until next time

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What You'll Learn

This video is a goldmine for english speaking practice. You’ll build skills in narrating historical events with clarity, using time markers (e.g., "in 1522," "by 1534") to structure stories, and discussing uncertain outcomes ("some sources claim," "who knows"). These are critical for IELTS speaking practice, where organizing ideas coherently is key. You’ll also learn to convey fascination through tone—perfect for engaging listeners in casual or formal conversations.

Listen For These Sounds

Notice the connected speech: "he was sold into slavery" becomes "he wuz sold into slavery" (reduced "was"). The speaker links "six years later" as "sixyearslater" and shortens "approximately" to "approx'mately." These reductions are common in natural speech, so tuning into them will boost your listening comprehension and help you sound more native. Also, listen for the stress on "fascinating," "disaster," and "freedom"—these emphasize key points, a trick you can use in your own shadow speech practice.

Say It Like a Native

To mirror the speaker’s rhythm, focus on pausing after commas and periods to create flow, especially in long sentences like "After spending several years in captivity... Azimori managed to escape." Stress the first syllable in "expedition," "evidence," and "indigenous" to match natural English stress patterns. For improve english pronunciation, practice the "th" sound in "theories" and "death"—keep your tongue between your teeth. Finally, mimic the speaker’s curious tone when saying "who knows?" to add personality. Use this video for shadowspeaks practice: repeat each sentence immediately after the speaker, matching their pace and emphasis. You’ll quickly notice how your fluency and confidence grow.

Grammar in this video

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

StructureIn the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itis entitled · is known · was described
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thingname, which is · men who had

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 →