Shadowing Practice: Why Do I Feel Sick in the Car? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Squeaks and I are going on a road trip!
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We’re off to see the Grand Canyon, a set of huge cliffs in Arizona, in the United States.
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Squeaks is so excited!
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But, there’s one problem: he doesn’t feel so good when he’s riding in a car.
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He gets carsick!
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Getting carsick is a type of motion sickness — when being in something moving, like a car, makes you not feel well.
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People can also get motion sickness on a boat, or a plane, or even on a roller coaster.
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If you get motion sickness, you might feel nauseous, like you’re about to throw up.
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You might also feel dizzy, sweaty, headache-y, tired, and generally pretty crummy.
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One weird thing about motion sickness is that some people get it and some people don’t.
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Kids tend to get motion sickness more than adults, so if you have it now, you might not have it when you’re older, or at least it might not be as bad.
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But in the meantime, there are some ways to help yourself feel a little better.
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It all has to do with what causes motion sickness in the first place.
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Think about what’s happening when you’re riding in a car: You’re sitting still, because you’re inside a car, but the car is moving … so you’re also moving!
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And that can get your brain kind of mixed up.
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Your eyes tell your brain that you’re sitting still inside the car, you’re buckled in, and you’re definitely not running or even walking.
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So based on what your eyes are seeing, your brain thinks you’re sitting still.
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But in the meantime, your ears are telling your brain something totally different.
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And I don’t mean because of what you’re hearing, because your ears do more than just hear.
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Your inner ear, a tiny but very important part of your body deep inside your ear, keeps track of how your body moves around.
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And it can tell that you’re moving.
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Way inside your ear there are three little tubes, and inside each tube is a little bit of liquid and tiny little hairs.
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And when you move, so do the liquid and hairs!
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You can imagine the liquid in your ear like this glass of water.
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When I tilt the glass to the side, the water tilts, too.
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If you tilt your head, the same thing happens to the liquid inside your ear, which is how your brain knows that you moved your head.
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Now check out what happens when I quickly slide the glass across the table.
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See how the water sloshes to one side of the glass?
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Well, when you’re in a car that zooms forward, the same thing happens to the liquid in your ear.
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So that’s how your ears know you’re moving even though you’re sitting still inside the car!
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If you get motion sickness, that’s because your brain does not like getting these different messages.
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And that’s why you might feel nauseous and dizzy and overall really yucky.
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We still aren’t totally sure why getting those different signals causes nausea.
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But some scientists think it’s because your brain thinks all the weird mixed signals are being caused by something that made you sick, like poison.
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So, your brain tells your body to throw up to get the poison out … even though there isn’t really any poison!
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Anyway, back to Squeaks here.
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He’s a little worried about our road trip since he gets motion sickness, but if you get carsick, there are some things you can do to feel better!
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First, you can eat a light meal before going on a trip — not too much, and not too little.
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Basically, you want to keep your stomach happy so you aren’t encouraging any nausea.
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Then, once you’re in the car, looking out the window can help a lot.
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Scientists say to look at the horizon, which is the line where the sky meets the land or the road.
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That way your eyes can tell exactly how you’re moving compared to the world around you.
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If both your eyes and your inner ear agree that you’re moving, there are no more confusing messages … which means that hopefully you’ll feel better.
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For the same reason, it’s better not to read a book or play games on a tablet or phone while you’re in the car.
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If you’re staring at something right in front of you inside the car, that makes it look like you’re staying still, which can make you feel worse!
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Looking out the window can be way more interesting, anyway.
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You can look at the trees, the sky, the road signs, and the other cars zooming by!
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It can also be really relaxing, which is awesome because staying calm and relaxed can help you avoid motion sickness, too!
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So, Squeaks and I are going to eat a light lunch, since some food in your stomach really helps prevent motion sickness.
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And after that, we’re off on our super-exciting road trip to the Grand Canyon!
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But we’ll be back at the Fort soon!
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Thanks for joining us!
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If you want to keep learning and having fun with Squeaks and me, hit the subscribe button, and we’ll see you next time here at the Fort!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Why Do I Feel Sick in the Car?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sickness, ear, motion, brain, inside. This video has 53 sentences and 875 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:18. The speaker talks fast, about 204 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sickness noun | /ˈsɪknɪs/ | The quality or state of being sick or diseased; illness; an illness. |
| liquid noun | /ˈlɪk.wɪd/ | A substance that is flowing, and keeping no shape, such as water; a substance of which the molecules, while not tending to separate from one another like those… |
| ear noun | /ˈɪə̯/ | The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea. |
| poison noun | /ˈpɔɪ.zən/ | A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested. |
| tilt verb | /tɪlt/ | To slope or incline (something); to slant. |
| stomach noun | /ˈstʌmək/ | An organ in animals that stores food in the process of digestion. |
| tube noun | /tuːb/ | Anything that is hollow and cylindrical in shape. |
| relax verb | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | To make something loose. |
| scientist noun | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research… |
| meantime noun | /ˈmiːntaɪm/ | The time spent waiting for another event; time in between. |
| zoom verb | /zuːm/ | To move fast with a humming noise. |
| nausea noun | /ˈnɔzi.ə/ | A feeling of illness or discomfort in the digestive system, usually characterized by a strong urge to vomit. |
| meal noun | /ˈmiːl/ | Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity. |
| 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… |
| encourage verb | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| look out verb | To be vigilant and aware often as an imperative to alert a person to danger. |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| mix up verb | To mix or blend thoroughly and completely. |
| move around verb | To relocate to new homes repeatedly; to not live in any one place for long. |
| throw up verb | To vomit. |
| throw up to verb | To remind someone of a blunder; to insult someone regarding a fault or failture; to throw something in someone's face. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | ear, which is · horizon, which is · still, which can |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might feel · might also feel · might not have |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | are going · you're riding · you're sitting |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | you'll feel · we'll be · we'll see |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 32 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, aren't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: nauseous /ˈnɔʃəs/, slosh /slɑʃ/
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 sickness, liquid, ear.
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.