Shadowing Practice: Why it's time to use AI - Learn English Speaking with Video

This video has 13 sentences and 129 words to shadow. The speech runs for 0:35. The speaker talks fast, about 222 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 84% 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 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

• tractor /ˈtɹæktɚ/ (noun) — A vehicle used in farms e.g. for pulling farm equipment and preparing the fields.
• acre /ˈeɪ.kɚ/ (noun) — An English unit of land area (symbol: a. or ac.) originally denoting a day's ploughing for a yoke of oxen, now standardized as 4,840 square yards or 4,046.86…
• ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/ (adjective) — Deserving of ridicule; foolish, absurd.
• compete /kəmˈpiːt/ (verb) — To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend.
• corn /ˈkɔːn/ (noun) — Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.
• farmer /ˈfɑɹ.mɚ/ (noun) — A person who works the land and/or who keeps livestock; anyone engaged in agriculture on a farm.
• leverage /ˈlɛv.(ə.)ɹɪd͡ʒ/ (noun) — A force compounded by means of a lever rotating around a pivot.
• neighbour /ˈneɪbɚ/ (noun) — A person living on adjacent or nearby land; a person situated adjacently or nearby; anything (of the same type of thing as the subject) in an adjacent or…
• exponentially /ɛkspə(ʊ)ˈnɛnʃəli/ (adverb) — In an exponential manner.
• phase /feɪz/ (noun) — A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time.
• weird /ˈwiɚd/ (adjective) — Having an unusually strange character or behaviour.
• absolutely /ˌæb.səˈlut.li/ (adverb) — In an absolute or unconditional manner; utterly, positively, wholly.
• quick /kwɪk/ (adjective) — Moving with speed, rapidity or swiftness, or capable of doing so; rapid; fast.
• latest /ˈleɪ.tɪst/ (adjective) — Most recent.
• grow /ˈɡɹəʊ/ (verb) — To become larger, to increase in magnitude.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

• come out /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ (verb) — To be discovered; to be revealed.
• think about /ˈθɪŋk əˌbaʊt/ (verb) — To ponder.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 5 contractions and reduced forms, such as gonna, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

• The “sh” and “zh” sounds: exponentially /ɛkspə(ʊ)ˈnɛnʃəli/, machine /məˈʃiːn/
• Long words — get the stress right: ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/, exponentially /ɛkspə(ʊ)ˈnɛnʃəli/, absolutely /ˌæb.səˈlut.li/

How to practise with this video

1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like tractor, acre, ridiculous.