Shadowing Practice: Why your English still isn’t improving - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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If you've been learning English for a while but feel like you're not improving, this could be why.
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It might be because you are still using the same old boring words.
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So for example, I'm sure you know the meaning of words such as awful, delighted, livid, and massive.
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But when you go to speak, you still say bad, happy, angry, and big.
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And this is the difference between your passive and your active vocabulary
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so in this video i'm going to show you my simple five-step system
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that you can use to turn the words that you know into words
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that you actually use step number one is very easy buy a notebook
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so this is going to be your vocabulary bank this is
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where you're going to write all of your words in
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and it does actually have to be a physical notebook you can't just write them on your phone
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because it isn't the same there's something about actually buying one of these
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and physically writing the words in with a pen
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that just makes you way more likely to actually stick to this system
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so buy a notebook it's a good investment i promise
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so now that you have your notebook it's time for step two fill it up with useful words
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and for this you just need to consume content
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so you could read it you can watch it you can listen to it
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but the main thing is to try and consume content
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that is slightly above your english level then you'll be able to see You'll see lots of words
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that you don't already know.
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And when you do find a word that you'd like to start using, just write it into here, okay?
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And don't just go for really hard words.
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This is important.
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Go for words that you know already, but you don't actively use.
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For example, words such as awful or livid, as we mentioned at the start of the video.
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This isn't necessarily about learning words, it's about activating words.
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Now if you're wondering how many to write into this book, I'd recommend between 5 to 20 but that does depend on you.
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So now that you have your words written down, you need to find the definition of these words, okay?
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And for this I'd recommend this exact format, so word, word type, simple definition and one example.
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For this it's probably easiest if you just go to chat gbt
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and give them the list of your words
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and say send these back in this exact formula
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and then i want you to actually write all of them down using your hand
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and your pen right so you want a different section you want the word bank
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and a few pages on you want all of the words
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with the definitions okay that's step number two for step number three you need to choose your focus words
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and these are the words from your list that you want to start activating
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right away so words
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that you want to start using on a regular basis i'd
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recommend selecting between five to ten words although once again this
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does depend on you step number four is where things get clever
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because now that you have your focus words
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that you want to start using i want you to connect them to the basic boring alternatives
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that you already know
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so let's just look at the examples from earlier we have awful massive thrilled
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and livid so you're going to connect these to bad, big, happy, and angry.
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Because now when your brain reaches for the basic word, we have created an alternative pathway to the more advanced version that we want to start using.
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And step five is where it all comes together.
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So during real conversations with real people, I want you to swap in the advanced alternative to these basic boring words that you were using before.
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So to look at the previous example, when you want to say bad, just say awful instead.
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When you want to say big, say massive.
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When you want to say angry, say livid.
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And this is how you turn these passive words into active words.
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And the best part is you only really have to use each of these words maybe once
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or twice in order for you to start feeling very confident using them regularly without even having to think about it.
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And that's the system.
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As mentioned, it's very simple but extremely effective.
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Now I did also promise you a bonus tip at the end in order to make this whole thing fun
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and that is to gamify it, okay?
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So write down in your book how many times you use these words in real conversations and set goals for yourself.
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If you use your focus words five times in a week or three times in a day, then treat yourself.
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Buy yourself an ice cream or a nice coffee or a book or whatever it is that makes you happy, okay?
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And these small things will encourage you to actually use these words throughout the day
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and therefore will make it faster and easier to actually level up your vocabulary
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and finally sound like you are improving your English.
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Now there are a few caveats that are worth knowing.
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Firstly, this system is flexible, okay?
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So play around and just see what works best for you.
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Maybe you're better off having two focused words.
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Maybe you're better off having 15 focused words at a time.
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Secondly, and this is really important, don't just aim for the big fancy words.
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Start off with small, everyday words.
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These are the quick wins.
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So if you're not already using words such as awful, delighted, starving, challenging, boiling, freezing,
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then there isn't really much point of you learning these amazing but advanced words such as pernicious, pugnacious, equivocal.
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Okay, it doesn't really make sense.
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And finally, you do actually need to speak out loud in order to make this system work.
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So ideally with other people, but you can just speak to yourself at home if you want to, as long as you are using these words.
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That's the most important thing.
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So as mentioned you can do all of this at home
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but if you really want to speed up the process my online community is basically the cheat code
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and that's because the weekly vocabulary booster classes
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and the speaking classes follow this exact process
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so you get eight live calls every single week including speaking
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calls accent calls with an actual modern rp british accent coach we have vocabulary booster sessions
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and much more not only that but we also have daily posts
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and messages and tips so you can literally learn these words and start using them right away.
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It is by far the fastest and easiest way and also most enjoyable way of improving your English.
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Now there is also a seven-day free trial so you can try a full week in the community for free, do all of the classes for free and you don't need to pay a penny.
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So the link to that is in the top comment.
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I would definitely recommend checking that out.
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Anyway, boosting your vocabulary is very important to mastering English.
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However, if you really want to achieve fluency, you need to start thinking in English.
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Now, if you watch this video right here, I will tell you exactly how to do that.
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And I'm also wearing the same shirt.
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It's not really relevant, but just an observation.
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Cheers for
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Why your English still isn’t improving”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: word, step, vocabulary, write, english. This video has 98 sentences and 1270 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:32. The speaker talks fast, about 195 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 90% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| vocabulary noun | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning. |
| livid adjective | /ˈlɪvɪd/ | Having a dark, bluish appearance. |
| notebook noun | /ˈnoʊtˌbʊk/ | A book (physical or digital) in which notes or memoranda are written. |
| bore verb | /boɹ/ | To inspire boredom in somebody. |
| booster noun | /ˈbustɚ/ | Something that boosts. |
| activate verb | /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/ | To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate. |
| consume verb | /kənˈsum/ | To use up. |
| delight noun | /dəˈlaɪt/ | Joy; pleasure. |
| passive adjective | /ˈpæs.ɪv/ | Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction. |
| accent noun | /ækˈsɛnt/ | A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to… |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| caveat noun | /ˈkæviɑt/ | A warning. |
| equivocal adjective | /ɪˈkwɪvək(ə)l/ | Having two or more equally applicable meanings; capable of double or multiple interpretation. |
| fluency noun | /ˈfluːənsi/ | The quality of smoothness of flow. |
| gamify verb | To convert into the form of a game. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come together verb | /ˈkʌm tʊˈɡɛðɚ/ | To assemble; to congregate; to combine. |
| play around verb | To behave in a silly, childish, or irresponsible way. | |
| speak out verb | To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known. | |
| speed up verb | /spiːdˈʌp/ | To accelerate; to increase speed. |
| write down verb | To produce or set (something) down in writing; to record something. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the best · the most important · the fastest |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | start activating · start feeling · start thinking |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | have to be · need to consume · need to find |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | you're not improving · are still using · you're wondering |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 27 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'd. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thrill /θɹɪl/, pathway /ˈpæθˌweɪ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: pernicious /pɚˈnɪʃəs/, pugnacious /pʌɡˈneɪ.ʃəs/, observation /ˌɑbzɚˈveɪʃn̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, equivocal /ɪˈkwɪvək(ə)l/, ideally /aɪˈdi.ə.li/
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 vocabulary, livid, notebook.
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.