Shadowing Practice: Yoga For Neck, Shoulders, Upper Back | 10-Minute Yoga Quickie - Learn English Speaking with Video
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(upbeat music) - Hi everyone. Welcome to Yoga With Adriene.
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I'm Adriene and this is Benji and today we have a targeted practice for the neck, the shoulders and the upper back body.
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So please join me in a nice comfortable seat of your choice.
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We're gonna sit up nice and tall.
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Right away, take a deep breath in.
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And as you exhale, just relax your shoulders down away from the ears arriving here for your 10 minute awesome practice.
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Inhale in again through the nose.
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Exhale, relax the shoulders down.
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And for this next cycle of breath, go ahead and close your eyes.
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Here we go. Big breath in.
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And long breath out relaxing the shoulders down, allowing yourself to arrive here in the moment.
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I always say a little goes a long way.
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And that it shall.
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Go ahead and open your eyes.
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We're gonna bring the fingertips to kiss the tops of the shoulders.
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Moving with the breath.
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Inhale, send the elbows forward.
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Let the elbows kiss together or reached towards each other.
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Feel that stretch in the upper back body.
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And draw your navel in.
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Then slowly continue the journey taking the elbows all the way up.
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Reach, reach, reach.
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Think of this long beautiful stretch from elbow to shoulder and shoulder to waistline so we're really lifting up out of the waist.
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Great, then continue the journey.
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Carve a line with your elbows all the way back.
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Opening up through the pecs, the chest.
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Imagine you're pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades here.
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Really retracting back elbows reaching towards the center of the back body and then all the way down.
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Tag a lot of weight in your elbows.
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Feel this beautiful stretch through the neck.
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You can even gently nod the head yes here.
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And then no.
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Great, then we're just going to do the same thing but with a little more fluidity.
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Here we go. Elbows kiss together, deep breath.
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Reach it all the way up.
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Lift up out of the waistline big stretch.
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Take it around and back.
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Again, inhale to reach forward.
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Feel the upper back body stretch then lift up.
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All the way up from the pelvic floor around and back.
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And then one more, here we go, big breath as you reach the elbows forward and up, around and back.
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Now this time when you're back, keep the heart lifted, shoulder blades drawing together.
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You're gonna release the fingertips down.
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Fingers stay facing in towards your body and you're going to bring the fingertips to kiss the earth.
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Squeeze the elbows back.
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Inhale, lift the chest, lift your sternum and then a gentle lift of the chin.
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Beautiful, inhale in here.
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Exhale, right ear over right shoulder, breathe.
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Pressing into the fingertips.
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Drawing the shoulder blades together.
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And then bring the head back to center and the left ear over left shoulder.
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Squeezing, actively squeezing shoulder blades together upper back body engaged.
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Gorgeous, bring it up.
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Release the hands.
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Palms come together, Namaste.
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Interlace the fingers.
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You're going to bring them all the way up and behind the head.
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Thumbs can extend to cradle the neck.
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You can even give yourself a little neck massage here.
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And then we're gonna inhale, lift up through the front body, think Cobra.
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Exhale, draw the shoulder blades together again, elbows nice and wide.
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Inhale in here.
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Exhale, chin to chest.
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Elbows kiss together and you're not going to actively press the hands against the head but just allow gravity to do the work here.
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Breathing so important that you bring the element of the breath into play.
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Take one more cycle of breath here in and out.
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Then think of this as a blossoming.
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You're going to slowly lift the chest so take your time basically.
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Lift your heart open and then just release the fingertips.
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Big stretch any which way that feels good, opening through the chest.
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Finding soft easy movement through the neck.
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Awesome work.
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Okay, from here left ear to left shoulder once again.
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Right fingertips are out.
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We're gonna inhale in, exhale draw the shoulder blades together.
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Inhale in again.
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You're gonna begin to lift up your right fingertips and flex right fingertips towards the sky.
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So we're pressing right hand into an imaginary wall.
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You're feeling a beautiful stretch between the right ear and right shoulder and the neck, the trapezius.
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The upper back body still engaged as the heart lifts.
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If you need a little more here take your left fingertips gently sweep, sweep them all the way up and over and right on the right you're here just gently resting.
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Again, you're not pressing. Letting gravity do the work.
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Notice if you're collapsing forward here.
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Actively draw the shoulder blades together.
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Breathing deep here and if it's too much you can just bring the fingertips down and if you need more, reach the fingertips all the way up.
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Big sensation.
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Great, inhale in here.
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Exhale to gently unravel, release everything.
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Fingertips come to the earth.
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Great, whenever you're ready right ear over right shoulder.
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Breathing. Draw the shoulder blades together, lift your heart.
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When you're ready left fingertips begin to levitate.
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And then we'll flex, pressing left palm away.
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Really reaching left fingertips towards your face.
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Keep the chin slightly lifted here.
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Interested in a little, more than you can take your right fingertips sweep them all the way up and over and around to land gently on the left ear.
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Breathe deep here.
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Awesome, take one more cycle of breath in.
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And out slowly began to unravel.
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Both fingertips kiss the mat here.
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On your next breath in, lift the shoulders up to the ears and then exhale take them around and back and down.
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Twice more like that, inhale, reach 'em up.
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Lift 'em up.
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Big breath in, exhale around and down.
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And once more, big inhale.
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And exhale.
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Awesome, baby, a little saucer size circles with the nose.
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You're gonna draw little baby circles one way.
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And then let it grow a little bit bigger so we move from like a saucer to like a salad plate, if you will.
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And then it gets a little bigger, dinner plate.
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Frisbee and then like a big symbal.
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Okay, then reverse it.
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We're gonna start large and grow smaller.
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Daily neck hygiene so important.
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Benji agrees.
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Alright, when you come back to center we're gonna take it forward and onto all fours.
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Hi buddy. When you get there take a deep breath in, a long breath out.
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On your next inhale you're gonna reach the right fingertips all the way up. Feel a nice big opening through the front body, front chest.
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And then exhale thread the needle you're and take your right fingertips under the bridge of your left arm and we're going to rest on the right ear.
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So yogi's choice here, you can press the left palm into the earth, left elbow give yourself a little connection here to find a deeper stretch in the upper back body.
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Another option is to curl the left toes under, send left toes back.
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Find a version that works for you today.
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Take a deep breath in.
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A long breath out.
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And then slowly unravel, bring it back to center and we'll take it to the other side.
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One last twist so really find your breath here.
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Inhale, open up through the front body, front chest.
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Left fingertips to the sky and then when you're ready, exhale, thread the needle.
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Left fingertips go in and underneath the bridge of your right arm and same thing, find what feels good with your right hand.
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Find that connection, feeling that opening through the back of the left shoulder, upper back body and option if it feels right in your body to curl the right tools under, extend the right leg.
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Keep those right toes on the earth.
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Breathe deep.
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Mhmmm, mhmmm, take one more inhale in.
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And exhale out.
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And then slowly unravel.
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Come back to center.
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You can come back to a seat either sitting on the heels or back at cross-legged.
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We'll bring the palms together.
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Take one more final loving breath in through the nose.
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And out through the mouth.
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Relax the shoulders down.
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Let go of any stress or tension and close your eyes.
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Give thanks for this moment.
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This little ditty of self love and self care.
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You rock. I'll see you next time.
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Namaste. (upbeat music)
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 146 sentences and 1416 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:20. The speaker talks at a steady 137 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| breathe verb | /bɹiːð/ | To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases. |
| elbow noun | /ˈɛlboʊ̯/ | The joint between the upper arm and the forearm. |
| stretch verb | /stɹɛt͡ʃ/ | To lengthen by pulling. |
| blade noun | /bleɪd/ | The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts. |
| gently adverb | /ˈd͡ʒɛntli/ | Without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly. |
| relax verb | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | To make something loose. |
| palm noun | /pɑm/ | The inner and somewhat concave part of the human hand or other primate hand that extends from the wrist to the bases of the fingers. |
| actively adverb | /ˈæktɪvli/ | In an active manner. |
| toe noun | /təʊ/ | Each of the five digits on the end of the human foot. |
| chin noun | /ˈt͡ʃɪn/ | The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth. |
| sweep verb | /swiːp/ | To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush. |
| squeeze verb | /skwiːz/ | To apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once. |
| finger noun | /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other… |
| thread noun | /ˈθɹɛd/ | A cord formed by spinning or twisting together textile fibers or filaments into one or more continuous strands, typically used in needlework. |
| ear noun | /ˈɪə̯/ | The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lift up verb | To elevate to a higher position. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| open up verb | To open. | |
| come together verb | /ˈkʌm tʊˈɡɛðɚ/ | To assemble; to congregate; to combine. |
| draw together verb | To cause (someone) to seek emotional support from each other; to cause to pull together or come together. | |
| sit up verb | To assume a sitting position from a position lying down. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | gonna sit · gonna bring · we're just going to do |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | we're really lifting · you're pinching · we're pressing |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | we'll flex · we'll take · I'll see |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 43 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, gonna, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, thread /ˈθɹɛd/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, thumb /ˈθʌm/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: tension /ˈtɛnʃən/, massage /məˈsɑ(d)ʒ/, sensation /sɛnˈseɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: imaginary /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪˌn(ɛ)ɹi/, fluidity /fluːˈɪd.ə.ti/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like breathe, elbow, stretch.
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.