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Shadowing practice: 5 Simple Steps to Becoming FLUENT in English

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  1. You want to speak English more fluently so that you can go from this to this.0:00
  2. Whether you're beginner, intermediate or advanced, I've got five power tips that will help you level up your English speaking skills today.0:05
  3. So let's jump right in.0:13
  4. By the way, if you haven't met me before, my name is Teacher Tom and I teach fresh, modern British English to people around the world who want to learn0:15
  5. about the language and culture of the UK.0:21
  6. Tip number one, shadow and technique.0:24
  7. In my 17 years of teaching practice, I have found the shadow and technique to be one of the most effective ways to develop a student's spoken fluency.0:26
  8. So how does it work?0:35
  9. Listen to a proficient English speaker, analyze what they have said and then repeat how they have said it exactly in the same way.0:37
  10. The aim is to mimic their natural speech pattern as closely as you can.0:47
  11. You'll focus on all aspects of pronunciation, weak forms, contractions, elision, stress, intonation, and so much more.0:52
  12. Ideally, you want to recreate the flow of their speech so it sounds fluent and clear.1:01
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  1. Here are two videos that I've done using the shadow technique that you can use today to help your fluency.1:06
  2. Before we get to the second tip, make sure you download my free 10 -step guide to become fluent in English.1:11
  3. It's called Speaking Fluency 101 and you can get it for free using the link in the description below.1:17
  4. Tip number two, learn in chunks.1:23
  5. When we start out learning a new language, we are taught individual words like dog, cat, house, and that's fine until we have to start stringing our words together into1:26
  6. full sentences.1:37
  7. We're left scrambling around in our brains looking for those individual words to put together and that can take a lot of time and it prevents us from sounding fluent.1:38
  8. So what's the solution?1:47
  9. Start learning language in chunks.1:49
  10. My favorite example of this are semi -fixed expressions.1:51
  11. For example, I'd love two butts.1:55
  12. These five words are fixed and we use them to politely reject an invitation.1:58
  13. I'd love two but I'm babysitting tonight.2:03
  14. Now as you can see by learning this expression, we have already got five words out of the nine in this sentence.2:07
  15. Can you see?2:15
  16. I'd love two but I'm babysitting tonight.2:16
  17. I already have half of the sentence.2:19
  18. Now that's going to help hugely with fluency because the brain can go into an automatic system.2:22
  19. Another great way to build your vocabulary is by learning collocations.2:28
  20. These are words that commonly go together.2:32
  21. For example, heavy rain.2:34
  22. It's not big rain, heavy rain.2:36
  23. When we learn collocations, we learn groups of words and that again can help with fluency.2:38
  24. Check out this video about developing your knowledge of collocations and if you want a great resource for researching commonly paired words, check out this website m .freecollocation .com.2:44
  25. Tip number three, reduce sounds.2:54
  26. When my students arrive in the UK, they always say to me, wow, British people speak so differently to how I was expecting.2:57
  27. And the thing is, they're right.3:05
  28. We swallow sounds.3:07
  29. We omit sounds.3:08
  30. We change and reduce sounds to make life easier for ourselves to say things.3:10
  31. However, that in turn makes it tricky for visitors to understand us.3:15
  32. I'd like to focus on reducing sounds because Brits do it all the time and it really does help with fluency because we are taking less time to say things.3:20
  33. So how does it work?3:30
  34. Well, when there is a word in a sentence that doesn't hold much meaning, i .e.3:31
  35. a grammar word, we can reduce it by using a weak form.3:35
  36. The classic example of this is fish and chips where the and becomes strong form and weak form.3:39
  37. So I'm saying fish and chips.3:50
  38. Fish and chips.3:53
  39. It's easier and quicker for me to say than fish and chips.3:54
  40. Now there are lots of examples of this.3:59
  41. The becomes the, a because a, four becomes for and becomes an, of becomes of, have becomes have.4:01
  42. Now reducing these sounds means it's quicker and easier for us to say these words and therefore improves our spoken English fluency.4:11
  43. Here's a chance to practice.4:20
  44. Say these phrases using weak forms.4:21
  45. So, salt and pepper.4:30
  46. Two for one.4:42
  47. Piece of paper.4:44
  48. Listen to music.4:46
  49. See ya mate.4:48
  50. Our next point is a mindset shift for so many of you.4:50
  51. Now of course, no one wants to make mistakes, but you don't need to fear them.4:54
  52. I remember in one intermediate class that I taught, I had two very different students, Yuki from Japan and Maria from Mexico.4:58
  53. Now Yuki tended to be extremely careful and meticulous with her spoken English because she didn't want to make any mistakes which resulted in her not saying very much.5:06
  54. Whereas Maria was the total opposite.5:17
  55. She would make mistakes in almost every single sentence, but my goodness, she didn't care because she was able to communicate what she wanted to say and in turn she5:21
  56. was an excellent speaker of English and I understood everything that she said.5:32
  57. You see the thing is I didn't care that she made mistakes.5:36
  58. As long as she was able to communicate her ideas to me, it was fine and she did that so so well.5:39
  59. Whereas Yuki was so reluctant to make mistakes, she never really said anything and as a result, it was quite hard to make conversation with her.5:46
  60. So, don't fear your mistakes.5:54
  61. Use them to guide your learning and prioritize communicating over perfection.5:56
  62. After all, proficient English speakers make mistakes pretty much all the time.6:01
  63. Tip number five, phrases to paraphrase.6:05
  64. An area where lots of speakers get stuck is trying to remember specific vocabulary or names.6:08
  65. I know that I do.6:14
  66. I can never remember the names of actors or places that I've visited.6:15
  67. So what do I do?6:19
  68. Well, I use paraphrasing techniques to help me get around a word or a name that I can't remember.6:20
  69. So, start employing them in your English and avoid those long pauses and thinking time.6:26
  70. Examples.6:32
  71. To use an approximation, we could say it's a sort of or it's a kind of.6:32
  72. Yeah, it's a sort of thing that you use to hit a ball with.6:37
  73. I can't write like a, yeah, a racket.6:42
  74. That's it.6:43
  75. If you can't think of a specific word, you could say thingamajig or thingamabob.6:44
  76. Oh, where's the thingamabob?6:48
  77. Where did we put it?6:50
  78. Yeah, the remote control.6:52
  79. That's right.6:53
  80. Yeah, yeah.6:53
  81. I couldn't remember the word remote control.6:54
  82. So I've avoided it by saying thingamajig or thingamabob.6:56
  83. You can do the same with names.7:00
  84. Like what's his name or what's her name?7:01
  85. Oh, what's his name from billions?7:04
  86. You know the actor from billions?7:06
  87. What's his name?7:08
  88. Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah.7:09
  89. That's the guy.7:10
  90. You can explain who someone is.7:11
  91. He's the guy who, da, da, da, or she's the woman who, da, da, da, da.7:13
  92. Yeah, she's the woman that was in James Bond with Daniel Craig.7:17
  93. Yeah, I've forgotten her name, but you know the woman.7:21
  94. Yeah.7:23
  95. Also, we could use synonyms of target words.7:23
  96. So if you can't remember the word furious, you could say very angry.7:26
  97. You can't remember the word knackered.7:30
  98. You could say very tired.7:32
  99. So synonyms also help us to avoid words that we can't remember and help us with fluency.7:34
  100. Now, trust me, if you start applying these tips today, you'll see a big improvement in your fluency.7:40
  101. And remember, fluency isn't about being perfect.7:45
  102. It's about finding your flow.7:47
  103. If you found this video helpful, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more tips to help you become fluent in English.7:49
  104. And of course, let me know in the comments below, which tip are you going to try first?7:56
  105. Oh, and don't forget to download your free guide, Speaking Fluency 101.8:00
  106. This is Teacher Tom in London saying goodbye.8:04

Practise English speaking with a British teacher's fluency lecture

This clip is a lecture, not a conversation. Teacher Tom, a British English instructor, addresses the camera directly and lays out fluency tips one after another. The pace sits at 186 words per minute, faster than most of the catalogue, so sentences arrive quickly. The level is set at B1, which keeps the vocabulary accessible even while the delivery stays brisk. That combination makes the clip a good target for british english pronunciation practice: one steady voice in full sentences, no accent changing mid scene, no overlapping speakers to untangle.

What is actually happening is a teacher explaining how to learn, which gives you a second layer to notice while you work the audio. He opens with the promise in line 1, "You want to speak English more fluently so that you can go from this to this.", then introduces himself as a teacher of "fresh, modern British English" in line 4 before moving into his first tip.

The language in this english shadowing practice clip: chunks over single words

Two lines carry the clip's real teaching point and reward close listening before you repeat them.

  • Line 7 names the method itself: "In my 17 years of teaching practice, I have found the shadow and technique to be one of the most effective ways to develop a student's spoken fluency." His own "shadow and technique" is a live slip for shadowing technique, a reminder that even a trained teacher's spoken English isn't perfectly tidy.
  • Line 9 lays out the process in one breath: "Listen to a proficient English speaker, analyze what they have said and then repeat how they have said it exactly in the same way." Three verbs run together with no pause, the kind of stretch you have to hold to sound fluent rather than robotic.
  • Line 11 lists what to listen for: "You'll focus on all aspects of pronunciation, weak forms, contractions, elision, stress, intonation, and so much more." Treat it as a checklist for your own ear, not just his.
  • Line 19 states the problem his second tip solves: "We're left scrambling around in our brains looking for those individual words to put together and that can take a lot of time and it prevents us from sounding fluent."
  • The chunk he teaches is a full sentence you can lift whole, from line 25: "I'd love two but I'm babysitting tonight." Five fixed opening words plus a slot where you swap in your own excuse.

How to shadow this B1 lecture, line by line, to improve english speaking

Work this clip in order, since Tom's tips build on each other, and treat it as english listening practice first and repetition second.

  • Play lines 1 to 5 once through without pausing, to hear the pace at 186 words per minute before you try to match it.
  • Isolate line 7, "In my 17 years of teaching practice, I have found the shadow and technique to be one of the most effective ways to develop a student's spoken fluency.", and repeat it five times, matching where he speeds up and where he slows for "spoken fluency" at the end.
  • Take line 9 alone next, "Listen to a proficient English speaker, analyze what they have said and then repeat how they have said it exactly in the same way.", and shadow it until listen, analyze and repeat come out as one phrase.
  • Move to line 19 and read it for meaning first, then for rhythm: notice how "scrambling around in our brains" moves faster than the rest of the sentence.
  • Finish on lines 23 to 28 and drill "I'd love two but I'm babysitting tonight." on its own until you can swap in your own excuse without breaking the five fixed words at the front.
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