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Shadowing is an excellent way to improve your fluency in English.
Shadowing (or Delivery Shadowing or English Shadowing) is when you listen to a fluent English speaker and copy what you hear. That's it! You don’t worry about grammar structures or vocabulary as you’re speaking. You just concentrate on how the language sounds and imitate that.
The beauty of shadowing is that it's a listening exercise. It strengthens the connection between listening and speaking which is all important when you're trying to improve fluency.
There are a number of variations on how to practise shadowing, but this is the method I teach students who work with me.
1. You’ll need some short videos for this exercise.
🌟 Although you're going to concentrate on listening, I recommend using videos to start with for this exercise because it's helpful to see the speaker's body language.
🌟 It’s good to use videos of interviews or conversations.
🌟 You could choose videos from YouTube, a favourite TV show, or a website that you like.
2. Play a short part of a video while you watch and listen to the speaker.
🟢 It shouldn’t be too long – a short sentence is perfect.
🟢 Notice the speaker’s body language as well as their speech patterns.
🟢 Also, look at their facial expressions and how they use their hands.
🟢 Listen to how how they use word stress, rhythm and pauses.
🟢 Most of all, listen very carefully to the overall way they speak.
🟢 Pause the video.
3. Repeat exactly what the speaker said
🔵 Imitate their speech pattern as closely as you can.
🔵 You can use the closed captions to help you if you really don’t understand something.
🔵 But this is a listening and repeating exercise, NOT a reading exercise.
🔵 So, focus on listening and don’t worry about the grammar structures or vocabulary.
4. Move to the next sentence.
Repeat the procedure from steps 2 and 3.
5. Keep going until you get to the end of the video.
6. Repeat this process many, many times.
This is the basic exercise but there are extension exercises that you can add on for faster improvement.
🌟 When you get used to the standard exercise (explained above ⬆️), stop watching videos and just concentrate on audio. This will be good training for your ears.
🌟 Find an accent idol to practise with. This is someone you love to listen to or watch. By hearing them speak regularly, you'll get used to hearing their speech patterns and you'll be able to incorporate them into your own speaking. You'll make faster progress this way!
🌟 Play longer excerpts before you pause and repeat. Try to build up to one or two sentences. This will really help build your listening skills.
🌟 Record yourself as you’re practising shadowing and compare your speech to the speaker’s.
How did you sound?
Do you need to change anything?
Giving yourself valuable feedback like this will help you to improve faster.
In order to sound clear, natural, and fluent in English, you need to pay attention to word stress, rhythm and pauses, as well as pronunciation.
Many learners miss out these important elements in their practice, but shadowing includes them which is why it's so effective at helping English language learners to build fluency.
Written by me, not AI, so I can be clear, precise, and say exactly what I mean.
Header image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay