Shadowing: Can This Method Help You Speak English Fluently?

- Shadowing has become really popular

with English learners to help them improve their speaking.

And in this video, I'm going to talk about this method

and give you an alternative that I think you might prefer.

Hello, this is Jack from tofluency.com.

And before we talk about shadowing

and an alternative method,

I want to tell you about my book,

The Five Step Plan For English Fluency.

Now you can download this at the moment for free.

All you need to do is go to the link.

That is somewhere on this screen.

Enter your details.

And then I'll send it to your email address.

Okay, let's talk about shadowing.

And shadowing works like this.

Find some audio in English.

This could be an audiobook, a podcast,

a YouTube video, it can be anything.

And do two things.

You listen and repeat.

And while you do this, while you're repeating what you hear,

you don't stop the audio.

So you don't stop the audio.

You just continue speaking

while you are listening to the audio.

This can be quite difficult at times

because you have to do two things at once.

You're listening to the audio and you're also repeating.

So you're repeating one or two seconds

after you hear something.

It takes a bit of practice to get used to.

It is also suggested that you walk while doing this.

So don't just do this while sitting down.

But go for a walk and listen and repeat

while you are walking.

So the idea with this is that you're going to be

learning new words and phrases.

But you're also going to be improving your speaking

because you're practicing your speaking.

You're actually practicing your listening

and your speaking skills at the same time.

While a lot of people like this method,

I see one problem with it and it is this.

When you are listening to something and trying to say it

at natural speeds, you won't say things clearly.

You'll end up making lots of mistakes

with your pronunciation and you'll probably end up mumbling.

Here's an example of mumbling.

Imagine the phrase I really wanna go.

I really wanna go.

I really wanna go.

If you're listening to natural conversation

or someone speaking naturally and you're trying to say this,

repeat after them while listening at the same time,

you'll probably end up saying something like

really wanna go there.

(mumbling)

You will end up mumbling

and not saying the sounds correctly.

You'll end up using the incorrect intonation.

You won't stress the right words

because you are too concerned with saying it

as quickly as possible and at the same speed as the speaker.

If you are using this method, here's a really cool trick.

Okay?

The next time you use it, record yourself.

So the next time you're shadowing,

record your own voice and then listen to it after.

If you are mumbling,

if you are making lots of mistakes with your pronunciation,

if you are not saying the words and phrases correctly,

then maybe try something else.

Now obviously if you can repeat after the speaker

with fantastic pronunciation,

then this method will be working for you.

But if not, here is another method to use instead.

Some people call it the imitation method.

I call it the LRRCR method.

LRRCR method.

Listen, repeat, record compare, repetition.

Okay?

So instead of just listening and repeating without pausing,

what you do is you take one phrase,

you listen to that phrase, then you repeat it.

You record yourself repeating the phrase

and then you compare it to the original.

And doing this allows you to notice any mistakes you make.

It will allow you to know if you're using

the right consonant sounds, the right vowel sounds.

If you're using the right intonation and stress.

If you're linking words together.

And then you can make changes.

So you'll notice your mistakes

and then you can make changes.

Once you are in a position

where you are happy with your version,

then you can get the long term repetition.

And this long term repetition will allow you

to internalize that phrase

and be able to use it using the right pronunciation.

And also, if you do this enough,

you'll be able to use this phrase in a flexible way.

So again, you take one phrase.

You listen to the phrase, pause the audio.

You repeat it, record it, compare it to the original,

make any changes you need to make,

and then you get long term repetition.

Additionally, what you can do is learn how to make

the sounds in English before you use this method too.

So what you can do is you can take

any kind of pronunciation course,

one where you learn what to do with your mouth

for the different consonant sounds.

What to do with your mouth to make the R sound, okay?

That sounded very American.

The R sound.

The R sound.

Or the T sound.

V sound.

You'll learn how to make these sounds

and then you use this method.

That will make a huge difference to your speaking,

your pronunciation, your ability to use these phrases,

and just your English in general.

To learn more about this method,

then watch this video over here.

And if you want to really go into this method

and get the materials that you need

so you can download phrases,

so that you can get the long term repetition,

then click the link over here

and join the To Fluency program.

Okay, you can learn more about this over here.

And then please share this video

with anyone who needs to watch it.

Thank you for watching.

Speak to you soon.

(upbeat music)