Chapter 1 of 66 min
Shadowing
Shadowing means speaking along with a native recording, a fraction of a second behind. It trains pronunciation, rhythm and intonation together.
Key ideas
- Rhythm and intonation matter as much as individual sounds.
- Imitation trains the mouth and ear at the same time.
- Short clips repeated many times beat long ones heard once.
Step by step
- 1
Choose a 20 to 40 second clip with a transcript.
- 2
Listen twice while reading the transcript.
- 3
Shadow it aloud with the transcript, then without.
- 4
Record yourself and compare with the original.
Example
A learner shadows the same forty-second news clip daily for a week. By Friday her intonation sounds natural and she understands the speaker at full speed.
Your drill
Pick a short clip in your target language and shadow it five times, recording the last attempt.
Common mistakes
- Choosing clips far above your level.
- Focusing on single words instead of the melody of the sentence.
Check yourself
What does shadowing train besides individual sounds?
Show the answer
Rhythm, stress and intonation, along with listening at natural speed.
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