Episode summary
One of the best language study methods for improving speaking ability and listening comprehension.
T.E.A. Time is hosted by English teacher Tayvin Bayless. Read the full transcript.
Hey there, and welcome to T.E.A. Time with Tayvin Bayless. In today’s episode, I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite methods for studying a foreign language. I use this method to practice Japanese almost every day, and it has helped me to feel much more confident in my speaking ability. It’s called shadowing, and I’m going to try and walk you through some of the reasons you might want to use it to improve your English, and a step-by-step guide to effective shadowing practice. So, what exactly is shadowing and why should you try it?
Shadowing is a language learning technique where you repeat native audio right after you hear it. I primarily use this technique when listening to a podcast in my target language, but you can do it while listening to audiobooks, television shows, movies, and even the news. Research shows that shadowing helps language learners improve their listening comprehension, strengthen their ability to speak, and improve how quickly they learn new words. It is an especially effective practice for students who are shy or do not have many opportunities to have conversations with native speakers. This is because as you repeat what you hear in English, you are training your tongue and the muscles in your mouth to form English words more easily.
If those benefits sound like something you want for yourself, I think that shadowing will be a great technique to include in your daily English practice. So, let me explain the process that I use for my own language study. First, I pick native audio that is near my current level, something that I understand at least 80% on my first listen-through. Usually, the length of this audio is between 5-10 minutes. Don’t worry about looking up all of the words you don’t know right now, just listen and focus on understanding through context. Sometimes I listen through the audio 2 to 3 times until I am confident I understand what I have heard. The second step is to read the transcript for the audio. If you’re watching a TV show, you may be able to download the subtitles. If you use audiobooks, then you can read the pages that you listened to. Many podcasts have transcripts for you to read along with while you listen. As you read through the transcript, write down or highlight the words that you don’t know. You’ll want to look up the new words on your list in the dictionary after you finish reading.
Now, we come to the hard part. After I have listened to the audio and defined all of my new words it’s time to start shadowing. I will listen to the audio from the beginning and repeat what the speaker says just after they say it. I will go through the whole audio without pausing. It’s important to try and keep pace with the speaker as they speak. If you listen to a podcast or audiobook it is easy to slow down the audio so that you can keep up. Practice repeating after the speaker until you can make it through your audio without falling behind or making a mistake. Once you can follow along perfectly it’s time to move on to new audio.
So that’s the shadowing technique. If it sounded interesting to you, I recommend that you try it for a few days 15 minutes a day. Maybe you could even try it out with a few of my podcasts. Just remember, keep your English practice interesting and enjoyable. you don’t need to force yourself to do something that you hate, because there are plenty of other ways to practice that can work for you. If you have any questions or comments send me a message through Anchor, on Twitter, or find me on italki and I’ll try to respond as quickly as possible. If you’d like to read along with the audio of this episode, you can find a link to the transcript in the episode description or on my Twitter page. Until next time. Have a wonderful day.
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