Shadowing (speaking secret! 🤫)
I’m going to tell you one secret to native-like English speaking ability. Shh… don’t tell anyone.
Just kidding. Everyone knows. The secret is “shadowing”: (1) find a speaker whose voice you like, (2) pick a video by that person, and (3) try to copy their speech perfectly (which takes a tremendous amount of time, but is totally doable)
Here’s a video of me practicing with the technique (8 years ago!) I didn’t even know it was called “shadow technique”. I was copying John Green. ⚠️ Turn down the volumn. The intro could be loud.
Some people may argue that you must be very passionate about the language in order to make so much effort. It’s true, but don’t use it as an excuse to delay the work, because this is also true: the better you become at something, the more you like it.
💡 Tip: Mastering the sounds and being able to read the IPA make shadowing much more effective.
Vocabulary Highlight
tremendous = very great
Note: There’s nothing special about the word itself, but it’s extremely useful when combined with nouns. Look it up in Oxford Collocations Dictionary. You’re in for a treat.
It takes tremendous courage to sing in public.