Shadowing is a great way to improve pronunciation skills, especially for working on rhythm and intonation. In this post, we look at what shadowing is, and how to use it to improve our control of sentence stress. We will focus on using stressing content words whilst shadowing.
What is shadowing?
Shadowing is a technique in which we try to speak along with an audio or video, closely copying the speaker’s pronunciation. There will naturally be a short delay between the audio and our speaking, for example:
Ideally, we should select an audio, or part of an audio, around 1-2 minutes long. It is also good to select an audio with an accent and model speaker who you would like to sound similar to.
What are the steps to practise shadowing?
Step 1. Listen to understand
To get the best out of the technique, we should first listen to the audio and understand its meaning. Having a transcript can be very helpful for this.
Let’s practise with this short audio. Listen to the audio below and read the transcript below in your head. Check you understand, and look up any words you don’t know.
Step 2. Highlight stressed syllables (inside content words)
Next, we can highlight stressed syllables on the transcript. Remember, the stressed syllables will be inside content words, are are said louder, longer, and at a higher pitch which then drops down.
You can highlight the syllables in bold, underline them, or write them bigger, whatever works for you! For example:
Step 3. Shadow a few times with the script
Now, listen to the audio again and practise speaking at the same time whilst reading your analysed transcript. Pay attention to the stressed syllables of content words!
Step 4. Shadow a few times without the script
Now you are more familiar with the audio, try to shadow it without the script. Just focus on copying the pronunciation as closely as you can, again copying stress patterns in particular.
Step 5. Try it on your own!
Next, you can select your own audio and transcript, and repeat this process on your own.