English shadowing studio

Shadowing means speaking along with a native voice, a beat behind it. It trains rhythm and sounds faster than reading rules about them.

Clip

Accent

Speed

What is shadowing?

Shadowing is a speaking exercise where you listen to a native speaker and repeat what they say almost at the same time, a beat behind them. It trains the rhythm, stress and linked sounds of English, which reading rules does not.

How to shadow in three steps

  1. Listen. Play the clip and follow the words as they light up.
  2. Shadow. Speak along with the voice, a beat behind. Do it three times.
  3. Solo. The words light up at speaking pace with no voice, and you say the clip alone.

There are five clips (Introducing yourself, Ordering coffee, At the airport, Small talk and Job interview), three speeds, and five accents: American, British, Irish, Australian and Indian.

Questions people ask

What is shadowing in language learning?

Shadowing means listening to a native speaker and repeating what they say almost at the same time, a beat behind them. It trains the rhythm, linking and stress of English.

Does shadowing improve your accent?

It can help you hear and copy rhythm and linked sounds. Research on shadowing is still small: one study of 24 learners found it improved how well they heard linked sounds, while the gain in their own pronunciation was not statistically significant. Use it as daily practice, not as a guaranteed accent fix.

How long should I shadow each day?

Five minutes is enough. Shadow one clip three times at Steady speed, then once at Natural speed in Solo mode.

Source: script-enhanced shadowing study, Instructed Second Language Acquisition.