Shadowing Technique | Arabic and Persian

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CC subtitles available in: English, Mandarin and Malay.
I'd like to thank the volunteers who created this video's translations:
Mario Fernando Gadelha Braga / mario.braga.88
Izzah Zahin / sezakiza_bahasa
Shadowing is a language learning technique developed and popularized by polyglot Alexander Argüelles. The idea is to repeat what you hear while listening in order to improve pronunciation and speaking. I have not used this much in the past but want to give it another try.
0:00 What is the shadowing technique?
2:18 How Alexander Argüelles suggest we do the shadowing technique.
4:26 Demonstrating the shadowing technique with Egyptian Arabic.
5:32 Demonstrating the shadowing technique with Persian.
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#shadowingtechnique #languages #polyglot

[@Thelinguist]

Have you tried shadowing? If so what has been your experience? 10 Secrets of Language Learning ⇢ www.thelinguist.com LingQ Grammar Guides ⇢ www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ My blog ⇢ blog.thelinguist.com/ The LingQ blog ⇢ www.lingq.com/blog/ My Podcast ⇢ soundcloud.com/lingostevepodcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learn-languages-with-steve-kaufmann/id1437851870 --- Social Media Instagram ⇢ instagram.com/lingosteve_/ TikTok ⇢ www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve Facebook ⇢ facebook.com/lingosteve Twitter ⇢ twitter.com/lingosteve LingQ Discord ⇢ discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN

[@chadbailey7038]

I see significant value in it! I plan to try it soon. Once I’ve learned enough of the language to notice. Steve especially with ur love of pleasant sounding voices in ur target, this is a great exercise. Find yourself a “parent” native speaker, someone who’s voice u find pleasing and wish to sound like. And shadow them!

[@CassandraTel]

I think shadowing is like sketching. In sketching, we have to learn to draw exactly what we see and not what we think we see. In shadowing, we need to make sure we aren't just hearing words, holding them in our heads and reading them aloud. We need to act and imitate everything we hear, rhythm, intonation, everything.

[@itsrx870]

@@CassandraTel You reminded me of the game Life is strange 2 where Sean occasionally rough sketches what he sees in front of him. Such a heartwarming yet heartbreaking game. But it’s a journey worth taking nonetheless.

[@ProfASAr]

Hello Steve! I hope you have been well since last we met in person at the conference in Japan a few years back. Someone just now informed me that you had made this video about a month ago. Thank you so much for being open minded and giving this technique another try! For your own information and that of your viewers who are interested, I have rather recently begun making videos again, and last fall I made four more videos about shadowing that demonstrate it and discuss it in far more detail than the Chinese bridge march video does. I'd put the links here but am afraid it might send this comment to spam. One is called Advanced Shadowing, the other Shadowing Demonstration: Ojibwe in Bemidji State Park; then there are two that take questions and answers about these. If you are still exploring and experimenting with this technique, one quick hint for you is to close your eyes when you do it while seated (to block out visual distractions). If you would like, I would be happy to give you a one-on-one tutorial in the technique.

[@pinkmatter8488]

Thanks a lot!

[@pastelchapter9109]

My native language is Persian. And I used Shadowing technique to improve my pronunciation and fluency of English. I think it really helped me to become aware of my weak spots and I tried to imrove them. Most of my friends notice that my pronunciation is getting better.

[@baranvabaharan]

آقای استیو شما خیلی مهربان و دوست داشتنی هستید. You are so kind and friendly

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

I learnt of this technique from Alexander Argüelles' videos. It's difficult but powerful. I use it to help with my Spanish. Children use this method. I live in Uruguay and we have a 5 year old grandson and he shadows me when I speak even though his native language is Spanish. He often repeats without knowing what he's saying but he's learning phrases from English speaking movies and using the language contextually. The other day while walking on the beach he suddenly blurted out "wait for me" and I wondered where it came from. Today I heard the expression in one of his favourite movies (that he re-matches over and again). Shadowing is similar to the method of transcribing music where musicians learn other songs by ear and play along note for note. I am also a music/improvisation teacher and we do this constantly.

[@lonewolfMBI]

Hey Steve, you did pretty well in Persian (I'm a native speaker by the way) First of all congratulations, and keep it up. I'm a huge fan of your content. Secondly, I think the things you're listening to are pretty complex. As a Persian speaker we don't talk a lot about those historical subjects. Maybe that's why you feel stuck speaking with Iranians. But I know (from consuming a lot of your content) you're a fan of history and I can guess that's why you've chosen this. But your pronunciation is pretty clear and I enjoy listening to you, speaking my native language. Good luck.

[@melikafarzane1687]

omg youre persian pronunciation is really good.

[@corinavalderrama868]

Hello, Steve! I'm a Spanish native speaker. I've learned English for so many years and I've been learning French for a bit more than three years now. I'd never heard about this shadowing technique before, not even when I was learning English so many years ago, but what I've found is that I usually tend to repeat (shadow) the content that I've been listening to so many times. That is to say that it comes a time when I am naturally inclined to shadow it, and I do it precisely when I go out for a walk while taking my dog to the park. So I mean this shadowing technique could be, in fact, just a natural tendency for most of us to start preparing ourselves to speak in our target language and in that way we could benefit from it as it is something that we really feel like doing it at some point. But I think it works only if you have previously heard the material many times so your brain is already used to the content and you understand the message. At least, that has been my experience so far and I like it because I feel it is part of my workout to start speaking. Thank you very much for sharing your experience in learning languages. It really helps us a lot.

[@mohamedkhrarba3691]

Buenos dias, Corina, quiero aprender la idioma de Cervantes, yo vivo en Algeria adonde no hay muchas gente hablando Español, mi pregunta es, puedes ayudarme y te puedo ayudar a lot en frances. Perdone me. Feliz Navidad.

[@corinavalderrama868]

@@mohamedkhrarba3691 Bien sûr, nous pouvons nous entraider. Joyeux Noël.

[@husseinhashim1973]

Hi I did shadowing method with English,, thanks for God the results was astonishing,,, I became a fluent with about 1 year .. it is difficult but worthy Thanks steve .. we love you

[@jamolabdullayev4372]

How much time did it take to see first results ?

[@zhormahdadi]

@@jamolabdullayev4372 he said 1 year

[@tomdoesstuff1978]

It is good to see your open mindedness with this method Steve. I too have gone back and forth over whether to utilise shadowing when learning languages but concluded that the professor comes from an academic background and appears to be both highly analytical and an accomplished polyglot (as you are, of course) therefore there must be something to what he is saying/doing. It will be interesting to see your experience with this as time goes on.

[@gondishapur]

I have learned some Arabic by listening and watching youtube videos. I have reached possibly about 75% comprehension of the Arabic contents within the last 16 months. I use google translate to translate from English to Arabic and back (mainly the comments under the videos). There is an impasse in my effort to excel any farther. When listening to Arabic, the English meaning comes to me much easier that if I want to find an equivalent Arabic word for the English counterpart. I think that if I can breach this impasse, I might notice a substantial leap in my eventual mastery of Arabic. I am a native Persian speaker.

[@alifleih]

I'm very happy for you. Though Persian shares some similarities with Arabic, they descend from different language families (same with Arabic and Kurdish). I applaud you for the effort you've put in learning this beautiful language, and I hope in the years since your comment that you've only become better at speaking it. Please keep me posted!

[@azizazicojan3979]

It's just a fantabulous technique! I've been doing shadowing of short stories in English for 3 months, and I really feel the progress I've made. I've become way more fluent. Plus, reading aloud for an hour every day will help you nail it completely. Besides, it looks like my listening got better. It's a bit challenging, but it's worth doing.

[@soodehabedini5820]

You were great at Persian. I could understand all you said.

[@nargesziyaee2495]

The Persian part was really impressive Sir.

[@gudeatoo1521]

I have to say you did a pretty good job with Persian

[@gwnbw]

6:05 the facial expression is priceless I know the feeling

[@joshuamarcano350]

I vouch for walking. At the least being on your feet. It creates energy. Even in telemarketing great salesmen stand up and they sound more excited and convincing than the ones sitting down. I have attempted shadowing and was pacing back and forth in my house while doing it. I also do it and go for walks as well. Great video Steve-O.

[@nadajabbar7328]

You made every day in this place so much brighter. Wishing you Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

[@DinailaChanel]

A method very interesting! I'll try it tomorrow! Thank you very much!

[@abdulmalikalzughaibi8193]

مرحبًا، ستيف! شكرًا على كل شيء تقوم به، أتمنى لك التوفيق💚🇸🇦.

[@davidsutton7914]

I admire you for trying something new. You have taught us all a lot about learning languages, and about learning in general. And now, by example, you are showing us the importance of constantly exploring new ways of thinking. I'll bet you find shadowing more useful at improving fluency than you once thought. And give it a try while you are doing something physical and easy. For me, it's riding my bike through the forest. You've got some of the most beautiful places on Earth right there where you live. Enjoy! And best wishes to you.

[@earendil3466]

Haha, native Persian speaker here. I think I've been doing the shadowing technique for a long time without knowing about it, just because I like repeating different sounds and accents from different languages. I believe it really did help with my English pronunciation and is very much helping with my Spanish too. But I never practiced it deliberately to improve my linguistic abilities, just something I do while watching movies or listening to podcasts.

[@potapotapotapotapotapota]

I've done a lot of shadowing and it really helps your accent

[@shinobukomaki2112]

I'm really looking forward to your future videos about shadowing. I did shadowing for about 100 hours this autumn, sitting at the desk for the most part and I felt like my English had improved faster than ever. Not only I can speak and listen a lot better than before, but also I can read much faster. You're a really great linguist that speaks a number of languages, so I'm really interested in your results!

[@deansantucci9356]

Like you , I’ve just started using the shadowing technique. So far the benefit I see is that I listen to my own voice and the tutor is also pointing out common pronunciation mistakes that I didn’t realize I was making .

[@linguamus]

STEVE, The Shadowing Technique in no way belongs to Professor Alexander Arguelles. With all my respect to him! Let me explain. Exactly Shadowing Techniquethis has been used by the so-called Hafiz, who have memorized the Qur'an for at least 1500 years. They may have borrowed this way from other previous cultures as well. Because historical facts have shown that the ancient culture before Islam also used similar technique even though not the exact shadowing way. But Qur’an memorizers especially have used the same exact technique. When I was about 10 years old (1983), I also used the same method for a short time to memorize some parts of the Quran and verses. And in 1991, when I was 18 years old, I decided to use this method in my language learning process. The point is, by that time, I hadn't heard anyone use it like I did. But I didn't call it my own technique just considering the fact that I just borrowed it and it wasn't my own creation or discovery. And in the process of learning all 14 languages ​​that I have learned, I have used this method. We need to know the truth and respect real knowledge, because it is our lifelong heritage. Best Regards.

[@lorelittrell]

I have also been using this technique without even knowing that professor.

[@Limemill]

Well, all of the oldest sacred Hindu and Buddhist texts were memorized and passed down generations orally in a similar fashion some 2500 - 3000+ years ago (still are, in some part of Southeast Asia). And that’s thousands upon thousands of pages worth of text. However, I’m not sure if they use consecutive repetition or simultaneous shadowing

[@manzilahusnul9375]

Thank you so much for sharing this tips its help me a lot for my Arabic goals God bless you

[@ahmadmayahi]

I speak both Arabic and Farsi fluently, and I could say that your Farsi pronunciation is brilliant 👏🏽

[@perleblanche974]

Thank you for this video.

[@hassanshahrokhshahi6490]

Good job with persian ... Love from iran

[@hellohowareyouimfinethankyou]

WOW you did a great job in shadowing Persian.

[@juliusjohnson5967]

I think this technique does make my target language come out more naturally without a lot of pauses. I have used it on my mini ebooks when i do practice shadowing. Matter of fact, I am going to do some shadowing right now. I dont know, but it seems like i comprehend more stuff everytime i listen to audio material such as news broadcast, talk shows in my target language, when appying this technigue more often.

[@metadann]

Ive heard about shadowing, but havent done it yet. The one thing that I do think is helpful is to be able to hear yourself. But it seems we may need to find a little extra something to make that highly effective.

[@Soroor-yc4rw]

شكراً ستيف أنت تحفزني دائما للإستمرار في تعلم الإنجليزية ♥

[@Thelinguist]

أنا سعيد لسماع ذلك

[@maa7528]

ستيف مثابر و قدوه فعلا لم أكن أتوقع هذا التطور المدهش كيف تدرس الإنجليزية ؟ هل تتبع هذه الطريقة؟ أم أنك مثل ستيف تفضل القراءة و الاستماع؟

[@chadbailey7038]

Glad your giving this a significant shot! MattvsJapan has a great video on this. His process and tips. And the set up he uses! 👍🏾

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

I did language shadowing even before I knew what it was. This, is how I trained my brain to say the sounds in Russian and other languages. Also, back then, all I had were the CDs so, just sitting and listening got boring for me quickly. However, I decided to repeat words activity and even though, I mostly had disks back in those days, I felt I was actively participating in the language learning process which was a big motivator!

[@user-jm4um9rw2i]

AMAZING KEEP GOING GREAT TEACHER 😘

[@islamadam8502]

As an Egyptian I liked the way you spoke our dialect 👍

[@RoseRose-rx4jw]

طريقة جد رائعة شكرا جزيلا

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

I have done this from the start even when I just had disks available. It was a huge motivator to feel like I was actively participating in the language despite few resources. The only difference for me was, listen first, speak second.

[@thenaturalyogi5934]

That's what I did with Portuguese I did record early videos where I memorized things that I wanted to say then I did that every month for 6 months, the latest video I made was where I was speaking to my friend who could speak Brazilian Portuguese and we did make the video entirely in Portuguese so that was awesome. (I took lots of italki classes as well after 1 month of pure input) also this is how we learned English, Mandarin, and Filipino we read the stories out loud in class but just a short period. Mostly we still just listen to the teach ramble on telling stories in the target language.

[@bennigan88]

I have experience with two kinds of shadowing. #1 is what you demonstrated, and what Mr./Dr. A has promoted. #2 is a little different - after each sentence, the audio is paused, the entire sentence is repeated, and the audio is then resumed until it is paused again for another repetition. Both techniques exercise different mechanisms and I think they are complementary. #2 challenges memory in a different way, #1 challenges focus and speed, or develops "processing power", for lack of a better metaphor. Also, walking makes shadowing WAY easier to focus on and to do for longer. Sitting in a chair would make it impossible for me to focus, but while walking it feels easy to shadow for long periods of time.

[@Inglespraca]

I've spent mora than 2 years speeding up video on KZbin. At first it was really difficult, but after few months it became an easy task. Now I can listen and repeat audio at speed 2! I've improved my pronunciation and even my accent has changed a lot. Shadowing works!

[@maxos-4135]

Hi, when you shadow do you see the subtitles at the same time or only listen?

[@Inglespraca]

@@maxos-4135you know, I had a friend who could speak 9 languages fluently. He helped me a lot with English tips, and one of his tips which made all the difference during the process was never, ever put subtitles, even though you can't understand a thing! He used to say that sooner or later you will understand the word you eventually missed.

[@maxos-4135]

@@Inglespraca ok thanks!

[@VictorRuan285]

How much time did you spent in shadowing?

[@Inglespraca]

@@VictorRuan285 Whenever I find a free time.

[@emrankhansahel8999]

Your shadowing of Persian is quite comprehensive.

[@easyChinese]

如今有了手机，使用跟读法太方便了。Now with the mobile phone, it’s so convenient to use the shadowing technique.

[@aliel3485]

Greetings to you bro Steve

[@miladini1]

Hi Steve, I am native Persian speaker. I don't know if you were both listening to the speaker and reading off the text or only listening to the speaker. But either way, your Persian was totally comprehensible and the accent was close to ideal for a non-native. Keep up good shadowing!

[@Thelinguist]

Just trying to repeat what I hear. It's my first time doing this. I imagine if I keep doing it I will get better.

[@marymc6701]

@@Thelinguist even though it was your first time trying it out loud it was Totally comprehensible for me as a Persian speaker I can imagine how much you'll be fluent at Persian after 5 times shadowing it.

[@meggieqin8496]

I should try this method with russian , btw your persian was good for the first try

[@BenAhmed0077]

رائع... انت تتكلم عربي جيد جدا wonderful u speak arabic very well 👍

[@tomdoesstuff1978]

Further to my previous comment, the professor has uploaded some more recent videos of shadowing demonstrations using Pimsleur where he is much more relaxed than in the rigid bridge video you posted a clip of. These newer videos may also be of interest to you.

[@HusseinNAhmad]

You speak Arabic better than me 😹 ; I'm from Lebanon Thanks you Merci Beaucoup شكراً متشكرم 😍 .

[@maa7528]

ممكن أنت تقصد اللهجة المصرية لكن أكيد أنت تتكلم العربية بطلاقة

[@HusseinNAhmad]

@@maa7528 لا عزيزي انا امزح مع ستيف واقصد بأن مستواه في اللغة العربية متقدم ولكن صحيح بحكم اني لبناني 🇱🇧 لا اجيد اللهجة المصرية كثيرا نحن لهجتنا لهجة اهل الشام بالأخص لبنان (بيروت) ؛ صحيح أتكلم العربية بطلاقة شكرا لك ❤ .

[@maa7528]

@@HusseinNAhmad اللهجة اللبنانية جميلة و الفن اللبناني جميل خاصة المسلسلات الكلاسيكية و ألحان الرحباني أنا اقترحت مسلسل عازف الليل لهند أبي اللمع لستيف لأنه باللغة العربية الفصحى و لا ننسى دور لبنان الثقافي في دبلجة الكارتون الياباني و المسلسلات المكسيكية باللغة العربية الفصحى كذلك في تلفزيون الواقع كانت لبنان سباقة في الوطن العربي و دائما تحتضن الفنانين فنيا سواء المصريين في الستينات و السبعينات أو السوريين في الزمن الحالي لكن فعلا أنا تفاجأت بستيف عندما تحدث باللهجة المصرية ستيف مدهش و مثابر

[@HusseinNAhmad]

@@maa7528 شكرا لك ؛ صح الثقافة اللبنانية غنية جدا من جميع النواحي سواء انتاج الافلام والمسلسلات او الدبلجة حتى دبلجة الكرتون وحتى المطبخ اللبناني يعد من اغنى المطابخ في العالم لانه ياخذ وصفات طبخ من كل البلدان نتمنى ان يرجع لبنان كما كان لأنه يمر حاليا بأزمة اقتصادية ومالية و إجتماعية وو... نعم ستيف مميز جدا ورغم ان عمره اعتقد حوالي ٧٨ سنة ولكنه لا يزال يتعلم اللغات ويتكلم حوالي ٢١ لغة وقد حفزني هذا نوعا ما على بدء تعلم اللغات وقد بدأت تعلم اللغة الروسية وحتى لغات أخرى اتمنى تعلمها كالاسبانية والبرازيلية ولكن اعتقد ان اللغة الصينية او اليابانية من المستحيل تعلمها او تحتاج لعشرات السنوات لتعلمها هههه تحياتي .

[@EFoxVN]

I have a few thoughts: I am learning Spanish and I have never struggled with the pronunciation and I have never tried shadowing before. However I have heard and seen that sometimes people's mouth muscles are not used to making the sounds of the new language. So let's say I would start to learn French with it's many new sounds, then it might be beneficial to do something like shadowing also to get the mouth muscles used to the language. Just my two cents. Regards, EvN South Africa

[@heartsofgoldenrod]

This is an interesting technique. I will look into him. Is there a link to these videos you are using for speaking Egyptian Arabic (I’m also learning Egyptian Arabic and Mandarin)? I wonder if you also try slowing the speed of the video down a tiny bit to help you get the all the words and then increase it as is comfortable. شوكران !

[@nadjimaboudrouma3026]

Hi Steve ! Your videos are really motivating &beneficial , I have learned many tips.but, I suggest for you to learn the standard Arabic language then you move to the Egyptian accent .There is a huge difference especially in pronounciation. for instance , in Arabic we have the j ج in Egyptian it is pronounced g .best of luck!!

[@pelagigs]

Uhh thank u so much!! One of my teachers has shown us this technique and I adored it! Actually, I didn't know it had a name and I'm calling it the "Auto-Q". I'm trying this technique with my first fle student and he's really into the denying phase you're describing in the beginning. Don't know what to do 😪

[@withDiaar]

I think it'd be a great jump if you break down some of the words by their syllables ... you may excel in pronunciation and proper accent if you just ask your teacher if he can work with you on how a syllable is correctly pronounced by getting help from sounds you use in you daily life as an english speaker. feel free to contact me if you'd like some free advice on the subject matter, Id be more than happy to help a fellow persian learner :) Im an english teacher in iran, I was born speaking persian. And its amazing hearing youre learning persian.

[@michaelrespicio5683]

I'm learning Icelandic right now and I think I did something like this when I first started. Not exactly this exact method described here, but the thing is Icelandic pronunciation can be tricky as there are some sounds that can be difficult to articulate properly. I didn't get them right away, but it was after listening to natives on the radio say words that had those sounds and trying to repeat after them where I somehow ended up eventually nailing their pronunciations. I don't like to brag but now I can articulate Icelandic words fairly well although imperfectly at times, even if I don't know what they mean but I'm still learning.

[@alanguages]

I heard and read, that Icelanders can be brutal in their criticism of non natives who sound awful. It goes to show how a lot of effort has to be put in for the nuanced sounds. The other harsh critics are the French, and will switch to English, if the non native French speaker is very unpleasant to the ears.

[@michaelrespicio5683]

I haven't actually spoken the language yet so I've never experienced it personally. But in my limited experience messaging Icelanders online, they're very encouraging of those trying to learn it. I feel like I've gotten the hang of the Icelandic sounds but I'm still learning. Even if that was true with some natives, I'm aiming for a level where I can actually converse with them without criticism so perhaps it's a good thing I haven't spoken it yet. There aren't many people who try Icelandic but those that do generally stop at an elementary level where they can say some things but maybe can't really hold a conversation. I have a native friend and is very supportive despite any mistakes. It's a good learning opportunity when we chat. In my opinion, they're supportive if they can see how serious and passionate you are about their culture and language

[@alanguages]

@@michaelrespicio5683 I talked to some Icelanders, and they admitted as such in the criticism. They will switch to English and talk only in that language, even if the learner is continuing with Icelandic, hoping to get the hint. When asked about Icelandic, they won't soften the blow and lie to spare the feelings, unlike other native speakers of other languages. Example: Filipinos The Icelanders admit and do appreciate the attempt. If you aren't able to reach an intelligible level, then I am in agreement with them. They might not be aware, the learner does not realize they are unintelligible though.

[@michaelrespicio5683]

@@alanguages Thanks for the heads-up but I still have yet to see it for myself. I'm not sure if you're a learner but unless you're actually a native, I'd rather hear it from them. Even if some people are quick to criticize, it doesn't necessarily mean everyone is like that, and honestly I've never really been one to care what others think anyway. It's possible that the people Icelanders criticize are tourists who end up speaking a broken version like pronouncing Eyjafjallajökull wrong (Icelandic is tricky to pronounce but I feel like I can pronounce the name more or less correctly, not trying to brag). As you may know, Icelandic doesn't have that many speakers and it's not often natives meets someone who's actually serious about the language and culture, let alone speaks it well so consider me extra motivated then. I'm curious though, what lead to you speaking with those Icelanders in the first place? In any case, many Europeans speaks fairly good English so knowing the language well is basically a must if you want to convince them to use it with you in a conversation. As a Filipino myself, you are right that we tend to appreciate others' efforts to try speaking Tagalog, and it's not in our nature to criticize them for trying although everyone is different. Like Europeans, we are also fairly confident using English but if a learner asks to practice Tagalog, we will as is our nature of helping and supporting others

[@alanguages]

@@michaelrespicio5683 Could be tourists pronouncing butchered Icelandic. I would not be sure. The native Icelandic speakers I talked to were migrants to Gimli, Manitoba in Canada. There is an Icelandic festival that used to take place there every year. They said, they are critical of really bad pronunciation. I know the French are most known for being critical. I am of Filipino descent, but live in Canada. I am interested in Icelandic, as it was a place I really liked the scenery. I also bought Old Norse resources, as in a way, Icelandic is effectively a dialect of Old Norse. I find the Germanic languages appealing.

[@gauravp4468]

Hi Steve, if I get unknown word while listening or reading so should i find meaning in my native language or targeted language? please guide me And thanks for motivating 😊

[@haicautrang5304]

Something I noticed is that Dr. Arguelles likes is to listen to Assimil, which is quite slowly spoken.

[@a1k131]

Part 1/2 : I've been doing shadowing both to German radio and English radio. I found out that doing it slightly louder than silent does the trick. Basically I mumble what I'm hearing like a parakeet who's trying to speak.. This lightens the burden of getting it right and allows me to focus on what's being spoken, not getting the sound right does not take away from my focus on the topic spoken. I'm a native Turkish speaker. Spoke German from birth to 7 yo. After the age 28 learned English in the US where I live for 23 years. 3 years ago I started reading and listening German. On my next comment I'll talk about my method..

[@a1k131]

2. Part : I've read Arabian Nights in English twice. I loved the stories and found the language and the grammar in it exceptional. When I decided to start learning German I ordered the same books (1001 Nacht, two volumes, 1800 pages) from Germany. I understood very little at the beginning. (I'd just read a couple small basic German story books in preparation). As time went on because of my familiarity with the stories I started deciphering the language. The only thing I did wrong in these 3 years was that I tried a few other methods and books that did my grab me. Also for 2.5 years I religiously insisted on monolingual dictionaries. That hindered my Wortschatz a great deal. Soon as I started using the Google translate on my I phone I picked up a great speed. From page 600 to 900 of the first volume I read it in two months. Now as I started the second volume I also started the Arabic version of the book. (I have some prior knowledge of Arabic). I got inspired by Steven when he suggested that multiple languages can be learned simultaneously.. I wish I did all these in my youth (I'm 51yo). I could've learned so many languages using this one book...

[@a1k131]

One additional point: I also browse in Duden Redewendungen casually.. In English also I read and listen to idioms. It's a dimension of any language that cannot be neglected. They're fun and good for refining language skills. And a good topic to pursue whenever I can get hold of a native speaker..

[@sarahzaza7251]

For the arabic Part, I am an Arab and I have understood most of it, so you did ver well 😉

[@coconutpineapple2489]

An interpreter says 'I did shadowing until I memorize all of them'. It definitely works because it's kind of memorizing phrases, but I don't like it, because it's not very different way compared to the way we learned our native language. You can learn forein languages by more natural way such as extensive reading.

[@cesaraugusto8261]

Is that how you learned a language? By just reading? I'm intestine in Italian and I'm looking for advice to get started, so if you could tell me what worked for you, it'd be much appreciated.

[@saguaro1689]

Hi Steve! Could you please make a video about reading outloud in your target language? I often find that if i do that stuff, i understand much more information than just by reading silently. However, there are some videos on YT where they suggest that we not do that because it kind of makes you repeat the same mistakes and as you have no one beside you, there's no way to know for sure if your pronunciation of certain words is 100% correct

[@vanillasky4221]

Well there comes a point in time when you have to challenge your skills with real native speakers from there you can tweak

[@CaptainWumbo]

kids basically do the same thing with their native language I guess. I'm not really interested to know that such a technique exists but what studies have been done to prove or disprove its efficacy. Our individual results are components of so many factors, and like you said we have to spend time on what we think is most important. I start to believe more and more that things like pronunciation can be acquired late, as long as you work on listening comprehension and gaining more words. I don't know if we can be good judges of our own pronunciation until we're already quite advanced and we've had focused training from someone telling us we said it right. If that was true, then early shadowing or shadowing without training could be a bad use of time.

[@_Username__]

Nice, I understood your Arabic without looking at subtitles

[@rezav2062]

Hi Steve, Your persian is great. Just one comment , the text which you picked for shadowing is quiet complex and advanced.

[@Thelinguist]

My tutor from Iran has created great content for us at LingQ including a 26 part series on the history of Iran, each one followed by "circling questions". I find history fascinating with the help of our functionality at LingQ I make my way through these, learning more each time I listen or read.

[@taricaya201]

Think I might give this a go with my French. I already speak quite well but I reckon this could help with the 'égalité syllabique' that the French have. I find it quite difficult to do intentionally

[@hrmIwonder]

Shadowing probably is a decent technique, especially for intonation. But I think it's better to start simpler. Listen to a word a few times then try to imitate what you heard. Let the your ears drive it, it's a game of imitation, if you can't properly hear something you can't possibly say it. Maybe a whole word is too hard, try saying a portion of it. Strangely, it helps to start with the last syllable and add syllables until you get the whole word. It's very much like babbling. Then listen to a sentence, or part of one and try to repeat. Eventually, continuously shadowing could be good. I do think it can help to look at a vowel chart of the language and systematically listen to each vowel sound in multiple contexts. Once you feel you have a handle on how it sounds and think you pronounce it well, you'll notice that each one has a distinct "place" in your mouth/throat/nose. It may be different for different languages, but one like French, a lot of the foreign accent is carried by the vowels (although the consonants are different too). In more consonant heavy languages, a more systematic study of consonants might be useful. But in the end it's a game of imitating what you hear. Hearing drives it.

[@Limemill]

You basically described Pimsleur. I attest that I t works miracles for pronunciation, by the way. On the other hand, shadowing can improve prosody and intonation (in fact there are studies demonstrating this). With that said, the original method is meant to be used not just for the sake of pronunciation but as a comprehensive learning method when coupled with bilingual Assimil-like courses. How well that works, I don’t know

[@nazaninsekhavati]

As a Persian person I proud of you 😅

[@ariohandoyo5973]

Hello, i'm late what the LOL.😂 Shadowing practice is when reapeat after someone saying right?😊

[@Tehui1974]

I haven't used shadowing yet. I'm not sure if I will. If I've got some pronouciation problems in my target language, I guess it's one way to help identify them.

[@Edgar2023ES]

I have practiced this technica without know the name. In the beginning, I speak the word or the phrase after I listen them, but aí speak them together with the audio.

[@willianbarreiro9925]

I've been doing shadowing for a while every single day. I like to listen to a podcast for 3 times without see the transcript, than I write down exactly what they're talking, this technic is dictation. After that, I do shadowing repeating phrase by phrase in voice loud looking to the mirror that I bought, than I can see the moves of my mouth.

[@alsenyconte100]

Salut Steve. Pouvez vous nous faire une vidéo sur ce thème en français. Vous nous expliquer c'est quoi la méthode shadowing et comment elle fonctionne ( comment on la pratique, avec des exemple)

[@rhunter6427]

Steve, does just coping (rewriting) a text that is already written in English, help to develop the writing skills?

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

as an English teacher myself, I would advise you to read to develop writing skills. That's where you will get your ideas. It's how I help my students. I am a primary school teacher (teaching English to Uruguayans) and for us it is an essential activity that I promote to help with story writing.

[@valeriemcdonald440]

It might not improve the contents of your writing, but I bet it would improve your handwriting!

[@bofbob1]

That's also an exercise Argüelles does. Delayed copying, which he calls "scriptorium". You can find some presentations about it on his channel. Personally, I don't do any shadowing, but I do indeed do some delayed copying and I've found it to be very useful. Obviously it's no replacement for extensive reading, but short chunks of 10 minutes here and there can help you focus on details in a way that you wouldn't otherwise do.

[@Favtrixio]

Same technique the nazis used to learn Russian - and other languages. They used to call it scratching. I’ve met some of them in Germany in the 90’s. Even if they didn’t understand anything they started by scratching the language and imitate the sounds . That makes it easier to learn they said.

[@masoudmolla4784]

دارید فارسی یاد میگیرید استاد؟؟ دمت گرم 🌹🌹 Are you learning Farsi ?? Way to go 🌹🌹

[@sergiorodrigues6694]

Isn't a kind of multitasking?

[@hamidmoradi1340]

Its kinda funny to hear you speak Persian because it almost sounds as if you were from a very specific part of iran in the west 😅 it comes out with an specific accent

[@peterlovstrom4286]

Are you reading at the same time? or are you just doing it by ear?….Also I find when I do it with Peninsular Spanish..it goes so fast…it really difficult to keep up

[@Thelinguist]

by ear

[@briban65]

I feel like this could be more useful for languages like English, French than for Spanish and Italian for example.

[@leonoldfield9765]

👍

[@avavaladi9331]

Currently trying to learn Persian to speak with family, but am struggling to find resources… any suggestions?

[@Thelinguist]

I used LingQ. Lots of great Persian learning content. Do lots of listening and reading. It takes a while to get used to the writing but you just gradually get used to it.

[@Hassan-zd9it]

Hello Ava, I'm a native Persian speaker... I always search for a native English speaker who wants to learn Persian! I can help you improve your Persian speaking... and I can improve my English speaking with your help... so if you are interested in it, please let me know.

[@paula1884]

when I'm listening to things in my target language some words stand out and I repeat them to myself, I thought that would be shadowing but apparently not 😭😭 maybe lazy shadowing? isn't repeating everything just how they teach languages in schools? I feel like I would get bored. I'll look this technique up.

[@gilmar-ac3247]

Hi there !!

[@kikimdo]

This is also an interpreting practice

[@bofbob1]

A controversial one, and I think mostly on its way out. It was championed in the 90s by Sylvie Lambert, who incorporated it in her interpreting curriculum at the University of Ottawa. The idea was that interpreters needed to first learn how to speak and listen simultaneously. However, a lot of theorists and trainers (e.g. Seleskovitch, Lederer, Kurtz, Gillies, etc.) find that this mechanical skill of speaking and listening at the same time is trivial, and can be acquired pretty much immediately. Look at Steve. First time doing it in his life, and he got it down immediately. To quote Gillies: "Shadowing is considered unhelpful in learning to interpret by many trainers, because although you are speaking and listening at the same time, you are not thinking and listening at the same time - shadowing is parroting, not reformulating as required in interpreting. Some, me included, think that it's not speaking and listening simultaneously that is difficult, but the thinking and listening simultaneously. Try it and see!"

[@aksagui00Z007s.c]

Por favor pon subtítulos en español gracia

[@kikimdo]

Resumen: para practicar el idioma que uno está aprendiendo ponga un video o audio y sigue la persona hablando imitando el habla de la persona.

[@aksagui00Z007s.c]

@@kikimdo ohh vale gracias

[@babakgeblee3343]

The Persian wasn't bad actually, it sounded foreign but i actually understood you

[@yourshadowgirl5036]

He is immediately copying what he's hearing. He can put the words together much better when he's speaking on his own

[@mohamedkotb7998]

Learning Arabic of Egypt, something & learning original Arabic ( Fusha ) is completely different thing, Arabic Of Quran is the true Arabic and it is your gate to learn Arabic, there are 22 countries in Middle east using Arabic, each using a common local version of Arabic, so don't waste your time & go straight to Quran try to read it & there you can find Arabic which is understandable by all Arab tonnage speakers.

[@arabiccomprehensible]

Good luck with Arabic!!

[@JohnCollins-ep8hx]

as a persian man ,steve pronunciation of persian words are not bad but not good either

[@slicksalmon6948]

Doesn’t look like you ever did a follow-up episode, so I guess you dropped the technique.

[@alanguages]

Steve, Try to say Prof. Argüelles name how a Spanish speaker would say it. That is how how you pronounce it. The double L becomes a Y. I am used to how you said it, as an English speaker though.

[@Thelinguist]

It is not always the case wth names that we us the pronunciation of the language of origin of the name. That's why I pronounced it both ways here.

[@alanguages]

@@Thelinguist The umlaut is straightforward though. To be fair, I know it is the Spanish pronunciation of the double L to a Y, as the professor actually mentioned it in one of his videos, when he talked to a Filipino and he mentioned Filipinos are the ones who immediately pronounced it correctly. It had to do with many Filipinos know the Spanish pronunciation, as many of them have Spanish surnames. Edit: Steve you did say the L both times. One had an L, then a Y sound right after. You did not pronounce the ü though.

[@rashagabri2960]

عربي جميل

[@itsme-hw2sl]

Is Persian somehow easier for you? How so?

[@Thelinguist]

Yes. the grammar is easier, the pronunciation easier, and as an Indo-European language it just seems more familiar. Also there is only one form more or less, whereas Arabic has so many forms of the language. But I enjoy them both equally.

[@williammunny3820]

🤝🍻✌️🙏💐👍👌👏

[@randomlabs1784]

I've been doing shadowing for 3 years... But I can't do it continually though... Cus it gets boring.. however every 5 or 6 months I spent roughly 4-6 weeks doing a lot of shadowing... And each time I do this routine I feel that my pronunciation and confidence improves a bit.

[@Yunes948]

پشمام

[@kena3234]

I just don’t see how taking over your target text is an efficient way to improve speaking vs just listening and repeating.

[@toshiotube]

Am I the only one who watched this video while shadowing Steve's words? 😅