Repeat After Me Shadowing Practice Easily Confused Words in English

So you're interested in shadowing practice. Whether this is your first time trying one of these, or if you clicked on this video because you've done my shadowing practice videos before, welcome and let's jump right in. English made easy with Claire. All right, so before we begin, what is shadowing? It's really simple. The way I do it in my shadowing practices is I give you a chance to repeat a phrase or a sentence after me, and then later you will say it at the same time as me. And that is what shadowing is. So after you've had a chance saying it on your own, repeating it slowly after me, you can then practice saying it at the same time as me, matching my pronunciation, my intonation, and my inflection, which all includes the stress of the words, the stress of the sentence, and the way my voice moves up and down. Now, what's really helpful about this is that I'm a native speaker from the US. So if you're interested in achieving the American English accent, then you're in the right place. And of course, it helps you with your overall pronunciation and speaking of the English language, but it's also going to help you with your confidence. So next time you go to speak English, you're going to feel more and more confident with each shadowing practice. So check out my shadowing practice playlist if you're interested in more after we finish today. In today's video, I'm going to read a short story and focus on words that are easily confused, easily mixed up by non-native English speakers. So these are words that sound really similar, but they're not. And a lot of non-native speakers find it difficult to even hear the difference between these words. So I'm going to say them really slowly for you and give you the chance to repeat. And then of course, we will shadow the whole story together. So first, repeat after me. I usually shop for clothes online. I usually shop for clothes online. In American English, even though you see a TH in the word clothes, you can hear that I don't pronounce the TH. Clothes. Clothes. But yesterday, I decided to go to my favorite store. But yesterday, I decided to go to my favorite store. Let's shadow this sentence together. So say it with me. I usually shop for clothes online. But yesterday, I decided to go to my favorite store. I used to shop there all the time. I used to shop there all the time. Back then, it was easier than shopping online. So here we have our first pair of words that sound very similar, but they are different. Then and than. Then, than. Back then, it was easier than shopping online. Now, when I speak very quickly, it's more difficult to hear the difference between the two. But if you can hear the difference and achieve the correct pronunciation slowly, then you will have the knowledge of what you are saying. And when you speak more quickly, it will come across as the correct vowel sound. So let's try it again. Repeat after me. Back then, it was easier than shopping online. Now, you shadow these two sentences. I used to shop there all the time. Back then, it was easier than shopping online. Great. Let's keep going. First, I tried on a dress. First, I tried on a dress. But it was so tight, I could hardly breathe. But it was so tight, I could hardly breathe. I immediately took it off and took a deep breath. I immediately took it off and took a deep breath. So here we have breathe and breath. These words look very similar. There's only one letter difference. But to breathe is the verb, and breath is a noun. So the verb has the E at the end. Breathe, breath. So not only is the vowel sound different, but the TH sound is different as well. For the verb, it's voiced. Breathe, th, th, breathe. And for the noun, it's unvoiced. Breath, breath. Let's shadow those two sentences now. So say them with me. First, I tried on a dress. But it was so tight, I could hardly breathe. I immediately took it off and took a deep breath. I tried on the size up. Repeat. I tried on the size up, and it was much more loose and comfortable. And it was much more loose and comfortable. The word comfortable is often tricky for non-native speakers, because it looks like it should be com-for-ta-ble, four syllables. But in American English, we tend to say it with just three. Com-for-ta-ble. Com-for-ta-ble. I thought, do I need to lose weight? I thought, do I need to lose weight? So in this section, we have loose and lose. Loose, lose. The difference here is the unvoiced ss sound and the voiced zz. Loose, unvoiced. Lose, voiced. Okay, let's shadow these two sentences. I tried on the size up, and it was much more loose and comfortable. I thought, do I need to lose weight? I wasn't sure the dress fit me right. I wasn't sure the dress fit me right. And the material seemed too light. And the material seemed too light. Good. So here we have right and light. And many people struggle with the difference between the rr sound and the ll sound in American English. Both are quite far back in the throat, but you don't necessarily need to place them far back in the throat. It will be the position of your tongue that determines these two sounds. To create the rr sound, rr, the back of the tongue should be touching the roof of your mouth. Rr, rr. You don't need to press the tongue, but it's just lightly arched up in the back. Rr, rr. And the tip is down. For the l sound, ll, the tip is touching the back of your front teeth. Ll, ll. And the back of your tongue is down. So not lifted like an rr, but down. Ll, rr, ll, rr, ll. So I would focus on the position of the back of the tongue to differentiate between these two consonant sounds. So repeat after me. Right, light. Let's shadow the sentence together. Say it with me. I wasn't sure the dress fit me right, and the material seemed too light. You'll notice when I speak it more naturally and within the sentence a little bit faster, I drop the t's at the end. It's a stopped t sound in American English. Right, light. Right, light. I thought about trying on more dresses. I thought about trying on more dresses, but I was getting tired. But I was getting tired. I think I'll stick to shopping online. I think I'll stick to shopping online. Let's shadow these two sentences. I thought about trying on more dresses, but I was getting tired. I think I'll stick to shopping online. All right, let's say the whole story without stopping together. So you are going to shadow me, and you can repeat this part of the video as many times as you need until these words, especially the ones that sound very similar but aren't, feel comfortable to you. You feel confident saying them, and you can hear the difference not only in my speech, but in your speech as well. Okay, here we go. I usually shop for clothes online. But yesterday, I decided to go to my favorite store. I used to shop there all the time. Back then, it was easier than shopping online. First, I tried on a dress, but it was so tight. I could hardly breathe. I immediately took it off and took a deep breath. I tried on the size up, and it was much more loose and comfortable. I thought, do I need to lose weight? I wasn't sure the dress fit me right, and the material seemed too light. I thought about trying on more dresses, but I was getting tired. I think I'll stick to shopping online. Alright guys, so hopefully that shadowing practice was helpful, especially in hearing those slight differences between words that are easily confused by non-native speakers. Go check out my other shadowing videos. They're a huge request from my subscribers, and I appreciate all the feedback you guys give, and I'm so glad that I'm able to help you with these videos. You can help me out by clicking the thumbs up button below, and of course subscribing to my channel. If you have a request for something you'd like me to cover in an upcoming shadowing video, just like I did for this video, comment below. I do try and read them all, but I do give priority reading and reply to my channel members. So if you're interested in becoming a member on my channel, click the join button below to learn more. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next one. Bye for now, guys!