Conversation 8 (14/03/25)
B2 Version (Corrected but Clear and Simple)
I had a problem—not a very serious one—but it was related to my desire to shadow things. And it's very difficult for me to find a good source for shadowing.
Today, I found a source—an American English podcast created by Shanna Thompson. She's an ESL teacher from California, and I think her accent is quite suitable for shadowing. So I took an episode and shadowed part of it.
Actually, it worked like this: I listened to about four or five minutes of the podcast, but shadowing took me about 12 minutes. Some sentences I listened to twice or even three times, and I would rewind a few seconds, a sentence or two back. So it turned out that shadowing takes three times as long as the actual audio.
But I think it's OK; it's worth it.
C1 Version (More Natural and Fluent)
I had a minor issue—not a big deal—but it was related to my struggle to find good shadowing material. It's surprisingly difficult to find a solid source for shadowing.
Today, I finally came across one—an American English podcast by Shanna Thompson. She's an ESL teacher from California, and I think her accent is great for shadowing. So I picked an episode and shadowed part of it.
It actually worked pretty well. I listened to about four or five minutes of the podcast, but shadowing took me nearly 12 minutes. Some sentences I had to repeat two or three times, and I kept rewinding a few seconds to go back over certain parts. So in the end, shadowing took me about three times as long as the actual audio.
But I think that's fine—it’s totally worth it.
Improved C1 Version (More Natural and Fluent)
I had a minor issue—not a big deal—but I was struggling to find good material for shadowing. It’s surprisingly hard to find the right source.
Today, I finally came across one—an American English podcast by Shanna Thompson. She’s an ESL teacher from California, and I think her accent is great for shadowing. So I picked an episode and practiced with part of it.
It actually worked pretty well. I listened to about four or five minutes of the podcast, but shadowing took me nearly 12 minutes. I had to repeat some sentences two or three times, and I kept rewinding a few seconds to go over tricky parts. In the end, shadowing took about three times as long as the actual audio.
But I think that’s fine—it’s totally worth it.
Final C1 Version (Even More Natural and Fluent)
I had a minor issue—not a big deal—but I was struggling to find good material for shadowing. Finding the right source can be surprisingly tricky.
Today, I finally came across one—an American English podcast by Shanna Thompson. She’s an ESL teacher from California, and I think her accent is great for shadowing. So I picked an episode and practiced with part of it.
It actually worked really well. I listened to about four or five minutes of the podcast, but shadowing took almost 12 minutes. I had to repeat some sentences two or three times and kept rewinding a few seconds to go over tricky parts. In the end, shadowing took nearly three times as long as the actual audio.
But that’s fine—it’s totally worth it.