What and how to practice shadowing?

Please note that this technique is recommended to be master after you completed the first 3 chapters of this course to learn the core concept of pronunication.

What is the shadowing technique?

Shadowing is a technique where the learner focuses on only the phonological and phonetic skills. When shadowing, we’re not concerned by the meaning of the words or the grammar and syntax of the speech, it’s all about replicating the sounds as accurately as possible. 

I, myself, love learning languages. I caught myself doing this showing technique even before I learned about this technique and I strongly believe that this is a powerful tool to naturally become familiar with the sounds of each language. It is the key to my success in leanring and speaking German. Hence, I am excited to share this with you.

How to work with this?

1) Select a model

  • In this course, I will be your model and you got used to my voice by now. I am working with my male friends to produce another version of audio for men as I tend to have quite a high pitch.
  • You can also use this technique with other sources: series, movies, advertisements, podcasts, etc. Find short audio with a max of 5 mins duration with only one person speaking.

2) Listen

  • Before starting, listen to the audio quickly to get familiar with the pitch, sounds, intonation, and speed.
  • Do not need to care about the meaning of the words at this stage. Remember, your focus is on improving your Thai sounds and pronunciation.

3) Practise shadowing

  • As soon as you finish listening to each sentence, immediately replete and mimic all details: pitch, sounds, intonation, stress, and speed.
  • With the exercise I prepared for you, the sentences are based on the main word (Most commonly used words). Focus on the word and get the word right. It's a good way for you to practice pronouncing the words again and again.

4) Record it

  • After 2-3 times of repeating the set of sentences. I recommend you record your voice with your phone or laptop.
  • You can record the voice by phone and listen to the sound by headphones connected to your computer.

5) Listen back

  • I know it might sound weird from the beginning to hear your voice but be open to yourself.
  • Listen to yourself speaking and note down if you catch some sounds that are off compared to the original sounds. You can also pass your voice record to your Thai friends, teacher, or Kru Smuk to get feedback.

Resources

I prepared worksheets for the 5 sets of shadowing practices to download in each lesson. For the audio, you can bulk download them all from our Google Drive here.

Additional infomation

Good luck and don't forget to have fun.

With love,
Kru Smuk

Complete and Continue