Shadowing practice: listen, repeat, record
How to use this page
Pick a passage at your level, press Listen and follow the highlighted chunks, then repeat each chunk about half a second behind the voice. Slow the speed until you can keep up, use chunk mode for the parts that trip you, and record yourself once you can shadow the whole passage. Ten minutes a day, and the same passage for several days.
The voice is your device’s built-in speech engine, so quality depends on what your phone or computer has installed, and a voice labelled natural or enhanced is worth installing. The recorder stays on your device: nothing is uploaded, and the recording disappears when you leave the page.
What shadowing trains, and what it does not
Shadowing improves rhythm, sentence stress, the linking between words and the stamina of your mouth muscles in the new language. It does not teach vocabulary or grammar, and it does not make you fluent on its own, because you only ever repeat someone else’s words. Pair it with conversation practice where you have to find your own words under time pressure.
It also cannot tell you what you got wrong. You will hear the difference between the model and your recording, which is useful, but a computer voice cannot say which sound to fix first. That feedback is the job of a coach, human or AI.
Choosing a level
If you have to think about meaning, the level is too high for shadowing. Attention spent on understanding is attention taken from sound.
• A2: short everyday monologues with simple past and present forms. Start here if you still decode sentence by sentence.
• B1: longer sentences with contractions and linking, the level where most learners plateau.
• B2: workplace and opinion passages with weak forms and dropped consonants, the features that make native speakers hard to follow.
A ten-minute routine
Repeat the same passage for three to five days before moving on. Improvement here is motor learning, and motor learning needs repetition more than variety.
• Minutes 1 to 2: listen twice without speaking, eyes on the chunks, ears on where the voice pauses and what it stresses.
• Minutes 3 to 6: chunk mode. Repeat each chunk until it feels automatic and loop the ones that fall apart.
• Minutes 7 to 9: shadow the whole passage at a slow speed, then at natural speed.
• Minute 10: record, play the model, play yours, and write down one thing to fix tomorrow.
What shadowing trains, the most common mistakes, how to pick material from podcasts and films, and when to expect to hear results.
Frequently asked questions
Is this shadowing tool free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and nothing to install. It runs in your browser using the voices your device already has.
Why can’t I hear a voice?
Your device has no voice installed for that language, or the browser blocked speech until you tap a button. On iPhone, add voices under Settings, Accessibility, Spoken Content, Voices. On Android, look under Text-to-speech in the system settings. Chrome and Edge on a computer include online voices.
Does my recording get uploaded anywhere?
No. The recording is made and played inside your browser and is discarded when you leave or pick another passage. This page has no account and stores nothing.
Can beginners shadow?
Yes, with the A2 passages at a slow speed and only once you understand every word. Complete beginners usually get more from listening and learning basic phrases first; shadowing pays off from high-beginner level onward.
How is this different from the Lucida app?
This page gives you a model to copy. The app holds a real conversation with you and corrects your pronunciation, grammar, fluency and pace as you speak, which is the part shadowing cannot do.
Get corrected, not just echoed
Lucida is an AI speaking coach app for iOS and Android. You hold real spoken conversations with an AI coach and get real-time feedback on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, pace and filler words. Free to download, with some features requiring a subscription.
