What is SHADOWING and Why should you use it? / Part 1/ In a nutshell, this method of learning a language involves shadowing someone else speaking - you're repeating what they are saying. But if you take a closer look, shadowing has many features and recommendations. There is the classic method and there are many variations of it. You need to adapt shadowing to suit yourself, find the best option for yourself out of all the possible ones. 🌸To read or not to read? “Blind” shadowing means that you do not see the text. The voice in the headphones speaks - you listen and repeat. The advantage of this method is that you listen more intensely and attentively, the text does not distract you, and you do not need to switch. The disadvantages, at a minimum, are that reading is not improved and you can easily pronounce a word incorrectly, mistaking it for another - after all, it is easier to confuse it by ear, especially in an unfamiliar language. 🌸Listen first - talk later? The classic description of the technique suggests repeating in shadow after the speaker from the very first listen - with the minimum delay that you are capable of. In alternative descriptions, you can find the sequence - “first you listen, then you talk with the announcer,” or even “first you read and listen, then you speak with the announcer.” 🌸 With or without translation? When singing in an unfamiliar language, it is advised to understand what you are singing about. In exercises to practice pronunciation, you also need to know the translation of your text. So, your native language version is always needed, one way or another you cannot do without it. But when to introduce it, there may be variations. In the classical method, it is recommended to immediately take the original text and the translation and look at both in the literal sense.