Contents
Do you know "shadowing"? It is said to be effective for improving English proficiency.
What kind of effect does such shadowing have on learning English?
In this article, I will give you an overview of shadowing and its effects.
What is "shadowing"?
What is "shadowing" in the first place?
Shadowing is an interpreter training method in which you read aloud while listening to English and immediately imitating its pronunciation. It's hard to imagine even if you read only the text, but do you ever sing along with the melody while listening to Western music?
What you are doing here is exactly shadowing. So what effect does shadowing have on learning English? From now on, we will consider the effect of shadowing.
What are the effects of shadowing?
Let's think about the effect of shadowing immediately.
Improved listening skills
The first possible shadowing effect is to improve your listening comprehension. Listening skills cannot be acquired simply by listening to the voice. Shadowing is effective in training your listening skills because humans can only hear what they can pronounce.
Native speakers also have unique pronunciations, such as connecting words and pronouncing them, or not pronouncing the "t" at the end of a word. Being able to hear such native pronunciation is also an advantage of shadowing.
Improved speaking ability
The next possible effect of shadowing is to improve speaking ability. As I mentioned earlier, native speakers have their own pronunciation.
By shadowing, you can learn such unique pronunciation methods and you will be able to pronounce more natively. By doing so, you can expect to improve your speaking ability.
Why shadowing is not recommended for beginners
Shadowing can be expected to have various effects, but it is said that there are high hurdles for beginners in English. The possible reasons for this are as follows.
Some listening skills are essential
The first reason is that some listening skills are essential. Since you have to listen to the voice and pronounce it as if you heard it immediately, you need some listening ability in the first place.
Even if you try to do shadowing without any listening skills, you will not be able to hear English, so beginners will have a very high hurdle.
I don't have a solid vocabulary or grammar
Second, I don't have a solid vocabulary and grammar. Shadowing can be expected to be effective as a pronunciation practice, but it requires some vocabulary and grammatical knowledge as a prerequisite.
If you do shadowing without such a premise, you will end up in a situation where you can learn how to pronounce but do not know what you are talking about. In that state, it is difficult to get the feeling that you are growing, and you will be frustrated.
What should beginners do?
So what should beginners do? It is a good idea to train basic pronunciation under the supervision of an instructor, and at the same time acquire vocabulary and grammar knowledge. If you are a beginner, it is advisable to work on this series of things under the supervision of a leader.
Summary: What is shadowing? What kind of effect can be obtained?
How was it? In this article:
・ Shadowing leads to improvement of listening and speaking ability
・ There are big hurdles for beginners to shadow ・ Beginners can
practice pronunciation and acquire basic knowledge under the supervision of an instructor The point was that it was important for
him to do.
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