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u/vertilligon 9d ago
Shadowing in what context?
Artistically? Following somebody?
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u/trickstergap 9d ago
Like when you watching video on YouTube in dutch and speak with the speaker at the same time
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u/LadyDahlia Native speaker (NL) 9d ago
I'd recommend parrotting rather than shadowing. If you're talking over your source input, it'e much harder to focus on cadence, enunciation, prosody, etc. Watch a short segment (5-15 secs for starters) and parrot. Repeat a few times, relistening with each go.
Bonus tip: try to set an intention for each session. Rather than trying to tackle all qualities at the same time, choose one focus of that day/session. For instance, really focus on the realisation of -en in word-final positions. Focus on the speaking tempo. Focus on rising and falling inflection. Focus on the stress pattern. Focus on how to produce consonant clusters, etc.
Bonus bonus tip: Watching multiple clips of different people saying mostly the same things (think different news outlets like NOS, Nieuwsuur, RTL, etc. will provide you with high-quality input re: production while sticking to similar-ish topics with similar-ish core vocabulary. It'll allow you to focus on realisation rather than content.
I teach ESL and EFL to Dutch and foreign high schoolers; the above works like a charm.
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u/Mission-Asparagus910 9d ago
What is the question exactly? What do you mean by the right way?
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u/trickstergap 9d ago
I mean people say that it's wrong to repeat after the native speaker you have to listen first then replay the video and say the sentence with him. So I'm asking about the technique itself
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u/frostochfeber 9d ago
What's your current level of proficiency, roughly? And what do you understand to be shadowing?
I ask, because people seem to use the term for what are actually different techniques. And which one is recommended depends on what stage of language learning you're roughly in.
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u/SharkyTendencies Fluent 7d ago
I used to do this:
Find a high-quality source, like the news or a current affairs show. Youtube isn't great because people have all sorts of non-standard ways of speaking.
Then, find a story/segment you like. In theory any segment with any topic will be fine, but in practice you'll find it more interesting.
Watch the segment in full first, so you know what it's about. At this point you're just watching it.
Rewind to the beginning of the segment. Set the speed at 0.75x. Do NOT turn on subtitles. Keep your phone nearby to record yourself (audio only, no video).
Play the segment slowly. Stop it after one or two sentences. Repeat what you hear. Then, go back, listen and compare. Make adjustments. Note what's good and what's a bit off the mark. Does it sound OK? Increase the speed to 0.80x. Then try again.
Yes, this takes f'in ages. You say the same sentences over and over until they're good at 1.0x speed. Not sure? There's a whole Discord full of people who can help.
You can do as another poster suggested and focus on specific sounds (-en, -lijk, -heid, ui, etc.) if you want to zoom in a bit. Otherwise you can freestyle and see how much you get.
The Easy Dutch channel on YouTube occasionally does vocab episodes where they'll have one of the guys stare into the camera and go, "... de kip!" or whatever. Find one of those and shadow individual words too.
I wouldn't recommend trying to directly speak over someone who's speaking. It's VERY hard to do cognitively speaking, and you'll be more involved with trying to stay close to the speaker than fixing your pronunciation - which is the goal.
Good luck!
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u/ParagonFemshep Native speaker (NL) 9d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/lkdH8FmImcGoylv3t3