Shadowing activities for your ESL class: a free teacher kit
Sada is a free browser app where a student hears one line of a real talk, says it with or after the speaker, records it and compares. This kit turns it into class activities and homework: four ready-made lessons with lines that open straight in the app, a 20-minute plan for each, the 30-day path as homework, a one-page handout, and an honest account of what a teacher can and cannot see. Students need no account.
Try the first exercise yourself
It opens on day 1, line 1 of the path: “You don't need to speak fast.”, a slow line from a beginner shadowing lesson. Record it once before you give it to a class, on the kind of device your students will use.
Free, with no account and no paid plan, for you or your students.
For teachers: the kit in short
- In class: pick a lesson, show its lines on the screen or hand out the PDF, and follow the 20-minute plan (warm-up, practise, share). Students open each line from its link or its QR code on their own phone or computer.
- Free, with no accounts for students: they open a link and start. There is no paid plan and no limit on students.
- Privacy: recordings and voices stay on the device, and speech recognition runs in the browser. The site keeps ordinary visit records; the privacy section below says exactly what.
- Reuse: the written materials are CC BY 4.0, so you may copy and adapt them with credit (see the licence below).
To print: the teacher kit as a PDF, the four lessons with a QR code for every line and the student handout, and the 30-day plan as a PDF, every day with a QR code and a box to tick for each line. Both print on A4 or Letter.
What students do in five minutes
- Open the line. From a link in this kit, the handout, or any captioned YouTube video pasted into the app. It runs in the browser on a phone or a computer.
- Listen. Tap Listen as often as needed. Loop repeats the line, and the speed goes down to 0.75×.
- Choose a mode. After the speaker: hear the line, then say it (the easier start). With the speaker: speak at the same time as the speaker (shadowing). Type it: type what you hear and check it word by word, before saying it.
- Record. Sada counts 3, 2, 1 and stops by itself at the end of the line.
- Compare. Play “Original, then me” or “Side by side”. Sada shows a match score, the share of the line’s words it heard in the take (for example 82% and “9 of 11 words”), which words were not heard, and how far behind or ahead of the speaker the student was.
- Record again. After two takes, “First try vs now” plays the first and the latest one after the original.
That is one line in about a minute, so five lines fit in five minutes. The match score is about words and timing only: Sada does not grade individual sounds, stress or intonation, and it is not a test of level.
Four ready-made lessons
Each lesson has three real lines, checked against the talk’s captions, that open in the app at the exact line and in the mode the lesson needs, and a 20-minute plan: warm-up, practise, share. Use them in class, or set them as homework on their own.
1. Linking sounds
Objectives
- Learners can hear where a final consonant joins the vowel at the start of the next word (“lift up”, “give up”).
- Learners can say a line of 13 to 15 words without stopping between the words.
- Learners can keep up with a speaker’s pace while speaking at the same time.
Aim: Students hear a final consonant run into the next word’s vowel, and say the line without stopping between words.
“face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden, and never ever give up.”
William McRaven · 5:23 · Open in With the speaker →
“lift up”, “never ever” and “give up”: each final consonant runs into the next vowel.
“I worked and worked, and I got lucky, and worked, and got lucky, and worked.”
Amy Cuddy · 17:02 · Open in With the speaker →
“worked and” and “and I”: the /t/ and the /d/ join the next word.
“is that everything I thought I knew about that story turned out to be wrong.”
Malcolm Gladwell · 5:36 · Open in With the speaker →
“thought I”, “knew about” and “turned out”: three joins in one line.
A 20-minute class plan
- Warm-up (5 minutes): write “give it away” on the board and say it as three words, then as one. Ask which one a speaker would say.
- Practise (10 minutes): each student opens the first line in With the speaker, listens twice with Loop on, and records three takes. Speaking with the speaker makes the joins necessary: a student who stops between words falls behind, and Compare shows the delay.
- Share (5 minutes): two or three students play “Original, then me” to the class. The class names one join they heard and one they missed.
Homework: Record each line three times at home and bring the best take to the next class, on the same phone or computer.
Background for you and your students: connected speech practice.
2. -ed endings
Objectives
- Learners can sort regular past-tense verbs by the sound of -ed: /t/, /d/ or /ɪd/.
- Learners can say the -ed ending clearly in a short line, without dropping it.
Aim: Students hear and say the three sounds of -ed, /t/, /d/ and /ɪd/, and stop dropping the ending.
“I was stressed, and I was frustrated.”
Oprah Winfrey · 6:01 · Open in After the speaker →
/t/ in “stressed” against /ɪd/ in “frustrated”.
“How can you get fired from a company you started?”
Steve Jobs · 6:09 · Open in After the speaker →
/d/ in “fired” against /ɪd/ in “started”.
“And I’m always prepared to be amazed, and I'm never disappointed.”
Celeste Headlee · 11:09 · Open in After the speaker →
/d/ in “prepared” and “amazed”, /ɪd/ in “disappointed”.
A 20-minute class plan
- Warm-up (5 minutes): three columns on the board, /t/, /d/ and /ɪd/. Students sort verbs they know (worked, played, wanted) and say why: the sound before -ed decides.
- Practise (10 minutes): each student records the three lines in After the speaker. On Compare, when a word is shown as not heard, listen to its ending first: was the -ed said?
- Share (5 minutes): pairs swap devices and listen to each other’s best take beside the original. Each partner names one ending that came through clearly.
Homework: Record each line three times at home and bring the best take to the next class, on the same phone or computer.
Background for you and your students: -ed endings pronunciation.
3. Question intonation
Objectives
- Learners can tell whether a speaker’s voice rises or falls at the end of a question.
- Learners can copy the falling tune of a wh-question and of a tag question that expects agreement.
- Learners can mark the tune of a line with an arrow before they say it.
Aim: Students notice where a speaker’s voice rises or falls in three kinds of question, and copy it.
“How can we speak powerfully to make change in the world?”
Julian Treasure · 0:29 · Open in After the speaker →
A wh-question: the usual melody falls at the end. Listen to “world”.
“Would you all like to stand up for a moment?”
Julian Treasure · 7:49 · Open in After the speaker →
A yes/no question that is also a polite request: these usually rise, but not always. Listen to “moment”.
“There's nothing wrong with a bit of silence in a talk, is there?”
Julian Treasure · 6:34 · Open in After the speaker →
A tag, “is there?”, where he expects you to agree: such tags usually fall.
A 20-minute class plan
- Warm-up (5 minutes): say “You’re a teacher.” and “You’re a teacher?” The class raises a hand when the voice goes up.
- Practise (10 minutes): students play each line two or three times, draw an arrow over its last word (up or down), then record it in After the speaker.
- Share (5 minutes): students play their take, and the class decides whether the arrow matches the speaker’s. Sada does not measure pitch, so this judgement is by ear.
Homework: Record each line three times at home and bring the best take to the next class, on the same phone or computer.
Background for you and your students: question intonation.
4. Dictation, then say it
Objectives
- Learners can write down a short spoken line word for word.
- Learners can name the words they missed and why: an ending, a small word, or words run together.
- Learners can say the same line after checking it.
Aim: Students type what they hear, see which words they missed, then say the same line.
“You don't need to speak fast.”
English Unleashed · 2:20 · Open in Type it →
Six short words, said slowly. A first line for any level.
“It gives you a path into the future.”
Carol Dweck · 0:40 · Open in Type it →
Listen for the ending of “gives” and for the small word “a”: both are short and easy to miss.
“Not missiles, but microbes.”
Bill Gates · 0:59 · Open in Type it →
Only four words, and the last one is the least everyday word of the four: listen for both of its syllables.
A 20-minute class plan
- Warm-up (5 minutes): read one line from your coursebook once; students write it down and compare with a partner.
- Practise (10 minutes): students open each line in Type it, listen as often as they need, type it and press Check. They see “5 of 8 words”, the missed words and one tip. Then Record this line.
- Share (5 minutes): ask which word most of the class missed, and why (an ending, a small word, words running together). Play that line together once more.
Homework: Record each line three times at home and bring the best take to the next class, on the same phone or computer.
Background for you and your students: English dictation practice.
The 30-day path as homework
The 30-day shadowing challenge is ready-made daily homework: 5 short lines a day from real talks, about five minutes, slow speakers first and faster ones later. A line is done once it is recorded, or typed and checked; the path counts days done, lines said and days in a row. It follows the student’s pace, not the calendar, so a missed day is simply continued.
- Set a stretch of days, such as days 1 to 5 this week. All 30 days are open from the start, so a stronger class can begin later in the plan.
- Check it in class by asking students to show the path screen with its counts. The counts live on that one device and browser.
- Pair it with a lesson: after the dictation lesson, ask students to type each path line before saying it (how the typing check works).
How students show their work
Recordings stay on the student’s device. Sada has no teacher dashboard, no class accounts, and no way to export or send a take from the app. So the work is shown where it was made:
- Play it in class. The student opens Compare on their own phone or laptop and plays “Original, then me”. With a projector or a speaker, the whole class can listen.
- Show the numbers. The Compare screen shows the match score and the words not heard; the History page for a video shows takes recorded, days practised and the average match of the latest takes; the path shows days done and lines said.
- Show progress. “First try vs now” plays the student’s first take and their latest one after the original, which is often the clearest evidence of improvement.
- Listen in pairs. Partners swap devices and listen to each other’s best take, one thing each to praise and to fix.
The same device matters: a take recorded on a school computer is not on the student’s phone, and clearing the browser’s data deletes it. If you need a file to keep, that has to come from the device itself (for example its own screen or voice recorder), not from Sada; check your school’s rules first.
Privacy: what a school should know
Everything here follows Sada’s privacy page.
- No sign-up and no names. Students never need to sign up, log in or type their name; an account is optional and free. An email address is asked only if someone chooses the optional daily sentence email.
- Recordings and voices stay on the device. Takes, scores and history are kept in the browser and never uploaded. Speech recognition runs in the browser, so the voice is not sent anywhere.
- The site does keep usage records. Like most websites it records each visit and practice step (opening a video, recording a take, playing it back) with the IP address, the approximate place it implies, the browser and a fingerprint of the browser. Microsoft Clarity records taps and scrolling on the pages, with its own cookies. None of these contain recordings or anything said.
- Problem reports are on by default. When something breaks, a short technical report is sent (never a recording or a voice). Each browser can turn reports off, and can also be excluded from the visit and practice records, on the privacy page. On shared school computers, you can set both once per browser.
- Videos play in YouTube’s own player, so YouTube’s terms and data practices apply, and the site will not work where YouTube is blocked.
Before the first lesson
- Open a line once on each device. The first time, the browser downloads the speech recognition model, and the score waits until it is ready; after that it is quick.
- Allow the microphone when the browser asks. Headphones help in a full room: each student hears the speaker, not their neighbour.
- Check that YouTube opens on the school network.
Printable handout for students
One page to print or photograph for the class. Printing this page prints only the handout.
Your 5-minute speaking practice
Open this address in the browser on your phone or computer. No app to install and no account:
- Tap Start · line 1. Tap Listen and hear the line. Slow it to 0.75× if it is fast.
- Choose After the speaker (you speak when the speaker stops) or With the speaker (you speak at the same time).
- Tap Record. Allow the microphone the first time. After 3, 2, 1, say the line. It stops by itself.
- Tap Compare. Play “Original, then me”. Look at the match score and the words that were not heard.
- Record again until you like your take, then tap Next path line.
Show your teacher: play “Original, then me” on your own device, and show the days done and lines said on the path. Your recordings stay on your device, so bring the same phone or computer.
This week: days ______ to ______ of the path.
Licence: free to copy and adapt (CC BY 4.0)
The lesson plans, objectives, instructions, notes and handout in this kit are written by The Sada Team and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). You may copy, print, translate, adapt and share them, in class or in your own materials, also commercially, as long as you give credit and say what you changed.
Credit line: Sada Teacher Kit by The Sada Team, sadaspeak.com, CC BY 4.0
What it does not cover: the YouTube videos, and the lines quoted from them, belong to their speakers and owners and are not covered by this licence. They play in YouTube’s own player, under YouTube’s terms. Sada’s name and logo are not covered either.
How to cite: The Sada Team. Sada Teacher Kit: ESL shadowing activities. https://sadaspeak.com/en/esl-shadowing-activities/. CC BY 4.0.
Related guides
Questions people ask
Is Sada free for schools and tutors?
Yes. Sada is free for everyone, with no paid plan, no licence and no limit on students.
What age is it for?
It suits teenagers and adults best. The lines come from talks and speeches made for adults, and videos play in YouTube’s player, so your school’s rules for YouTube apply. For younger students, check with the school and parents first.
What devices do students need?
A phone, tablet or computer with a modern browser and an internet connection. Nothing to install.
Do students need a microphone?
To record, yes: the one built into a phone or laptop is enough. Typing a line in Type it needs no microphone.
Does Sada judge a student’s accent or dialect?
No. It checks whether the words came across and how the timing compares with the speaker, not the accent. Students can choose American or British speakers to copy.
Do students need to sign up?
No. A student opens the link and starts; their work stays in that browser on that device. A free account is optional: it keeps their practice history on every device.
Can we use it offline?
No. The videos play from YouTube and the captions come from sadaspeak.com, so an internet connection is needed.
Practise again tomorrow? Get one short sentence a day, ready to record in one tap.
You don't need to speak fast.
A slow line to begin with: listen to how “don’t need to” runs together, then say it at the speaker’s pace.
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