Practice Shadowing is a website for adults who are learning English and want to practise speaking by repeating recorded speech. It works in the browser on a phone or a computer, wherever you live. Its screens and its guides are in English and in Vietnamese.
Who it is for
People who study English on their own or next to a class, and want to practise speaking when there is no one to practise with.
What it does
After each sentence the player stops and waits while you repeat it. When you have finished, it goes on by itself, and "I am done" is always on screen if you want to move on sooner. If you prefer, it can pause for a set time instead, play on while you speak along, or wait for a tap. In a noisy room it suggests earphones before you start.
You can practise with the sample clips, which need no account, or bring your own material: an audio file, a podcast episode from its public feed, or a YouTube video with English captions. The app splits your audio into sentences with their text. For a YouTube video it takes the sentences from the captions, and you choose the part you want.
Each attempt is recorded on your device and can be played back next to the original. That costs nothing, and the recording stays with you. You can also add the site to your home screen and use it like an app.
What the scoring is, and what it is not
Scoring is optional. When you ask for a score, your recording is sent off to be turned into words and is deleted afterwards. You see those words set against the sentence: the ones that matched, the ones that came out different, the ones you missed and any extra ones, with your pace.
That is all it measures. It is not a pronunciation grade, and it does not judge your accent. Speech recognition can mishear a clear word or accept an unclear one, so read the result as a pointer to the words worth another listen.
Free during launch
An account gets 5 minutes a day for transcribing your audio or scoring attempts, plus 10 more on the first day. Practising, recording, comparing and finding a YouTube video's sentences use no minutes. You can ask for more from your profile. You sign in with Google or with a six-digit code sent to your email.
Your data
Your audio, its text and your recordings stay in your browser. The privacy page says what we keep on our side, and why.
Who runs it
The contact page says how to reach us, and the terms of use name the operator.