Shadowing Practice: Benedict Cumberbatch & Louise Brealey read letters from wartime lovers - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creando lección...
1
December 1944.
2
Dearest, so very worried about what is happening in Greece.
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On the news tonight it spoke of it spreading and it seems to become a battle.
4
My worst suspicions of what the British army went to Greece for are fulfilled.
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I don't know how this is affecting you and whether the ordinary people are involved.
6
Of course you won't be able to tell me much.
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I can only just hope for your safety.
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Darling, I have no complaints about your letters.
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I am too happy that it is my body that you want that occupies your thoughts.
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If you didn't write and tell me these things I should suspect you of being interested in somebody else's body.
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You keep concentrating on mine.
12
My breasts, my vital, vibrant spot.
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My hands and my desires.
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Well, I am glad you have four blankets to keep you warm.
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If I was there you wouldn't want any you'd be hot
16
enough here am I a blooming iceberg of a maiden waiting to be roused into a fire not just melted
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but changed into a fire and there are you miles
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and miles away needing an extra blanket during this last month
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I've reached rock bottom I no longer need a nurse Christopher I I need the whole vital man in you.
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Your strength, your energy.
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When, when will you make me a whole woman?
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Stunted growth.
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That's what I'm suffering from.
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My body's stunted.
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My affections are stunted.
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Even my mind suffers from this incompleteness.
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I want to be...
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I want to be your mistress,
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to be used to the uttermost.
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I want to fuss you, look after you.
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I want to be your companion in arms, away with depressions, fed-upness, waiting.
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I'm so sick of being a cold, haughty virgin.
33
Crikey, talk about untapped resources.
34
It isn't easy to express these things in words, but you have done it.
35
You have moved me right down, down to the foundations.
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You have accomplished what I shouldn't have thought was possible.
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You have opened a vision of a new world, a new experience for me.
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I cannot help but be so very, very grateful to you.
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that in front of me I can overcome my black moods
40
and rise up again and know
41
that this life is worth the living pancakes yes we had your lemons with them
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that was why I made them I rather think your lemons
43
helped to get rid of my cold maybe your letters as
44
well all those things help you know the lemons on the practical side and the letters on the mental side.
45
I had to giggle about my bravery in bombed London.
46
I live here, work here, and there isn't anything else to do but live here and work here.
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And like most things, up to a point, you get used to it.
48
It's one's low resources that one has to be brave about.
49
All the usual aches and pains get you down easily.
50
Extra effort tires you out.
51
But we're all in the same boat so it isn't as bad as it sounds.
52
Besides the battlefront sound so much worse.
53
I concentrate on that when I feel pathetic.
54
I'm just listening to the nine o'clock news and it's most disheartening.
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It says it's spreading not slackening.
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Oh dear Christopher I really can't think of I can't think of anything else.
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I do really want to be cheerful but it's so difficult.
58
Christmas and you out there.
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I love you and my heart's aching.
60
It's so lonely and desolate without you.
61
My mind keeps going into such flights of fancy on how to get to you, from stowing away on a ship to applying to the war office.
62
It's silly, but it does get so bad sometimes.
63
I went to see The Circle, John Gielgud's production by Somerset Maugham.
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I didn't think much of it.
65
To me, Gielgud seemed such a milk and water specimen.
66
No fire, just a beautiful voice.
67
I think I've got a bit choosy over the theatre.
68
I've seen some really fine plays during the war, and my standards got a bit high.
69
I've been horribly chatty in this letter.
70
That's the result of worrying.
71
I've kind of got you on my mind in a different way.
72
The situation in Greece is getting into my hair, despite all my efforts to remain calm.
73
Keeping calm is my motto, but I do wish I knew how things were with you.
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I love you.
75
Bessie.
76
31st of January 1945.
77
My dearest one, I have just heard the news that all the army men taken POW are to return to their homes.
78
Because of the shipping situation, we may not commence to go before the end of February, but can probably count on being in England sometime in March.
79
Maybe sooner.
80
It has made me very warm inside.
81
It's terrific, it's wonderful, it's shattering.
82
I don't know what to say and I cannot think.
83
The delay is nothing, the decision is everything.
84
Now I am confirming in my head the little decisions I have made when contemplating just the possibility.
85
I must spend the first days at home.
86
I must see Deb and her mother.
87
I must consider giving a party somewhere.
88
Above all, I must be with you.
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I must warm you, surround you, love you and be kind to you.
90
Tell me anything that's in your mind.
91
Write tons and tons and tons and plan our time.
92
I would prefer not to get married.
93
But want you to agree on the point.
94
In the battle, I was afraid. For you.
95
For my mother, for myself.
96
Wait, we must, my love, my darling.
97
Let us meet, let us be, let us know but do not let us now make any mistakes.
98
I am anxious, very anxious, that you should not misunderstand what I have said.
99
Say what you think, but please agree, and remember I was afraid, and I am still afraid.
100
How good for us to see each other before I am completely bald?
101
Have a few fine little wisps of hair on the top of my head.
102
Not much good me trying to write about recent experiences, now that I know I shall be able to tell you everything myself within such a short time.
103
What I have my eye on now is the first letter from you saying that you know I am all right, and then next saying you know I am coming to you.
104
Must try and keep out of hospital with some of these post-POW complaints.
105
Plan a week somewhere, not Boscombe or Bournemouth, and think of being together.
106
The glory of you.
107
When I was captive, I used to try and contact you and think hard.
108
Bessie, my dearest, I am all right.
109
Do not worry.
110
I never thought that I would get through somehow, but now it's over and you know that I am all right
111
and going to be with you soon to join and enjoy.
112
Do not get very excited outwardly.
113
I am conscious of the inner tumult, the clamour, but I am not too much outwardly joyful.
114
Moderation is my advice.
115
Watch the buses as you cross the streets.
116
we're free of duties
117
and yesterday I went to our friends in Athens taking some of your coffee and cocoa
118
which they were very pleased to have thank you for sending it we were embraced very excitedly kissing
119
and so on continental fashion I hope
120
that you will not start buying any clothes
121
if you have any coupons left because you think you must look nice for me.
122
I shall be sorry if you do.
123
Just carry on as near as possible to normal.
124
My return at the present time allows us to make public our mutual attachment.
125
I shall tell my family that I hope to spend a week away with you somewhere during my leave.
126
My counsel to you is to tell as few people as possible.
127
To someone like Miss Ferguson, you can politely reply to observations that you thought it was your business rather than hers.
128
Try to avoid preening yourself and saying much.
129
This is my advice, not anything but that.
130
I hope you understand.
131
I do not ever want it to be anything but our affair.
132
Do Do not permit any intrusion.
133
I do not know how long leave I shall get.
134
I could get as little as 14 days, and I may get as much as a month.
135
I'm wondering how I shall tell you that I am in England.
136
Probably it will still be quicker to send a telegram than a letter, and I hope to send you one announcing that I am on the same island.
137
I will send another when I'm actually soon to get on the London-bound train, and you can ring Lee Green 0509 when you think I have arrived there.
138
You must bear in mind that I shall be with my brother until we get home.
139
Also, that having been away from home for so long, my parents will want to see a lot of me.
140
I hope that everything will work itself out without any unhappiness to anyone.
141
I shall be in great demand from two or three points, and it will be difficult to manage without offence.
142
Strange thing, but I cannot seem to get going and write very freely.
143
All I'm thinking about is, I am going home, I'm going to see her.
144
It's a fact, a real thing, an impending event like Trove Tuesday, Christmas Day, or the Lord Mayor's Banquet.
145
You have to be abroad, you have to be really, truly, hermetically sealed off from your intimates,
146
from your home, to realise what a gift this going home is.
147
The few letters of yours that I had on me, I burnt the day previous to our surrender, so no one but myself has read your words.
148
In the first ten days of our captivity, I did not think any soft thoughts about you.
149
All I did was concentrate on trying to tell you I was all right.
150
But when we had a few supplies dropped by aircraft, at great risk to themselves in the misty snowbound Greek mountain villages, and we started hoping we might get sent home upon our release,
151
I was always wondering about you, about us.
152
It is a pity that the winter weather will not be kind to us out of doors.
153
It would be nice sitting next to you in the pictures, no matter what may be on the screen.
154
It would be grand to know that we have each other's support and sympathy.
155
Won't it be wonderful to be together, really together, in the flesh?
156
Not just to know that a letter is all we can send.
157
I love you, Chris.
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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección
Esta lección de conversación de nivel B2 se basa en el vídeo “Benedict Cumberbatch & Louise Brealey read letters from wartime lovers”. Este vídeo tiene 157 frases y 1811 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 12:03. El hablante habla a un ritmo natural de unas 150 palabras por minuto, cercano a una conversación cotidiana. El 82 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.
Vocabulario clave de este vídeo
Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| litter sustantivo | /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ | cama, lecho |
| stunt sustantivo | /stʌnt/ | espectáculo peligroso, escena de alto riesgo |
| concentrate verbo | /ˈkɑn.sən.tɹeɪt/ | concentrar |
| lemon sustantivo | /ˈlɛmən/ | limón, citrón |
| ache verbo | /ˈeɪk/ | doler, sufrir |
| outwardly adverbio | /ˈaʊtwɚdli/ | exteriormente |
| blanket sustantivo | /ˈblæŋ.kɪt/ | manta, cobija |
| darling sustantivo | /ˈdɑɹlɪŋ/ | amado, amada |
| anxious adjetivo | /ˈæŋkʃəs/ | incómodo |
| battlefront sustantivo | frente de batalla | |
| blooming adjetivo | /ˈbluː.mɪŋ/ | floreciente |
| chatty adjetivo | /ˈt͡ʃæti/ | charlador, conversador |
| contemplate verbo | /ˈkɑn.təmˌpleɪt/ | contemplar |
| crikey | /ˈkɹaɪki/ | caray |
| desolate adjetivo | /ˈdɛs.ə.lət/ | desierto |
Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| get through verbo | /ɡɛt ˈθɹu/ | aguantar, salir adelante |
Frases que vale la pena repetir
Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:
- When, when will you make me a whole woman?
- That's what I'm suffering from.
- I'm so sick of being a cold, haughty virgin.
- I love you and my heart's aching.
- It's so lonely and desolate without you.
Gramática en este vídeo
Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:
| Estructura | En el vídeo |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora | I've reached · have done · have moved |
| Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace | are fulfilled · are involved · be roused |
Pronunciación a tener en cuenta
El hablante usa 28 contracciones y formas reducidas, como I'm, I've, isn't. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.
- Los sonidos de “th”: sympathy /ˈsɪm.pəθ.i/, pathetic /pəˈθɛtɪk/
- Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: anxious /ˈæŋkʃəs/, intrusion /ɪnˈtɹuːʒən/, moderation /ˌmɑdəˈɹeɪʃən/, shatter /ˈʃætɚ/, affection /əˈfɛk.ʃən/
- Palabras largas — cuida el acento: hermetically /hɚˈmɛt.ɪk(.ə)li/, misunderstand /mɪs.ʌn.də(ɹ)ˈstænd/, moderation /ˌmɑdəˈɹeɪʃən/, captivity /kæpˈtɪvɪti/
Cómo practicar con este vídeo
- Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
- Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
- Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como litter, stunt, concentrate.
¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?
Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.