Pratique du Shadowing: Your Life as King Baldwin IV - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

Création de la leçon...
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Level 1.
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The Numb Arm.
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You are 9 years old.
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The other boys in the courtyard are wrestling.
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You're winning.
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You always win.
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But something is wrong.
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Your tutor is watching from the balcony.
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He's not watching the fight.
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He's watching your arm.
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The other boys are scratching you.
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Digging their nails into your right forearm.
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You don't flinch.
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You don't feel it.
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You've never felt it.
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Your tutor calls you inside.
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He grabs your arm and presses a lit candle close to your skin.
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Nothing.
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No pain, no reaction.
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His face goes white.
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He knows what this means.
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You don't.
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Not yet.
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You're a prince of Jerusalem.
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Your father is king of the holiest city on earth.
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You live in a stone palace surrounded by enemies on every side.
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You were born for the throne.
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But something is growing inside your body.
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Something that will eat you alive.
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Level 2.
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The Final Verdict.
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You are 11.
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A physician examines you in a dark room.
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He unwraps the linen from your arm.
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The skin is pale.
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Patches of it are completely numb.
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He presses a needle into your flesh.
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You feel nothing.
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He steps back.
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He doesn't need to say the word.
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Leprosy.
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In this century, it's a final verdict.
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There is no cure, no treatment.
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Your body will slowly destroy itself.
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Your skin will crack and blister.
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Your fingers will curl inward like claws face will collapse.
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Eventually, your eyes will go dark.
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And then, your story ends.
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Most lepers are cast out of society.
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They live in colonies outside the walls.
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They ring bells to warn people their coming.
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But you are not most lepers.
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You are the heir to Jerusalem.
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The kingdom needs a king.
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And right now, you're all they've got.
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Level 3.
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The Boy King.
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You are 13.
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Your father is gone.
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Dysentery took him on a campaign in in the north.
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The crown passes to you.
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A child with a disease that's already eating his body from the inside.
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The barons kneel before you in the great hall.
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Some of them mean it.
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Most of them are already calculating.
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A sick boy on the throne means opportunity.
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Your mother is pushed aside.
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Your tutor becomes your closest advisor.
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He's the only one who sees you as a king and not a shadow on borrowed time.
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The kingdom you inherit is a thin strip of land pressed between the Mediterranean Sea and a sea of enemies.
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Egypt to the south, Syria to the east.
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And somewhere out there, the most dangerous man alive is unifying the entire Muslim world under one banner.
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His name is Saladin.
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He wants Jerusalem back.
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And you, a 13-year-old leper, are the only thing standing in his way.
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Level 4.
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The Miracle.
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You are 16.
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Saladin crosses the border with 26,000 men.
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Your scouts ride in hard with the news.
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The largest army you've ever faced is heading straight for the Holy City.
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You have 375 knights, a few thousand infantry.
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The math doesn't work.
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Your advisors urge caution.
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Fall back behind the walls.
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Wait for reinforcements.
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You refuse.
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You ride out.
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Your arm is already weakening.
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You can barely grip the reins.
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A servant straps the shield to your arm because your fingers can't hold it.
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You find Saladin's army near a hill called Moncusard.
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They don't expect you.
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They think you're hiding behind walls.
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You order the charge.
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375 knights slam into 26,000 soldiers.
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The impact is devastating.
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You're in the middle of it.
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A teenage boy on a war horse, his body failing, his sword arm going numb.
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Saladin's army shatters.
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They scatter into the desert.
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Thousands gone.
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Saladin himself barely escapes on the back of a racing camel.
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You ride back to Jerusalem, a hero.
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The entire kingdom erupts.
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A leper boy just defeated the greatest general in the known world.
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For one single night, you forget the clock is ticking.
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Level 5 – The Rotting Throne You are 18.
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The disease is accelerating.
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Your right hand is nearly useless.
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You press it flat against the throne's armrest, just to feel something… nothing.
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The skin on your arms is cracking open in deep sores.
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Bandages cover most of your body now.
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You can still ride, but someone has to lift you onto the horse.
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The court sees it.
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The vultures are circling.
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Your mother whispers in corners you can't reach.
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She schemes behind your back.
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Your sister's new husband, a French knight with more ambition than skill, is positioning himself for the crown.
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The barons split into factions.
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Some support you.
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Some back the French knight.
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Some just want whoever wins to owe them a favor.
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You sit on the throne wrapped in linen, watching your kingdom tear itself apart from the inside.
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Four months ago you drove Saladin into the desert.
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Tonight your own court is the battlefield.
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Saladin is still out there.
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He hasn't forgotten Montgassard.
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He's rebuilding.
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He's recruiting.
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He's patient.
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He doesn't need an army right now.
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He has something better.
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Time.
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And you're running out of it.
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Level 6.
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The Iron Will.
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You are 20.
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Your legs are giving out.
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Someone carries you into the throne room every morning.
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A silver mask sits where the bandages used to be.
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You chose it yourself.
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If the court wants to stare, they'll stare at something cold.
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But your mind is razor sharp, sharper than anyone sitting in the room.
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You strip your sister's husband of his claim, his authority, his future.
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The man nearly started a war through sheer stupidity.
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He raided a merchant caravan during a truce with Saladin, broke the peace like it meant nothing.
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You humiliate him publicly.
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The barons protest.
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You don't care.
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You cannot walk.
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But you can still rule.
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You summon the one Baron you trust, a lord from the Northern Territories.
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Not ambitious, not hungry for glory, just solid, steady, experienced.
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You appoint him regent.
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The court despises it.
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They want the French knight.
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You want the kingdom to survive.
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Those are two very different things.
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Level 7.
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The Last Ride.
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You are 21.
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Saladin invades again.
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A massive army lays siege to a fortress near the Sea of Galilee.
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The regent gathers the army, but won't attack.
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He's cautious.
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Too cautious.
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The fortress is crumbling.
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Defenders are dying on the walls.
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You hear the reports, and something inside you snaps.
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You haven't walked in months.
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Your eyes are going, but you order your servants to carry you to the front lines on a litter.
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The army watches as you arrive.
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Silence first.
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Then something else.
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They've seen kings ride into battle before.
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They've never seen one carried.
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You can't hold a sword, you can't grip the reins of a horse, but you can give orders, and the men follow them.
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Your presence alone rallies the entire force.
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They march.
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Saladin sees the banners of Jerusalem approaching and withdraws.
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He won't fight you.
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Not again.
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Not after Montgesard.
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A blind, crippled leper king on a stretcher just made the most powerful warlord in the Middle East turn around
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and walk away.
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This is the last time you will ever see a battlefield.
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Level 8.
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The Blind King.
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You are 22.
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Your eyes have failed.
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The light is gone.
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You rule Jerusalem in total darkness.
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Servants describe every room.
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Advisors read you the letters aloud.
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You dictate your responses from abed.
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You will not leave it again.
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Your body is unrecognizable.
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The disease has consumed your face, your hands, your feet.
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Every joint is swollen.
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Every breath is agony.
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But you are still making decisions.
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You name your sister's infant son as your heir, not her husband, never her husband.
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You know the French knight will destroy everything you've bled to protect.
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You force the barons to swear their loyalty to the boy.
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Some of them lie straight to your face.
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You can't see their expressions, but you know.
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You've always known who's loyal, and who's just waiting for you to stop breathing.
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Level 9.
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The Sandcastle.
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You are 23.
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The child is crowned co-king beside you.
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A boy barely old enough to hold a wooden sword, now shares the throne of Jerusalem.
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It's desperate.
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It's absurd.
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It's the only move left on the board.
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Your regent governs in the child's name.
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The French knight is sidelined. For now.
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You've built a wall of oaths and laws around the succession.
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It's fragile.
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Paper thin.
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Nothing holds forever in this kingdom.
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You know that better than anyone alive.
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Your kingdom is a sandcastle.
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The tide is Saladin.
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But you've bought time.
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That's all you've ever done.
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Buy time. With blood. With pain.
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With a body that should have given out.
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years ago.
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Level 10.
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The Price.
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You are 24, spring in Jerusalem.
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You can't feel the warmth on your skin.
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You can't see the sunlight pouring through your window.
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You can barely hear the prayers echoing from the great church below the palace walls.
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Your body has finally consumed itself.
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11 years on the throne, you fought Saladin and won.
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You held a crumbling kingdom together through nothing but will.
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You ruled through blindness, through agony, through betrayal.
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When stronger men would have surrendered in their sleep, the servants change your bandages one final time, the room goes quiet.
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You are 24 years old, and you have lived more lifetimes than men twice your age.
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The crown is lifted from your head.
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Two years after your death, the French knight you spent your entire reign trying to stop will lose Jerusalem to Saladin at the Horns of Hattin.
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Everything you fought for will fall, but not today.
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Today, the pain finally stops.
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You paid the price, and now you are history.

Vocabulaire et conseils d’expression pour cette leçon

Cette leçon d’expression orale de niveau B2 s’appuie sur la vidéo « Your Life as King Baldwin IV ». Les mots qui reviennent le plus souvent : Saladin, Jerusalem, knight, kingdom, arm. Cette vidéo contient 247 phrases et 1598 mots à répéter en shadowing. La partie parlée dure 10:21. Le locuteur parle à un rythme naturel d’environ 155 mots par minute, proche d’une conversation courante. Seuls 79 % des mots font partie des 3 000 mots les plus courants en anglais, le vocabulaire est donc exigeant.

Vocabulaire clé de cette vidéo

Les 15 mots les plus avancés de la vidéo, avec leur prononciation et leur sens :

MotPrononciationSens
throne nom/θɹəʊ̯n/trône
leper nom/ˈlɛpɚ/léprosé, lépreux
baron nom/ˈbæɹən/baron
servant nom/ˈsɝvənt/domestique, servante
bandage nom/ˈbæn.dɪd͡ʒ/bandage, pansement
regent nom/ˈɹiːd͡ʒənt/régent, régente
numb adjectif/nʌm/gourd, engourdi
tutor nom/ˈtjuːtəː/tuteur
advisor nom/ædˈvaɪ.zə(ɹ)/conseiller, conseillère
crumble verbe/ˈkɹʌmbəl/s'effondrer
rein nom/ɹeɪn/rêne
sandcastle nom/ˈsæn(d)ˌkæsəl/château de sable
agony nom/ˈæɡ.ə.ni/agonie, angoisse
linen nom/ˈlɪnɪn/toile, lin
fortress nom/ˈfoɹ.tɹɪs/forteresse

Les verbes à particule que vous entendrez

MotSens
fall back verbese replier, se rabattre
turn around verberetourner

Des phrases à répéter

Des phrases courtes et complètes de la vidéo, à réutiliser dans la conversation de tous les jours :

  • They think you're hiding behind walls.
  • You're in the middle of it.
  • Your mother whispers in corners you can't reach.
  • You haven't walked in months.
  • You can't see their expressions, but you know.

La grammaire de cette vidéo

Les structures que le locuteur utilise le plus, avec les mots exacts de la vidéo :

StructureDans la vidéo
Present perfect have/has + participe passé — une action passée qui compte encore maintenantYou've never felt · you've ever faced · hasn't forgotten
Voix passive be + participe passé — l’accent est mis sur ce qui arrive, pas sur qui le faitwere born · is pushed · is crowned

Prononciation à surveiller

Le locuteur utilise 36 contractions et formes réduites, comme can't, you've, you're. Prononcez-les sous leur forme courte, telles que vous les entendez.

  • Les sons « th »: throne /θɹəʊ̯n/, warmth /wɔɹmθ/, oath /ˈoʊθ/, withdraw /wɪðˈdɹɔ/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/
  • Les sons « sh » et « zh »: cautious /ˈkɔːʃəs/, shatter /ˈʃætɚ/, faction /ˈfæk.ʃən/, ambition /æmˈbɪʃ.ən/, ambitious /æmˈbɪʃ.əs/
  • Mots longs — placez bien l’accent: dysentery /ˈdɪs.ənˌtɛɹ.i/, humiliate /hjuːˈmɪliˌeɪt/, reinforcement /ˌɹiːɪnˈfɔːsmənt/, unrecognizable /ʌnˈɹɛkəɡnaɪzəbəl/, stupidity /stuˈpɪdɪti/

Les sons difficiles pour les francophones :

  • /h/ — il se souffle, il n’est pas muet: humiliate /hjuːˈmɪliˌeɪt/, inherit /ɪnˈhɛɹɪt/, whisper /ˈ(h)wɪspɚ/
  • /tʃ/ et /dʒ/ — à ne pas adoucir en « ch » et « j »: bandage /ˈbæn.dɪd͡ʒ/, regent /ˈɹiːd͡ʒənt/, flinch /ˈflɪnt͡ʃ/, stretcher /ˈstɹɛt͡ʃə/, vulture /ˈvʌlt͡ʃɚ/
  • /r/ anglais — langue recourbée, sans frotter la gorge: throne /θɹəʊ̯n/, baron /ˈbæɹən/, regent /ˈɹiːd͡ʒənt/, advisor /ædˈvaɪ.zə(ɹ)/, crumble /ˈkɹʌmbəl/

Comment s’entraîner avec cette vidéo

  1. Écoutez la vidéo en entier une fois sans parler et notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas.
  2. Commencez à la vitesse 0,75×, répétez phrase par phrase, puis revenez à la vitesse normale quand cela devient facile.
  3. Enregistrez-vous et comparez avec l’original, en faisant attention à des mots comme throne, leper, baron.

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

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