Pratica di Shadowing: Birdy's Grudge - Impara a parlare inglese con i video

Creazione lezione...
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Hello, you're listening to Jana, and I'm back with one of our popular birdie stories.
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It's a hoot of a story, and I hope you'll enjoy it.
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One dark evening back in February, Jake heard hooting sounds from the back garden.
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He pulled on his wellies and coat, took a torch from the cupboard and hurried out into the rain to investigate.
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Jake followed the hoots towards an old apple tree.
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There the beam of his torch found two enormous yellow eyes looking straight at him.
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He ran back to the house.
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Mum, Dad, come and see.
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I think I found an owl.
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It's in the garden.
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Jake couldn't wait to tell his best friend Birdie about his discovery
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But Birdie didn't appear that night He must have been busy elsewhere The next morning, Mum yawned as she made breakfast Oh,
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I wish that owl would keep quiet She complained
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He was twit -to -ooing half the night I haven't slept a wink After supper,
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Dad found an owl video on YouTube The family watched it together.
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They learned that the female tawny owl makes a cry like...
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And the male answers her with a...
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I heard both those sounds, said Mum.
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I think we have a pair of owls.
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I expect there'll be a whole family in the spring.
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Now Jake was even more excited.
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He was sure that Birdie would be too.
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After all, Birdie was a bird, so he would be interested in the latest bird gossip, wouldn't he?
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That night, Birdie paid a visit.
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The ancient crow was at Jake's window.
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Come in, Birdie.
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I've got big news.
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We have owls.
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Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, said Birdie.
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Sorry, it's good news, isn't it?
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Birdie shook his black head Owls are the worst type of news They're never up to any good in my experience Oh?
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said Jake astonished In school, they teach us that owls are wise
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Crrrr! said Birdie shaking his head And Jake realised that he might have offended his feathered friend No, not as wise as crows,
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of course, Birdie I just mean, you know, they're not stupid Owls,
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said Birdie Are cunning, but cunning is not the same thing as wise Unfortunately,
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some people can't tell the difference I knew an owl once who even managed to trick the goddess Athena
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Jake could tell that one of Birdie's stories was coming on, so he sat back against his pillow.
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It happened long, long ago.
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And I don't mean long ago like when your dad was a little kid.
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I mean properly long ago, like back in ancient times when even I was handsome
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and full of youth back then the goddess Athena thought very highly of me I was her favourite bird
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and I lived in her temple on the Acropolis the great
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hill above Athens as a mark of her favour she made little silver coins with my handsome face stamped upon them Now,
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the king of Athens was called Seacrops.
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Seacrops had three daughters, and Athena gave them a special box to guard.
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Whatever you do, don't open it, she told them.
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Naturally, that made them desperate to know what was inside.
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One day they lifted the lid and took a peek.
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I saw the whole thing from a nearby tree, so I flew straight to Athena and told her.
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You might think she would have thanked me, but no!
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She flew into a terrible rage and told me off good and proper.
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Don't be such a spy on a telltale tit, she said.
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I don't want to hear nasty stories about my favourite human beings.
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Keep your beak out of other people's business.
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Sorry, my lady, I said.
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I didn't realise you were so touchy today.
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and don't you talk back to a goddess she cried leave my acropolis
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and don't show your gossipy face around here ever again
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so she kicked me out just because i told her the truth i thought it was very strange.
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Then I discovered that an owl had been paying her visits,
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bringing her presents and flattery.
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To it too, you're by far the wisest and most beautiful goddess in the world,
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he used to say.
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He knew that flattery will get you everywhere with a Greek goddess.
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Soon after, she appointed the owl her most favoured bird and put his puffy face on all her coins.
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All the crow coins disappeared.
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Ever since then, everyone has believed that owls are wise.
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We crows are far smarter, but do we get any appreciation?
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Not a bit of it.
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I'd chase those owls away if I were you.
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Mark my words, they're cunning birds, and you never know what trick they're up to.
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Jake could see there was no use arguing with Birdie.
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He obviously held an ancient grudge against owls.
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The rain does not continue forever, not even in England.
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Spring brought daffodils and little owlets in the apple tree.
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Jake couldn't see the baby owls, but once or twice at dusk, he saw a parent owl bringing their baby supper in its claws.
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By May, the baby owls were becoming increasingly noisy.
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They called for food until four in the morning.
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Now Mum hated owls almost as much as Birdie did.
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One morning she went out into the garden to water her plants.
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Oh, yuck!
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That's disgusting!
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Mum shrieked as she saw owl droppings and bird pellets scattered over her lawn.
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The pellets that the owls coughed up contained things like mouse bones and rat skulls.
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That evening when Jake told Birdie the story,
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he said See, I told you owls were bad news Their habits are disgusting Oh,
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Mum agrees with you, said Jake But Dad still likes them He thinks they bring good luck Silly man,
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called Birdie In early summer, Dad found an owlet hopping along the garden wall, sounding distressed.
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Dad thought it must have fallen out of the apple tree, so he put on his thick gardening gloves and tried to pick it up.
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As he bent over, a rush of air brushed the back of his neck.
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Something tugged at his head.
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Suddenly, his head felt strangely cool.
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He looked up and saw an owl flying off with his gardening hat.
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Hey, I was only trying to rescue your young one, shouted Dad.
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The second parent joined the attack.
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Jake, seeing this, immediately grabbed his tennis racket, rushed outside and shouted, Hey, get off my dad!
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As he went to help his dad, a loud cawing came from the roof of the house.
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Three black crows, led by Birdie, shot down in an arrowhead formation.
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Within seconds, the garden was full of beating wings and shaking leaves.
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It was beak to beak and claw to claw.
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Black and brown feathers fluttered down onto the lawn.
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The battle of the birds was noisy and fierce, but it lasted barely more than a minute.
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The crows withdrew to the rooftop, while the owls returned to guard the apple tree.
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Meanwhile, the helpless Owlet dug its claws into the bark, flapped his wings and clambered back onto a branch.
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When Jake returned to his room, Birdie landed briefly on his sill.
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His feathers were still ruffled and a tail feather was sticking out at a strange angle.
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He squawked.
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That showed them.
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If those owls try any more of that nonsense, we'll be back again.
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He didn't wait for Jake's response and flew off.
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That very same evening, there was another big fight.
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The crows attacked the owls as they came out to hunt for mice.
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The same thing happened night after night.
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Birdie, said Jake when he landed on his windowsill.
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Isn't it time to call off this war?
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Mum says all the bird noise is giving her nightmares.
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And Dad says it's wrong to hold grudges for so long.
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I will accept nothing less than unconditional surrender, declared Birdie.
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At dusk the next day, Jake went to talk to the owls.
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He stood at the foot of the apple tree and called out, Do -wit -do -woo!
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And an owl replied, What can we do to stop all this noise and all this fighting?
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asked Jake Oh, we just want to live in peace and bring up our family,
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replied the owl Could you agree to keep the noise down and not steal my dad's hat again?
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Oh, the hat was a misunderstanding Oh, we were protecting our young,
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and we can try not to hoot so loud, but we can't, promise.
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That's okay then, said Jake.
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But what can I tell Birdie?
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He's got an ancient grudge against you.
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Oh, we know, replied the owl.
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You can give him this.
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The owl flew out and dropped something at Jake's feet.
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Whatever it was, glinted in the moonlight.
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Jake picked it up and felt it between his fingers.
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It was a coin, old and worn.
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When he shone his torch, he saw that a bird was engraved there.
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Not an owl, but a crow.
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Thank you, I think he'll like this, said Jake.
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He ran back into the house and hoped that Birdie would turn up that evening
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He hadn't been visiting so much since the start of the war Fortunately, Birdie did come tapping at the window
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Jake showed him the coin That is an ancient Greek opal with the face of a crow on it Very,
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very rare
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Where did you get
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that? asked birdie the owl gave it to me he replied
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he asked me to give it to you as a peace offering
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peace what's that i don't know the meaning of peace exclaimed birdie oh go on birdie
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you're really old
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but you're not very grown up sometimes are you you can't
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hold a grudge forever Why don't you take the coin and call off the war?
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Whatever happened long ago, the Owls just want to live in peace and bring up their family.
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Birdie hopped from one leg to the other.
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I thought you were my friend.
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He squawked.
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I am your friend, Birdie.
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That's why I'm telling you the truth.
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Even though you don't like it Isn't that what you did for Athena?
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Birdie let out a squawk Go on, take the coin Said Jake holding it out Nah,
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you keep it safe But I'll tell you what
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If the owls stop hooting at all hours I'll call off my birds
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And we'll let bygones be bygones Said Birdie And Peace returned to the garden Sort of An occasional
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Let the family know that the owls were still there.
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And of course, the crows who perched on the roof liked to make their presence known.
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Every now and then.
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And that was Birdie's Grudge, read by me, Jana, for Story Nori,
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inspired by a true event when an owl was keeping me awake at night.
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Do it, do it, do it.

Vocabolario e note di pronuncia per questa lezione

Questa lezione di conversazione di livello A2 si basa sul video “Birdy's Grudge”. Le parole che ritornano più spesso: owl, birdie, Jake, crow, bird. Questo video contiene 165 frasi e 1823 parole da ripetere con lo shadowing. Il parlato dura 15:33. Chi parla mantiene un ritmo costante di circa 117 parole al minuto, comodo per lo shadowing. Il 77% delle parole rientra nelle 3.000 più comuni dell’inglese; conviene studiare le altre prima di iniziare.

Vocaboli chiave di questo video

15 parole del video che vale la pena imparare, con pronuncia e significato:

ParolaPronunciaSignificato
owl sostantivo/aʊ(ə)l/gufo, civetta
crow sostantivo/kɹoʊ/cornacchia, corvo
coin sostantivo/ˈkoɪ̯n/moneta
goddess sostantivo/ˈɡɑdəs/dea
feather sostantivo/ˈfɛðə/piuma, penna
claw sostantivo/klɔ/artiglio
shake verbo/ˈʃeɪk/scuotere, agitare
torch sostantivo/ˈtɔːtʃ/fiaccola, torcia
rush verbo/ɹʌʃ/affrettarsi, correre
trick sostantivo/ˈtɹɪk/inbroglio
hop sostantivo/hɒp/luppolo
mouse sostantivo/maʊs/topo, sorcio
disgusting aggettivo/dɪsˈɡʌstɪŋ/disgustoso, nauseante
handsome aggettivo/ˈhæn.səm/bello
shout verbo/ʃaʊt/gridare

I phrasal verb che sentirai

ParolaSignificato
bring up verbomenzionare, nominare
get off verboscendere
grow up verbocrescere
turn up verbopresentarsi, apparire

Frasi da ripetere

Frasi brevi e complete del video che puoi riutilizzare nella conversazione di tutti i giorni:

  • Sorry, it's good news, isn't it?
  • Whatever you do, don't open it, she told them.
  • Keep your beak out of other people's business.
  • I didn't realise you were so touchy today.
  • We crows are far smarter, but do we get any appreciation?

La grammatica di questo video

Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:

StrutturaNel video
Forma passiva be + participio passato — conta ciò che accade, non chi lo fawas called · were still ruffled · was engraved
Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adessohaven't slept · has believed
Past continuous was/were + -ing — un’azione in corso in un momento del passatowas coming · were becoming · was only trying
Superlativi the -est / the most … — il massimo o il minimo di un gruppothe latest · the worst · the wisest

Pronuncia a cui fare attenzione

Chi parla usa 43 contrazioni e forme ridotte, come don't, they're, you're. Pronunciale nella forma breve, così come le senti.

  • I suoni “th”: feather /ˈfɛðə/, thick /θɪk/, withdraw /wɪðˈdɹɔ/
  • I suoni “sh” e “zh”: shake /ˈʃeɪk/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, shout /ʃaʊt/, brush /bɹʌʃ/, shine /ʃaɪn/
  • Parole lunghe — attenzione all’accento: naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, investigate /ɪnˈvɛs.tə.ɡeɪt/, appreciation /əˌpɹiː.ʃiˈeɪ.ʃən/, occasional /əˈkeɪʒ(ə)nəl/, acropolis /əˈkɹɒpəlɪs/

I suoni difficili per chi parla italiano:

  • /h/ — va soffiata, non è muta: hop /hɒp/, handsome /ˈhæn.səm/, habit /ˈhæb.ɪt/, hurry /ˈhʌ.ɹi/, helpless /ˈhɛlplɪs/
  • Consonante finale — senza aggiungere una vocale dopo: goddess /ˈɡɑdəs/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, torch /ˈtɔːtʃ/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, trick /ˈtɹɪk/
  • /æ/ — più aperta della “e”: handsome /ˈhæn.səm/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, angle /ˈæŋ.ɡəl/, habit /ˈhæb.ɪt/, nasty /ˈnæs.ti/

Come esercitarsi con questo video

  1. Ascolta tutto il video una volta senza parlare e annota le parole che non conosci.
  2. Fai shadowing frase per frase a velocità normale, ripetendo ognuna finché il tuo ritmo coincide con quello di chi parla.
  3. Registrati e confronta con l’originale, facendo attenzione a parole come owl, crow, coin.

Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?

Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.

Tecnica dello shadowing: leggi la guida completa passo dopo passo →