Pratica di Shadowing: Bonus Episode #036 – A chance encounter - Impara a parlare inglese con i video
Creazione lezione...
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Last week my wife and I decided to grab a coffee in the evening.
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We're usually not nighttime coffee drinkers
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but we both have a goal of reading more this year
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so we headed to a small cozy coffee shop in our neighborhood to hang out and do some reading together.
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We ordered our drinks and sat down at a table near the back
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and enjoyed the nice and comfortable ambience of the cafe.
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Now just as we were settling in, a young woman walked in and sat down at the table next to us.
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And I couldn't help but notice her.
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And for some reason, she looked so familiar, but I just couldn't place where I knew her from.
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I thought maybe she was one of my past students, or maybe she worked at a restaurant that I had been to, or something like that.
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I thought about it for a moment, but couldn't come up with anything, so I just shrugged it off and went back to my coffee and my book.
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After a few minutes, a man came in and joined her.
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He sat down beside her and they started talking.
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And then suddenly, it clicked.
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I was able to put two and two together and I realized where I knew them from.
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They were two contestants from a popular dating show that my wife and I are watching currently.
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My name's Andrew and this is bonus episode 36 of the QLips English podcast.
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Today I'm going to tell you the story about my chance encounter with the TV couple
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and then a little later on I'm going to teach you about a useful idiomatic expression
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that you'll hear me use in this episode.
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So keep your ears open and see if you can find it while you're listening.
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There's a totally free interactive transcript that accompanies this episode.
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Following along with the transcript while you listen is a wonderful way to learn with Q-Lips
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and I highly recommend that you try it out.
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To study with the transcript, just follow the link in the description or visit our website, Q-Lips.com.
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So back to the story about my run-in with the contestants from the Dating Reality Show.
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First of all, I should explain a little bit about this show.
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As I said, it's a popular dating show here in South Korea where I live.
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My wife and I both enjoy watching this show, and to be honest with you, it's the only TV show that I watch regularly.
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It's the only TV show that I watch every week.
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I never miss an episode.
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And it's also the only TV show that my wife and I watch together.
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We have a ritual of watching it every Thursday evening.
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Now, this show is unscripted, and it's one of the reasons I like it, because it's great for helping me improve my Korean listening.
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On top of that, it's just a fun show to watch also.
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So the way the show works is that five men and five women, who are total strangers, go on a retreat with each other for a week.
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All the contestants on the show have one thing in common, and that's that they're all single and ready to mingle,
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and they go on the show to try and find a romantic partner.
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Now, during the week, they get to know each other, some people become friends, and they go on dates with each other as well.
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During the course of all this, usually some people start to develop feelings for each other, and some couples emerge.
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At the end of the week, everyone is able to make a final choice
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and reveal who the person is that they'd like to continue seeing after the show ends.
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As a viewer, it's fun to get to watch in on how all the strangers get along,
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form friendships, and even sometimes start romantic relationships.
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Sometimes the contestants that are on the show are organized according to something that they have in common by the production team.
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So for example, one of the recent seasons of the show featured contestants who were all divorcees.
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And in the current season, all of the contestants are what Korean people call motesolo.
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We don't really have a great way to translate this in
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English in just one word like they do in the Korean language,
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but a person who is a 모태 solo is a person who has never been in a romantic relationship before.
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So they have no dating experience.
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So all of the contestants on this season of the dating show are adults who are in their twenties and 30s,
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but have never been in any romantic relationship at all in the past.
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So as you can imagine, because of that, it's funny to watch because the contestants,
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especially the guys I've noticed, are kind of awkward.
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And actually, there are a few contestants who are awkward to the extent
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that the show is cringeworthy and a little bit difficult to watch at times,
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but that's all part of the charm and one of the reasons why my wife and I like watching this show.
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The current season of the show is still airing,
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and the couple that my wife and I saw at the cafe haven't actually come out on the show as a couple.
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So because of this, when we saw them at the cafe, it was a bit of a spoiler like we got a preview of how this season of the show will end.
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When we were at the coffee shop, it was funny because my wife noticed the couple at the same time
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that I did and she gave me a nudge to make sure I noticed who the couple were.
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My wife and I are not the kind of people who will freak out and fanboy when we see someone from TV,
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so instead we just played it cool.
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But inside, I think we were both excited to see this couple in person.
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The coffee shop was empty aside from us and them, so we could hear everything that they said.
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My wife and I went to the cafe to read, but in the end, I think we spent more time eavesdropping on the conversation.
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Do you know what eavesdropping is?
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It's a great word to know for this kind of situation.
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Eavesdropping means to listen in on a conversation without being invited, without the speaker's knowledge.
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It's almost like spying.
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So the couple were talking about the show and their experiences on it and their current relationship.
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We couldn't help but listen in and it was fascinating to hear all of the behind the scenes details.
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I'm not going to repeat what I heard
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because I think there are probably some Korean Q-Lips listeners out there who might watch the show.
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But let me just say it was very, very interesting.
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And it was neat to see that the couple were an actual couple in real life.
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Like it wasn't just an act for the cameras, but they actually have a genuine, real relationship.
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After about 30 minutes or so, the two from the show got up and left, and we watched them go out of the corner of our eye.
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They seemed like a really nice couple, and it was so interesting to have a glimpse into their world.
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My wife and I finished our coffee, and we left the shop, and we were buzzing with excitement over the unexpected encounter.
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As we walked home, we couldn't stop talking about the couple and their conversation.
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It was just a surreal experience and one that we won't forget anytime soon.
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We were lucky to have been in the right place at the right time
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that evening and to have the opportunity to see these people from the show in real life.
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And it made me appreciate the magic of chance encounters and the thrill of never knowing what might happen next.
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in other news from my world i'm getting ready to go back to canada this week for a visit
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and i'm going with my wife this will be my wife's first visit to canada
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and my first visit since before covid so it's been a long time
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and i'm really looking forward to getting to see my friends
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and my family again and also to introduce my wife to them and to introduce my wife to canada as well.
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Since we got married during the pandemic, my wife wasn't actually able to meet my family yet because,
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well, they were in Canada and couldn't travel here to Korea.
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So she's a little bit nervous about meeting them for the first time, but I know that she'll be great and be fine.
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And since this is her first visit to Canada, I'm going to try to pull out all of the stops to make sure she has a wonderful time.
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To pull out all the stops is an idiomatic expression
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that means to put a lot of effort into making sure that something is successful.
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So I'm going to pull out all of the stops when it comes to this trip.
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Unfortunately, unless you like skiing or winter sports, Canada isn't the greatest place to visit in the winter.
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My wife isn't a skier or much of a winter sport enthusiast,
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but despite that fact, I'm going to try my best to show her the greatest things that Canada has to offer.
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Personally, my usual travel style is very lackadaisical.
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I usually just enjoy walking around until I see something interesting to see or do.
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My wife, on the other hand prefers a more organized style of traveling
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so because of
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that I've prepped a big list of activities to do things to see restaurants to try
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and places to visit so I'm crossing my fingers for a nice trip for us
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and I'm hoping
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that we both have a great time now even though I'm going away for a few weeks
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that doesn't mean things will stop here at Qlips we'll still be releasing regular Q-Lips episodes throughout the whole time
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that I'm away.
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And I'm also going to try and upload some bonus episodes for you, but since I'm on the road and traveling,
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they might be a little bit shorter than they usually are.
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While I'm in Canada, I really want to try and prioritize family time, so I'm going to put that first, but I'm not going to ignore you guys,
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and I'm still going to release a regular bonus episode each week.
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And I'm sure after my trip, I'll have lots of interesting stories to share with you.
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In other Qloops news, we just released a brand new episode last week from our Simplified Speech series.
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And that episode is about a really interesting topic, at least in my opinion.
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And the topic is facial expressions.
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So in that episode, Cassie and I chat all about nonverbal communication
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and the kinds of messages our facial expressions send to others.
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If you haven't listened to that episode yet, I really recommend checking it out
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and of course you can listen to it on our website QLips.com
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and there's also a helpful study guide and an interactive transcript available for all QLips members as well.
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And now it's time for this week's vocabulary lesson.
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Before I let you go, I want to teach you about an interesting idiom that I used in this episode.
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The idiom is to put two and two together.
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Now I used this expression when I was talking about recognizing the contestants from the dating show at the cafe.
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Did you hear me use this expression a little earlier?
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If you missed it, that's okay.
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Let's rewind and listen to that part of the episode a couple of more times.
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Here we go.
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And then suddenly it clicked.
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I was able to put two and two together and I realized where I knew them from.
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They were two contestants from a popular dating show that my wife and I are watching currently.
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I was able to put two and two together.
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I was able to put two and two together.
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Now let's talk about what this idiom to put two and two together means.
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And by the way, two is spelt T-W-O, just like the number.
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So to put two and two together means to use logic
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and reason to understand something or to connect different pieces of information,
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usually when something is not obviously or explicitly told to you.
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So it's about using your own understanding to come to a conclusion based on the evidence or the information that you have.
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So when I saw the woman contestant on her own at the coffee shop, I couldn't remember where I had seen her before.
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I was going through my memories in my mind, but I couldn't place her.
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But then once the man from the dating show joined her,
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then it clicked and I was able to make a connection in my brain about where I recognized them from.
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I wasn't able to do it until I saw both of them together, and then it made sense.
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So this kind of thing is putting two and two together.
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And now that you know what this idiom means, I'm going to share some example sentences with you
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that will help you understand how native English speakers use this idiomatic expression in a natural way.
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I've prepped three example sentences for us, so let's take a listen to the first one now example sentence number one
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she put two and two together and realized that her partner was planning a surprise party for her
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she put two and two together and realized that her partner was planning a surprise party for her
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Let's break this example sentence down.
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So in this example we hear about a woman who is able to put two
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and two together and realize that her partner was planning a surprise birthday party for her.
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So when she put two and two together it means
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that she figured out that there was going to be a surprise party.
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I don't know how exactly she did that.
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Of course, she would know that it is her birthday.
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So there's her birthday.
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And then maybe her partner didn't really talk about any birthday plans or something.
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And she thought that's a little strange.
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Usually we celebrate my birthday, but this year there's been no talk of a party.
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And then maybe she talked to some other friends or something and they seemed a little suspicious.
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And so she was able to use all of that evidence to realize, aha, they're throwing a surprise birthday party for me.
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So putting two and two together means using all the clues, information, evidence that's available to you to figure something out.
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I finally put two and two together and figured out how to solve the puzzle.
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Let's break this example sentence down.
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In this example sentence, the speaker was able to solve a puzzle by looking at all of the evidence available
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and making a connection in his brain about how to solve the puzzle.
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So this example actually comes from my real life
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because my co-host here at Q-Lips Cassie is addicted to a word game that's called Wordle.
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And she actually got me hooked as well.
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So I've been playing Wordle every day on the New York Times website.
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You're allowed to play one puzzle per day.
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And I was doing my daily puzzle earlier in the day.
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And to play this game, you just need to find what the hidden keyword is.
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There's a hidden keyword in the puzzle that's five letters long.
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And you have six guesses.
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And each guess you make gives you some information about the keyword.
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So for example, if my first guess is ocean and the keyword has the letter C in it,
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then the C in my selection will turn orange or green, depending on the location of the letter.
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Anyways, how you play the game is not really important, but by making guesses and getting information from your guesses,
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then you're able to put two and two together and solve the puzzle and find the keyword.
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And I was able to do that today when I was playing my Wordle puzzle.
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I put two and two together at the very last moment and solve the puzzle before I lost the game.
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Example sentence number three.
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After putting two and two together, the detective was able to identify the suspect.
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After putting two and two together, the detective was able to identify the suspect.
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Let's break this final example sentence down.
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In this sentence, we hear about a detective.
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The detective was able to do his job well.
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What is the detective's job?
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A detective's job is to solve mysteries and fight crime, right?
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And so the detective was able to identify the suspect, the suspect in the crime, by putting two and two together.
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So maybe he went to the crime scene and he did an analysis and an investigation, looked for clues, used his logic and reasoning skills,
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and then was able to say, aha, this person I think did it, and they found the suspect.
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A good detective needs to to be skilled at putting two and two together.
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That brings us to the end of today's bonus episode.
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Thank you for listening everyone and thank you for studying English with me today.
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Nice work on making it all the way to the end of the episode.
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If you enjoyed this episode, why don't you let me know by leaving a comment on our website, QLips.com.
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I hope you have a great and productive week ahead.
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Take care and I'll talk to you next time.
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Bye.
📺 Stesso Canale
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Vocabolario e note di pronuncia per questa lezione
Questa lezione di conversazione di livello B1 si basa sul video “Bonus Episode – A chance encounter”. Le parole che ritornano più spesso: wife, episode, couple, contestant, example. Questo video contiene 208 frasi e 2999 parole da ripetere con lo shadowing. Il parlato dura 19:12. Chi parla ha un ritmo naturale di circa 156 parole al minuto, vicino a una conversazione quotidiana. Il 86% delle parole rientra nelle 3.000 più comuni dell’inglese; conviene studiare le altre prima di iniziare.
Vocaboli chiave di questo video
Le 15 parole più avanzate del video, con pronuncia e significato:
| Parola | Pronuncia | Significato |
|---|---|---|
| puzzle sostantivo | /ˈpʌzəl/ | mistero, rompicapo |
| detective sostantivo | /dɪˈtɛktɪv/ | investigatore |
| café sostantivo | /ˌkæˈfeɪ/ | caffè, caffetteria |
| keyword sostantivo | /ˈkiː.wɜːd/ | parola chiave |
| idiom sostantivo | /ˈɪdiəm/ | idioma, parlata |
| transcript sostantivo | /ˈtɹæn.skɹɪpt/ | testo |
| eavesdrop verbo | /ˈivzˌdɹɑp/ | origliare |
| idiomatic aggettivo | /ˌɪd.iː.əˈmat.ɪk/ | idiomatico |
| litter sostantivo | /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ | lettiera |
| organize verbo | /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/ | organizzare |
| interactive aggettivo | /ˌɪn.tɚˈæk.tɪv/ | interattivo |
| facial aggettivo | /ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/ | facciale |
| clue sostantivo | /kluː/ | indizio, pista |
| stranger sostantivo | /ˈstɹeɪnd͡ʒɚ/ | sconosciuto, straniero |
| awkward aggettivo | /ˈɔk.wɚd/ | maldestro, impacciato |
I phrasal verb che sentirai
| Parola | Significato |
|---|---|
| figure out verbo | scoprire, rendersi conto |
| come up with verbo | ideare, escogitare |
| get along verbo | andare d'accordo, ingranare |
| get up verbo | alzarsi |
| go through verbo | attraversare |
| look forward to verbo | non vedere l'ora |
| sit down verbo | sedersi, accomodarsi |
Frasi da ripetere
Frasi brevi e complete del video che puoi riutilizzare nella conversazione di tutti i giorni:
- Do you know what eavesdropping is?
- Did you hear me use this expression a little earlier?
- If you missed it, that's okay.
- Let's break this example sentence down.
- I don't know how exactly she did that.
La grammatica di questo video
Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:
| Struttura | Nel video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adesso | has never been · have never been · I've noticed |
| Forma passiva be + participio passato — conta ciò che accade, non chi lo fa | is unscripted · are organized · being invited |
| Frasi relative who / which + frase — un’informazione in più su una persona o una cosa | person who is · people who will · woman who is |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — un’azione in corso in un momento del passato | were settling · were talking · were buzzing |
Pronuncia a cui fare attenzione
Chi parla usa 58 contrazioni e forme ridotte, come I'm, couldn't, I've. Pronunciale nella forma breve, così come le senti.
- I suoni “th”: cringeworthy /ˈkɹɪnd͡ʒˌwɜːði/, enthusiast /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/, thrill /θɹɪl/
- I suoni “sh” e “zh”: facial /ˈfeɪ.ʃəl/, suspicious /səˈspɪʃ.əs/
- Parole lunghe — attenzione all’accento: idiomatic /ˌɪd.iː.əˈmat.ɪk/, interactive /ˌɪn.tɚˈæk.tɪv/, enthusiast /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/, lackadaisical /ˌlækəˈdeɪzɪkəl/, prioritize /pɹaɪˈɒɹ.ə.taɪz/
Come esercitarsi con questo video
- Ascolta tutto il video una volta senza parlare e annota le parole che non conosci.
- Inizia a velocità 0,75×, fai shadowing frase per frase e torna alla velocità normale quando diventa facile.
- Registrati e confronta con l’originale, facendo attenzione a parole come puzzle, detective, café.
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.