Shadowing Practice: 'The Empty Pot' read by Rami Malek - Learn English Speaking with Video

Les maken...
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Welcome to Storyline Online, brought to you by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
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I'm Rami Malek, and today I'm going to be reading to you one of my favorite books, This is The Empty Pot, written and illustrated by Demi.
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A long time ago in China there was a boy named Ping who loved flowers.
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Anything he planted burst into bloom. Up came flowers, bushes, and even big fruit trees, as if by magic!
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Everyone in the kingdom loved flowers too. They planted them everywhere, and the air smelled like perfume.
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The Emperor loved birds and animals, but flowers most of all, and he tended his own garden every day.
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But the Emperor was very old. He needed to choose a successor to the throne.
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Who would his successor be? And how would the Emperor choose?
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Because the Emperor loved flowers so much, he decided to let the flowers choose.
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The next day a proclamation was issued: All the children in the land were to come to the palace.
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There they would be given special flower seeds by the Emperor.
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"Whoever can show me their best in a year's time," he said, "will succeed me to the throne." This news created great excitement throughout the land!
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Children from all over the country swarmed to the palace to get their flower seeds.
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All the parents wanted their children to be chosen Emperor, and all the children hoped they would be chosen too!
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When Ping received his seed from the Emperor, he was the happiest child of all.
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He was sure he could grow the most beautiful flower.
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Ping filled a flowerpot with rich soil. He planted the seed in it very carefully.
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He watered it every day. He couldn't wait to see it sprout, grow, and blossom into a beautiful flower!
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Day after day passed, but nothing grew in his pot.
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Ping was very worried. He put new soil into a bigger pot. Then he transferred the seed into the rich black soil.
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Another two months he waited. Still nothing happened.
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By and by the whole year passed.
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Spring came, and all the children put on their best clothes to greet the Emperor.
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They rushed to the palace with their beautiful flowers, eagerly hoping to be chosen.
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Ping was ashamed of his empty pot.
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He thought the other children would laugh at him because for once he couldn't get a flower to grow.
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His clever friend ran by, holding a great big plant.
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"Ping!" he said. "You're not really going to the Emperor with an empty pot, are you?
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Couldn't you grow a great big flower like mine?" "I've grown lots of flowers better than yours," Ping said. "It's just this seed that won't grow." Ping's father overheard this and said, "You did your best, and your best is good enough to present to the Emperor." Holding the empty pot in his hands, Ping went straight away to the palace.
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The Emperor was looking at the flowers slowly, one by one.
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How beautiful all the flowers were! But the Emperor was frowning and did not say a word.
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Finally he came to Ping.
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Ping hung his head in shame, expecting to be punished.
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The Emperor asked him, "Why did you bring an empty pot?" Ping started to cry and replied, "I planted the seed you gave me and I watered it every day, but it didn't sprout.
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I put it in a better pot with better soil, but still it didn't sprout!
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I tended it all year long, but nothing grew.
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So today I had to bring an empty pot without a flower. It was the best I could do.
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When the Emperor heard these words, a smile slowly spread over his face, and he put his arm around Ping.
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Then he exclaimed to one and all, "I have found him! I have found the one person worthy of being Emperor!
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"Where you got your seeds from, I do not know. For the seeds I gave you had all been cooked.
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So it was impossible for any of them to grow.
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"I admire Ping's great courage to appear before me with the empty truth, and now I reward him with my entire kingdom and make him Emperor of all the land!" What I love about The Empty Pot is it does allow me to look inside and realize just how much truth means.
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Because ultimately the only consequences are feeling like you're courageous, and honorable, and a bigger person, and I guarantee you, the truth always wins.
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So thank you to The Empty Pot for such a strong message. Keep telling the truth.
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Thank you guys for watching Storyline Online. Make sure to check out all of our stories.
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Keep watching and definitely keep reading.
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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze spreekles op niveau A2 is gebaseerd op de video “'The Empty Pot' read by Rami Malek”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: flower, Emperor, Ping, pot, seed. Deze video bevat 46 zinnen en 793 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 7:16. De spreker praat langzaam, ongeveer 109 woorden per minuut, zodat je tijd hebt om elke klank na te doen. 79% van de woorden hoort bij de 3.000 meest gebruikte Engelse woorden; de rest kun je beter vooraf bekijken.

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

15 woorden uit de video die het leren waard zijn, met uitspraak en betekenis:

WoordUitspraakBetekenis
flower zelfstandig naamwoord/ˈfloʊɚ/bloem
palace zelfstandig naamwoord/ˈpælɪs/paleis
soil zelfstandig naamwoord/sɔɪl/grond, aarde
seed zelfstandig naamwoord/siːd/zaad
throne zelfstandig naamwoord/θɹəʊ̯n/troon
successor zelfstandig naamwoord/səkˈsɛsɚ/opvolger, opvolgster
rush werkwoord/ɹʌʃ/afraffelen
carefully bijwoord/ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/voorzichtig
guarantee zelfstandig naamwoord/ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/garantie
whoever/huˈɛvɚ/wie ook (dan)
reward zelfstandig naamwoord/ɹɪˈwɔɹd/beloning, prijs
courage zelfstandig naamwoord/ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/moed, dapperheid
worthy bijvoeglijk naamwoord/ˈwɝ.ði/waardig
excitement zelfstandig naamwoord/ɪkˈsaɪtmənt/opgewondenheid
burst werkwoord/bɜːst/barsten

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

WoordBetekenis
check out werkwoordonderzoeken

Grammatica in deze video

De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:

StructuurIn de video
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doetwas issued · would be given · be chosen
Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog teltI've grown · have found
Overtreffende trap the -est / the most … — het hoogste of laagste van een groepthe happiest · the most beautiful · the best
Past continuous was/were + -ing — iets dat op een moment in het verleden bezig waswas looking · was frowning

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 11 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals couldn't, didn't, I'm. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

  • De “th”-klanken: throne /θɹəʊ̯n/, worthy /ˈwɝ.ði/, cloth /klɒθ/
  • De klanken “sh” en “zh”: rush /ɹʌʃ/, ashamed /əˈʃeɪmd/, punish /ˈpʌnɪʃ/, proclamation /ˌpɹɑkləˈmeɪʃən/

Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:

  • Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: seed /siːd/, reward /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/, courage /ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/, succeed /səkˈsiːd/, ashamed /əˈʃeɪmd/
  • /æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: palace /ˈpælɪs/, guarantee /ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/
  • /g/ — een harde plofklank, geen Nederlandse “g”: guarantee /ˌɡæɹ.ənˈtiː/, greet /ɡɹiːt/, eagerly /ˈiɡɚli/

Zo oefen je met deze video

  1. Luister de hele video één keer zonder te spreken en noteer de woorden die je niet kent.
  2. Spreek zin voor zin na op normale snelheid en herhaal elke zin tot je ritme gelijk is aan dat van de spreker.
  3. Neem jezelf op en vergelijk met het origineel; let daarbij op woorden als flower, palace, soil.

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

Shadowing-techniek: lees de volledige stap-voor-stap-gids →