Shadowing Practice: 10 Hilarious Cold Opens from ‘Friends’ - Learn English Speaking with Video

I'm telling you, Ross, she wants you.

She barely knows me.

We just live in the same building.

Any contact?

She lent me an egg once.

You're in!

Oh, right.

Hey, Ross.

Hey!

Come on, Ross, you gotta get back in the game here, okay?

The Rachel thing's not happening.

Your ex -wife's a lesbian.

I don't think we need a third.

Uh, excuse me, can we get an egg over here, still in the show?

Thanks.

An egg?

Yeah, you're gonna go up to her and say, here's your egg back, I'm returning your egg.

I think it's winning.

Come on, I think it's insane.

She'll love it.

Thank you, thank you.

Here.

Go with the egg, my friend.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Think it'll work?

No way.

It's suicide.

The man's got an egg.

Mom, would you relax?

That was ten blocks from here, and the woman was walking alone at night.

I would never do that.

Mom, come on.

Stop worrying.

This is a safe street.

This is a safe building.

There's nothing...

Mom, I gotta go.

I gotta go.

Mom!

Okay.

That's fine you just read the paper.

I'm gonna get a pot.

It's not for you Okay,

that's fine read the family circus Enjoy the gentle comedy

it's open you guys hi hey hey can i help you

yeah i'm looking for phoebe does she still live here uh no she doesn't

but i can get a message to her great uh just tell her her husband stopped by her What?

Hey, how did you do that?

I'm telling you, that girl totally winked at me.

She did not wink at me.

Huh.

What the hell is that?

Is that you?

Boy, you are really not a morning person.

Back off!

Get up!

What is that noise?

You.

It's the chick.

She's going through some changes.

What kind of changes?

Well, the vet seems to think that she's becoming a rooster.

We're getting a second opinion.

Hey, Joey.

Hey, Phoebs.

Listen, can you do me a favor?

I forgot the PIN number to my ATM card.

Can you get it for me?

Sure.

Where is it?

Uh, I scratched it on the ATM machine down on the corner.

Oh, so you're 5639?

That's it.

Thanks, Phoebs.

Hey.

Oh, do you want to talk to Chandler?

Is that Joey?

Let me talk to him.

No, because he didn't believe in my movie.

Which is a big mistake because it is real.

Real.

Hey, you know what?

I've been trying to apologize to him all week

if he's not gonna let me do it on the phone

i'm gonna go down there i'm gonna do it in person uh phoebs i heard

that uh can you put him on yeah hey don't come out here

no no i support you 100 and i want to prove

that to you in person i got

that i forgive you don't come out here forgive me you

haven't been taking my calls for a week well i'm totally over it Chandler, friends forever.

Don't come out here.

Would you like doing a picture with us?

What was that?

Uh, Entertainment Tonight.

Yeah.

100

Okay, so, good talking to you, and don't come out here.

101

All right.

102

All right.

103

Hey, check it out.

104

This is unbelievable.

105

Joey has been holding his breath for...

106

Almost four minutes.

107

Dude, are you trying to kill me?

108

Steve, I want to ask you something.

109

Uh -huh, what?

110

Well, since I'm moving out and you're so beautiful, how would I move in with you?

111

Well, that would be great, but then what do we do about Denise?

112

Who's Denise?

113

My roommate.

114

Do you have a roommate?

115

Yes, Denise.

116

Denise.

117

hey what is with the secrecy phoebe huh and what about this denise is she cute

118

please understand how can you have a roommate

119

that none of us know about maybe because you never listen to anything

120

that i say i talk about her all the time denise

121

hey great listen i was thinking uh i'm gonna have an

122

extra room over at my place oh that's true yeah why

123

don't you move in with me it'll be great we can like stay up late talking

124

and watch movies and You know about Naked Thursdays, right?

125

Yeah, yeah.

126

I think I'm gonna find my own place.

127

Hey, hey.

128

I thought Naked Thursdays was just our thing, man.

129

Hey, guys.

130

Hey.

131

So, what do you think? About what?

132

What?

133

Yeah, what?

134

Are you kidding?

135

Okay, I'll give you a hint.

136

I'll give you a hint.

137

All right.

138

No. Oh.

139

Your eyes.

140

No. Chandler's eyes.

141

I got glasses.

142

You always had glasses.

143

No, I didn't. Are you sure?

144

Yeah, didn't you used to have a pair?

145

They were really round and burgundy, and they made you look kind of, um...

146

Feminine.

147

Yes.

148

No.

149

Sweetie, I think the glasses look great make you look really

150

sexy really yeah you didn't think i used to wear glasses right of course

151

okay now this one is rare this one is medium well

152

now go go go hey phoebe hey hey have dinner dinner

153

was good just saying hi now i'm gonna go oh well hello there

154

i didn't see this on the menu oh oh ten this is phoebe phoebe this is ten my new sous chef Oh, so you're Monica's boss?

155

Actually, she's my boss.

156

Sue is French for under.

157

Ah, I...

158

Sue Stan.

159

Hey, Tim, I need a calamari and a Caesar salad.

160

And, um, could you give me the pesto?

161

Yeah.

162

You made pesto?

163

Yes, I did.

164

Would you say your pesto is the best -o?

165

I don't know, but I would say it's pretty good -o.

166

I still need the calamari and the Caesar salad.

167

I like your necklace.

168

Oh, I made it myself.

169

You are so talented.

170

Well, it's no pesto.

171

All right, all right, let's just cut to the chase, okay?

172

You're single, you're single.

173

He gets off work at 11.

174

She'll be waiting for your call.

175

I'll give him your number if I could just get one calamari and one Caesar salad!

176

I did not yell.

177

I am not putting a dollar in the jar.

178

Monica.

179

Hey, can I put one of the Porsche?

180

Okay, but what is it not?

181

A place to entertain my lady friends.

182

And what else is it not?

183

A place to eat spaghetti.

184

Very good.

185

Thanks.

186

What do you need it for, anyway?

187

Oh, the Powerball lottery is up to 300 million, and they don't sell tickets here in New York, so...

188

Oh, so you're driving up to Connecticut?

189

Yeah, Connecticut, not West Virginia.

190

Hey, maybe I'll drive you up there.

191

I'd like to buy some tickets myself.

192

Yeah, with Chandler not getting paid, we could really use $300 million.

193

Yes, because if I was at my old job, we'd say, $300 million?

194

No, thank you.

195

Hey, will you get me tickets, too?

196

Yeah, me, too.

197

Oh, I have an idea.

198

Why don't we all pitch in $50, we'll pool our money together, and then if we win, we'll split it.

199

Oh, that's a great idea.

200

No, thanks.

201

you don't want to win the lottery uh sure i do

202

i also want to be king of my own country

203

and find out what happened to amelia erhart still on amelia erhart the woman just vanished

204

susie ross you don't want in on this no do you

205

know what your odds are of winning the lottery i mean

206

you have a better chance of being struck by lightning 42 times yes

207

but there's six of us so we'd only have to get struck by lightning seven times i like those odds Seriously,

208

you guys, I can't believe you're gonna spend $250 on the lottery.

209

I mean, that's such a bunch of boo -hockey.

210

I'll ask.

211

Boo -hockey.

212

Oh, oh, we think Emma's about to start talking, so we're trying to be careful about what.. words we use in front of you yeah

213

so get ready to hear a lot of boo hockey gosh darn it

214

and brother pucker how do you know she's gonna start talking well

215

when i talk to her i almost feel like she understands what i'm saying i like joey what's

216

that now this cake is amazing my god get a room

217

i would get a room with this cake i think i could show this cake a good time If you had to, what would you give up, food or sex?

218

Sex.

219

Seriously, answer faster.

220

Oh, I'm sorry, honey.

221

You know, when she said sex, I wasn't thinking about sex with you.

222

It's like a giant hug.

223

Ross, how about you?

224

Which would you give up, sex or food?

225

Food.

226

Okay, how about sex or dinosaurs?

227

Oh, my God, it's like Sophie's Choice.

228

Oh, God.

229

What about you, Joe?

230

What would you give up, sex or food?

231

Um, uh...

232

I don't know.

233

It's too hard.

234

No, you gotta pick one.

235

Uh, food.

236

No, sex.

237

Food.

238

Sex.

239

Food.

240

Sex.

241

I don't know.

242

Oh, God, I want both.

243

I want...

244

I want girls on bread.

245

We'll be right back.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “10 Hilarious Cold Opens from ‘Friends’”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sex, egg, denise. This video has 245 sentences and 1536 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:46. The speaker talks at a steady 131 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 54 of its 245 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
ross noun		A swamp.
lottery noun	/ˈlɑtɚi/	A scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, especially a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw prizes, the…
hockey noun	/ˈhɑ.ki/	Any of a family of sports in which hockey sticks are used to move a ball or puck into a goal.
salad noun	/ˈsæl.əd/	A food consisting principally of raw vegetables (especially greens, e.g. lettuce), other savoury ingredients (typically cooked), fruit, or confectionary; often…
roommate noun	/ˈɹu(m)ˌmeɪt/	A person with whom one shares a room, as in a dormitory, barracks, rooming house, or apartment.
odd adjective	/ɑd/	Differing from what is usual, ordinary or expected.
forgive verb	/fɚˈɡɪv/	To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against.
lightning noun	/ˈlaɪt.nɪŋ/	A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.
hint noun	/hɪnt/	A clue.
amelia noun		The congenital absence of one or more limbs.
chase verb	/t͡ʃeɪs/	To follow at speed.
pitch noun	/pɪt͡ʃ/	A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand.
sexy adjective	/ˈsɛksi/	Having sex appeal; attractive.
insane adjective	/ɪnˈseɪn/	Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.
honey noun	/ˈhʌni/	A sweet, viscous, gold-colored fluid produced from plant nectar by bees, and often consumed by humans.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
get up verb		To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb.
give up verb		To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
back off verb		To move backwards away from something.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
get off verb		To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it.
go down verb		To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one.
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Hey, how did you do that?
Listen, can you do me a favor?
Can you get it for me?
Would you like doing a picture with us?
Do you have a roommate?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been trying · haven't been taking · has been holding
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if we win, we'll split · If you had to, what would you
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to have · used to wear
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was walking · was thinking · wasn't thinking

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 78 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: chef /ʃɛf/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, vanish /ˈvænɪʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, unbelievable /ˌʌnbɪˈliːvəbl̩/, calamari /kæləˈmɑːɹi/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like ross, lottery, hockey.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: 10 Hilarious Cold Opens from ‘Friends’ - Learn English Speaking with Video

Joey Is Wearing Makeup | Friends

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A Joey-approved plan, that’s for sure. #FRIENDS

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Rachel’s bottle opener sure will be missed. #FRIENDS

When no one gets what they ordered... #FRIENDS

Our love language is gifts, too. #FRIENDS

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Ross Gets a Spray Tan | Friends

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Ross Ruins Everyone's Beach Day | Friends

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?