Shadowing Practice: 15 Things You Didn't Know About Nikola Tesla - Learn English Speaking with Video
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This is Millionaire Mondays.
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Every Monday we present you with another multi-millionaire.
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Today we're looking at… 15 Things You Didn't Know About Nikola Tesla Welcome to Alux.com,
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the place where future billionaires come to get inspired.
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Hello Aluxers!
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Today we have a special feature on our video the man who helped power the world as we know it.
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His genius and curiosity were pivotal in developing the engines and the electricity supply system.
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His name is Nikola Tesla, and he was a Serbian engineer and inventor.
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Although Tesla is well known for his own inventions, and lately the name for Elon Musk's electric car company,
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he was quite an interesting man with an even more interesting life story.
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He was a smart child that could do calculus in his head, a workaholic and a college dropout.
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He had a photographic memory and spoke 8 languages.
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Today, the world still remembers and honors Nikola Tesla for his genius mind and his inventions.
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He lived 86 years and kept the same elegant and neat appearance.
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He had a strict routine for his day-to-day life, and turned to vegetarianism later on.
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If you're new here, welcome!
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Be sure to subscribe and follow us on Instagram at Alux.
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There are many things to discuss about Tesla, but we have some crazy facts many people don't know about.
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So, let's get started.
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Number 1.
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He claimed celibacy played a major role in his creativity.
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Nikola Tesla died alone, found by a housekeeper in his hotel room.
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He kept his life simple and focused on his work.
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He sometimes used to work from 9 to 6 and then from 10pm to 3am.
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All he could ever think of was new inventions, not drama or women.
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As a child, he almost died, so that made him very careful with his hygiene and human contact.
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that may have kept him away from relationships too.
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He liked to socialize with people, but also very much enjoyed his solitude and work time because it was then he could develop his inventions.
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Because Tesla wasn't the best at attracting funds for his crazy projects, the people that were supporting him had to do some marketing.
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There is a famous picture of Nikola Tesla sitting in a chair in his laboratory
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and calmly examining his notes while tremendous bolts of lightning flash around him.
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Although he played with many things and inventions and believed in them, that one picture is fake.
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It was used as publicity to generate capital for new projects,
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to capture the public's fascination with a scientist thought to be a magician by many.
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3. Before he died, he lived in luxury hotels Nikola Tesla was born in a small village in Serbia that's currently in Croatia,
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but later moved on to Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France, and then the US.
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His life was full of ups and downs, but as he gained more respect and popularity, his bank accounts grew.
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He lived in the Waldorf Astoria, the St. Regis, Hotel Pennsylvania, and then in New Yorker Hotel,
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where he also passed away in room 3327.
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With this, he enters the elite list of celebrities that lived until their last days in hotels,
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like Coco Chanel, Marilyn Monroe, or Oscar Wilde.
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Number 4.
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He used to cook at his own birthday press conferences.
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Half of his life, Tesla lived in the US where he got a neutral citizenship.
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Later in life, he began to acquire a taste for birthday parties.
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It was the perfect occasion to gather people and talk to them about his latest inventions.
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He would also prepare a few elaborate dishes for his guests and invited the press as well.
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His first press conference birthday party was held to celebrate his Time magazine cover.
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The party went so well, he held it year after year.
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And each year, he was either adding new prizes, medals, or other honoraries to his collection.
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After working for Thomas Edison's company for a few months, Tesla quit and started his own company.
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He made a lot of money out of his 100 patents and inventions, but was terrible with finances and business.
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He could have become a billionaire 100 years ago, but threw it all away.
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So, how did it happen?
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He broke many contracts, dismissed his parents that were worth $12 million back then,
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and over $300 million today because he wanted short-term money.
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Over the years, his royalties could have easily brought in $1 billion and other billions for his relatives after his death,
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but he didn't have the vision for that.
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Unfortunately, he died alone and almost broke due to his lifestyle and choices.
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Number 6.
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Speaking of choices, he had a gambling addiction.
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Although he was a genius admired by so many, Nikola Tesla had a hard time in school.
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Even as a child he struggled proving himself because teachers thought he copied because he could do calculus in his head.
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He did finish 4 years of high school in 3 years, but dropped out of college.
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After he lost his scholarship midway through, he began gambling all of his money for more than a year.
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In fact, it got so bad, he went back to his family.
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Later on, he wasn't able to get back and finish his studies and never graduated from the university.
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It was a dark time for him admitting that he had failed.
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Tesla knew how to talk to people and convince them of his great ideas and potential.
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He wasn't the best fundraiser, but he managed to convince a few powerful men to fund his ideas.
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JPMorgan gave in to his ideas and agreed to give him $150,000.
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Of course, like a great banker Morgan was, he took 51% of his patents as collateral.
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After a few months of seeing no progress, JP Morgan stopped funding Tesla and left him in the dark because, as wise of a businessman as he was,
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he wanted to see return on his investment, not failed attempts.
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When Tesla had financial problems, later in life, nobody knew about them.
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He managed to convince people to keep this a secret, though he was struggling to pay the money back.
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He had debts to hotels in New York and creditors like J.P.
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Morgan.
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To the Waldorf Astoria, he had to pay around $500,000.
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In order to make that money and keep his reputation clean, he demolished the Wardenclyffe Tower.
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Decades after his death at his 158th anniversary,
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Elon Musk donated $1 million towards the funding of the museum as well as having a Tesla Motors supercharging station installed on site.
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All Tesla wanted was to develop wireless communications and offer wireless and free electricity worldwide.
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After World War I broke, wireless communication was being used to communicate with troops, pilots, and spies.
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The US sued the German radio company Telefunken for patent infringement.
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To fight it, the Germans brought in two physicists for their defense
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and hired Tesla as a witness for two years for $1,000 a month.
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He probably took the offer because he needed the money for his labs and projects.
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Number 10.
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The hotel room in which he died can be booked to stay in.
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We mentioned already
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that Nikola Tesla died at 86 years old in his hotel room at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City.
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Since then, almost 75 years later, the hotel changed its name to Wyndham New Yorker Hotel.
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The room, 3327, where he was found dead by the maid, is still preserved as he left it and is still available to book.
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The hotel doesn't charge extra for it, but it's almost always booked months in advance.
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Most people hope that paranormal activity will happen during their stay, but it's just excitement.
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The room is perfectly safe.
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Prices start at $152 per night, depending on the season and availability.
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And of course, if you'd like to stay at a fancy and luxurious hotel Aluxers, then we have the perfect video to inspire you.
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The top 10 most expensive hotels in the world.
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Just click in the top right corner to check it out.
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Nikola Tesla came to New York to work for Thomas Edison's company that was very successful at the time.
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He was a respected employee and a proactive mind, but there was a certain situation that terminated their collaboration after just six months.
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Tesla wanted to improve certain projects, but Edison wanted him to focus on something else.
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He offered him a $50,000 bonus, which would be the equivalent of $1 million today,
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but Tesla didn't like the offer and quit immediately.
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He was pursued by Edison soon after, but with no success.
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His ego was definitely bigger than money.
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There are many things we should thank Nikola Tesla for.
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He was a very concerned environmentalist and sought the world to be more careful about the resources we're using.
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In pursuit of finding renewable sources of energy, he helped design Niagara Falls Hydroelectric Power Plant.
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The project took three years to finish.
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Tesla, being more of a consultant to the project, the plant's power first flowed to homes in nearby Buffalo on November 16, 1896.
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A statue of Tesla is now overlooking the waterfall.
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Take a look for it the next time you visit.
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Tesla filed for hundreds of patents during his lifetime.
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He owned over 300 official patents, and he also made serious money out of them while they were under his ownership.
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They brought him millions of dollars and could have grasped more but he sold them.
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In 1898, Tesla filed for a patent that is pretty much a drone.
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He envisioned controlling unmanned vehicles via electrical waves and because he was aiming for peace,
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he wanted them to auto-destruct if ever used for evil purposes.
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Tesla was indeed a visionary mind that helped to shape our modern world.
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There's a Tesla statue that gives free wifi.
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This great inventor is highly praised back in Serbia.
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He's currently on one of Serbia's bills.
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He has a big official museum in Belgrade and honors the airport with his name too.
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He also loved and honored the US as well.
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In Palo Alto, there's a Nikola Tesla statue that's equipped with free Wi-Fi and a time capsule to be opened in 2043.
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The statue was funded through a Kickstarter campaign with over $127,000
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and gives free Wi-Fi because that was Tesla's dream to offer free and wireless communication.
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Number 15.
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He was monitored by American intelligence His stay in the US wasn't as smooth and carefree as he imagined it would be.
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Although he spent most of his life there, about 60 years, Nikola Tesla was never considered American.
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On the contrary, he was constantly monitored by American intelligence.
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They feared that he was collaborating with the Germans or
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that he would be planning to bring down planes with his wireless inventions.
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Up to this day, some of his work and papers are owned by the US government and are classified documents.
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However, his final resting place is not in the US.
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His ashes lie in a tribute museum in Belgrade.
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Over the years, he took a few wrong turns and maybe didn't get the right financial advice.
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So, we're wondering what would you guys do?
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What would you have done?
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Sell the patents or wait for someone to fund you?
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Let us know in the comments.
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And of course, since some of you are still here and stuck with us until the end, what could that mean?
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Of course, you get a bonus.
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Number 16.
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Elon Musk bought the right to use the name Tesla for $75,000.
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One of the most innovative companies in the world, Tesla, founded by Elon Musk, had some struggles with the name at first.
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They couldn't use Tesla because someone else had the rights for Tesla Motors,
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so he paid them $75,000 for it and that was that.
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But because it wouldn't be fair to use the name Tesla just as it was, apparently they changed it a little bit.
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Nikola Tesla's name is pronounced with an S, while Elon Musk's company with a Z, or Z.
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It's a very subtle difference.
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Thank you for spending some time with us Aluxers!
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Make sure to like and subscribe so you never miss another video.
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We also handpicked these videos which we recommend you watch next.
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Thank you for being an Aluxer and we'll see you back tomorrow.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 159 sentences and 2049 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:46. The speaker talks at a steady 130 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
- invention /ɪnˈvɛnʃən/ (noun) — Something invented.
- patent /ˈpeɪtənt/ (noun) — An official document granting an appointment, privilege, or right, or some property or title; letters patent.
- wireless /ˈwaɪ(jə)ɹ.ləs/ (adjective) — Not having any wires.
- statue /ˈstæt͡ʃu/ (noun) — A three-dimensional work of art, usually representing a person or animal, usually created by sculpting, carving, molding, or casting.
- genius /ˈd͡ʒin.jəs/ (noun) — Someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art…
- convince /kənˈvɪns/ (verb) — To make someone believe, or feel sure about something, especially by using logic, argument or evidence.
- bonus /ˈbəʊ.nəs/ (noun) — Something extra that is good; an added benefit.
- electricity /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/ (noun) — Originally, a property of amber and certain other nonconducting substances to attract lightweight material when rubbed, or the cause of this property; now…
- monitor /ˈmɑ.nɪ.tɚ/ (noun) — Someone who watches over something; a person in charge of something or someone.
- gambling /ˈɡæm.bl̩.ɪŋ/ (noun) — An activity characterized by a balance between winning and losing that is governed by skill and/or chance, usually with money wagered on the outcome.
- subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/ (verb) — To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
- inspire /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ (verb) — To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by…
- billionaire /ˌbɪl.jəˈnɛɚ/ (noun) — Somebody whose wealth is at least one billion (10⁹) currency units (usually understood to exclude holders of hyperinflated currencies).
- millionaire /ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/ (noun) — Somebody whose wealth is at least one million (10⁶) currency units (usually understood to exclude holders of hyperinflated currencies).
- calculus /ˈkæl.kjə.ləs/ (noun) — Any formal system in which symbolic expressions are manipulated according to fixed rules.
Phrasal verbs you will hear
- live in (verb) — To reside on the premises of one's employer (used especially of domestic staff such as nannies, cooks, maids, etc.)
- bring in (verb) — To move something indoors, or into an area.
- stay in (verb) — To remain at home.
- back in (verb) — To reverse a vehicle into a space.
- bring down (verb) — To make (a ruler or government) lose their position of power.
- get back (verb) — Return to where one came from.
- go back to (verb) — To stem from; to originate in.
- know about (verb) — To have positive inclinations regarding (someone or something); to have no doubts regarding (someone or something).
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 18 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, wasn't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: smooth /smuːð/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: invention /ɪnˈvɛnʃən/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, flash /flæʃ/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, ownership /ˈoʊnɚʃɪp/
- Long words — get the stress right: electricity /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/, millionaire /ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, electrical /ɪˈlɛktɹɪkəl/, laboratory /ˈlæb(ə)ɹəˌtɔɹi/
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 invention, patent, wireless.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to work · used to cook |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was born · was held · can be booked |
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.