Shadowing Practice: 3 Vietnamese Coffee MOST Foreigners Missed ☕️ - Learn English Speaking with Video
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There are thousands of coffee shops in Hanoi, so which one should you choose?
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In today's video, I'm here with Thuy, a coffee expert from Virtual Show Coffee.
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And we're exploring three different coffee shops, from traditional to local to modern to try some of Vietnam's most iconic drinks.
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The legendary egg coffee, creamy salted coffee, and the famous coconut coffee, which has recently gone viral around the world.
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Don't forget to hit subscribe to follow this series about Vietnamese coffee on my channel.
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And now, let's head to our first coffee shop.
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If you didn't know about this place, you might walk right past it.
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What's up?
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We're here.
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We're here.
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Where's the coffee?
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I thought we're going to the coffee shop.
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Right here.
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What?
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Right here.
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It's behind this clothing store?
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Yes.
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Really?
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Wow.
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Let's go.
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Okay.
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Well, let's go in this alley this side now.
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To get to Cafe Phô Cô, you actually have to walk through a clothing shop and follow a narrow hallway that feels like stepping into someone's old house.
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The coffee shop has four floors and it has an amazing view of Huan Kim Lêc on the rooftop.
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Oh my gosh, a very good exercise here.
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This is the top floor right?
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Yes.
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And I can't believe like within a small area it can
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lead to like the top of the building where you can
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see everything yeah you can see the lake yeah oh my
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gosh wow you can see the post office as well yes
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and the beautiful lake yes it's peaceful a little rustic
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and feels like a hidden secret above the busy streets
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and of course this is a perfect place to try vietnamese
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famous egg coffee cafe chung it's not easy to make egg coffee right it's a mixture of like condensed milk
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and then egg and cinnamon but the ratio
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and then how they make it is a secret so i know
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that like egg coffee was invented
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because of the shortage of milk in the past yes is it true yes it's correct
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so back in the day uh we didn't have enough milk
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so mr jang the the one that invented the egg coffee he loved coffee
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so much and then he had a coffee shop in vietnam and then And after so many times tried,
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then he found out that like the air coffee can be a replacement for the condensed milk.
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And actually it came out very like a very good coffee and very unique.
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So how do you drink this?
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Do you stir it from the bottom to the top?
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Yes, you stir it from the bottom to the top.
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Yeah, you do one, two, three times and then you just sip it.
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It's a little bit like cappuccino but when you sip it, try to drink the coffee at the bottom too.
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Okay, let's try it.
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Buttery.
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And the coffee is quite strong too if you store it from the bottom.
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Sweet, bitter and very, very rich.
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Yes, exactly.
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So the coffee has a very strong aroma of chocolate and brown sugar.
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And it goes very well with egg and cinnamon.
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I see.
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I see that they serve with a kind of tea.
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What is this and what is it used for?
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Lotus tea.
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So it's a expensive way of making tea in Vietnam and also in China.
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Here they serve lotus tea because it can help you to rinse your mouth after drinking the egg you used to.
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Ah, I see.
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Okay.
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Actually, before filming this video, it was pouring rain outside.
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So it's a perfect place for us to hide here and drink the egg coffee.
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And it's pretty loud in here too because it's located in a small alley.
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So you can hear like the bite is going by.
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It's Hanoi.
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Welcome to Hanoi.
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I feel like you're at home.
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Before we move on to the next coffee shop, I would like to give a big shout out to our sponsor for today's video.
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It helps me block all the unwanted ads and it keeps my connection private when I'm checking emails,
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booking flights, hotels or even uploading the videos.
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I also like that I can change my virtual location with just one click,
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which is very useful when certain websites or content are not available where I'm traveling.
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The best part is that once Surfshark accounts work on all my devices,
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I can stay connected on both my phone and my laptop wherever I travel.
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and apply the code PHO at the checkout to enjoy 4
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extra months of using Surfshark plus they have the 30-day money-back guarantee
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so there's no risk now let's get back to the video
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hanoi's coffee scene isn't about tradition some places are reinventing vietnamese coffee in really creative ways
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which bring us to our next stop refined coffee
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did you notice good coffee shops are usually hidden behind a clothing shop
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If Cafe Foco feels nostalgic, we find it feels like the opposite.
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Minimalist design, clean lines, calm music with a unique menu.
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It's the kind of coffee shop where people come to slow down and really appreciate the craft behind coffee.
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So like the first time when he poured the hot coffee in so like the coffee can bloom, right?
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It's called Blooming.
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Blooming.
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Blooming.
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Wow.
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Blooming and with the flower thin filter.
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Yeah, so what I love the most about the coffee culture is that we can use all five senses.
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You know, like now we can observe, we will be patient and then after that we can taste the coffee.
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And yeah, we chit chat about coffee.
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So that's the culture that I really, really like.
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Wow, I can taste spring summer like tropical fruit in my mouth.
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Can you tell like what's in it?
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Yeah, I think it has a very strong like dry apricot flavor
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and then it has very well balanced between the acidity
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and the sweetness and it has a really long aftertaste
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so the more you drink and then there will be like a really sweet at the end of your own.
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Yes.
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Here, the star drink is the salted coffee.
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Cà phê muối.
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Salted coffee actually originated in the city of Huế,
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where baristas discovered that a tiny bit of salt could balance the sweetness of condensed milk and enhance the flavor of coffee.
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When you drink the salted coffee, you just need to have a big sip, okay?
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So you can taste the foam, the coffee, and the salt here.
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Alright, let's try.
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Wow.
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Wow.
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So basically the salt is sweet and salty.
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And then with the foam it's very rich.
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And the coffee is strong enough.
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It's not too strong.
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Yeah, I think it's a perfect combination.
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Wow, the smell is good.
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I've been doing this for 5 years.
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Oh my god.
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I'm doing this for 5 years.
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I mean, this is like a brand of brand new brand.
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It's a brand new brand.
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It's very delicious.
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It's very traditional.
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It's a beautiful love.
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I love you.
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I love you.
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I love you.
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If you want a non-caffeinated drink, you can choose this drink.
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This is the traditional herbal Vietnamese tea.
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It's called Nhân Trần but in the menu it's called Hoa Trần.
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It has like luxuries in here which makes it very sweet.
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So when you drink it, you don't taste anything but then like you can smell the herbs in there and then
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when you swallow it you can feel you can taste the
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sweetness going down to your throat it's magical wow very refreshing
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in hot summer days well our last coffee shop is not hidden behind a clothing shop.
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It's actually located right in front of the most iconic site of Hanoi, the Saint Joseph Cathedral.
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And this coffee shop is the famous coffee chain called Cậu Cà Phê.
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When you come here, it feels like stepping back into Vietnam in the 1980s.
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The interior is filled with military green colors, old radios, vintage posters, and tiny plastic stools.
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The whole concept was inspired by Vietnam's subsidy period, turning nostalgia into a really unique cafe experience.
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And we're here for the famous coconut coffee, Cafe Dua.
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Wow, it's so coconutty and it's so good.
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Instead of hot coffee, this one is blended with frozen coconut cream and served almost like a coffee smoothie.
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The coconut layer is creamy and slightly sweet while the strong Vietnamese coffee cuts through it with a bold flavor.
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It's cold, refreshing and perfect after walking all day in Hanoi.
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So did you know that the coconut coffee was inspired by the Chan Tien ice cream
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which is a very famous and traditional Vietnamese ice cream?
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The ice cream over there?
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Yes, yes, it's our childhood.
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Oh, no, I didn't know that.
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But I know that the coconut coffee, it has become very popular to foreigners in the recent years, especially in Korea.
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I heard a lot of Korean friends that they travel to Vietnam and then when they came back to Korea, then they want to drink this drink so much.
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Some of them might to adopt it to their menu in their cafe in Korea.
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Yes, I agree because I have tried many coconut coffee in many places in Hanoi, but I still think this is one of the best coconut coffees in the capital city of Vietnam.
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I think maybe they have some secret recipe.
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Yes, yes.
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Not just coconut and coffee?
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Maybe something else, I don't know.
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Okay, okay.
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Okay.
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Okay, so those are the three coffee shops that you should try in Hanoi.
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And if you have any other recommendations, don't forget to comment down below.
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And thank you so much for helping me out today.
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Thanks for inviting me and I hope you enjoy the coffee in Vietnam.
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Thank you.
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And if you like this episode, don't forget to subscribe and like.
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And we'll see you in the next videos of the Vietnamese coffee series.
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Bye!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “3 Vietnamese Coffee MOST Foreigners Missed ☕️”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: coffee, shop, drink, coconut, egg. This video has 176 sentences and 1741 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:51. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| coconut noun | /ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/ | A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed. |
| café noun | /ˌkæˈfeɪ/ | A coffee shop; an establishment selling coffee and sometimes other non-alcoholic beverages, simple meals or snacks, with a facility to consume them on the… |
| condense verb | /kənˈdɛns/ | To concentrate toward the essence by making more close, compact, or dense, thereby decreasing size or volume. |
| sweetness noun | /ˈswitnəs/ | The condition of being sweet (all senses). |
| flavor noun | /ˈfleɪvə/ | The quality produced by the sensation of taste or, especially, of taste and smell in combined effect. |
| menu noun | /ˈmɛn.juː/ | The details of the food to be served at a banquet; a bill of fare. |
| creamy adjective | /ˈkɹiːmi/ | Containing cream. |
| invent verb | /ɪnˈvɛnt/ | To design a new process or mechanism. |
| lotus noun | /ˈloʊtəs/ | Any member of the genus Nelumbo of aquatic plants in the family Nelumbonaceae. |
| refresh verb | /ɹɪˈfɹɛʃ/ | To renew or revitalize. |
| cinnamon noun | /ˈsɪnəmən/ | A small evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and southern India, Cinnamomum verum or Cinnamomum zeylanicum, belonging to the family Lauraceae. |
| foam noun | /ˈfɔʊ̯m/ | A substance composed of a large collection of bubbles or their solidified remains, especially |
| alley noun | /ˈæl.i/ | A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings. |
| gosh | /ɡɑːʃ/ | A mild expression of surprise or enthusiasm. |
| locate verb | /ˈloʊˌkeɪt/ | To place; to set in a particular spot or position. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hide behind verb | To use someone or something as a shield in order to avoid taking responsibility for something; to avoid attention by using someone or something as a shield. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| cut through verb | To take a shortcut through. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| get back to verb | Return to (an activity) | |
| slow down verb | To decelerate. | |
| walk through verb | To explain (something) to (someone), step by step. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I thought we're going to the coffee shop.
- It's behind this clothing store?
- Do you stir it from the bottom to the top?
- I feel like you're at home.
- Can you tell like what's in it?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was invented · are usually hidden · is not hidden |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has recently gone · has become · have tried |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | coffee, which has · here which makes |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | The best · the most iconic |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 23 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: smoothie /ˈsmuːði/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: refresh /ɹɪˈfɹɛʃ/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, shortage /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/, shout /ʃaʊt/, recommendation /ˌɹɛkəmɛnˈdeɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: acidity /əˈsɪd.ɪ.ti/, caffeinated /ˈkafɪneɪtɪd/, cappuccino /ˌkæpəˈt͡ʃinoʊ/, minimalist /ˈmɪn.ə.məl.ɪst/, originate /əˈɹɪd͡ʒɪneɪt/
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 coconut, café, condense.
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.