Shadowing Practice: 5 Unreleased Videos I Thought Would Go Viral - Learn English Speaking with Video

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141 sentences

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The man is dropped in the arena with one full -sized gorilla.

But before they fight, we have to go over some rules.

You see, every time the man intentionally hits the gorilla after taking the damage, it decreases in size by 30%.

But there's a catch.

Every hit also doubles its speed.

Now, at first, the man thinks it's simple.

All he needs to do is land a few careful hits, which will make it small, at which point he can squash it like a bug.

But as he steps in to do so, the gorilla clobbers him so hard, his body ragdolls across the sand, and he's killed instantly.

In round two, the man scoops up sand from the floor.

Then he rushes in, before throwing it straight in the gorilla's face, giving him just enough time to land hit after hit.

which shrinks the gorilla down until he's only about 8 inches tall.

Now, this is small enough to squash, but the man forgot that the gorilla's speed doubles with each hit.

Meaning, at this size, he can basically just use himself as a bullet, which would just kill them both.

In the last round, the man gets more sand, but also takes off his shirt.

He throws the sand, lands two careful hits, then quickly slips the shirt over the gorilla like a pillowcase before landing another hit.

With its vision gone, all that speed turns into frantic, unfocused movement, which is when the man goes to add another hit.

But even blindfolded, the gorilla can still sense him.

Now the man's hand is broken, which is a problem.

He reaches behind him with his good hand, pulls out his phone, and opens ZocDoc, the sponsor of this video.

He types in his condition while the gorilla is still shooting around violently.

ZocDoc immediately brings up urgent care locations nearby.

And because he already added his insurance, he can quickly see which ones are in network.

But the gorilla seems like it's about to escape, so the man moves quick.

He reads reviews, compares locations, and finds an appointment available in just 30 minutes.

Now, one of the gorilla's arms punches through the shirt, then another.

The man quickly selects the appointment and books the entire thing in less than 30 seconds.

So if you've been putting off booking an appointment, well, go to ZocDoc .com to get it done.

The man adds one more hit, which shrinks it to about a foot tall.

Insanely fast, but still stuck in that shirt.

After chasing it around, the man finally lines up his moment for a quick stomp.

The gorilla is squashed before it has time to shrink again, meaning the man finally takes the win.

He put the pizza in the oven when the phone started ringing.

It was an angry customer complaining that their pizza was delivered cold.

But there was a problem.

They didn't deliver.

You see, he wanted his restaurant to be known for their dine -in experience, so he said no to deliveries.

He learned that DoorDash had quietly slapped a delivery option onto his listing and started delivering food like they owned the place.

But the drivers didn't even have the proper bags for pizza, meaning they would arrive cold,

resulting in the confusing calls and even some bad reviews.

Now, he also noticed that DoorDash had listed his specialty pizza for $16.

This pizza actually sold for $24.

You see, when DoorDash scraped his website, it accidentally jumbled up some of the prices, resulting in the mix -up.

Now, he tried to get the listing removed, but nothing worked.

And that's when his friend had a genius idea.

He ordered 10 of his own specialty pizzas through DoorDash to be delivered to a buddy's house who was in on it.

And because they had them listed for $16, well, he was only charged $160 for all $10.

Now, when DoorDash showed up, they paid the real price, which added up to $240,

meaning the owner kept the difference of $80.

But after the cost of all the ingredients, the profit decreased to about $10.

And that's when they got another idea.

He ordered 10 more specialty pizzas.

But this time, he didn't add sauce or toppings.

He just threw the dough in the boxes.

This brought his profit up to $75.

He tested it a few more times, and DoorDash still never caught on.

If he had done this just twice a day, it would have earned him over $50 ,000 a year in pure profit.

If you imagine this basketball is the sun, at this scale, Earth would only be about the size of a mustard seed.

And you might think it would be about here -ish if this were the actual solar system.

But it would actually be around 85 feet away.

Now, the moon, which most people would place here, would actually be just two and a half inches away from Earth.

And inside those two and a half inches, every other planet could fit snugly, as long as you tilt Saturn's rings.

Now, while this does make the sun look big, it's actually pretty small too.

You see, if we took the entire galaxy and shrunk it down to the size of the United States,

some people would think the Sun would be about the size of the Vegas sphere others might assume

it would be the size of a baseball

but the actual size it would be so small

that it could roll around inside the grooves of your fingerprint

they put a ski mask over a rock smashed the window

and broke into the car and when the owner found it his son tripped and fell straight into the broken glass.

As he pulled the mask off the rock, he gripped it tight in his hand.

This was his symbol, his sign to put an end to crime like this.

Now weeks later, his friend was getting beat up in the street, and no one was helping.

He knew what he had to do.

He ran to his car, grabbed the mask, slipped it on, and chased the attacker before detaining him.

You see, he had a background in MMA, so this came naturally to him.

He had a suit professionally made, then sent it off to be reinforced with bulletproof material.

It fit like a glove, and he called himself Phoenix Jones.

But there was a problem.

He didn't know how to find crime.

He would sit on rooftops for hours, just scanning the streets for anything.

And when something did finally happen, By the time he got all the way down, well, it was already over.

Now, over time, he did get the hang of it, and he was actually stopping crimes.

Sometimes he got hurt, and the situations were dangerous.

But people started to notice.

Some praised him and asked for photos.

Others, including some officers, said he was hurting more than helping.

Regardless, other heroes started to join him.

He worked closely with Purple Rang, whose focus was stopping domestic abuse.

And eventually, the two even got married.

He was living the dream, fighting crime, in love.

Everything was going right, until 2011.

Phoenix saw what he thought was an assault in progress, so he rushed in to stop it.

But the people were actually just dancing, not fighting.

The misunderstanding spiraled.

It ended with pepper spray, a fight, and Phoenix Jones being arrested.

After his court hearing, he made a decision that shocked everyone.

He revealed his identity.

I am Phoenix Jones.

At first, people were supportive.

100

But this stunt lost him his day job working with autistic children.

101

And the police confiscated his suit.

102

Thankfully, he had a spare.

103

So he doubled down, and he kept fighting crime.

104

And that's when he really became famous.

105

He went on podcasts, talk shows, and even had toys made after him.

106

This was the peak.

107

But then one night on patrol, everything changed.

108

Phoenix heard gunshots and ran toward them to try to stop the shooting.

109

But he was too late.

110

An innocent woman was hit, and she didn't make it.

111

He couldn't stop thinking about it.

112

The idea that he had failed, it made him more controlling, more intense.

113

The other heroes started to leave him.

114

Purple Rain divorced him and cut all ties.

115

He kept fighting crime, but his presence on the streets slowly faded.

116

And then, in 2020, Phoenix Jones was arrested for selling drugs.

117

And some people believe he had been dealing drugs the entire time.

118

They say his hero phase was eliminating competition on the streets so he could sell more.

119

But others say that he just lost his purpose after he stopped being a hero.

120

Either way, for years, he put on the mask to fight criminals until he eventually became one himself.

121

He found a mysterious box while checking his mail.

122

And when he opened it, he discovered a ring.

123

There was also a note beside it.

124

This ring will grant three wishes.

125

Choose wisely.

126

He laughed, then slipped the ring onto his finger.

127

He was actually on the way to his job, so he jokingly made his first wish.

128

I wish I didn't have to work anymore.

129

And of course, nothing happened.

130

During his first delivery, he grabbed the package, scanned it stepped off the truck

131

and was slammed by a car he woke up in the hospital the doctor told him

132

that he was paralyzed and that he would never walk again he was devastated

133

but the company he worked for offered him a settlement

134

that set him up for life meaning he didn't have to work anymore, just like he wished.

135

Weeks passed as the ring began to feel heavier and heavier,

136

until he finally whispered, I wish I could feel my legs again.

137

At first, nothing happened.

138

Then fire tore through his legs and back.

139

Every nerve burned.

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He could feel again, but only the pain from his injury he still couldn't move his legs

141

he screamed at the ring i wish for my old life back

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “5 Unreleased Videos I Thought Would Go Viral”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: gorilla, pizza, size. This video has 141 sentences and 1677 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:37. The speaker talks at a steady 144 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
gorilla noun	/ɡəˈɹɪl.ə/	An ape of the genus Gorilla; endemic to the forests of Central Africa and typified by superlative physical size and strength in relation to other primates.
pizza noun	/ˈpi.tsə/	A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables.
sand noun	/sænd/	Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in…
mask noun	/mæsk/	A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.
slip verb	/ˈslɪp/	To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction.
specialty noun	/ˈspɛʃ.əl.ti/	That in which one specializes; a chosen expertise or talent; bailiwick.
squash noun	/skwɔʃ/	Cucurbita maxima, including hubbard squash, great winter squash, buttercup squash, and some varieties of pumpkins.
rush verb	/ɹʌʃ/	To hurry; to perform a task with great haste, often not properly or without thinking carefully.
chase verb	/t͡ʃeɪs/	To follow at speed.
decrease verb	/dɪˈkɹiːs/	Of a quantity, to become smaller.
scan verb	/skæn/	To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely.
earn verb	/ɝn/	To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
naturally adverb	/ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/	In a natural manner.
regardless adverb	/ɹɪˈɡɑɹd.lɪs/	Without attention to warnings or indications of bad consequences.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
add up to verb		To have a particular effect in combination.
bring up verb		To mention.
double down verb		To double one's wager, particularly, the name of a specific doubling bet allowed in blackjack.
go over verb		To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.
line up verb	/laɪnˈʌp/	To align; to put in alignment; to put in correct adjustment for smooth running.
mix up verb		To mix or blend thoroughly and completely.
pull out verb		To withdraw; especially of military forces; to retreat.
put off verb		To postpone, especially through procrastination.

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	is dropped · is broken · is squashed
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	hits, which will · movement, which is · broken, which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 10 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, couldn't, you've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: specialty /ˈspɛʃ.əl.ti/, squash /skwɔʃ/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, shock /ʃɔk/, smash /smæʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, accidentally /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/, mysterious /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/, eliminate /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/

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 gorilla, pizza, sand.

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: 5 Unreleased Videos I Thought Would Go Viral - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?