Shadowing Practice: A Truly Kick-ass Team Name | The Big Bang Theory - Learn English Speaking with Video

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26 sentences
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1
Okay, first order of physics, bold business.
2
We need a truly kick-ass team name.
3
Suggestions?
4
How about the perpetual motion squad?
5
It's beyond the laws of physics, plus a little heads up for the ladies.
6
The ladies?
7
Perpetual motion squad, we can go all night.
8
I like it.
9
I don't.
10
Teams are traditionally named after fierce creatures, thus intimidating one's opponent.
11
Then we could be the Bengal tigers.
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Poor choice.
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Yet gram for gram, no animal exceeds the relative fighting strength of the army ant.
14
Maybe so.
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But you can't incinerate a Bengal tiger with a magnifying glass.
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Let's put it to a vote.
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All those in favor- Point of order.
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I move that any vote on team names must be unanimous.
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No man should be forced to emblazon his chest with a Bengal tiger
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when common sense dictates it should be an army ant.
21
Will the gentleman from the great state of denial yield for a question?
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I will yield.
23
After we go through the exercise of an annoying series of votes, all of which the gentleman will lose, does he then intend to threaten to quit if he does not get his way?
24
He does.
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I move we are the army ants.
26
All those in favor?

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “A Truly Kick-ass Team Name”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Bengal, ant, tiger, army, vote. This video has 26 sentences and 209 words to shadow. The speech runs for 1:11. The speaker talks at a natural 176 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 77% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 6 of its 26 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
perpetual adjective/pɚˈpɛt͡ʃuəl/Lasting forever, or for an indefinitely long time.
gram noun/ˈɡɹæm/A unit of mass equal to one-thousandth of a kilogram. Symbol: g.
yield verb/jiːld/To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
gentleman noun/ˈd͡ʒɛn.təl.mən/Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.
emblazon verb/ɪmˈbleɪzən/To adorn with prominent markings.
incinerate verb/ɪnˈsɪnɚeɪt/To destroy by burning.
intimidate verb/ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/To make timid or afraid; to cause to feel fear or nervousness; to deter, especially by threats of violence.
magnify verb/ˈmæɡnɪfaɪ/To praise, glorify (someone or something, especially God).
dictate verb/ˈdɪkˌteɪt/To order, command, control.
unanimous adjective/juˈnænəməs/Based on unanimity, assent or agreement.
ant noun/ænt/Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females.
fierce adjective/fɪɹs/Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or savage.
exceed verb/ɪkˈsiːd/To be larger, greater than (something).
threaten verb/ˈθɹɛt.n̩/To make a threat against someone; to use threats.
denial noun/dɪˈnaɪ.əl/An assertion of untruth.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
go through verbTo travel from one end of something to the other.

Pronunciation to watch

  • Long words — get the stress right: intimidate /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/, unanimous /juˈnænəməs/, traditionally /tɹəˈdɪʃ.ə.nə.li/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like perpetual, gram, yield.

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 →