Shadowing Practice: AEE - Does This Content Make You Feel Content? - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello, Michelle.

How are you?

I am good, Aubrey.

How are you?

Excellent.

I have a question about your internet habits, your online habits.

Would you say you consume a lot of online content?

Yes, I would say, I mean, the biggest place where I consume online content has been Instagram, like just like reels on Instagram.

Like recently, the Knicks, we're recording this.

We're recording this in advance, guys.

But the Knicks won the championship.

Which is your team, right?

We hadn't actually talked about this. So exciting.

Woo, it was.

It was.

Oh, wow.

What a moment.

I could do a whole episode just me talking about the Knicks.

Right.

so anyway like so like all my the content

that i'm currently consuming online is just like interviews of the players

and my brother and i are sending reels back

and forth of just little snippets of things and um so that's it's just funny because you see how your algorithm

changes it's like all based on what's going right what based on what's going on in your life It's like sometimes,

sometimes I get only healthy snack ideas and you know, like different videos.

Basketball is much more fun.

So I'm glad the next one for your sake and that you have fun basketball content to watch now.

Well, the reason this is coming up is I heard a mistake in one of our live online speaking sessions.

I've heard this a few times is someone saying managing contents,

which this is so confusing because we often do use content in the plural, right?

The contents of your suitcase.

And so this is tricky.

We are going to dive into the different meanings of this word content

and when you should or should not make it plural.

Very interesting.

Okay, well, I'm excited to talk about this with you.

Yeah, so we start.

I know, right?

So this is interesting.

This word content, it is especially tricky because it can be a countable noun or an uncountable noun.

So that's what really will make a noun tricky in English.

If it's one or the other, easy, we got it, right?

Well, we can figure it out.

But when depending on the meaning, depending on the context, it could be both.

That's what can really throw a wrench into what we're doing here, right?

And this word comes up a lot,

especially lately with how big social media is and all of the content everyone's consuming and we're talking about the different things.

So this word is even more common now than it was when like we were young, right, Michelle?

Yes, yes, exactly.

Yeah, that's true.

So yeah, and I think this is important for connection just because it's, yeah, like you said, it's coming up a lot.

And so could be at work or online, a conversation, right?

And if you use it incorrectly, it can sound a little bit funny.

So we're going to help make sure that you know how to use it and say it.

So we're going to be talking about that today.

So hit the follow button wherever you're listening to the All Airs English podcast.

Or if you're watching us on YouTube, please hit the subscribe button.

This way you never miss anything from us.

Let us just jump straight into your queue.

Absolutely.

All right, let's dive in with this first meaning of content is what we were talking about

if you are managing content or consuming content, we would never make this plural.

This is an uncountable noun like information.

And so this means online media that is created or consumed, information stuff, right?

But all online.

So videos, posts, blogs, podcasts, website pages, articles, all of that online content.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

So for example, we need better content for our website.

So yeah, that means just anything, whatever's on it, we need.

It's sort of an umbrella term for anything that could be posted online, right?

It's all content.

Right.

Yeah.

Yes.

Or what type of content do you post online?

So yeah, do you post pictures?

Do you post articles?

You know, what is it?

Exactly.

Yeah.

So this is interesting.

There are some common collocations with this.

So of course, online content, you might say online content should be engaging, right?

Or content marketing, you might say, is content marketing dead?

So there are certain nouns that we chunk this word with.

Or I like this one to create content.

I create content for our company's blog.

So you write the blog.

If there's pictures, you put it up.

Or post content.

I post content on TikTok.

Exactly.

Or manage content.

You might say, I manage content for several social media accounts, or I work in content management.

So yeah, it's interesting how there's like creators and there's managers

or all these professions now for all of the internet content that's out there.

And then of course we have content strategy.

A company might say, you know, what is our content strategy for the next few months?

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Because of course they have, you know, they're making use also of all of these social media channels.

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and ways to market, you know, use digital marketing.

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Right.

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Or a content creator.

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I mean, this ended up being a full job, right?

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This is like a newer collocation, content creator.

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I am a content creator.

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My primary platform is YouTube.

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So yeah, this might be some sort of influencer too.

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You just, you know, maybe you do videos and create the content for them.

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So yeah, yeah. So interesting.

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All right.

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So number two, totally separate meaning here is we'll say the content of someone's character.

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This means a person's true nature, their values, integrity, their inner personality.

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It's sort of an abstract expression.

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It's not super common, but we will hear it.

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And it's also uncountable.

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Just like online content, we wouldn't make it plural.

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We wouldn't say the contents of our character we always would just say the content of one's character.

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Right.

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And this was also a Martin Luther King Jr., right?

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It's part of his speech, you know, like by the content of their character, right?

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Exactly, right?

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That we shouldn't be judged by anything else about us, you know, not the color of our skin, not anything about our background, but the content of our character.

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That means whether we have integrity, are we a good person?

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Yes.

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Hey, quick question.

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Do you want to feel more confident when you speak English?

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If so, we made a free guide for you.

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It'll help you avoid those common mistakes

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and start speaking more naturally in real conversations go grab it in the description below

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and if this is helpful for you make sure that you like

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and subscribe we're here five times a week to help you connect in English all right

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and now we just have content the physical items inside something

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this could be in a container a bag a room

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and this is a countable noun so how does

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that make it different Michelle yeah

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so in this one you can add an s um

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so it's almost always plural so the contents of a suitcase for example um

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and it is it is somewhat formal

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so like in casual conversations i would be more inclined to say something like stuff

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or things like oh like the the things in my suitcase right um so but here for example, the contents of the bag were all wet.

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So yeah, I wouldn't say that.

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Like if my, if my kids came home from camp and I'm opening and I'm telling my husband that we need to, you know, put stuff in the dryer,

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I would never say the contents of the bag were all wet. Would you?

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Where we're going to hear this more is like technical, maybe at the airport, someone that might say,

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I need to check the contents of your bag or please empty the contents of your pockets, right?

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Where it's elevated language to be more systematized, right?

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It's not casual conversation as much.

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It's more when we're trying to be a little more formal and professional maybe.

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Right.

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Or please check the contents of the package, right?

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So yeah, definitely a little bit more elevated, more professional sounding.

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So yeah, I mean, some common collocations with this word, the contents of a suitcase.

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So the contents of my suitcase were all over the floor after airport security checked it

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or the contents of a box she carefully unpacked the contents of the box

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and placed everything on the table

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and then what about a table of contents this is probably

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when we hear it the most often yeah

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if you're a reader anyway yes exactly

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so this is a like a book a book context right

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so if you the table of the contents is the page that happens

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in the beginning of a book that shows you what chapters are coming up, what chapters are in the book.

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Not every book has a table of contents.

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There are a lot of times for textbooks, but could also be in fiction as well, but not always.

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Yeah, it depends on the book, depends on the style.

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Yeah, exactly.

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So you might say, look at the table of contents to find the right chapter, and it might show.. chapter names with a page number but yeah more for non -fiction books self -help books textbooks

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almost always have a table of contents yes right and then number four is tricky content

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spelled exactly the same when it's an adjective it sounds and means something completely different

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and instead of the stress being on the first syllable content it's now on the second syllable content

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and it becomes a schwa the uh in the content the

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that first vowel changes entirely right content right exactly um so

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but yeah it means to be happy satisfied or at peace um

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and would this ever be plural aubrey no good question

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because it's an adjective it will never be plural right we would only add

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that s to a noun

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so never we'll have an s for example she feels content with her life

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that means happy satisfied yes or I'm content just staying home tonight I might say

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that everyone wants to go out I know me too I was thinking that sounds delightful

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right or he seems really content in his new job um

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so yeah he is happy in the new job satisfied you know um

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but again yeah the just to review the pronunciation again as

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a noun we say content content marketing online content contents of a suitcase

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and then as an adjective it is on that second syllable

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and the o turns into a schwa

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so she is content with her life i feel content exactly let's do a role play

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and use all of these in one conversation you

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and our friends here you got a new job in content management and I'm asking you about it.

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Ready?

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All right, here we go.

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Hey, how's the new job going?

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It's good, but I've been so busy.

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I'm managing all the content for our website now.

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Oh, wow.

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That's a lot.

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What kind of content?

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Oh, you know, blog posts, videos, social media, websites.

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So today I was just reorganizing the contents of different pages to make sure everything flows better.

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Wow.

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That's different from what you were doing before.

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Are you liking it?

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yeah overall I feel pretty content it's definitely more creative than my last role

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and I was missing

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that element yeah oh really interesting especially content I could see really throwing you off

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and even native speakers when you're reading along and you've been thinking content

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and then you see that word there's a chance you would read it wrong

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and be like just kidding content right

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because they look exactly the same yeah exactly

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so let's see you I said I'm managing all the content for our website now yeah

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so that's everything if there's a blog if there are menus

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that means you're handling all of that

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and then I said you know what kind of content

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and you gave some details blog posts videos social media then you said I was just reorganizing the contents of different pages.

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So this is interesting.

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If you're thinking of these pages as a container for all of this different content, you could make it plural here, right?

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Reorganizing the contents of all of these things, and then you could make it plural.

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Yes, exactly.

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And then you said, are you liking it?

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And I said, yeah, overall, I feel pretty content.

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So I feel pretty satisfied.

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I feel pretty happy.

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Yeah.

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Ooh, really interesting.

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This is such a an easy mistake to make and some real pitfalls here, some traps with content and content being spelled exactly the same.

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So tricky, but I'm excited you have all of these details now to be, especially where we do talk a lot about online content these days.

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You probably know people who work in digital marketing or whatever they're doing.

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They're probably working in content or they might even just be, you know, posting their own content on their own social media

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and you might be talking to him about

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that yep exactly all right guys so check out episode 2687

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if you haven't yet we just did

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that episode um it was learn english anywhere anytime with anyone

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so that was a really good one where we talked about um any

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and eight different ways to use it so we had fun with

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that one lots of important information over there scroll up to check

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that one out and And thanks for joining me today, Michelle.

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This was a fun episode.

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All right.

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Thank you, Aubrey.

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And thanks, guys, for listening.

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I'm really content after recording with you.

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I hope everyone is content after listening to that episode.

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All right.

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I'll see you guys next time.

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Bye.

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All right.

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Bye.

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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: AEE - Does This Content Make You Feel Content? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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