Shadowing Practice: Annoying Customers - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hey, this is kinda like a part two video I mean you don't have to have seen the part one video to understand what I talk about in this video, But I mean if you haven't watched part one, uh, you should.
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So I used to work at Subway and to be honest about 80% of the customers were fine.
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Sometimes they would do something that would just personally annoy me, like ask for a meatball on flatbread.
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So don't feel too bad for me.
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Like, sometimes people would ask me: "Can I have a turkey with lettuce, tomatoes--" Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Slow down!
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What kind of bread? Foot-long or six-inch?
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What kind of cheese? Is it toasted?
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THEN we'll talk about vegetables!
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And every time someone brought in a list, there would always be something missing on it.
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Always! I never had someone come in with a complete list.
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I would ask someone, "What kind of cheese?" And they would say, "Agh, they didn't specify." Well then, if they didn't care enough to remember cheese, I guess they'll get swiss!
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If anyone watching is currently working at a Subway, then feel free to use these tricks.
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if someone asked me, "Hmm, what kind of cheese do you recommend?" I would ALWAYS say provolone.
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because it's the easiest cheese to pull apart with gloves on.
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Really, if anyone asked me what I recommended, I would just tell them the easiest thing for me to do.
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But even after I gave my insightful provolone cheese recommendation, Sometimes people would still say, "Hmm, I'll take American." why do you even ask me what cheese I would recommend if you're not gonna take it seriously?!
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Another thing that would annoy me is when people would say the sandwich was "All done" But they didn't put any sauce on it.
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So I would ask, "Any sauce?" and then they would be like, "Oh yeah, Mayonnaise." OH! Why did you tell me it was all done IF IT WASN'T!
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Also, the receipt machine at the store took like seven seconds to print out the receipt.
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So it would be very awkward if I asked someone, "Do you want your receipt?" and then they would say, "Yes." And then we would just STARE...
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AT EACH OTHER...
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UNTIL... The receipt printed.
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So what I did every time someone swiped their credit card, I would just stare off into space, And in my head, I would count to five and then I would ask, "Do you want your receipt?" And by the time they said yes, it was like magic!
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As soon as they said yes, BSSHHH, the receipt printed.
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At Subway, you only work with one other person.
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So if someone got annoyed and said, "Lemme talk to your manager." I would just look at them and go, "Listen, I've been here the longest.
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The only other person in this store is a 16-year-old girl, and she technically isn't old enough to use the toaster.
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So, I'm probably your best bet. I'm the manager." Like, do people think the manager will automatically take their side and give them free stuff?
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YES, actually they do think that because it happens all the time.
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I would consider myself a pretty laid-back Subway employee. I didn't like to be stingy with people, Even though I was disobeying the Subway formula on purpose.
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Oh, you want more than six olives on your foot-long? Pff, sure!
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Here, have a FIFTH slice of cheese!
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A dollar fifty for avocado? Pff, I'll charge you seventy-five cents buddy!
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I probably shouldn't be saying these things, you know. In case this whole YouTube thing flops and I need a job.
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So I wasn't really "strict" on the rules. You know those fast food workers who are strict, "No! We won't serve breakfast at 10:02! Get out!" But being pretty laid back still didn't stop people from being annoying.
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So this one person comes in and asks for two, foot-long, pastrami sandwiches.
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And pastrami is our most expensive sandwich. It's about $10 for a foot-long.
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And guys, the pastrami is super good, but I wouldn't pay for it. I mean it's good, yeah, but I'm not paying $10 for a foot-long.
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It's not worth it. So this guy, I make his two sandwiches. I ring them up and I say, "That'll be $20." And I guess he didn't look at the price of the sandwich on the menu, or he thought we still did the $5 foot-longs, because he said to me, "I ain't paying for that." And this is when I was just starting out!
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I only had like, a week of experience, and after he said that, I responded, "Well, shoot, I guess you're not paying for it, I didn't know people could do that." "Hey, I want this!" "Alright, that's $20" "Nah." "You don't want it?" " No I want it, I'm just not paying for it." Ok no, but actually we did come up with a compromise. He told me he had $12, so he ended up paying for one of the sandwiches, And I got to eat the other one. So it all worked out.
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So one time I was making a sandwich for a guy with a very heavy accent and he asks for onions on the side.
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No big deal! We had Sooubway put vegetables in little cups all the time.
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I actually got a soup cup, because the on the side cups are teeny-tiny and I started doing my thing.
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But then he says, "No! On the side." and I think, " Oh! He's getting a foot-long! He probably wants onions on half of it, but not the other.
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So I start putting onions on half the sub, but then again he says, "No! On the side!" At this point, I don't know what this guy wants. So I ask him, "On the side of what?" and then he screams, O N I O N S And I never figured out what he was trying to say.
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This one old gentleman asks for sauce to be put on his vegetables, and normally we put it on top of the sandwich with the meat.
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And I didn't know if I heard him correctly because I put the sauce on and closed the sandwich.
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So your sauce would've been in the same place either way!
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One time, this woman tipped me and Correy $40.
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She wasn't annoying. I just wanted to sprinkle in some good customer stories.
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Ok one time, this, uh, Native American person came in and, I don't know if mentioning that was important to the story...
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He comes in and asks for five foot-long Tunas. Ok Tyler, just me and you lets do this!
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and then when we're all finished, we ring them up and we say, "Anything else?" and he says, "seven meatballs" What!? He wanted seven more sandwiches!
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But James, you're Sooubway! You're supposed to make people sandwiches regardless of how many they ask for.
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Yeah I know, but the guy could've handled it differently.
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Normally for a platter, you have to call in at least an hour ahead, and that's only five foot-longs.
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This guy could've called ahead and said, "Hey, I'm getting twelve sandwiches so just, prepare yourselves... mentally." I mean we had so many customers waiting in line. No, we didn't that's a lie, it was only him. But still!
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This one woman, I was making her sandwich and for vegetables, she asked for extra lettuce.
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So I put on a big handful, but then she asks for more. So I put more on, "more" I sprinkle some on M O R E!
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"Uh, I won't be able to close the sandwich with any more lettuce." and she says, "That's fine." "Alright, extra lettuce it is." So I ended up giving her an open sandwich with a mountain of lettuce.
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You know we do salads, right?
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When I was little, I always thought if I was working at a store and someone tried to rob me, I wouldn't give them any money.
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But now it's like, "Pshh, I ain't risking my life for Sooubway! Here take the cash register!" So thankfully I've never had someone pull a gun on me, but I have caught people stealing from us.
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I was making someone's sandwich and this one kid asks for just a water cup.
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So I gave it to him. So I go back to making a sandwich and I just hear the fuzzy soda sounds being dispensed, And I look over, and the kid is putting soda in the cup! HE DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO HIDE IT!
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When I put soda in a water cup I at least wait for the employees to go in the back.
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But, I didn't even say anything. I was just like, "Alright, man." This guy, I totally saw him take a bag of chips and he hid it under the counter so I couldn't see.
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So when I rang up his sandwich I asked, "Anything else?" and he said, "Nope." Alright, whatever. Ok, last story. I was in the back playing some Clash of Clans, And we have a computer that shows what the cameras see, and I see this woman who was eating there, She reached over the counter and took three large cups and I did nothing to stop it.
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You know, I'm the kind of person that's like, "The fast food employee is always right." Say if I was eating somewhere, And I ask for a chicken salad and they said, "We only have tuna salad." I'm the kind of person that's like, Oh, well I guess I'm having the tuna salad then.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice listening, speaking, and comprehension skills using real-life customer service scenarios. By analyzing a transcript from a video about annoying customer interactions at a restaurant, you will learn how to handle various customer attitudes while improving your English pronunciation. The engaging anecdotes offer a chance to relate to common experiences in the workplace, providing context and practical vocabulary.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Meatball on flatbread: An unusual sandwich order that highlights customer preferences.
- Slow down: A common request when someone is speaking too quickly.
- Recommended: To suggest something based on personal experience.
- Receipt: A written acknowledgment of a transaction; important in customer service.
- Sauce on the side: A customer request indicating how they want their food prepared.
- Pastrami: A popular sandwich choice, typically more expensive than others.
- Onions: A common vegetable topping, but can be a point of confusion if miscommunicated.
- Tip: An extra amount of money given for good service.
Practice Tips
To maximize your learning from this video, try implementing the shadowing technique—a powerful method to improve speaking skills and enhance English pronunciation. Here are some tailored practices specific to this video's speed and tone:
- Listen Carefully: Pay close attention to the speaker’s intonation and rhythm. Notice how they emphasize certain phrases, especially during customer interactions.
- Shadow the Speaker: As you listen, try to repeat what the speaker says simultaneously. Focus on matching their tone and pace, which is key for mastering conversational fluency.
- Practice Pauses: The speaker often reflects or pauses for effect. Mimicking these pauses can enhance your natural speaking style, helping you articulate thoughts more clearly.
- Vary Your Speed: Not every English conversation happens at the same pace. As you practice speaking along with the video, experiment by slowing down for clarity or speeding up for fluency.
- Utilize Shadowspeaks: Use your own shadowing site or app to record yourself. Play it back to identify areas for improvement, focusing on challenging words or phrases.
By consistently engaging in these practices, you can significantly improve English pronunciation and become more confident in your conversational abilities. Happy learning!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't watched · I've been · I've never had |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be put · being dispensed |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was disobeying · was just starting · was making |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the easiest · the longest · your best |
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.