Shadowing Practice: Anthony Bourdain on In-N-Out: 'My Favorite Restaurant in LA' - Learn English Speaking with Video

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We're now at one of my favorite places in Los Angeles, In-N-Out Burger.

We don't have those in New York.

In fact, every once in a while, somebody starts, some cruel person starts a rumor, generally on a foodie website,

that In-N-Out is coming to Brooklyn or to one of the boroughs.

And everybody in New York goes insane.

Oh my God, oh my God, In-N-Out is coming.

What can I say about this place?

It's the only fast food chain that I actually like and think is reasonably good for the world.

Whenever I come to L.A., in fact, one of the reasons I look forward to doing the taste is because as soon as I arrive, I'll hit the airport in and out, and on my way out of town,

after finishing the taste, I'll pick up another.

Every once in a while, I'll even buy a big reeking bag of burgers with onions and fries and shakes,

and I'll bring them back to my very nice hotel lobby and it's really an amazing thing to see.

Generally speaking, when you walk through the lobby of a nice hotel with a big reeking bag of fast food, people look at you like, you know, you're low class,

or, you know, why are you bringing that in here?

We do have a restaurant.

No, nothing but love and admiration, even from the staff.

They're like, good going, sir.

Nicely done, sir.

Excellent.

I would like to be eating that right now.

Something else interesting about In-N-Out I've found, I use Instagram a lot, And I found that if I were to take an Instagram picture of myself and like,

I don't know, with some really interesting people, let's make up a scenario.

Me, Christopher Walken, the Dalai Lama, and Keith Richards in a hot tub doing bong rips.

Pretty interesting stuff, you'd think, right?

I'm good for a few thousand likes on Instagram.

And that's about all I'll get in an hour.

You know, maybe four or five thousand likes if I put that picture up.

However, and I found this from experience, if I simply take an isolated photograph of my In-N-Out Burger sitting on a table,

an anonymous In-N-Out Burger, I would get like 50,000 likes in 9 minutes.

So, you know, the thing about a burger is it's, there are many, many forces at play with a properly made burger.

You've got to have a decent bun, right, to start with.

Bun selection, very important.

You know, good quality meat.

Also, you know, that would be nice.

Non-limp, reasonably fresh greens and garnishes, also good.

Cheese, you don't want fancy cheese.

You don't want, you know, no. Whatever that is, this cheese-like substance is just perfect.

But notice it's two thin patties together, okay?

Maximum surface area, therefore exposing the maximum areas of meat surface to the popples of the tongue.

It's brilliant.

This is like a ballistic missile.

Perfectly designed delivery system, protein delivery system.

And I like mine animal style.

I'd tell you what that is, but I'd have to kill you.

Yes.

Oh yeah.

There it is.

My favorite restaurant in Los Angeles.

A city with many fine restaurants, by the way.

Just I'm a cheap, nasty, low-down, trailer park, burger slut.

Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Anthony Bourdain on In-N-Out: 'My Favorite Restaurant in LA'”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: burger, Instagram, cheese, restaurant, interesting. This video has 51 sentences and 565 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:25. The speaker talks at a natural 165 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 80% 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
burger noun	/ˈbɝ.ɡɚ/	A hamburger.
reek noun	/riːk/	A strong unpleasant smell.
reasonably adverb	/ˈɹiː.zən.ə.bli/	In accordance with reason.
lobby noun	/ˈlɑ.bi/	An entryway or reception area; vestibule; passageway; corridor.
ballistic adjective	/bəˈlɪs.tɪk/	Of or relating to ballistics.
foodie noun	/ˈfuːdi/	A person with a special interest in or knowledge of food, a gourmet.
garnish verb	/ˈɡɑːnɪʃ/	To decorate with ornaments; to adorn; to embellish.
popple verb	/ˈpɒpl̩/	Of water, to move in a choppy, bubbling, or tossing manner.
patty noun	/ˈpæti/	A flattened portion of ground meat or a vegetarian equivalent, usually round but sometimes square in shape.
admiration noun	/ˌæd.məˈɹeɪ.ʃən/	A positive emotion combining wonder and approbation; the regarding of another as being wonderful; a feeling of respect for another's skills or attributes, as…
isolate verb	/ˈaɪ.sə.leɪt/	To set apart or cut off from others.
rumor noun	/ˈɹumɚ/	A statement or claim of questionable accuracy, from no known reliable source, usually spread by word of mouth.
borough noun	/ˈbʌɹ.oʊ/	A town having a municipal corporation and certain traditional rights.
onion noun	/ˈʌn.jən/	A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
fry verb	/fɹaɪ/	To cook (something) in hot fat.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
look forward to verb		To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
make up verb	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	To constitute, to compose.
pick up verb		To lift; to grasp and raise.
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:

What can I say about this place?
Pretty interesting stuff, you'd think, right?
Cheese, you don't want fancy cheese.
You don't want, you know, no.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 19 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'll, don't, I'd. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: garnish /ˈɡɑːnɪʃ/, admiration /ˌæd.məˈɹeɪ.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: reasonably /ˈɹiː.zən.ə.bli/, admiration /ˌæd.məˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, anonymous /əˈnɒn.ə.məs/

How to practise with this video

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

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: Anthony Bourdain on In-N-Out: 'My Favorite Restaurant in LA' - Learn English Speaking with Video

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