Shadowing Practice: Bake Cookies with Me | Slow British English - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hi, my name is Evie and this is a video in slow English to help you practice your listening comprehension.
203 sentences
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Hi, my name is Evie and this is a video in slow English to help you practice your listening comprehension.
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Of soda.
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We'll see.
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And because it attaches.
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And they were so helpful in my second year.
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I have no plan, I'm just gonna...
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I thought that we could have a really cozy day where we bake some cookies.
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That is the only plan for today.
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In this bag next to me, I can stand up.
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Hang on.
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In this bag, I have the ingredients,
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the things we need to make cookies.
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The only thing in this bag which has nothing to do with cookies are these tulips.
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I just bought those for me.
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Today we are going to be making pistachio and white chocolate cookies.
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When I was in Sweden a few weeks ago,
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I went to a cafe and had a pistachio and white chocolate cookie
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and it was it was literally so good
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and I have been thinking about it I have been thinking
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about it for like a month I just want to eat
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it I want to eat it again I've bought here the
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ingredients I've bought all of the things I need we have flour brown sugar pistachios white chocolate chips an egg,
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this is vanilla extract, butter,
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unsalted butter and bicarbonate of soda.
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I am following the recipe today by jamespatisserie.com.
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I will put it in the description in case you want to make them as well.
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I have actually, I've never made this recipe before.
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I don't know if they are good or not, but that's the recipe.
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Great.
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Step one, hair up.
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I have with me this claw clip, my claw clip.
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I'm going to put up my hair.
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Hair is up.
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Next step, wash my hands.
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Cool.
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The, the counter, the counter,
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the, ooh, the table is already clean.
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So we also need to make these cookies.
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We need a scale and something to mix with.
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So you can mix by hand,
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like with a,
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you know one of these you can mix by hand with like a wooden like a wooden spoon
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and a bowl guys I'm lazy okay we're gonna be doing
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it with an electric with an electric mixer okay these are
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the scales it's a plural we call it a scales but plural these are scales and a mixer,
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an electric mixer and this is the mixing bowl.
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Step one, preheat the oven to 190 to 170 degrees C.
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Great, 100, I'm going to do 180 because it's halfway.
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It's halfway between 170 and 190.
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Step two, mix the butter and sugar together until creamy.
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One slight problem is my butter is not very warm.
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It's been in the fridge.
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This is a fridge, hey?
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That's a fridge.
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It's gonna be quite difficult to make that smooth.
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Somebody actually commented on one of my videos,
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like, I don't know when,
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maybe two weeks ago, somebody asked me
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if I can cook the answer is yes yes I can I can cook
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but I cannot bake so cooking is like savory food
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so breakfast like savory food so rice or pasta or pizza
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I can cook that I can cook that no problem
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but baking honestly I never bake I'm faking it like for this video I am baking
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and I never I do not normally bake we need 125 grams of unsalted butter.
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So let me grab a knife.
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This is 250 grams of butter.
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So I'm just gonna halve it.
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I'm just gonna cut it in half.
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I think that is one half.
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This is now 125 grams of butter.
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And now we need 175 grams of sugar.
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We have this light brown sugar.
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I need some scissors to open the packaging.
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Great.
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And now we need to measure 175 grams of light brown sugar.
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You need to mix the sugar with the butter.
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Have you heard the expression before of ish?
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In English, if we put ish at the end of something,
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it means like kinda, more or less, like hmm.
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so if I measure 175 grams of sugar
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but I eyeball it I just kind of guess
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if I have enough it means I have 175 grams ish of of sugar so I am going to use
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this attachment.
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It's an attachment because it attaches to my mixer.
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I'm going to turn it on.
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Oh shit.
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Fuck.
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I need this.
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This is a cover to...
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I need this cover, this cover to make sure that this stays in the bowl and doesn't explode
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everywhere.
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Ready?
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Three, two, one.
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this is the butter and the sugar mixed together until kind of creamy
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the next step is add the egg vanilla and mix again oops i'm going to crack the egg
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there we go I have cracked the egg
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and now I'm going to wash my hands again it then says add the vanilla extract
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and mix again I am going to eyeball it to eyeball is just I'm gonna just guess.
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I'm gonna.. oof, that's it.
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A dash.
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A dash of vanilla extract.
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So now that has all been mixed together,
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so it's now time to add the flour.
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We need 275 grams of flour.
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too much too much
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and then I need the corn flour I'm just not gonna
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bother half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda I have this little spoon
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which looks like a little bird and this is half a teaspoon
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so oh fuck oh no I'm adding way too much okay
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that'll do whatever that'll do salt I have a little salt
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shaker I'm gonna put it on my hand just a pinch a pinch of salt and
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we mix again it now says add the pistachios
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and the what the freaking the chocolate chips it says to add the chocolate chips
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and the pistachios okay two bags of chocolate chips
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I will cut the top again two bags of chocolate chips
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and then shit I need to chop the pistachios these nuts
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are like whole can you see they're like whole this is my chopping board and
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a knife
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and I am going to chop these pistachios we need
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200 grams now I have honestly I have no plan I'm
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just gonna I'm just gonna chop them I'm just I'm gonna just do this have you guys
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heard of the like Dubai chocolate trend that's going like crazy
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everywhere I've been speaking to some of my students like well we've not spoken about it for a
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while but I know that in Korea everybody was obsessed with this like Dubai chewy cookie which is basically like
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some kind of pistachio chewy thing.
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It's not like a cookie like I'm making today, like a biscuit.
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In the UK we call these,
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a cookie is like a biscuit,
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but a biscuit in the UK is different, so OMG.
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In America, they will call anything that looks like a biscuit a cookie.
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But in the UK, a biscuit is basically a bit less sweet.
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And a cookie is basically only these biscuits that have like chocolate chips or things like that.
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I'm doing a really bad job.
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Anyway, in Korea,
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they've become obsessed with these Dubai chewy cookies
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or they were obsessed people in Korea were obsessed with the Dubai tree cookie
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and people were spending people were spending like they were telling me seven
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or eight dollars on a Dubai chewy cookie
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that trend has not taken off here in the UK there was a trend for like Dubai chocolate
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which is yeah it's like pistachio and
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like a sweet pastry I think I honestly I've never I've never had Dubai chocolate Dubai chocolate
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if you're from Dubai you're probably thinking what what is Dubai chocolate
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but that's just what we what we call it have you ever had Dubai chocolate
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or have you had a Dubai chewy cookie is
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that a thing where you live is
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that popular um that's slang by the way is
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that a thing is
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that like popular guys i've been chopping pistachios now for like
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too long this is how they look now bro i'm just
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going for it this seems like a lot of pistachio there's more pistachio there's more pistachio than anything else which seems extreme.
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I'm gonna now mix it again.
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This seems very very dense like I have made cookies in the past
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and I feel like it was not so dense as this.
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When I say dense I mean like it's like thick and I
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I think this is kind of the best I can do.
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Portion into cookies and place onto lined trays.
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I'm gonna take a small section of dough and make it into like a little disc like a ball I guess.
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The cookie dough is It's basically done, you can see.
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So I'm gonna put this in the oven.
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While we wait for the cookies,
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I thought that we could have a quick chat.
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The time right now is 4 p.m.
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So I have until 10 past four to chat chat.
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I have recently been reading the new Hunger Games book by Suzanne Collins.
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The Hunger Games is obviously such a famous series.
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It's such a famous franchise.
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I have recently been listening to the audiobook I've been listening to the new book in this series
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which is called it's called Sunrise on the Reaping and it is
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so good I also recently read The Summer I Turned Pretty
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but I read that series in Spanish it is a show on Netflix as well and I literally
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loved it like I watched it for the first time this
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no last year I watched it last year in 2025
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and I was obsessed I've now watched it like three times
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and I've read the books so
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if you like romance romance series the summer I turned pretty is so good it's a show on Amazon
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and it's a book it's also a book as well anyway
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that was all that was all I wanted to say in this interlude
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and interlude is like a little break a little break a little pause in our baking
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so maybe maybe you will read those books
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but you you should read you should read if you want to learn English, read books.
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I think they're done.
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So let's take them out.
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Guys, they look so good.
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Yum.
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Look at them.
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They look pretty good.
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So right now they're really hot because they have just been in the oven
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so I'm going to let them I'm going to let them cool I'm going to let them get colder
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and we can try one it's time
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so I have I've got a couple a couple of the cookies that we made today.
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Guys, they actually look quite good.
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They look pretty good.
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It looks quite good, no?
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Let me see.
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They are really, really good.
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But actually, they are not too sweet.
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They are sweet, but it's really nice and you can really taste the pistachio
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which I love I love pistachio right well I think it's now probably time to end this video
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but yeah really as always I just wanted to say thank you
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so much for watching my videos I read every single comment and yeah honestly that is everything from me today.
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Thank you so much for watching and I will see you in the next video.
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See you!
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Thank you.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
The video "Bake Cookies with Me | Slow British English" presents an engaging way to enhance your spoken English skills. By following along with Evie as she bakes pistachio and white chocolate cookies, learners can immerse themselves in a cozy, casual English-speaking environment. This real-life context makes it easier to understand everyday vocabulary and phrases associated with cooking and baking. Moreover, the slow pacing allows for better absorption of language structures, making it an excellent opportunity to practice the shadowing technique. As you listen, try to repeat Evie’s words and expressions, which not only aids in pronunciation but also reinforces your memory of the vocabulary used.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Throughout the video, several key grammatical structures and expressions can be observed. Here are a few noteworthy examples:
- Present Continuous Tense: Evie often uses the present continuous to describe her actions, such as “I am following the recipe.” This structure indicates ongoing actions, making it useful for learners to express what they are currently doing.
- Imperatives: Command forms appear frequently, like “wash my hands” and “put up my hair.” These instructions are commonly used in cooking contexts, teaching learners how to give or follow commands effectively.
- Use of Modal Verbs: Phrases like “we can mix by hand” demonstrate the use of modal verbs, which express possibility and permission. Understanding these verbs is essential for discussing potential actions or choices.
- Descriptive Language: Evie describes her cookies as “literally so good,” showcasing the use of descriptive phrases to convey emotion and opinion. This enhancement enriches vocabulary and promotes expressive speaking.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While engaging with this video, learners may encounter some tricky pronunciation challenges. Notably:
- Words with "v" sounds: The word “vanilla” may be pronounced differently by various speakers, so listening closely to Evie's pronunciation can help learners master this sound.
- Plural vs. Singular: Evie's mention of “scales” (referring to weighing scales) is a plural noun that can confuse learners, as it does not seem to have a singular form in common usage.
- Phrase Repetition: Evie’s casual, conversational tone can cause some phrases to blend together, highlighting the importance of practicing the shadowspeak method. Use the shadow speech technique to imitate her pacing and intonation.
Practicing these elements will not only help you sound more natural in your speech but also aid in your overall fluency as you learn to communicate with confidence in English.
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.
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