Shadowing Practice: Brooke and Jubal Second Date Update - EP#73 First date Background Checks! - Learn English Speaking with Video

It is always a good sign when you continually ask somebody out and they constantly say, I'm busy.

That's not a good sign.

And then never try to make an effort to go out with you.

That's always a plus.

Yeah, that's good.

That's good, Jubal.

That's what's happening to David, who wants to call a girl today for a second date update.

They met on Match, had a good time.

and then doesn't go like I'm busy but We could do this.

It's just, I'm busy.

I hate that.

That's what you're getting, right, David?

That's right.

Yeah, David, you're not one to read signs or take hints very well, are you?

You know, every once in a while.

Tell us a little bit about the girl you want us to call first.

Well, her name's Alicia, and we met on .com.

Okay.

You know, she was really cool.

She was funny.

She was cute, all that stuff.

So we ended up meeting up and going out for drinks for a happy hour, and we had a good time, you know.

Remember, was the conversation good?

Everything normal?

Did anything strange happen?

On your date?

No, not at all.

It was actually a really good time.

You know, we were just sitting around drinking and got on the topic of liking to try new things.

And we both like to do that and started ordering each other drinks that we never had before.

And, of course, that, you know, that went well.

Nobody got sick or anything like that.

How much alcohol was consumed?

It was only like three drinks apiece.

Okay, that's not too bad.

You know, I had like our initial drink and then she got me something like a blue Hawaiian drink.

and an Alabama slammer and I got her a Midori Sour and she'd never done an Irish car bomb so...

- Yeah, you guys kept it classy on your date, didn't you?

- Is that all that you did was go to happy hour and do the like, "Hey, try this drink thing?" Well, you know, you do that pretty quick in an hour.

Yeah.

We got pretty drunk pretty quick.

Yeah.

And realized it was probably a good idea to slow down there.

Yeah.

Maybe order some food, too.

At the end of your hour of drinking.

What did you guys do?

Did you go get something to eat or?

Well, you know, you can't always do drinks and dinner on a first date.

Maybe a good idea to combine the both.

I'm thinking you needed something to sop up the alcohol.

That second date idea, I can't do that on first.

I don't have a lot of ideas.

First date drink, second date.

Dinner and drink well, it's not like you were slamming down bottles

and bottles you bitch had like three or four drinks each You weren't completely hammered right?

Everyone's a raging alcoholic like you three or four drinks.

You probably still be okay Yeah, I felt good David can I ask?

When you made plans with her the first time, was it hard?

Was she always, quote, quote, busy?

Or did she have a lot of free time?

No, she was really open for it.

And did she did she give you any indication on her date

that she has like a really busy schedule or crazy job or anything like that?

You know, not really.

Um, You know, it seems like she's, I'm going to be honest, I don't, we really didn't talk about what each other, what we both do for work.

How did the date end with her?

Did you guys make out?

No, we didn't make out.

I was a pretty smooth operator.

I got a kiss on the cheek.

That's not smooth, David That's a friend peck, dude No, no, no, that was a gentleman peck It was a nice hug,

it wasn't a side hug Regular, good, linger and hug and that it from the tree did i'm just gonna say

Throw it out there.

Anytime I've ever told a guy or even a friend that I'm busy, it's because I don't want to hang out with them.

If I'm busy and I make plans, like alternate plans, then it means, yeah, go for it.

Well, she still responds, like, if I text her or send her a message on Facebook or anything, you know, she's still responding.

She's not, like, completely boring me off.

Yeah.

So that's why I'm confused as to, you know, I've been in that position where I've said I'm busy, and then I just don't respond to text.

Yeah, but some people don't do that.

Like, I know for me, if I tell somebody I'm busy and they keep doing it, like, eventually I'll break down and still respond to them, and then they'll be like, okay, so let's go out.

And you're like, no, I'm still busy.

Yeah.

I don't want to see you, but you just keep bugging me, so I will answer.

If you like a guy, you make time.

That's all I'm saying.

- I or girl.

you know i mean like if you pull me off i would like to know the reason why Okay.

To me, we had a really great time.

Okay.

Well, we'll play a song, come back, call her, and get your second date update, okay?

Cool.

If we're not too busy.

Hang on, all right?

All right.

Yep.

We were going to do your second date update, but honestly, something just came up.

Can we make the phone call for you like next week or something?

100

I promise we'll get around to it.

101

If you're just tuning into the second date update, I'm telling David that because the girl

102

that he wants us to get a hold of keeps giving him the I'm busy treatment.

103

Not I'm busy.

104

We could maybe try next Thursday when I'm not busy.

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Just...

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I'm busy, which usually means I don't want to see you.

107

Yeah.

108

So we're about to call her and find out why.

109

They met on match, went out for happy hour, had some drinks, maybe too many drinks, I don't know.

110

And he said everything went well, so he doesn't understand why she would say that she's busy and doesn't want to see him again.

111

But she is responding immediately.

112

To like all of his texts and everything.

113

Yeah, to be nice, maybe.

114

Maybe, yeah.

115

David, I mean, you got a kiss on the cheek when you left.

116

Was there any talk then of seeing each other?

117

I don't remember.

118

I'm gonna go with no. Alright, you ready to give her a call?

119

Here we go.

120

Beep.

121

Phone ringing.

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Hello?

123

Hi, can I speak to Alyssa, please?

124

Yeah, this is Alyssa.

125

Hey, how are you?

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This is Jubal from Brook and Jubal in the Morning.

127

I'm moving 92 .5.

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Really?

129

Yeah.

130

What's going on?

131

um...

132

This is really weird.

133

Do you listen to our show?

134

I catch it once in a while.

135

In the morning, I kind of have to focus on hard news stuff just so I'm ready for work.

136

I like to think of us as hard news.

137

We report on the hard -hitting things.

138

No, I mean, like solid news, like nothing but news.

139

I would so much rather have some good music in the morning, but it doesn't really work for a few.

140

Well, yeah, you want good music.

141

You're not coming to the right place by listening to us.

142

We do have music.

143

I mean, whatever.

144

All right, Alyssa, listen, I'm calling you because you recently went out with someone else

145

our show and they wanted us to get a hold of you.

146

So this is like a social call?

147

yeah I like that name it is social call can do a social call

148

or a second date update as we like to call it it's where if you go out with someone

149

and you end up blowing them off, they email us to call and ask why.

150

David, who's a friend of the show, feels like you've been giving him the runaround just telling him that you're busy.

151

Are you really busy or do you actually want to see David again?

152

Uh...

153

Yeah, that's a really interesting question.

154

It's not that interesting.

155

You're just trying to be nice.

156

Yeah.

157

You don't want to see David again, do you?

158

Um, No, I mean, I guess he told you?

159

What did he tell you?

160

He said you guys went out for a happy hour, started talking about things you haven't tried before, and then were suggesting drinks to each other and had a few drinks.

161

And he said he got a kiss on the cheek from you.

162

That's a big deal, right?

163

He said we had a few drinks.

164

We had a lot of drinks.

165

Okay.

166

He said you had...

167

It was like a lot of drinking.

168

It was like I was feeling really buzzed.

169

Okay.

170

All right.

171

So you were pretty drunk on the date.

172

Yeah, I mean, I'm guessing that he was, too.

173

I don't know.

174

Did he do something weird then, or did he.. you know, try to make a move on you or...

175

No, I mean, it was fun.

176

We were like talking and laughing and trying these drinks.

177

And then like, you know, we were just talking about...

178

stuff from the past and like, I mean, it was kind of awkward because he, said that a long time ago he got in trouble with the law in another state,

179

which is like kind of a strange thing to say.

180

Did he tell you what he did?

181

No, he like, there must have been a weird look on my face

182

because I think he like kind of caught himself

183

and he just like tried to like play it off like it was no big deal, you know, like...

184

Oh, he just, you know, he said something like, oh, I was kind of wild when I was younger.

185

Okay.

186

Like, that really stuck with me, what he said, and I just...

187

But you don't even know what he did, though, because he never told you what he did.

188

That's exactly, and that's why I didn't know what to make of it.

189

So I was talking to my friends about it, and they're worried about safety and stuff.

190

So they're like, look, you know, you should really do a background check just to be safe.

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Like, anyone can go online and, like, put up a profile.

192

You don't know who this guy is.

193

So did you do a background check?

194

Yeah.

195

You actually paid to have a background check done on him.

196

Oh.

197

Yeah, I mean, it's not that exciting.

198

Expensive.

199

I just, I was really surprised by what I found out, and that's why I haven't said yes to a second date.

200

What did you find out?

201

Well...

202

He was basically like a serial arsonist.

203

What?

204

He was flying things on fire?

205

A serial arsonist?

206

Whoa!

207

Like how bad?

208

What?

209

Well, I don't know all the details.

210

Like, you don't get every single everything.

211

But when the information came back, it just was like he...

212

things on fire like more than once wow that's intense like

213

how many counts of setting things on fire did he have uh this mentioned

214

Four and there were there were allegations about a fifth.

215

I guess

216

that wasn't proven now Alyssa We did this phone call for him to find out why you weren't calling him back now.

217

I'm scared if things don't go well He's gonna burn my house down or something.

218

Seriously?

219

I'm worried for her!

220

Yeah, I'm sorry for that.

221

Alyssa, I know you probably never want to talk to David again.

222

Yeah.

223

But I should tell you that he's actually been on the other line this whole time listening to everything you said.

224

Hey.

225

Okay, this is really awkward.

226

I don't even know what to say now.

227

First of all, that is really weird that you would do a background check on me.

228

I can't believe that people actually do that.

229

Don't deflect.

230

How can you have a complaint that I did a background check?

231

There was something to find.

232

That seems to be more of an issue.

233

Yeah.

234

You could have asked me.

235

Well, I did ask you after you mentioned that you got in trouble with the law and you blew off the question.

236

You kind of just shut down and obviously didn't want to answer it.

237

So I did try that.

238

I don't really care about you talking to each other right now.

239

All I want to know is, David...

240

Are you really a serial arsonist?

241

Serial arsonist is a really strong way to label it.

242

I set a couple old cars on fire and like a shed.

243

In the wood.

244

Why would you do that?

245

We were just kids goofing off.

246

It's not like someone lived in the shed.

247

It's not like it was like a car in someone's driveway.

248

There's just some old stuff out in the field and we set it on fire.

249

I don't know that I feel better about that, David.

250

I...

251

Sadly, I can see where David's coming from.

252

Sometimes you just want to light things on fire.

253

At least it wasn't like houses or anything like that.

254

Animals.

255

Yeah.

256

It's not like we did it because I was crazy.

257

We did it because we were bored and it happened to belong to somebody, which we didn't know, and then, uh...

258

I got to go to the car.

259

Buildings usually do belong to someone, David. And cars.

260

How much time did you serve?

261

I just finished high school, I was like 18, I was supposed to serve two years, but I was out in like six months.

262

Nice.

263

Not nice.

264

That's all you get for burning down a couple cars.

265

So you served two years in jail for arson.

266

I was supposed to serve two years.

267

I was done in six months.

268

You were done in six months.

269

So Alyssa, he's not that hardened of a criminal.

270

He was only in jail for six months.

271

Silver lining, good behavior.

272

Does that make it any better, Alyssa?

273

Okay.

274

I'm really, really uncomfortable.

275

I don't blame you at all.

276

Yeah.

277

Well, Alyssa, it was i was just hanging out with some bad people and made a super mistake

278

and I learned from it, and I moved away from there.

279

I'm in a new state.

280

I started a new life.

281

You know, I haven't had any other problems with the cops, not even a speeding ticket.

282

You know?

283

I think people can change here.

284

How old are you, David?

285

28. And no problems in the last like 10 years.

286

Come on, you guys.

287

Yeah, it was 10 years ago.

288

Everybody makes dumb mistakes when they're young.

289

Four times?

290

It doesn't matter how long ago it was.

291

I don't want to date someone who was in jail.

292

I think that that's an okay standard to have.

293

I don't think so.

294

I really do.

295

You got to try a felon at least one time in your life.

296

That's what I always say.

297

That's what my grandma told me and I listened.

298

So listen, we can't convince you to go out on a second date with David.

299

We will pay for it.

300

I'm just - I'm not the right girl.

301

David, I'm sorry you did not get your second date.

302

But at least you know why Alyssa's been telling you that she's busy.

303

Yeah, that's a plus.

304

She doesn't want her property burned down.

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743 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Brooke and Jubal Second Date Update - EP First date Background Checks!”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: busy, drink, date, David. This video has 304 sentences and 2615 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:19. The speaker talks fast, about 196 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 52 of its 304 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:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
arsonist noun	/ˈɑɹsənəst/	One who has committed the act of arson, or illegally setting fire to property.
serial adjective	/ˈsɪɹ.i.əl/	Having to do with or arranged in a series.
cheek noun	/t͡ʃiːk/	The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.
peck verb	/pɛk/	To strike or pierce with the beak or bill (of a bird).
bore verb	/boɹ/	To inspire boredom in somebody.
awkward adjective	/ˈɔk.wɚd/	Lacking dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments.
apiece adverb	/əˈpis/	Each by itself; for or to each one.
deflect verb	/dɪˈflɛkt/	To make (something) deviate from its original path or position.
excite verb	/ɪkˈsaɪt/	To stir the emotions of; to cause to feel excitement.
linger verb	/ˈlɪŋɡɚ/	To stay or remain in a place or situation, especially as if unwilling to depart or not easily able to do so.
runaround noun		An evasive explanation in the form of multiple excuses.
slammer noun	/ˈslæmɚ/	One who, or that which, slams.
allegation noun	/ˌæl.ɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/	An assertion, especially an accusation, not necessarily based on facts.
harden verb	/ˈhɑɹdn̩/	To become hard.
driveway noun	/ˈdɹaɪvˌweɪ/	A short private road that leads to a house or garage.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
burn down verb		To cause (a structure) to burn to nothing.
come back verb		To return to a place.
end up verb		To bring to a conclusion.
make out verb	/meɪk aʊt/	To draw up (a document etc.), to designate (a cheque).
blow off verb		To vent, usually, to reduce pressure in a container.
break down verb		To stop functioning.
come up verb		To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

What did you guys do?
Did you go get something to eat or?
Did you guys make out?
Alright, you ready to give her a call?
Do you listen to our show?

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	I've ever told · I've been · haven't tried
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was consumed · wasn't proven · was done
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	were just sitting · were slamming · were suggesting
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	started ordering · keep bugging · keeps giving

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 102 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: allegation /ˌæl.ɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/, indication /ɪndɪˈkeɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: allegation /ˌæl.ɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/, continually /kənˈtɪnjuəli/, alcoholic /ˌæl.kəˈhɔ.lɪk/, indication /ɪndɪˈkeɪʃən/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/

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 arsonist, serial, cheek.

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 →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?