Shadowing Practice: Brooke Shields rare interview 1988 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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175 sentences
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Public People's Private Lives.
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Now this is a pretty baby.
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At 11 months old, Brooke Shields began her career in ivory soap ads.
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And by the ripe old age of 12, Brooke was not just a pretty baby, but also filmed him's biggest child sex symbol.
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As a teenager, Brooke sizzled, and when she reached puberty, her sex appeal had become legendary.
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Her allure was obvious, yet Brooke always maintained an air of innocence and purity.
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Today at 23, Brooke Shields is a young woman.
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She recently graduated from Princeton University with honors and is at a crossroads in her life.
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But being a child sex symbol can leave scars, and it hasn't been easy for her to adjust to the prospect of adult sexual relationships.
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They terrify me, basically.
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it's because it's that realm do you know it's that
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that realm of utter vulnerability and it's that realm of really knowing people
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and it's and it's that's frightening i mean there's there's just
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that protected side of me that is just very unwilling presently and and just almost unable to get beyond,
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you know, because it's not, it can't be intellectualized.
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And I've been able to intellectualize virtually everything in my life.
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And this I can't intellectualize, so I don't know how to deal with it.
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So you're on the threshold of that.
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Oh, yes, but it's a very big threshold.
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It looks like it's going to be there for so long.
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There were so many articles printed about your going to Princeton
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and the difficulties in fitting in with the kids that were already there.
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Did you know that in front when you started?
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I mean, did you know you'd have to have that kind of a problem?
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I knew that I was going to be met at a disadvantage because instead of being a freshman that nobody knows,
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I was a freshman that everybody knew, but I didn't know anybody.
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It was difficult.
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I think it was slightly a little bit more difficult for me in the beginning because...
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Slightly?
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Well, I'm trying to, I was trying to grapple with that then.
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I tried to diminish it as far as how difficult it was, because if I did let myself really understand how difficult it was,
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I could have not survived.
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But I knew it was just a matter of time.
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People just had to realize that I was as serious as they were, or even more serious than some of them.
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I understand that at one point you called home and said, I give up.
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At one point, I think I called home many more than that, many more times.
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I was probably I will I probably don't like to admit to it
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but I called my mother oh gosh four
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and five times a day I made her I would go home on Friday
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and I would come back Monday morning early
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and then I would make her come out on Wednesday to
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break up the week the week from Monday to Friday and
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and take me out to dinner because I was very alone what about dating was
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that hard well I I think it was difficult in the sense that if I liked somebody,
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a lot of the time I would have to be the one to ask them to go do something.
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So that they're, because they would be so afraid
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that I would say no or that I would have so many dates or so many girlfriends, which was not the case,
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so that I would have to make the first move.
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So I think that was where the difficulty was.
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Intimidation.
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That's got to be a really difficult thing,
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feeling that, you know, that many of the guys that are going to ask you out are going to be intimidated.
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And maybe there's someone there you might wanted to meet, but they were just too intimidated to ask.
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How do you feel about that?
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Well, it gets a little tiring sometimes because what happens is there's a lot of responsibility then.
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And I'm appreciating their position.
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And if they're intimidated, then I'm the one that has to make the first move.
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But there's still that school of thought that I believe or that feeling of being a lady where they ask you.
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And that was tough for me to get over because on the one hand,
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I wanted to be a strong female who was intelligent and on my own.
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And yet I wanted to be the lady, the little girl that they would ask.
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And so I had to get over that.
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I had to say, well, we'll just have to start from square one once we get this other little part of it out of the way.
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And then I'd sort of revert, you know.
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What about your intimidation?
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That's definitely there.
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Why?
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They're afraid of getting turned down.
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They're afraid that they won't have the stamina or the desire to overlook.
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an image that you have or put up with what goes with it.
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I mean, I've gone out with guys who, you know, it's tough when you're sitting at dinner and someone asks you for your autograph.
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I mean, it's really annoying and it's hard if you're trying, if you're not on an equal level with somebody.
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And I've seen guys just freak out.
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They just can't handle it.
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And that's scary because then you feel that you're really alone.
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And that's intimidating.
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Has there ever been a man that's intimidated you?
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An actor?
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I met Robert De Niro a while ago
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and I'd seen a film of his and I decided to write this long letter to him.
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I was like 16.
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So I wrote this in -depth letter to him
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and he got it and then when I saw him I was so embarrassed and very intimidated.
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But I just went up and profusely apologized.
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I said, I'm sorry, I'll never write again to you, I promise.
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You know, he said, no, no, I like the letters.
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That's okay.
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And I was, I mean, I couldn't think of anything to say.
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It was one of those, I was at a loss for words just because I enjoyed his work so much, too.
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You've had some relationships with some pretty terrific guys.
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John Travolta, for one.
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What appealed to you about John Travolta?
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John Travolta proposed to me the first time.
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And I was, he was so sweet about it.
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I mean, it wasn't really a formal proposal
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but he wanted us to be together and he wanted my mom to be with us.
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He's a very family -oriented man.
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And I was just too young.
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I was in school.
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I hadn't even finished high school yet.
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So it was a sweet way of saying how much he cared.
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What about Michael Jackson?
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I love Michael beyond his talent, beyond his unbelievable talent, his genius of talent,
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there's a little kid in him that is, it's an insatiable little child, do you know?
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And I think that that, I'm not attracted to the weakness in men.
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I just think it's nice when you can see both.
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And I think that he, he was a, he is a friend before anything.
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And he's a friend on a very honest, childlike level.
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Do you know, there's that vulnerability.
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What about Bob Hope?
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Bob Hope is my one and only true love that will last forever and ever.
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He is, the man is unbelievable.
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He is, I look up to him, I admire him, I give him a hard time.
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I know what kind of ice cream he likes, you know.
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He's just, he is the, sort of the grandfather that I never really had,
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and yet he's more of a buddy of mine.
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Oh, that's great.
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You've had some proposals of marriage already at your young age.
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It's a little overwhelming.
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I'll bet.
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What's the most bizarre proposal of marriage that you've had?
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This Arabian man, when we were in Israel, was going to trade, I think it was 12 camels,
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which was a lot, to marry me.
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But he wanted to fatten me up a little bit.
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He said I was too skinny.
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I said, sorry, got to be skinny, you know.
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I can't marry him.
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Of all the eligible men that you've met that are maybe out of reach because of circumstances or whatever, what would be the most intriguing?
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You mentioned that you've met
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Prince Charles and that you've met
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Prince Albert, I believe, and Khashoggi and so on.
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I mean, those are a lot of choices there.
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It's exciting, but it doesn't last very long.
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And I think that I have seen so much on an exterior level that I really, really try to reach farther in.
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And that's what I'm looking for, or that's what I'm hoping for.
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So much we hear about your relationship with your mother, because she's been at your side throughout it all.
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Do you wish you had a closer relationship with your dad?
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Do you wish that he had been there?
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I wish there was a bigger communication that is just not there that I was very open to for very many years,
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and now I'm not as open to anymore.
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But I think it's a shame, only because I have idealized pictures in my life of what it's like,
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you know, what dad is, what mom is.
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And the atypical aspects of it I can deal with because I've dealt with it since I was, you know, very small.
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But it's the desired, it's everybody wants to have roots, and everybody wants to have a connection and a family.
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But when it's a superficial one, when you're making it better than what it really is, and you realize that, then you're not fooling yourself anymore.
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That's where it's difficult.
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Yeah.
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You know, I interviewed Kareem Abdul -Jabbar, and he talked about having a game face
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because he was taller than everyone in his class and
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because he felt.. that he was being picked on sometimes because he was bigger.
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And you have been described sometimes as having a mask that you put on because possibly for the same reason.
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What do you think is the difference between your image and the real Brooke Shields?
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What are the differences?
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I think that the main difference probably has to do with insecurity.
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that the image of Brooke Shields and very often what I'm,
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what I can successfully project is a sense of self -confidence.
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And I am self -confident to a certain extent, but there is an underlying insecurity that very often just pervades.
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And it is a pervasive insecurity that I'm always trying to subdue so that I can...
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I'm confident with my intellect because I've proven it to myself in school
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and in lectures or in precepts and that sort of, or through my thesis.
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But very often, I'm always worried about doing the wrong thing, and I've always been like that.
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Now you have emerged an adult woman.
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Where are you going to go from here now?
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Now is the shock period.
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Now, the moment that I was, well, I wasn't waiting for it as much,
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say, as some people who hadn't already been experienced to the outside world.
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But now this moment has arrived,
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and basically, I've panicked for the last year because it was exciting to be out of school at first.
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Now, all I want to do in my life is be in films and be as best as I can,
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and now I have to fight for that position.
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Why?
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Why do you have to fight?
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Because maybe I've always been fighting or maybe my mother's been fighting for me.
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But I have been distracted and now the, and I feel I have to fight because now I feel like I have to prove myself.
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Because now I'm not the little girl that was in movies before.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Brooke Shields rare interview 1988”. This video has 175 sentences and 2001 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:02. The speaker talks at a natural 166 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| proposal noun | /pɹəˈpoʊzəl/ | A scheme or design. |
| insecurity noun | A lack of security; uncertainty. | |
| marry verb | /ˈmæɹi/ | To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife. |
| difficulty noun | /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/ | The state of being difficult, or hard to do. |
| symbol noun | /ˈsɪmbəl/ | A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object. |
| unbelievable adjective | /ˌʌnbɪˈliːvəbl̩/ | Not to be believed. |
| threshold noun | /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/ | The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill. |
| skinny adjective | /ˈskɪni/ | Thin, generally in a negative sense (as opposed to slim, which is thin in a positive sense). |
| freshman noun | /ˈfɹɛʃ.mən/ | a person (of either sex) entering the first year of an institution, especially a high school (ninth grade for US, grade 9 for Canada, grade 7 for Philippines)… |
| litter noun | /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ | Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals. |
| vulnerability noun | /ˌvʌln(ə)ɹəˈbɪlɪti/ | The state of being vulnerable; susceptibility to attack or injury, either physical or emotional; the state or condition of being weak or poorly defended. |
| extent noun | /ɪkˈstɛnt/ | A range of values or locations. |
| shock noun | /ʃɔk/ | A sudden, heavy impact. |
| formal adjective | /ˈfɔɹməl/ | In accordance with established forms. |
| successfully adverb | /səkˈsɛs.fə.li/ | In a successful manner; with success; without failing. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get over verb | To overcome. |
| break up verb | To break or separate into pieces. |
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). |
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
| look up to verb | To show respect or admiration for (someone); to see (someone) as a role model. |
| put up with verb | To endure, tolerate, suffer through, or allow, especially something annoying. |
| turn down verb | To refuse, decline, or deny. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Did you know that in front when you started?
- How do you feel about that?
- Has there ever been a man that's intimidated you?
- What's the most bizarre proposal of marriage that you've had?
- Do you wish that he had been there?
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 | hasn't been · I've been · I've gone |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | can't be intellectualized · be met · be intimidated |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | girlfriends, which was · people who hadn |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 59 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I've, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/, grandfather /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑðɚ/, thesis /ˈθisɪs/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/, freshman /ˈfɹɛʃ.mən/, shock /ʃɔk/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, superficial /ˌsupɚˈfɪʃəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/, unbelievable /ˌʌnbɪˈliːvəbl̩/, vulnerability /ˌvʌln(ə)ɹəˈbɪlɪti/, successfully /səkˈsɛs.fə.li/, eligible /ˈɛl.ɪ.d͡ʒɪ.bəl/
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 proposal, insecurity, marry.
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.