Shadowing Practice: 'Calvin Can't Fly' read by Jonathan Pryce - Learn English Speaking with Video
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The SAG -AFTRA Foundation Welcome to Storyline Online.
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Brought to you by the SAG -AFTRA Foundation.
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I'm Jonathan Price.
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And today I'm going to read Calvin Can't Fly.
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Written by Jennifer Byrne and illustrated by Keith Bendis.
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Calvin is a Starling.
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He was born under the eaves of an old barn,
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with his three brothers, four sisters, and 67 ,432 cousins.
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Starlings have big families.
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Right from the beginning, Calvin was different.
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Right from the day all the little starlings tumbled out of their nests to discover the world, Charlie discovered worms.
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Adeline discovered grass.
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Clement discovered dirt.
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Aubrey discovered water.
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And Calvin… Well, Calvin discovered a book.
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While all of Calvin's cousins chased beetles,
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bugs and ants, Calvin was learning to read letters, words and sentences.
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At night, his cousins dreamed of insect -eating and garbage -picking.
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Calvin dreamed of adventure stories, legends, and poetry.
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He even dreamed that someday he'd become a great writer himself.
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On June 1st, when all the little starlings lined up for flying lessons with their teacher, Mr. Wingstead, Calvin was nowhere to be seen.
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Where is that bird?
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Actually, Calvin was in the library.
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As the other little starlings were learning to swoop and hover and fly figure eights,
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Calvin buried his beak in books.
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And there his mind soared.
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Calvin read about pirates and cavemen,
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volcanoes and rainbows, whales and dinosaurs.
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Calvin especially loved dinosaurs.
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He learned how the planets circle the sun, what makes the wind blow, and amazing facts like how caterpillars grow up to become butterflies.
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His books took him to places wings never could, and his heart fluttered with excitement.
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Calvin's cousins called him Nerdy Birdie, Geeky Beeky, and Bookworm.
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And when you're a bird, being called a worm is a very bad thing.
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Calvin ruffled his feathers and mumbled, Oh, how the wounding words of scorn do sting.
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Then he sadly waddled back to the library, the only place where he was happy.
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And so he spent all summer reading, learning, and absorbing everything his little starling mind could,
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until the first leaf turned orange and fell to the ground.
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The fall winds sent a chill through the old barn.
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Summer's nests blew to the floorboards.
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It was time to head south.
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His cousins warned, Calvin, you better learn to fly.
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In a couple of days, we gotta be out of here.
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Calvin said, ah, yes, migration.
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I've read about that.
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His sister asked, Calvin, can you fly?
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Calvin had to admit he couldn't.
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All the other starlings took off in a giant formation, but Calvin could only stand and watch.
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A big, lonely tear rolled down his cheek.
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Calvin turned and trudged back toward the old barn.
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He was so upset, he didn't even notice his brothers and sisters and cousins coming back to get him.
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All of a sudden, they were tying up Calvin's middle with string and scraps of cloth they'd found in the garbage.
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They grasped the other ends with their beaks, and off they flew, with Calvin, somewhat embarrassed, safely in tow.
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For days and days they flew.
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Calvin recognized the rivers, mountains, and towns he'd read about all summer.
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Excitedly, he pointed them out to his brothers sisters and cousins
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but the other little starlings just flapped their wings and headed south
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soon there came a day when the winds blew especially hard.
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Trees bent sideways, leaves scattered wildly, flying became harder and harder.
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The air had an odd smell to it.
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The smell of danger.
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Calvin, remembering back to his favorite weather book, warned the rest of his family.
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A hurricane!
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A hurricane is coming!
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All his brothers and sisters and cousins asked, What's a hurricane?
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Calvin explained as quickly as his little beak could.
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We need to get out of the path of a violent tropical weather system,
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which is storming up the coast at a tremendous speed and will not diminish until it encounters large stretches of land mass.
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Everybody, make haste into that cave!
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They'd no idea what Calvin was saying, but they had to admit it did sound real.
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So the flock made a loop -de -loop left, a dipsy -doodle right, and dove into the cave.
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They did everything Calvin told them to.
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To their amazement, a great storm did blow across the land.
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It thundered over the mountains.
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It roared through the villages.
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It smashed and crashed, rumbled and raged.
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Just as Calvin had predicted the whole big Starling family gathered together, watching in fear and awe.
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The storm finally ended.
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The sun came out in the sky, and the Starlings came out of their cave.
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They were safe and sound, all because of Calvin.
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They celebrated with a great Starling party in honor of Calvin.
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They ate big, juicy worms and yummy, crunchy beetles.
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They danced and sang songs about how Calvin had saved their lives.
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They toasted Calvin with acorn caps filled with fresh, clear mountain water.
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Calvin was so happy and felt so good deep down inside that he jumped and hopped and danced and flapped his wings.
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And flapped his wings. and flapped his wings.
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All the other starlings looked at him in amazement.
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Calvin, you can fly!
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They exclaimed, and Calvin, the happiest starling in the whole wide world, chirped.
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Why, yes, I do believe I can.
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And they all flew south, with big, wide smiles on their little starling faces.
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especially Calvin.
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I suppose the main story to come out of Calvin Can't Fly is that it's okay to be different.
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It's okay to be the kid who reads books and doesn't play football and doesn't play basketball.
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But by reading, you gain knowledge, you learn about other people, and you learn how to behave in society,
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how to be a good member of society.
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And I think that's what happens to Calvin.
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He's accepted because he knows things, and he can warn people about things and lead them out of danger.
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And that's why it's a good thing to read, gain knowledge.
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Thank you for watching Storyline Online.
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Make sure to check out all of our stories.
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Keep watching and keep reading.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “'Calvin Can't Fly' read by Jonathan Pryce”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Calvin, starling, cousins, fly, wings. This video has 97 sentences and 1034 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:52. The speaker talks at a steady 117 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 72% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cousin noun | /ˈkʌz(ə)n/ | Chiefly with a qualifying word: Any relation (especially a distant one) who is not a direct ancestor or descendant but part of a person's extended family; a… |
| discover verb | /dɪˈskʌvə/ | To find or learn something for the first time. |
| cave noun | /keɪv/ | A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside. |
| hurricane noun | /ˈhʌɹɪkeɪn/ | A severe tropical cyclone; an intense storm rotating around a central eye. |
| warn verb | /woɹn/ | To make (someone) aware of impending danger, evil, etc. |
| barn noun | [ˈbɑɹn] | A building, often found on a farm, used for storage or keeping animals such as cattle. |
| worm noun | /wɝm/ | A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm. |
| loop noun | /luːp/ | A length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening. |
| leaf noun | /lif/ | The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants. |
| garbage noun | /ˈɡɑɹ.bɪd͡ʒ/ | Food waste material of any kind. |
| nest noun | /nɛst/ | A structure built by a bird as a place to incubate eggs and rear young. |
| dinosaur noun | /ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/ | Those animals of the clade Dinosauria that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct. |
| beetle noun | /ˈbiːtəl/ | Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings… |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| adventure noun | /ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/ | A feeling of desire for new and exciting things. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| come out in verb | to be afflicted by (a visible disruption of the body) |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| roll down verb | Synonym of wind down. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was born · be seen · being called |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was learning · were learning · were tying |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | had to admit · need to get |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | is coming · is storming |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 12 contractions and reduced forms, such as can't, doesn't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thirty /ˈθɝti/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, thunder /ˈθʌndɚ/, cloth /klɒθ/, feather /ˈfɛðə/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: migration /maɪˈɡɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, smash /smæʃ/, diminish /dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like cousin, discover, cave.
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.