Shadowing Practice: Can You Break a Lake Record in One Try? - Learn English Speaking with Video

Most people think a monster bass is impossible to find.

Like my friend Polly.

Bro, there's no way.

And I think I know where one's hiding, but the problem is, I'm not the only one who found out.

Gonna have to fight some fishermen to catch this fish, and I only have until sundown.

I refuse to let these other boats take my fish, so I'm gonna have to get in there.

Oh my gosh, this water looks pristine right now.

This looks so good.

First, I need to figure out what these fish are eating.

And the other day, I actually swam here and saw what's called a goby.

It's a little fish that these big bass destroy.

And lucky for me, I actually have one tied on this rod already.

It's a little tube that's supposed to look just like one.

And if you look in the water, you can see these little circles.

That's where these fish are sitting right now.

So I'm just going to drop this little thing down there and see if we can't find a fish pretty quickly.

I think I see one right here.

I'm just going to plop it down just like this.

These fish are going to be smart just because of how many people are trying to catch them right now.

Oh, that's a good one on there.

Got one.

Already got one.

Oh, boy.

We're starting with a good one too.

My gosh that fish barely fit in this one I forgot to mention

that I brought a tournament grade scale to weigh the fish this thing is super accurate

So that's how we'll be able to know

if we broke the lake record

and my personal best That's only one of three goals

that I have for today And

if I want any chance at checking off the next two I need to weigh this fish

and get right back to fishing That is a great start.

Let's get a measurement on her

Dude

Already starting the day with a three

and a half pound fish two more pounds

and it would have broken my personal best But I need to catch one three times this size to break a record.

Let's give her a proper send-off here This is already a big one There she goes.

How cool is that for a first fish?

There's a lot more of those to come I'm gonna tell

you right now a lot of fish are gonna be caught today

And that's why I'll be throwing all kinds of different lures.

It's gonna give it a little toss up there Let them sink and then start popping this back in

This water is so nice and warm that when I catch a big one, I'm going to get in the water with it.

Oh, wait, I got one.

I didn't even, I wasn't paying attention.

Ooh, wait, this one could be big.

He's a fighter.

Man, this is another good one.

Got him.

If I'm catching fish like this already, the giant's got to be here.

But I am going to get a quick wait on this one as well.

3.29.

Close, but not quite close enough.

Let's see if there's one sitting over there.

You'll notice the more fish I catch, the closer boats are going to get to me.

I'm starting to learn I can see the really big ones.

Maybe that's what I'm just gonna have to do is just spot them and cast straight to them.

Oh, I see one, I see one, I see one.

Got him, got him.

Oh boy.

Oh, he shrunk a little bit.

This is probably another high twos.

Not a bad one.

Oh, goodbye.

The other reason why I believe I'll be out here longer than everybody is because I came prepared.

I brought a fortune cookie with me and lunch and lots of drinks.

Oh my gosh my lure just started swimming away.

Got him that time.

Man, I'll tell you what, I set the hook into that one though.

I don't think he's going anywhere.

And he came off.

That definitely wasn't the biggest one of the day.

Oh I see one right here, hold on.

I see one right here.

Oh my gosh and I got him.

That was fast.

Oh my gosh, wait, no he broke.

My line just snapped on this fish.

Oh I almost lost this whole thing.

This guy's a little baby gonna send him home.

So not only did my line snap on that fish when I got him in the boat, look at my hook.

But I'm gonna tie this back on, catch one more, and put something a little more exciting on.

This lure is working so well, I don't even want to take it off.

And it is catching big fish, but I'm definitely gonna try some bigger lures here to see if I can only catch the big ones.

So I'm gonna take a few seconds.

Got him.

There we go.

In my net you go.

And with this fish, let's change lures.

The other day I bought a bunch of these viral lures from Amazon, so that's what I'm gonna try first.

That looks cool.

This one's melting.

I think I'm gonna have to go something a little bit bigger.

Maybe like this right here.

And what better a fish to test it on than the one that did not want to eat my other lure.

It's sitting right back here.

Oh, it's a good one too.

100

Let's see.

101

It's looking at it.

102

I can't tell if it's gonna eat it or not though.

103

Nope, it's not.

104

Hold on, I gotta get it in there again.

105

He's gotta eat it.

106

Bro does not want it.

107

Huh.

108

Let's test it on a different one and see if it's just that fish.

109

About to confirm really quickly here.

110

Huh.

111

Yeah, they don't seem to like this thing for whatever reason.

112

I don't know if it's just my imagination or what, but so far nothing has eaten this.

113

It's crazy how dramatic of a difference this is making.

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Dramatically bad difference, that is.

115

I think I got one nibble, but this is not catching fish like I thought it would.

116

I'm going to give it two more casts, one right there and one right there, and then I'm changing lures.

117

Really, my whole plan with this was throw a bigger lure to see

118

if I could get a bigger fish to come up and bite it.

119

But they don't even care about it.

120

Maybe because they don't recognize it, I don't know.

121

All right, nothing there.

122

Last chance for this thing to actually do something.

123

Nah, they don't want it.

124

Now I'm gonna try one of the pink ones.

125

I think they like pink better.

126

Let's try this.

127

If this one doesn't work, I'm changing up.

128

Yeah, no. Nope.

129

I'm disappointed to say the least in these little things.

130

I thought they would actually get more bites than they did.

131

I got a lot more baits to try.

132

And so next up, I got a crawdad.

133

Fishing with a crawdad like this is a time-tested method used to catch giant bass.

134

So I have a lot more confidence in this.

135

Maybe we try it on this fish.

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Oh, what do you know?

137

What a difference that made.

138

Ooh, let's not do that, please.

139

Kinda keep you on.

140

Got him.

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Let's get a little weight on this one.

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Let's see what happens here.

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Oh, it's another three pounder.

144

I think I should send this one back because there's a bigger one waiting for me.

145

I think this thing proved itself.

146

So let's catch a few more on this and see if we can actually find the really big one.

147

Oh, that's good.

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That's gonna get one for sure.

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There's one.

150

It's not even a smallmouth.

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What are we doing?

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Wrong species.

153

So at this point, I've thrown around a handful of different lures.

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The first one I was throwing definitely worked the best And the crawdad lure is also working well.

155

So far, the crawdad lure has only caught a big one.

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So I'm going to throw that around for a little while longer, see if I can't catch a few more big ones, and go from there.

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But I'm having an absolute blast out here catching these big, fun fish.

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Job's not finished, though.

159

I've got to catch a PB and a lake monster.

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Oh, my gosh.

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Oh, my gosh.

162

Oh, my gosh.

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I just spotted it.

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That is the one.

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I just spotted the one.

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Please eat this.

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That's a giant.

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That is the biggest fish I've seen.

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She doesn't seem to want the craw down.

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There's no way I can leave without this fish.

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This one is actually huge.

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This is the biggest one I have seen all day.

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This has to be like a six plus pound, easily the best one.

174

He's just sitting over there.

175

All right, I'm gonna need to do this perfectly because I'm only gonna get one chance here.

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If I hook this fish, it is gonna need the big net for sure.

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I need to get closer, I think.

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Just slightly closer.

179

Looking at it.

180

She does not want this thing either.

181

I think I know what I gotta do.

182

I gotta put on one of those little tubes again.

183

That's the only option I have.

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It's just the hook is so hidden in this, they can't really see it.

185

And I think this is a seasoned veteran of a fish.

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So this hidden hook is gonna be perfect, I believe.

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Dude, I'm so nervous.

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Like, I can't even focus on tying a knot right now.

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That's how big this fish is.

190

I mean, come on.

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Just a big, big, big, mean fish.

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All right, let's see.

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Fish make mistakes, and I need this one too.

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I think I got her.

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Oh my gosh.

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Oh my gosh.

197

I actually got her.

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This is a tank.

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This is an actual tank.

200

Oh my gosh.

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Oh my gosh.

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Oh my gosh.

203

I gotta be cool.

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I gotta be cool.

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Cool, calm, and composed.

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As long as this fish doesn't jump.

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Yo.

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Yo.

209

My net's caught.

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my net's caught in the oh i got her okay oh my gosh my net literally

211

that was a mess oh my gosh she's not quite as

212

big as i thought she was she looked huge down there like gigantic

213

but i am gonna get a weight what a pretty fish

214

all right here we go oh she's skinny that's the problem

215

oh not even three are you kidding me i thought this fish was way bigger oh my gosh well i know

216

what the stubborn fish are going to eat now.

217

So let's get this girl back.

218

There she goes.

219

Alright, I know what I'm going to throw for a while.

220

That was instant.

221

While I was reeling her in, another big one came to check her out.

222

I don't know where it came from though.

223

Oh wait, there he is right there.

224

I see him sitting right here.

225

Oh, he's on it.

226

Dang it, dude.

227

Swing and a miss.

228

There he is.

229

Got him that time.

230

Yep, he woke up.

231

Look at that.

232

I'm getting in the water with this dude.

233

This one was so feisty and so pretty.

234

Another pretty one.

235

Let's jump in the water with him.

236

A little ladder deploy and we're good to go.

237

Let's get in.

238

Well that was nice.

239

If I catch a bigger one I'll get in again.

240

Let's move.

241

The afternoon sun is perfectly ahead so I should be able to see any fish that we're hiding a lot better now.

242

Man, there's fish everywhere.

243

Okay, super awesome fish montage.

244

Let's go

245

And after nailing fish left

246

and right for over an hour I found a huge problem with my hook the fact

247

that it bent out after only a couple of fish is bad News

248

and the only thing I can think of is what would happen to this hook if I hooked the monster.

249

That is so bad Dude, if I had a giant eat this, I'm losing him every time.

250

That's crazy.

251

That is a concept of a hook.

252

The good news is a lot of people have left.

253

So it is just me and a handful of other boats.

254

I've been here for well over three hours and I need to find a big fish soon.

255

Just ate a little snack and I'm good to go.

256

Oh no. There's a retired smallmouth right there.

257

Looks like he's covered in this weird fuzz.

258

Is he still alive?

259

He might be.

260

He looks kind of alive.

261

Hold on.

262

He's about to get- oh my gosh.

263

There's a huge bowfin.

264

That bowfin came up to eat the smallmouth on the surface.

265

That thing was huge.

266

Oh my gosh, he's massive.

267

I'm about to catch him. Where did he go?

268

Bro just spooked.

269

I don't know where he went.

270

Dang, bro's gone.

271

You guys getting any?

272

A few earlier.

273

I've gotten a couple.

274

There was a bowfin that came up to smoke that smallie on the surface.

275

I mean, it was probably one of the biggest bowfin I've ever seen

276

around maybe the fly will get him man i wanted

277

that bow fin so badly i can't get distracted from the mission though i need

278

that small mouth i'm still looking i'm still looking for the

279

big one whoa i almost just fell my energy is like

280

a two out of ten right now i've caught a good amount of numbers

281

but i just need one big fish to get me going again bro there's no way

282

and all you gotta do just get a little twitch twitch

283

and you catch him that's a pretty good one what oh

284

what a nice one let's get a weight on this guy 3.9

285

or 2.9 i thought this one was bigger this one has big fish potential

286

but he's not quite as big as i thought he was

287

sayonara yeah i'm gonna catch you there's a good one sitting right here got him

288

that time though all right let's be as inconspicuous as possible.

289

Bro, okay.

290

Thank you.

291

Oh my gosh.

292

That's not a bad one.

293

Oh, not a bad one.

294

I'm just going to get a quick wait on him.

295

2.74.

296

All right, off you go.

297

So I've caught a lot of nice fish today.

298

Nothing giant.

299

I would say I've caught some big ones, but I have a problem.

300

I've only got four more hours of daylight

301

so I need to make this happen and to do

302

so I'm picking up another rod it's a little bit more heavy duty

303

and might give me

304

that giant oh my gosh as soon as it hit I

305

didn't even know there was a fish there he ate it

306

while it was sinking man this is the wrong fish

307

but he just swallowed

308

that thing he wasn't even like hooked cool goodbye it's official I'm now the only boat that has been here all day.

309

No one else has been here longer than me so far.

310

Just hope that pays off in my favor.

311

There's one.

312

It's not a big one at all.

313

They're going backwards, man.

314

Going backwards.

315

There's one.

316

He had another lure in his mouth.

317

That was weird.

318

There he is.

319

2-5, 2-5.

320

Goodbye.

321

I think the real way to win this is to play the time game.

322

Statistically speaking, the more time I spend here, the higher the likelihood of me finding a big one becomes.

323

So that's the game I'm going to play.

324

It's really the only game I can play right now.

325

I'm still seeing all kinds of fish.

326

I'm still hooking all kinds of fish.

327

Man, I'm itching for a big one.

328

Oh, that wasn't very big.

329

That was cool, though.

330

Looks like a big female down there.

331

That's a good one.

332

That's the one I want to catch right there.

333

Oh, I think you had it too.

334

Come on, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it.

335

She is not interested yet.

336

Switch back to this.

337

Come on, just give me a little nibble.

338

Just a little nibble.

339

She ain't gonna eat it.

340

She ain't gonna eat it.

341

Maybe a fish up here will.

342

This is definitely another male.

343

This dude ate it while it was sinking.

344

He did not want that anything near him.

345

Goodbye.

346

All right, let's send you back to the lobby too.

347

I can't catch the female.

348

Back to the lobby.

349

It's not a bad one either.

350

Nice, this one is heavy.

351

This one's actually heavy.

352

Three one, not a bad one.

353

I've got so many darn fish over three.

354

I gotta get one over 5.2 or 9.7.

355

So there's definitely still progress to be made.

356

Back to back.

357

Holy cow.

358

It's two in a row.

359

This one definitely...

360

Oh, it came off.

361

Shoot.

362

Took everything.

363

The heck, bro.

364

My leader not snapped.

365

Sorry, fish.

366

Fumbled the bag with that one.

367

Bummer.

368

Big bummer.

369

Cool.

370

Have you guys caught any fish over five pounds?

371

Just like twos and threes?

372

Yeah.

373

Two, threes, fours, yeah.

374

Oh, bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger.

375

Dude, why does he keep taking it?

376

Just doesn't get the hook.

377

Got him that time, goodness.

378

Okay, another three, 3.1.

379

I haven't broken three pounds yet.

380

I gotta get three times bigger than that.

381

It is now 5.30 p.m.

382

And after talking to those guys over there, it doesn't sound like anyone's caught anything over four pounds today.

383

I'm not giving up hope though.

384

I know there's gotta be a big one sitting around here and I gotta find it.

385

Yep.

386

Whoa, hello.

387

This is a large mouth.

388

This is not a small mouth.

389

What are you doing, buddy?

390

You're the wrong guy.

391

Not a bad one.

392

Yeah, I feel a big one coming.

393

There we go.

394

Another largemouth, dude.

395

Why are there so many largemouths on this?

396

Okay.

397

It is now 6.15pm and I am beyond exhausted right now.

398

I'm not done yet.

399

I'm not giving up, but I am going to eat some dinner.

400

I've eaten my breakfast, lunch, and dinner on this boat today.

401

It's the best kind of day.

402

Back to it.

403

In the home stretch, and I am now the only one here.

404

Let's get it.

405

Any fish that have been shy up until this point should hopefully start biting soon, because it's becoming low light hours, which means I'm a little more stealthy.

406

Got em!

407

What?

408

This is the smallest fish ever!

409

I didn't know they came this small.

410

What?

411

Smallest drum slash sheep's head they call them here ever bro.

412

What?

413

This is smallmouth bass sized.

414

What are you doing?

415

Get out of here.

416

This wind is picking up and I have quite a boat ride home.

417

I'm gonna switch lures back to this.

418

I'm running out of time.

419

This wind, if it gets any worse, I'm gonna have to call it.

420

If you ever fish a giant lake, wind is the one thing that can get really dangerous really quickly.

421

Got him.

422

This feels like a really good one.

423

This feels like it could be the best one of the day.

424

I'm gonna do that.

425

This is a good fish.

426

Sorry I'm so quiet right now.

427

I'm locked in, to say the least.

428

Oh baby.

429

I'm not gonna count my eggs before they hatch.

430

That low light might have done something for us.

431

This is a real fighter.

432

It takes a big fish to move that kind of water.

433

Yeah, buddy.

434

Yeah, buddy.

435

Oh my gosh, that's the biggest fish of the day.

436

Oh, that is the biggest fish of the day for sure.

437

This has to be a four.

438

This has to be a four.

439

This is such a big one.

440

I don't know if you can tell how big it is, but let's get it on the scale.

441

All right, zero pounds.

442

How big is this fish gonna be?

443

3.36?

444

There's no way.

445

This fish looks way bigger than 3.36.

446

How is that even possible, dude?

447

Oh my gosh, though.

448

This is a beautiful fish.

449

Let's get him back.

450

I'm running out of daylight.

451

Rock her back and forth.

452

Whoop, she's ready.

453

There she goes.

454

I have had the best day of smallmouth fishing I've ever had in my entire life today.

455

I have never caught so many pounds and pounds of fish.

456

And as a result, I've learned two things.

457

One, don't bite these hooks.

458

I've never had so many hooks bend out on me before.

459

But two, and more importantly, that fish is in here somewhere.

460

It's real.

461

It's in this lake.

462

And I've never gotten so close to finding it.

463

I know it's still out there.

464

So this isn't over.

465

To be honest, I kind of failed today.

466

I didn't catch the monster fish I was after.

467

It looks like Paulie was right, for now.

468

But if you want to enjoy another video, I really think you'll like this one.

469

But if not, be sure to hit subscribe, that way you see me again.

✨ Recommend Video

367 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Can You Break a Lake Record in One Try?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: fish, gosh, catch, eat, lure. This video has 465 sentences and 3553 words to shadow. The speech runs for 19:07. The speaker talks fast, about 186 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 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

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
gosh	/ɡɑːʃ/	A mild expression of surprise or enthusiasm.
lure noun	/lʊə/	Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or pleasure.
pound noun	/ˈpaʊ̯nd/	A unit of weight in various measurement systems.
smallmouth noun		A species of freshwater bass, Micropterus dolomieu, native to central North America but widely introduced throughout Canada and the United States as a game…
bowfin noun	/ˈbəʊfɪn/	especially, a ruddy bowfin (Amia calva).
crawdad noun	/ˈkɹɔˌdæd/	Synonym of crayfish.
bass noun	/beɪs/	A low spectrum of sound tones.
goodbye	/ɡʊdˈbaɪ/	Farewell; a formula used to another person or persons when the speaker, writer, or person addressed is departing.
bite verb	/baɪt/	To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
nibble verb	/ˈnɪb(ə)l/	To take a small, quick bite, or several of such bites, of (something).
snap verb	/snæp/	To fracture or break apart suddenly.
sink verb	/ˈsɪŋk/	To descend or submerge (or to cause to do so) into a liquid or similar substance.
largemouth adjective		Applied to various kinds of fish characterized by a large mouth.
twos noun	/tuz/	A reserves team.
backward adjective	/ˈbækwɚd/	Situated toward or at the rear of something.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
come off verb	To become detached.
come up to verb	To approach.
give up verb	To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
pick up verb	To lift; to grasp and raise.
sit over verb	To move along a seat or bench to make room.
check off verb	To mark items on a list (with a checkmark or by crossing them out) that have been chosen for keeping or removal or that have been dealt with (for example…
come up verb	To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly.
figure out verb	To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.

Sentences worth repeating

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

We're starting with a good one too.
I didn't even, I wasn't paying attention.
Let's see if there's one sitting over there.
Have you guys caught any fish over five pounds?
What are you doing, buddy?

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	has eaten · I've thrown · has only caught
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be caught · be made
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	one who found · hours, which means
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the biggest · the best · the smallest

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 155 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, fisherman /ˈfɪʃ.ɚ.mən/, montage /mɑnˈtɑʒ/, measurement /ˈmɛʒ.ə.mənt/, imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: inconspicuous /ˌɪn.kənˈspɪk.ju.əs/, statistically /stəˈtɪs.tɪ.kə.li/, importantly /ɪmˈpɔɹ.tənt.li/, imagination /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/

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 gosh, lure, pound.

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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新概念英语第二册 lesson 20 One man in a boat 独坐孤舟

ROBLOX DRAIN THE LAKE!

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

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