Shadowing Practice: Can you understand NATIVE British English conversation? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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194 sentences

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Today I'm going to tell you a crazy story at native speed

and if you can understand all of this then your English is incredible.

Basically this is a true story and it's one of the wildest things that's ever happened in the UK.

It's the biggest UK television scandal.

I'm just going to tell you all the facts of this story right

and I want you to try and work out whether this man is innocent or guilty.

Okay and whilst you're listening try and think if there's anything similar that's happened in your country as well.

So this happened in September 2001.

Basically, we have this show in the UK.

I know you have it in other countries as well.

It's called Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

And it's a game show where you answer questions, multiple choice questions.

And if you answer, I think, 15 correctly, you win a million pounds.

Okay.

And in 2001, September, this man called Charles Ingram went on the show

and he went there with his wife who was in the crowd

and his friend Tequan Whittuk who was also in the crowd.

So it's filmed in front of a live audience.

I think there are about 100 people watching this

and the presenter it's on TV and that is very important to the story.

Okay so the first night happened and it went terribly.

Charles got so many answers wrong.

He got to £4 ,000 which isn't very good and he also used two of his three lifelines.

So you get these lifeline things, you get to, there's one where it's like you phone a friend

so you can call someone up and they will tell you the correct answer to the question hopefully.

There's one where it's 50 -50 where it basically splits the possible options,

the answers in half so you only have to guess from two as opposed to four

and there's one where you actually ask the audience okay.

So these are precious.

You want to save these for the later rounds because the questions get progressively harder and harder.

You don't really want to have used most of these up just to get to a measly 4 ,000.

That's what Charles did.

He asked the audience and he phoned a friend.

So all he had left was the 50 -50.

So that was the first night.

And it's not just filmed in one night, it's filmed in two.

So he came back the second night and things were very different this time. In fact,

he didn't answer a single question incorrectly he got 15 in a row right

and he won a million pounds Charles was a millionaire

he won he wants to be a millionaire he was I think the fourth person to ever win it

which is insane but something was a bit suspicious something was up

because I mean as you can probably just imagine the fact

that he was so poor the first night he got so many questions wrong.

Then like literally 24 hours later, storytelling sunglasses, you already know,

24 hours later he went back on the show and he managed to get all of them correct.

That in itself is pretty suspicious but there was something else that was so bad that the producers of the show,

they didn't actually give him the money.

Okay, they withheld all the money

and in the end they actually ended up getting the police involved as well to investigate it.

So they noticed something was a bit weird with Charles's playing style this time around.

Before he would just answer the questions, probably get it wrong and move on.

But this time, whenever the presenter asked him a question, he would read out the answers one by one, multiple choice.

So he'd say, oh, okay, this is the question.

Is it A, Paris?

Is it B, Rome?

Is it C, Vienna?

And this was a bit unusual because he wasn't doing that before.

And they also noticed that whenever he read out an answer that was correct, there was a cough from the crowd, okay?

And that happened all night.

So his tactic was basically, allegedly, he would read out all of the possible answers and whenever someone from the crowd heard the correct one,

they would cough and that would be Charles's signal to give that answer, right?

And the person who was coughing was his friend Tequan Wittuk in the crowd from the first night

and sometimes his wife as well diana would get involved

but it was mainly tequan who was doing this coffee

so he got and it was so obvious guys i need to say like

in my opinion i do think

he is guilty of this we'll talk about what happened at the end

they're still denying it though they're still saying they're innocent

but it was

so obvious there were instances where one of the questions was like who's

this famous pop star you'd be like oh is it A Kylie Minogue is it B Craig David well

I've never heard of Craig David so it can't be Craig David

you know what it's actually Craig definitely Craig David 100 %

the presenter was like you didn't know who he was 10 seconds ago no

I just have a hunch I think it's Craig David

and of course it was Craig David it was

so obvious it's painful to watch actually and they did this investigation Charles didn't get the million.

They did this investigation and...

they went to court two years later.

This was 2001.

They went to court in 2003 and the actual trial lasted for four weeks and the trial itself was an absolute joke.

So there's some just some facts about it.

They brought Charles, Diana and Tequan in to this trial

and they played back the episode and apparently the coughing was

so obvious that even the the judge was laughing at it

and whenever someone said the word cough in the trial

which they would have said a lot all of the members of the jury

they all started coughing just as a joke they were taking the piss

so that was actually good British banter to be honest with you yeah

so they did that for four weeks and eventually they were found guilty Charles

and Diana as mentioned they both to this day they plead their innocence

they they admit that they don't think it was fair they think they were robbed

and Taekwun basically said the guy who was coughing he said

that he'd struggled with hay fever which doesn't even make you cough um

and asthma or something something like that which

which was his excuse for coughing the whole time

but he also said something else he said he made a very valid point

that i'm just a normal person how am i to know all of the answers how will i know

when to cough

100

which is fair enough because

101

if you did know all of the answers then you just go on the show yourself

102

and you'd win the million pounds fair and square right

103

but didn't he got caught out with that

104

because tech one he's actually he's not like a normal guy he's he's a quiz show enthusiast

105

he has been on multiple quiz shows in the uk in attempts to win money with varying degrees of success

106

and he said in particular there were two answers

107

that he just didn't know the answer to

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so he was like how could i cough at the right time

109

if i didn't know the answer to these things

110

but then they the police got involved as mentioned

111

and they went into this guy's house

112

and they found this notebook with handwritten answers to general knowledge questions

113

and obviously they found the two questions that he had handwritten in

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that notebook the ones he didn't he claimed he didn't know the answer to the answers to

115

so yeah he was caught out there and long story short Charles and Diana both found guilty.

116

They were given a £30 ,000 fine between them.

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Bear in mind this is 2001 so the number would be higher now because of inflation and so on.

118

And also 18 months of a suspended prison sentence.

119

And this is, I think they got off quite lightly, this seems quite lenient because a suspended prison sentence isn't the same as a regular one.

120

You don't actually go to prison, you don't see the inside of a prison cell.

121

It's more sort of like a last warning

122

so you have to do like community work maybe you volunteer not volunteer

123

but you have to work in a charity shop

124

and clean up some rubbish off the floor and you have to do

125

that for 18 months you probably can't travel I don't know the exact rules thankfully

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but you don't actually go to prison

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if you break the terms of this thing maybe they send you off

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but realistically you get to live at home and stuff like

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that so it's not that bad

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and Tequan Wittig the coffer was given a 12 -month suspended prison sentence and I don't think he actually got a fine.

131

So yeah that's the story.

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I do have some other facts trying to remember.

133

Okay yeah so during the trial they said

134

that there were 192 coughs during the episode with 19 suspicious coughs

135

or significant coughs and those are the ones made by Tequan and Diana when they heard the correct answer.

136

And if you're curious as to how you actually got onto the show back then I'm sure it's slightly different

137

but it was a premium phone line you had to call

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that means you had to pay per minute it was 60p per minute

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and it's quite interesting actually because you would you would go on there

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and you had to say what show you wanted to be in

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and your preferred date for being on that show

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and then you would actually have to answer a multiple choice question whilst

143

you were there as well on the phone making the application

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and you had to do this with your voice

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so it was like a recording and then you would answer it

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and the guy Tequin who as mentioned is like an expert in these things

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he advised Charles to use his most neutral voice

148

because he was implying

149

that one of the reasons they had this system was to deter certain accents from getting onto the show

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which honestly considering the UK doesn't really surprise me that much.

151

There was a lot of elitism back then and probably now but thankfully Charles he passed the test.

152

His voice wasn't too hard to understand so he was able to to get on the show.

153

And yeah if you're wondering what Charles

154

and Diana are up to now this was

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so long ago this was 25 years ago

156

but they're still somewhat relevant kind of that's a bit of a bit of a stretch

157

but they are they're not nobody so if you're wondering what they're doing now.

158

they have a stand a jewelry stand in bath where they sell handmade jewelry

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so if you actually go to bath i'm sure

160

that some of you will be living in bath

161

if you're watching this you could go

162

there you could meet these two british bandits who are kind

163

of famous to be honest with you maybe even buy some of their jewelry they also have an etsy store

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which is like an online selling platform

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and they've made a load of sales on there and loads of reviews so you know what

166

perhaps they're better at making jewellery than they are at scamming tv shows

167

but those are the facts those are the facts let me know do you think

168

this was all just a big misunderstanding and Charles won the money fair

169

and square and poor old Tequin really did have a bad cough that day

170

very unlucky if that is the case I personally think these guys are guilty

171

and of course the judge also thought that

172

but I don't know maybe I'm wrong maybe I'm being too pessimistic and British and just hating.

173

So yeah guys that's the story I hope you enjoyed that one.

174

As mentioned I was speaking quickly then and it wasn't scripted

175

so it was very much natural English so if you could understand that then congratulations your English listening skills are incredible.

176

Now if you did enjoy this I have also made another story in a similar style

177

which you can download sorry you can just watch it for free you don't have to download anything

178

and the link to that is in the top comment

179

that one is about Oasis the infamous British band

180

and it's a crazy story as well to do with Liam Gallagher in particular

181

it's a story from his childhood it's absolutely insane

182

so you can check that out it's completely free the link is in the top comment

183

and if you would like to continue learning with me then I do have an online community

184

so basically this video was amazing for your listening skills of course

185

but I understand that a lot of you will be struggling with other things like speaking and vocabulary and things like that.

186

If that's the case, the community is perfect for you because we have six live calls a week.

187

We have speaking calls, we have vocabulary calls, we have accent calls.

188

We have an actual modern RP accent coach.

189

So you literally get to learn English every single day with me.

190

It's a really fun and small group and the link to that is also in the top comment.

191

Definitely check it out.

192

God, that was a lot of speaking.

193

All right, I hope you enjoyed that one and I'll see you next Friday for another episode.

194

Cheers guys, see you later.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Can you understand NATIVE British English conversation?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: answer, Charles, cough. This video has 194 sentences and 2324 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:22. The speaker talks fast, about 188 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
cough verb	/kɔf/	Sometimes followed by up: to force (something) out of the lungs or throat by pushing air from the lungs through the glottis (causing a short, explosive sound)…
jewellery noun	/ˈd͡ʒʊ-/	Collectively, personal ornamentation such as rings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets, made of precious metals and sometimes set with gemstones.
bath noun	/bɑːθ/	A tub or pool which is used for bathing: bathtub.
pound noun	/ˈpaʊ̯nd/	A unit of weight in various measurement systems.
accent noun	/ækˈsɛnt/	A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to…
suspicious adjective	/səˈspɪʃ.əs/	Arousing suspicion.
presenter noun	/pɹɪˈzɛntə(ɹ)/	Someone who presents a broadcast programme; a compere or master of ceremonies.
millionaire noun	/ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/	Somebody whose wealth is at least one million (10⁶) currency units (usually understood to exclude holders of hyperinflated currencies).
suspend verb	/səsˈpɛnd/	To halt something temporarily.
innocent adjective	/ˈɪnəsənt/	Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
skill noun	/skɪl/	A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
insane adjective	/ɪnˈseɪn/	Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.
whilst adverb	/waɪlst/	Often preceded by the: During the time; meanwhile.
volunteer noun	/ˌvɑlənˈtɪɹ/	One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
quiz noun	/kwɪz/	A competition in the answering of questions.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
read out verb	/ˌɹiːd ˈaʊt/	To read something and say the words to inform other people; to call.
catch out verb		To discover or expose as fake, insincere, or inaccurate.
clean up verb		To make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy.
come back verb		To return to a place.
end up verb		To bring to a conclusion.
get off verb		To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it.
go back on verb		To be treacherous or faithless to; to betray.
play back verb		To replay a recording.

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	were found · were robbed · was caught
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've never heard · has been · they've made
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	person who was · guy who was

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 54 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: bath /bɑːθ/, enthusiast /ɪnˈθuːziˌæst/, withhold /wɪθˈhoʊld/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: suspicious /səˈspɪʃ.əs/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, inflation /ɪnˈfleɪ.ʃən/, rubbish /ˈɹʌbɪʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: millionaire /ˌmɪl.i.əˈnɛə(ɹ)/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, investigate /ɪnˈvɛs.tə.ɡeɪt/

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 cough, jewellery, bath.

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 →

Shadowing Practice: Can you understand NATIVE British English conversation? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?