Shadowing Practice: Carmy's 7-Minute Monologue | The Bear | FX - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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My name is Carmen.
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79 sentences
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My name is Carmen.
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My, um, my brother is an addict.
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My brother was an addict.
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And this morning, I, um, sorry.
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I forgot. Before I came to Al-Anon, I was a cook.
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I mean, I'm still a cook.
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I'm just a different kind of cook, I guess.
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My brother and I, we would cook a lot together, especially when we were kids.
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That's when we were closest.
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Food was always our common ground.
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We wanted to open a restaurant together.
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We had a name.
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We had a vibe.
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All of it. My brother could make you feel confident in yourself.
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You know, like when I was a kid, if I was nervous, I was scared, I wouldn't want to do something, he'd always tell me to just face it.
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Get it over with.
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He would always say-- stupid.
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He would always say, um, let it rip.
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He was loud.
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He was hilarious.
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And he had this amazing ability.
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He could just-- he could walk into a room, and he could take the temperature of it instantly.
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You know, he could just-- he could dial it.
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And, um, I'm not built like that, man.
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I, um, I didn't have a lot of friends growing up.
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I had a stutter when I was a kid.
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I was scared to speak half the time.
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And I got shitty grades because I couldn't pay attention in school.
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I didn't get into college.
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I didn't have any girlfriends.
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I don't think I'm funny.
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I always thought my brother was my best friend.
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Like-- like we just knew everything about each other.
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Except everybody thought he was their best friend, you know?
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He was that-- he was that magnetic.
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And, um, I didn't know my brother was using drugs.
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What does that say?
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As we got older, I realized I didn't know anything about him, really.
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He stopped letting me into the restaurant a couple of years ago.
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He just cut me off cold.
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And that-- that hurt, you know?
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And I think that just-- that flipped the switch in me, where I was like, OK.
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Fuck you. Watch this.
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And because we had this connection through food, and he had made me feel so rejected and lame and shitty and uncool, I made this plan where I was going to go work in all the best restaurants in the world.
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You know? Like I'm going to go work in real kitchens.
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Like, fuck Mom and Dad's piece of shit, right?
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And it sounds ridiculous, you know, me saying that now.
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But that's what I did.
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And I got the shit kicked out of me.
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And I separated herbs.
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And I shucked oysters and clams and uni.
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And I cut myself.
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And I got garlic and onions and peppers in my fingernails and in my eyes.
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And my skin was dry and oily at the same time.
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I had calluses on my fingers from the knives, and my stomach was fucked.
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And it was everything.
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And a couple of years later, this funny thing happened, which is, like, for the first time in my life, I started to find this station for myself.
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And I was fast.
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I wasn't afraid.
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And it was clear.
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And I felt-- I felt OK, you know?
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I knew which vegetables went together.
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Proteins, temperature, sauces, all that shit.
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And when somebody new came into the restaurant to stage, I'd look at them like they were a competition.
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Like, I'm going to smoke this motherfucker.
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I felt like I could speak through the food, like I could communicate through creativity.
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And that kind of confidence, you know, like I was finally-- I was good at something.
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That was so new, and that was so exciting.
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And I just wanted him to know that.
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And fuck, I just wanted him to be like, good job.
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And the more he wouldn't respond, and the more our relationship kind of strained, the deeper into this I went, and the better I got.
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And the more people I cut out, the quieter my life got.
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And the routine of the kitchen was so consistent and exacting and busy and hard and alive, and I lost track of time, and he died.
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And he left me his restaurant.
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And over the last couple of months, I've been trying to fix it, because it was in rough shape.
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And I think it's very clear that me trying to fix the restaurant was me trying to fix whatever was happening with my brother.
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And I don't know, maybe fix the whole family, because that restaurant, it has and it does mean a lot to people.
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It means a lot to me.
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I just don't know if it ever meant anything to him.

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Context & Background

The monologue from Carmen in the video "Carmy's 7-Minute Monologue | The Bear | FX" offers a poignant insight into the speaker's emotional journey. Carmen shares personal experiences that shaped his identity and relationship with his brother, emphasizing themes of addiction, companionship, and self-discovery. Through the lens of food and cooking, he explores the complex dynamics of their bond while addressing feelings of rejection and determination. This narrative creates an opportunity for learners to engage with profound emotional content, fostering not just language comprehension, but also empathy and connection.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • "Let it rip." - An idiomatic expression encouraging someone to act decisively or to let go of hesitation.
  • "Face it." - A motivational phrase suggesting that one should confront challenges directly.
  • "I got the shit kicked out of me." - A colloquial way to express having faced significant challenges or hardships.
  • "He's magnetic." - A descriptive phrase indicating someone's captivating or charming personality.
  • "That hurt." - An emotionally honest statement that communicates feelings of pain or disappointment.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To effectively use this video for English speaking practice, follow this step-by-step shadowing guide:

  1. Watch the Video: Start by watching the monologue without any distractions. Focus on Carmen's intonation, emotions, and how he articulates his words.
  2. Break it Down: Divide the monologue into smaller sections. This will make it easier to digest and replicate the patterns in each phrase or sentence.
  3. Listen and Repeat: Use the shadowspeak technique by listening closely to Carmen's pronunciation. Pause the video after each sentence to repeat it aloud, mimicking his tone and pace.
  4. Record Yourself: After you feel comfortable mimicking the phrases, record yourself speaking. Listen back to assess your pronunciation and emotional delivery.
  5. Practice with Others: Engage in dialogue with peers or language partners. Use the top phrases you've learned, applying them in real-life contexts for enhanced retention.

By effectively employing shadow speech techniques with the content of this video, learners can significantly improve their fluency and confidence in English. Utilize this shadowing site alongside engaging resources like YouTube to enrich your language learning experience.

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.

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