Shadowing Practice: Ch 2. RESTART - Learn English Speaking with Video

Chapter two of Gordon Corman's restart with permission from Scholastic.

Chapter two is Shoshana Weber.

Shosh 466.

Hey, little bro, want to smile?

JW Piano Man.

Hmm, question mark.

Shosh 466.

Alphabat took a header off his roof and almost killed himself.

JW Piano Man.

By almost, you mean Shosh 466.

Sorry, still alive, but supposedly messed up.

Just got out of the hospital yesterday.

JW Piano Man, any chance Beta and Gamma Rats fell with him?

Shosh 466, nope, solo performance.

Don't get greedy.

Smiling yet?

JW Piano Man, now who's being greedy?

I exit messages and call Joel because I'm worried about him.

I always worry about him.

He's my younger brother, 14 minutes younger anyway but

if the thought of Chase Ambrose falling off his stupid roof onto a stupid head doesn't bring a smile to Joel's lips, then something is seriously wrong.

Besides the usual, I mean.

Hey, he answers.

Even in that single syllable, I can pick up the discouraged tone in his voice.

He's angry and homesick, and who can blame him?

It's not like going away to boarding school was his first choice, or even his 20th.

Is Melton getting any better, I ask?

Almost afraid to hear the answer.

That's Melton Prep, a musical conservatory in New Britain, Connecticut.

What can I tell you?

It's Exile.

I don't argue with him.

How can I?

Joel's a talented musician who belongs in a place like Melton, but that doesn't change the fact

that he'd still be at home starting eighth grade at Hiawassee if it weren't for what had happened.

How are the other kids?

Okay, he replies without much enthusiasm.

All losers, just like me.

I'm probably not going to get picked on, if that's what you mean.

There are no pickers here, only pickies.

That bugs me.

You're not losers.

You're there because you're winners.

You have talent.

There's a reason why I can't live in my own town, and it has nothing to do with playing the piano.

It's Alpharat, and you know it.

If he fell off a skyscraper instead of his own roof, I'd be on my way home right now.

I have to let that pass because it's the bitter truth.

Chase Ambrose and his two disgusting friends hounded my poor brother out of town.

The thought of it amazes me, even though I saw it happened.

I still can't figure it out.

Chase isn't Darth Vader or Voldemort.

He doesn't have the force or dark magical powers, and yet he, Aaron Hakamayan, and Bear Bratsky made Joel's life so miserable

that my parents had no choice but to find him a school in another town.

We tried to fight it.

My dad spent so much time in the principal's office

that it would have made sense for him to leave a change of clothes there, but nothing could be done about the bullying.

Most of the time, there was no way to prove who was doing it.

A random foot tripping Joel up in a crowded hall.

A shoulder rammed into his chest that sent him sprawling.

Sorry, man, didn't see you.

Dog poop pushed in through the vents of his locker, his clothes mysteriously disappearing from the changing room to be replaced by a rabbit suit.

When a science project wound up smashed or a painting ruined in the art room, it was always Joel's.

On the night of the talent show, when the fire alarm was pulled, it was during Joel's piano performance.

It started with just Chase, Aaron, and Bear.

Eventually, though, it spread.

The other kids, well, they couldn't help but notice that every time someone was making a fuss or protesting, stuffed into a locker, or mummified with toilet paper, it was my brother.

Before you knew it, Joel was the school victim and the school joke.

His life was practically unbearable.

Who do you blame?

The principal?

Dr. Fitzwallis did what he could, but most of the time there wasn't any evidence.

Sure, he could make the occasional try.

There was this time Chase chucked a lacrosse stick at Joel's bike and the butt end got jammed in the spokes.

Joel went flying over the handlebars and wound up with a sprained wrist, a black eye, and a nasty scrape along his jaw stretching from chin to ear.

There were plenty of witnesses to that one.

Dr. Fitzwallis was all set to throw the book at Chase.

A long suspension, the works.

The school board overruled him.

They agreed it was wrong to throw the stick, but insisted that Chase couldn't have predicted it would result in serious injury.

Ha!

The real reason was that Chase was the town sports hero and the son of the last town sports hero.

Chase's dad had a lot of admirers on that board, and my family didn't.

The only time anyone was able to pin something on those three idiots, it had less to do with my poor brother than the fact that it cost the district money.

At the big open house in May, Joel was invited to play piano.

He's by far the best musician around here, even if none of the other kids appreciate it.

Anyway, Chase, Aaron, and Bear planted six cherry bombs inside the school's baby grand, timed for the middle of the performance.

I can still hear Joel's scream when the big firecrackers went off splintering the wood of the piano.

I think that's part of what makes him such an irresistible target for the Chases of the world.

They know they can always get a reaction out of him.

After that, Joel couldn't even walk down a hall without a bunch of football players making fun of how scared he was.

We were all scared, but it's only Joel they remember.

The irony is that the case against Chase and company had nothing to do with the attack on my brother.

No, it was the damage to the piano that got the administration upset enough to bring in the police.

The juvenile court judge sentenced Chase, Aaron, and Bear to community service at our town's senior citizens home, as if the elderly deserved that.

You'd think Chase would leave Joel alone after that.

It would have made sense, but sense has never been an alpha rat quality.

So my parents found a new place for Joel because as long as that bully was around, my brother would never be safe.

Joel's probably right that if Chase had fallen off a skyscraper instead of just a roof, he'd be able to leave Melton and come home.

100

Sometimes I feel like I should be up on that tall building pushing Chase over the side, but that would make me no better than him.

101

And I am better.

102

Everybody is.

103

the night before the first day of school my dad always used to take joel

104

and me to heaven on ice

105

which is one of those self-serve serve frozen yogurt places even though joel

106

and i are twins our dessert strategies are totally opposite i

107

get vanilla yogurt with just a handful of chocolate sprinkles joel prefers a thimble full of yogurt

108

and 99 toppings it's a competition to see who can load

109

up the most weight i don't want to go this year come on

110

so my dad wheedles it's a tradition and all your friends will be there.

111

Not my best friend.

112

He gives me a sad smile.

113

So you and Joel are best friends now.

114

When he's home, you two fight like cats and dogs.

115

He should be home now.

116

I know dad's trying to help, but I'm determined to be miserable.

117

We've been over this a million times.

118

This is the best thing for Joel.

119

Whatever the reason he's there, he'll learn to love Melton for the music program.

120

In the end, I let him talk me into going.

121

Mom and dad are worried enough about I don't need them stressing over me too.

122

It's weird to be at Heaven on Ice without Jule.

123

I see Hugo and Maricia, and the first question they ask is how Joel's doing.

124

The way they say it, it's like he's been shipped off to the moon, not Connecticut.

125

I don't want to deal with the whole sob story again, so I change the subject and ask them about camp.

126

They both went to sleep away this summer.

127

Right when Hugo is telling you about his life and death struggle with a pup tent, I spot him, the jerk,

128

the worst person in the world.

129

Chase has a few small cuts and bruises on his face, although nothing like what I was hoping for.

130

His left arm is in a sling, but that's about it.

131

He's standing in front of the, in the front of the row of yogurt dispensers with a timid look on his face.

132

Like he honestly can't decide what flavor he wants.

133

Isn't that classic.

134

The kid who feasted on Joel, chewed him up, and spit him out can't make up his mind between strawberry banana and rum raisin.

135

Too bad they don't have poison.

136

He must feel me glaring at him because he glances up and catches my eye.

137

He looks right through me at first, which is insulting enough, and then he does something so horrible that I can barely believe it, even from the likes of him.

138

He casts me a shy smile.

139

All the anger that's been building inside me since Joel Lefer melt and rises to the surface like magma.

140

Before I have a chance to think about it and stop myself, I stalk over to Chase.

141

I get right in his face and tell him, you've got some nerve grinning at me after what you did.

142

You stay out of my way or you'll be sorry.

143

I take my beautiful vanilla yogurt with chocolate sprinkles, dump it over his head, and sweep out of the store.

144

My father's in conversation with one of the other dads and almost misses me storming past.

145

Done so soon, he asks.

146

Then he looks back inside and sees our family's archenemy dripping frozen yogurt and sprinkles all down his face, dabbing at himself with a soaked napkin in his one free hand.

147

Cars around the corner, dad mumbles, hurrying me away from heaven on ice.

148

He's embarrassed, sure, but maybe also a little proud?

149

And how do I feel?

150

I thought there was nothing Chase could do to make me madder at him than I already am.

151

Now I stand corrected.

152

Every time I think about it, my blood boils a little bit hotter.

153

after all the bad history that went down between him and Joel, I swear he looked at me like he'd never seen me before in his life,

154

like he hadn't played a starring role in destroying my family.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 154 sentences and 1814 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:27. The speaker talks fast, about 192 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

piano /piˈænɪː/ (noun) — A percussive keyboard musical instrument, usually ranging over seven octaves, with white and black colored keys, played by pressing these keys, causing hammers…
yogurt /ˈjɒɡ.ət/ (noun) — A milk-based product stiffened by a bacterium-aided curdling process, and sometimes mixed with fruit or other flavoring.
freeze /ˈfɹiːz/ (verb) — Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.
miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/ (adjective) — In a state of misery: very sad, ill, or poor.
scare /skɛɚ/ (verb) — To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
loser /luzɚ/ (noun) — A person who loses; one who fails to win or thrive.
musician /mjuˈzɪʃən/ (noun) — A composer, conductor, or performer of music; specifically, a person who sings and/or plays a musical instrument as a hobby, occupation, or profession.
locker /ˈlɑ.kɚ/ (noun) — A type of storage compartment with a lock, usually used to store personal possessions for public use, such as in schools, railway stations, place of work…
vanilla /vəˈnɪl.ə/ (noun) — Any tropical climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in…
greedy /ˈɡɹiːdi/ (adjective) — Having greed; consumed by selfish desires.
tone /ˈtəʊn/ (noun) — A specific pitch.
argue /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ (verb) — To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply.
protest /ˈpɹoʊ.tɛst/ (noun) — A formal objection, especially one by a group.
horrible /ˈhɔɹ.ɪ.bəl/ (adjective) — Causing horror; terrible; shocking.
anger /ˈæŋɡə/ (noun) — A strong and unpleasant feeling of displeasure, hostility, or antagonism, usually combined with an urge to yell, curse, damage or destroy things, or harm…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

do with (verb) — Only used in to do with
fall off (verb) — To become detached or to drop from.
think about /ˈθɪŋk əˌbaʊt/ (verb) — To ponder.
bring in (verb) — To move something indoors, or into an area.
come on /ˌkʌm ˈɒn/ — Come along with me; join me in going.
deal with (verb) — To handle verbally or in some form of artistic expression; to address or discuss as a subject.
get out of (verb) — To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of.
go down (verb) — To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 38 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, can't, couldn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: eighth /eɪtθ/, enthusiasm /ɪnˈθuziæzəm/, thimble /ˈθɪmb(ə)l/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: musician /mjuˈzɪʃən/, suspension /səˈspɛnʃən/, occasional /əˈkeɪʒ(ə)nəl/, smash /smæʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, practically /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.k(ə.)li/, occasional /əˈkeɪʒ(ə)nəl/, enthusiasm /ɪnˈθuziæzəm/, supposedly /səˈpoʊ̯.zɪd.li/

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 piano, yogurt, freeze.

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	could be done · be replaced · was pulled
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has never been · We've been
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	kid who feasted · first, which is
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the best · the most weight · the worst

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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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?