Shadowing Practice: Chauffeurs experience discrimination at airport - Learn English Speaking with Video

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We've all seen the videos.

Elderly drivers accused of causing accidents, and lawmakers are grappling with an aging population,

some of whose ability to drive is in decline.

Now some states are even mandating eye tests for those over 75.

Today, we're at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina.

Our actor is playing a car service driver with a long history of five -star ratings.

But that just won't fly for the passenger he's picking up at the airport today, because he refuses to take a ride from an older driver.

Mr. Smith?

You are Mr. Smith, right?

Yeah.

What?

You're not my driver.

This is a joke, right?

I should be driving you.

If you witnessed this ageist behavior against a driver just trying to do his job, what would you do?

Wait, I don't understand what you mean.

I'm sorry, but the car service was supposed to send a younger man, okay?

I don't understand.

Why?

Because I'm going to have to carry my own bags.

Well, I'd be happy to do that for you.

No, no, no, because you're just going to get hurt.

Sir, that's enough, okay?

I just don't feel comfortable getting in a car with you.

I'd like to get home safely and on time.

Well, this is my job.

I need this job.

I've been doing it for years.

I've had my driver's license up to date.

They give it periodic.

I drive.

You've been really rude to him, and I don't care whether you want to ride with him or not,

but that's very hurtful, what you just said, Ms. Jones.

This is not the way we do things here.

Let's break it.

This is really sweet.

I'll take care of your job.

I'll take care of the cause.

You're very kind.

Thank you.

All right.

Hi, ma 'am.

Hi.

I'm John Quinones with the TV show, What Would You Do?

He's an actor, and so was the mean man.

We wanted to see...

We both were actors.

We wanted to know what people would do, and you came to the rescue.

I thought he was rude.

I didn't appreciate him making a scene here.

We don't treat people that way.

I'm 81 years old and I find it very offensive that anybody can treat an elderly person that way.

Age has nothing to do with whether you can do a job or not.

It warmed our hearts to see a woman in her 80s standing up for our driver.

But we wondered if anyone younger would be willing to step in.

I gotta go.

My driver's here.

Here we go.

Welcome to South Carolina, Mr. Smith.

How was your flight?

My flight was fine.

Is this a joke?

Everybody's quiet.

OK, you're not really from the car service.

Oh, I am.

Yes, I am.

No, I mean...

You're way too old.

Sir, you're too old, OK?

I should be driving you.

As the actor berates our driver, the claim area seems to fill up with travelers that could be his grandkids.

I've had this job for years, sir.

I can see you've had this job for years.

Look, okay?

I've never had any problems with my passengers.

I'm not going to get in a car with you.

I don't feel safe.

I'd like to get to my destination in one piece and on time.

Look at the woman behind you.

We have visual tests and hearing tests.

Okay.

It's okay, sir.

You don't want to drive for a person like that anyways.

What makes you think he's not?

I know.

That's so great of you.

Would you get in a car with him?

Yes, I would.

Why would you not?

You're an adult, sir.

We're children and we're correcting you.

And the fact that we're correcting you is embarrassing.

He's obviously perfectly capable of giving you a ride to your destination.

It's disrespectful.

Do you really think that he can even see the road?

Yes!

He can perfectly see you fine.

I can't believe these words are coming out of your mouth right now.

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I'm sorry, how old are you?

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Because my parents taught me better respect than that.

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If you have a problem with him driving...

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He should be in a nursing home, not the road.

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Whoa, that's...

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Can I give you a hug?

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Oh, my God.

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I cannot believe you said that.

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You know what?

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Thank you. Of course.

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It's okay.

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Oh, beautiful.

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You know what?

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He doesn't deserve you as a driver.

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The kindness these young folks show to our actor is what our show is all about.

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And kindness is universal from one generation to the next.

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Hi, everyone.

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Oh, my God.

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Hello.

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Thank you.

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How are you?

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Holy...

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It's what would you do.

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Oh, my God.

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Russ?

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Russ is an actor.

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Oh, my God.

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I see you on TikTok all the time.

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You're in tears.

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Why?

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I felt so bad.

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Because I just couldn't believe that anybody would have that much disrespect towards someone.

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Yeah, you challenged me the older guy.

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I did.

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Everybody deserves respect no matter how old or young you are.

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I was like whoa

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because it really just like shook me

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and I was like you can never judge somebody because you don't know what's going on in their life.

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How valuable are the elderly to this world?

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Very.

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So we're sending a new driver to the airport to pick him up.

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How will the folks at baggage claim react

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when we turn his rude ageist comments into a misogynistic rat

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mr smith welcome to south carolina seriously what am i going to have to carry my own bags

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now no sir no i'd be happy to take

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that no no i don't want you touching my bags

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that's why i wanted a male driver mr smith i've done

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this job for years i think i can handle it no

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i'm sorry i would actually like to get to my destination safely, okay? So what's her birthday?

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Why do I need to know her birthday, sir?

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Well, you claim to know her.

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So I just wanted you to know what her birthday is or where she's from, where she grew up.

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That's great.

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I prefer male drivers and female drivers, okay?

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Well, that's absolutely true.

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But you don't berate someone you don't know because her company sent her and that's not what you decided.

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My mother just said that I can't.

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She feels their own loss.

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I mean, if you had an 18 -year -old son, sure.

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I'm going to go to the men's room.

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Can you see if you can get me a male driver, please?

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Why don't you call?

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Well, I will give you all my information.

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And you can have whoever call me.

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Wow, that's great.

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You will not get told, please.

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All right, break it.

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Okay.

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Let's break it.

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This is beautiful.

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Any questions?

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Just have some meeting.

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Thank you so much.

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I really appreciate it.

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Hi there.

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I'm John Quinones with the TV show

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What Would You Do?

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What were you thinking?

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Yeah, I just kept pushing, and I wasn't having it.

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Why not?

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You don't know the woman.

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I don't need to.

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I don't need to know someone to defend them.

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Your voice changes things.

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Not aggression, not anything like that.

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Just your voice.

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Let someone know that they're not alone.

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As the next flight's passengers fill the claim area,

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we run our scene one last time who will speak up as our actor intensifies his toxic rhetoric

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i've had issues with women in the past okay sir

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i'm a professional i've been doing this for years i'm not getting in the car with you

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here we go here we go i would like to get to my destination safely

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and on time safety is my number one priority yeah really

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are you going to be doing your makeup on the whole time sir

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i've been doing this job for years let me get your bag

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and i'll pull the car around i don't care okay i I don't trust women drivers.

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Look, I don't know how you got this job, but I would like a male driver.

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Can you call your boss?

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Yes.

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I don't know, man.

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There's a lot of badass women drivers.

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Yeah, I don't know about, yeah, there's a lot of bad women drivers.

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Statistically, women are worse drivers than men.

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It's a fact.

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Why are women's insurance cheaper?

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I don't know.

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Because they get less accidents.

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Oh.

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I'm an insurance guy.

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I'm telling you.

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Insurance for women is cheaper.

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I'm just letting you know.

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I think you just need to call whatever the office is.

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You don't need to insult her at this point.

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Yeah, let's break it.

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Let's break it, huh?

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Hi, guys.

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How are you?

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I'm John Quinones.

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And this is What Would You Do?

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She's an actor.

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The three of you were amazing.

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You responded.

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You stepped right in.

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You were listening.

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Right?

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What did you think?

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I thought he was a .

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I mean, I feel better now for her.

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Yeah, yeah, no, she's...

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I feel better for her now.

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I just wanted to protect her.

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I wasn't gonna get involved with him, but I just wanted to remove her from the situation because women need to support other women.

233

Challenging him might be dangerous or a risk.

234

It could be.

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Yeah, you know, it's not worth it.

236

But we are good drivers, by the way.

237

I believe you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Chauffeurs experience discrimination at airport”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: driver, sir, actor. This video has 237 sentences and 1592 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:06. The speaker talks at a natural 175 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 42 of its 237 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
destination noun	/dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/	The place set for the end of a journey or to which something is sent; place or point aimed at.
passenger noun	/ˈpæs.ɪn.d͡ʒɚ/	One who rides or travels in a vehicle, but who does not operate it and is not a member of the crew.
rude adjective	/ɹuːd/	Lacking in refinement or civility; bad-mannered; discourteous.
safely adverb	/ˈseɪfli/	In a safe manner; without risk; using caution above all else.
elderly adjective	/ˈɛldɚli/	old; having lived for relatively many years.
folk noun	/foʊk/	People, persons.
kindness noun	/ˈkaɪnd.nəs/	The state of being kind.
whoa	/woʊ/	Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down.
universal adjective	/ˌjunəˈvɜɹs(ə)l/	Of or pertaining to the universe.
rescue verb	/ˈɹɛs.kjuː/	To save from any violence, danger or evil.
defend verb	/dɪˈfɪnd/	To ward off attacks against (something or someone).
offensive adjective	/ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/	Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation.
rating noun	/ˈɹeɪtɪŋ/	A position on a scale.
whoever	/huˈɛvɚ/	Who ever: an emphatic form of who.
priority noun	/pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/	An item's relative importance.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
grow up verb		To mature and become an adult.
speak up verb	/ˌspik ˈʌp/	To talk more loudly or clearly.
stand up for verb		To speak or act in support or defense of (a person, a cause, a belief, or the like).

Sentences worth repeating

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

What makes you think he's not?
Would you get in a car with him?
I'm sorry, how old are you?
Can I give you a hug?
Why do I need to know her birthday, sir?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	I've been doing
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've had · You've been · you've had

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 79 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, aggression /əˈɡɹɛʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/, universal /ˌjunəˈvɜɹs(ə)l/, priority /pɹaɪˈɒɹɪti/, statistically /stəˈtɪs.tɪ.kə.li/, disrespectful /dɪs.ɹɪˈspɛkt.fəl/

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 destination, passenger, rude.

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: Chauffeurs experience discrimination at airport - 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

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?