Shadowing Practice: Comprehensible Input English Conversation Catania Italy B1 B2 C1 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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If you want to speak English confidently, learning grammar will not help you,
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reading books will not help you.
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What will help you are only these two things.
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Number one, listening, so your brain would get used to it.
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Number two, actual speaking.
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So here's the challenge for you.
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I want you to watch this video for the first time and try to understand everything.
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If we speak too fast, simply slow it down as you can see right here.
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If you don't understand something, pause this video and translate that word.
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When you gonna watch it for the second time, I want you to speak as fast as we do, so you could practice speaking.
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Now, hit the like button below and let's check out Italy.
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Yay, finally I found you.
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Nice to meet you.
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Nice to meet you.
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You seem to be already Italian.
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How many years have you spent in Italy so far?
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Four years.
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Four years?
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Yeah.
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Wow, and you're originally from Belgium.
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I'm from Belgium, yeah, exactly.
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That's cool.
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And what led you here?
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Why did you decide to come to Italy?
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Everything that's ever happened to you has led you here.
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I always wanted to live in Italy.
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Yeah.
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And after my studies in journalism, I found this voluntary project.
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It's called the European Solidarity Corps.
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Who would do a crazy thing like that?
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I'll volunteer.
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I'd be very happy to volunteer.
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You got a lot of spunk, kid
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and by chance it was just uh in catania
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so i decided i just move and see what it's all about
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and i moved and i'm very happy here yeah wow that's fascinating
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and by the way we are in catania tell us about
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this place i've never been here i came here last night
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on a bus oh last night on a bus yeah it's
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a city in sicily yeah on the northeast on the east coast where are you from
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um i'm from the east coast originally yeah nice okay you so it's a little italian city An Italy's Italian city.
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Yeah.
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Catania is one of the biggest cities in the south of Italy.
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No way.
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I didn't know that.
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Pardon me.
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Jesus Christ.
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Yeah, this is Piazza del Duomo.
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Wow.
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Yeah, it's very beautiful.
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That's outstanding.
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Oh my gosh.
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I love Italy.
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He says that you're an outstanding young detective.
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I find that very difficult to believe.
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Ready for a living.
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Okay, so at the moment I'm doing something I really love i'm
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a social media manager social manager yeah you really love it yeah i like it i can definitely see
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that based on your 100 000 subscribers in instagram celebrities announcing
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that they're taking a break from social media by taking a selfie
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and posting it to social media it's insane are you running your social media
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or somebody else's social media also somebody else's social media yeah
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yeah i handle pages of uh like um of a winery
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for example oh yeah in four years She already sounds like Italian, and I can see her gestures.
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A little bit, yeah.
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You know, with the hand gestures and the back slapping and the kissing and everything.
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Your accent sound British and also a little bit Italian.
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Yeah.
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Who do you consider yourself?
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How do you identify yourself?
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Let's say it that way.
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European, I think.
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I like that.
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Same here.
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Probably.
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Identify yourself!
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Identify yourself!
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Alan Partridge! Who the...
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Alan Partridge!
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Where actually are you from?
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I live in the US, but I was born in Ukraine, and I travel all around the world and I love Brazil, so I guess I'm Brazilian,
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I don't know, I don't feel like I'm American, I definitely don't feel like I'm Ukrainian, and wherever I go I feel like I'm local, so I guess I'm a personal world.
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On one side you feel homeless, on the other side you feel like you belong everywhere yeah
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but it's good because you're like this way you're like a blank canvas you can
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take in experiences from your own person i love the phrase
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so like a blank canvas yeah funny they say a good model is a blank canvas
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and you are like a blank canvas
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but you travel the whole world right yeah i've been traveling for the last year non -stop
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and for the last year non -stop yeah for the last
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year non -stop i broke up with my girlfriend about almost a year ago
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and i was planning to fly to Brazil in a month
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or in two months yeah
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and then I was like well since I broke up with my girlfriend
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and Trump is the president of the United States shouldn't I
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leave right freaking now I bought a ticket it was Friday evening
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and I bought a ticket for a Saturday morning or Sunday morning
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and I was on my way to São Paulo Brazil isn't
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it super expensive to keep on like traveling like constantly honestly
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speaking it's quite cheaper than to than to live in Los Angeles.
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Really? haha the Bahamas maybe why fucking brood suppose it's
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cheaper i run two businesses right now one of them is economy vibe
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which is a tech boot camp where we help people all around the world to become tech professionals yes
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and the second one is the fox you platform
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that connects people around the world to practice english speaking
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and how does it work whatever you navigate to the website you register
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and then you can join our community sessions where we where
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i connect people from all around the world from 130 plus
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countries around the world wow to talk to each other i put them into breakout rooms
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and they talk to each other with a list of questions
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that i that they get from my platform yeah sure
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and they practice english speaking
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and they get to know people from the whole world by the way guys
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if you want to join us if you want to practice english non -italian like
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that guy yelling right there you simply follow the link right here or right below this video
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i love the italian expressiveness like brazilians are very expressive
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but italians are the best at expressiveness they like to talk and show the gestures show their emotions like maria
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more inclusive it could open up a whole world of expressiveness
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and uh possibility and they're so stylish that's what i also like about italians like grandmas
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and grandpas the look this guy looks like a young young
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guy it looks like a dog from los angeles okay well
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that was a bad throw dog
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that was a bad throw plus it's dark hello hi there good to see you brother
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actually i have not stayed in a single city for longer
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than a month in a year don't you get crazy at
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a certain point no you don't crave like a bit of like i'm gonna see my friends at
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that bar and like you always meet there and that's kind of cool
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that you I'm getting goosebumps on my skin right now
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because as soon as I get comfortable in in the city
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I leave it what are you running from that's a good
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question there's something deep inside that's a really good question is it is it something
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that I'm running from or is it something
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that I'm running for yeah yeah yeah that's an amazing question
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I love you you don't love me you love what you
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can't have you crave it nothing holds me at one place anymore
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and this is the best life like literally yesterday i was i was in uh in a bus
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and there was a girl from bulgaria that we flew together
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and she was like i feel a little bit jealous about your lifestyle
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because you're you're living a dream life
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that majority of people are willing are dreaming to live yeah frankly it me a little bit crazy
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that you get to feel it and experience it while i just watch
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and i might be a little bit jealous
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and on one side i'm already getting used to it on
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the other side every single every single time as soon as i get used to city i'm like i'm out
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as soon as i make some friends as soon as i
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meet somebody i like i'm like okay time to move on
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i even know what could be better by the way i
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think you forgot to hit this big fat thumb up button below
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and to subscribe to our channel for you it takes only two seconds
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but it's very important for this guy
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if you're enjoying this video all right let's continue
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so you said sicily
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because of your project of internship right yeah yeah it was
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like a voluntary project i always thought to live in rome
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but then i met my boyfriend and then i got to know like sicily more
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and the sicilians and then i don't know i decided to say
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because i just feel at home that's cool do you like
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spontaneousness yeah that's the biggest part of my life always new city something new spontaneous
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like hey should i i never make plans for more than
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like 14 days yeah i don't buy tickets for any any further than 14 days in advance
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because things always change the thing i do miss is the
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spontaneousness on our second date yeah i feel also my life
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just rolls you know it's just like okay i've been down here yeah
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and every time i start to panic
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that things don't work out something pops up i don't know how
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but it's always like that something even better pops up yeah it's
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so weird yo let me know what something pops up on
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there okay okay tell me three things you love about italy
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first of all sicily is not even yeah oh wow shall we let him pass by shall we let him pass by?
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I feel like he's a poor guy waiting for everybody.
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Hello did you see a woman pass by dark hair maybe this tall?
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Yeah the architecture I think is incredible.
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I think I also love like traditions like for example the market
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that still exists no like the fiera it's something very authentic
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and it's not paid for tourism it's made for people really from here want to get the vegetables.
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Rest assured, Mr. Leely, my designs are properly researched and authentic to the last thread.
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So I think there's a very authentic culture still that has not been demolished yet.
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Let's hope that stays like that, but I'm a bit afraid.
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I love that.
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I thought our blue bag turned your life around.
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Yeah, well, it did for a bit, but then they demolished the low -income housing I was living in to build that.
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Now old Del is homeless.
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Yeah, because also here you see there are a lot of like, it's so sad.
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I had like my favorite bar that closed down and now there's like a, how do you say, a chain?
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Yeah.
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Oh.
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Also a very good bakery that was a super old bakery.
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Now stopped.
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The old woman died, I think, or I don't know what's wrong with her or where she is.
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But it's gone.
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What's wrong with you?
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Where are you going?
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Come on, Grandma, you should live.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Small companies, we have a chain of supermarkets and corner shops.
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But it means that there are not a lot of young people who have the possibility to take it over, I think.
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Yeah, and it will, I would say most importantly.
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What did you say?
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And a will.
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They're not willing to.
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I don't believe that actually.
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Here there's a lot of economical crisis with young people having to leave because the economics here is just not good enough.
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Where there's a will, there's a way, especially at Christmas.
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I don't think it's a will.
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I think there was a lot of will for youth to do something.
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Yeah.
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I think it's just not given the opportunity.
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Three out of ten young people or do not work or do not study.
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But what does that say about the country?
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We need to focus we need to focus we need to
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find the o's the opportunities we got to open them up
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it's time to push on one side that's true on the
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other side i feel like it's just like in argentina
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because they have a lot of italian heritage they like to
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protest a lot they like to protest whatever happens in their life protest don't work i don't think
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that anyone would like to protest i think they do it for a reason oh oh i see
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because i thought it was a cultural part people were like They don't like to work.
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They like to finish work 3 p .m.
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They're done, siesta.
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That's what I have heard about.
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I mean, she gave this to you for a reason, and you're the one that always says, everything happens for a reason.
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Let's say that's true.
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No, I don't think so.
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I worked here.
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Yeah.
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There is just not a lot of work, and if you work, a wage here that was seen as good is $1 ,100 a month.
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You inspired me.
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You're running around saving people's lives, and here I am driving a Zamboni in circles for a shit wage.
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I see yeah it's pretty well for example if you
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if you're an entry level like for example me I came here
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when I was very young they offer you a tiranchino a
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stage yeah internship an internship you okay you have to have studied you need experience yeah
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but I will offer you an internship for 300 euros a month and then
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and then you wonder why people call protest on the street
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I got this this job well it's an internship actually
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but uh yeah I mean it makes sense what are you uh
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when you get your first job you go for whatever money they offer just to get the experience
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and then with experience you start making more money
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but that's the problem here it does it doesn't work like
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that yeah because if you look at people
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if i look at people around me almost everyone still lives with the parents wow 30 years old
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and do you think that these people
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don't want to live alone i don't think
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so absolutely it's not just not sorry i get
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so heated about this this argument but it's something that really
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that changed my perspective on a lot things coming here oh yeah no problem i mean that's what i've heard
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because i'm just showing what i know i saw one guy
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that started yelling at his wife and she was she was like pretty heated about
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that i'm not trying to argue that it is
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that way i just i have no idea how it is
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but that's what i've heard about people from different countries maybe
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of those who were here it's great to hear your opinion
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because you live here you're a local look at the the
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etna oh yeah the volcano yeah is it a volcano it's
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a volcano it's one of the largest europe uh european volcanoes yeah dang
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and honestly speaking when i was coming to sicily
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when i was flying to palermo i did not know i'll come to katania
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and you since i found you here you're the first person
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i'm like well i'm going to katania now i did a
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research since now there's a chain of explosions all over the world of volcanoes earthquakes i did some research
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because i love researching things i feel like now the world
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is slowly starting to destroy itself just a matter of time
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when we're all gonna disappear yeah go extinct yeah i think that's going definitely going to happen again
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but it's just a matter of time before i find out what happened for sure what do you mean
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but it did erupt a lot this summer have you seen
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it it did my head the whole airport was closed oh the whole big deal about it
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so it already started yeah well we're safe now then yeah
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the most beautiful girl I've ever seen I've never felt this
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way before it's like a volcano erupting inside of me like
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like hot lava rising higher and
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and higher there are a lot of homeless people here yeah
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and this they honestly got worse in the years I feel
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the other time I was sitting on Piazza del Duomo
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and I was just sitting down and staring
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because I went out to meet some people
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but I didn't want to go home yet you know you just like to wander yeah
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and I sat there and there was like this homeless guy coming to me, talking to me.
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And it was like, I'm homeless since like 20 days.
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He was a hairdresser and he lost everything.
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Oh, wow.
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Yeah, he did something very bad.
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He did rapina.
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It means, you know, when you go to a jewelry shop and you like...
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Oh, rub it.
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Yeah, rub it.
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That's the word, thank you.
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Rapina sounds like rubbing.
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Yeah, okay, yeah.
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I'll do it.
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I'll rub the quickie mart.
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All right, put your...
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Down!
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Oh, well, I'll rub it next time anyways yeah maybe reflect how easy you end up
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that he did something very bad yeah i don't i don't
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think it will help you in your life yeah wow look
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at this castle oh my gosh what is it that's the
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duomo it's a church of katania it's a church yeah holy
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guac i can't even imagine how were they building these churches
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yeah it's amazing the interesting thing about katania is actually
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that a lot of the buildings are made with the uh with the lava stone
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so that's a stone yeah that's why the whole city is very black
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and that's why i like katania because it's very particular.
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But Frank Sr. had very particular office furniture, all antiques.
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So Catanians are not racist at all.
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What fascinates you the most about Catania?
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There's a certain atmosphere in Catania that I think it's really hard to understand if you do not live here.
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If you have read the books of Marques, for example.
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Marques, I have not read any books.
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There is one book.
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There's a book that is called the love and times of cholera
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and it talks about the city in the south
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and you feel like the heat and it's beautiful
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but it's also you know there's it's a certain atmosphere
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that is really hard to understand but if you read that books you i really see katania in that so yeah
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in general do people usually stop here i normally just go
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on yeah exactly people in different countries say oh you should
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watch out people cars don't stop here i'm like well they
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should stop yeah here for example you just have to like keep on walking
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or else you're never cross the street honestly yeah it's a game of fear i feel like yeah yeah
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if you stop they will go
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if you don't stop they will stop yeah yeah yeah exactly fear me
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if you dare just like with the bear
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if the bear is trying to scare you if you show
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that you're scared you run away you will chase you yeah
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if you will stay the bear will be like okay i don't want to mess with
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that guy he's not scared of me i mean not a white polar bear
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because with that one
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if you see one what do you do you take a
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look at the stars for the last time of your life
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is it true you guys wear a lot of like loungewear
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and stuff is it actually true is it like a hoax
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that you guys uh like pajamas no pajamas with like leggings
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and stuff is that actually true yeah yeah yeah stop the murder madness
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or there would be no more pokes some even thought this
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was a hoax it's quite different i mean in the u
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.s majority people they do whatever they want like here we
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have some social standard yeah yeah in the ass the biggest standard is not to give a shit about anyone
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and to wear whatever you want maybe she's just unencumbered by social norms
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and some people walk naked through the middle of san francisco
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yeah literally i went to san francisco for the first time i saw naked guy running through the park
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and nobody cares yeah but i like that actually it's something
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that here you don't have there's like a lot of um gossipy culture i think Yeah, which is cool.
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Got up in front of all those gossipy moms at the Sunny Scout meeting and told them I needed a date.
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Every single country has a variety of reasons to love it.
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And this, I would say, spicy.
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It's a spicy, classy, in Italian environment, the gossipy.
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They talk, they like to chit chat about everything in the world.
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But the doctor said that he'll be back in a week, and we'll be having a nice little chit chat with him about exactly what happened
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that night all right can you tell about social media what makes you wake up
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and crave to open your phone
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and do some some content every day i started journalism i never got the privilege to do something with it
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because figuratively here you've had the privilege of seeing life from
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an entirely different perspective i thought to work in communication
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but wake up you're in the south of south of Italy
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and there is not a lot of these things one year back i started okay i forgot
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that just one year i do it i wanted to do something great
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because i realized when i go home back in belgium
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when i try to talk about my life here there are not a lot of people
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that like understand what i'm talking about so i always wanted to show sicily
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but like the real sicily and not the the postcard sicily
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that you always see i just thought you know what i'm
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constantly waiting to do this project i want i'm super perfectionistic
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so i was like thinking like oh it has to be great it has to be like journalistic
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and i just thought like you know what Oh, fuck it, I'm just gonna do a video, you know?
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Like instead of like trying to create something amazing why I don't just start to telling my life here, you know?
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Julia probably channeled this perfectionism into her writing, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist myself.
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So I started doing it in English.
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I just did one video, very short, in which I said that Beda Catania, it means very nice Catania, and here they're very proud of their country.
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I made that video and it went quite well, and I just, I don't know, I enjoy the creativity now.
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So it went viral after you recorded it yeah
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because italians love italy you see something nice about it i
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hope you're happy with yourself fletch a video of all of
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you singing on the bus has already gone viral i recorded
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a video in the middle of sao paulo i'll show it
374
right here how i asked brazilian girls where are the hottest guys in europe yeah
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and of course guess who won italy really and
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that video got more than a million views
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and i feel like every italian guy commented on it saying
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fuck yeah we're the best we're the champions we're italians we're the hottest
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but italian women they don't value us ladies from our countries please come and save us it's always better uh exactly
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that's boiling hot it's very humid here yeah it's
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so humid do you say the night was humid or do you say the night was moist?
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That's riding.
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The night was sultry.
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Oh, there's an ocean right there or sea.
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Yeah, you have the sea.
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Shall we go to the sea?
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I'm not seeing the sea here.
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Yes, I will just save you already now.
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Catania is not known for the best sea.
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I will show you a sea, okay?
391
It's going to be very fun.
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You were smart to stay on board.
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Mexico is not known for its shade.
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Here in Catania, for example, I never swim.
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Like, I always go to Syracuse because the water is way nicer there.
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Because here you are in the port side.
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It's very industrial.
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Oh, I see.
399
It's not like a LA, I think that you know.
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Yeah, Manhattan Beach, oh my gosh.
401
I'll show you guys a picture right here.
402
When I lived in Los Angeles, I was going to the beach every single morning.
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Not every, almost every other morning, I would say, with a friend of mine.
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And that was quick.
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Yeah.
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Like every other time, Judith screwed me.
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We would go swim, no matter if it's a summer or winter.
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During the winter time, it was freezing cold, but we would jump into water.
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We would swim for like two minutes, that will run out
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and our bodies will be burning oh you feel the burn from the cold before
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that it was cold outside but after you come out from a freezing ocean it's
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so hot outside oh my gosh when i was in rio every single morning
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when i woke up the first thing i did straight up
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yeah i went straight out to the ocean that's such a
415
life i cannot wait to get back to my my home country brazil on every single video i promise people
416
and i send 100 to a person who lives the comment
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under the video 100 bucks wow you can also leave comments by the way
418
and i usually ask a question and
419
if we get 400 comments under our video i pick a random person just like on this video right here
420
and i send 100 so here is the question
421
and i'm going to actually ask you yes what would you
422
like to find out about people from 130 plus countries around the world
423
so they would leave comments
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and we would send them 100 bucks what is your biggest
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pet peeve pet peeve pet peeve it's also good words for your english what does
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that mean i've never used that ah it's something
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that makes you it's like uh for another person
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that makes you irritated for example i hate it
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when someone um chews loud for example wow yeah okay the categories are fears and pet peeves
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ancient history oh no leave a comment right below this video
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and tell me what's your pet peeve
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and i'll send you 100 bucks this is the sea yeah this is welcome to katania sea
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but there is beautiful sea
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but a bit farther what a disappointment yeah it's a very good i know i am a disappointment to you
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and to countless others so let me ask you the last
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but the best question of mine
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if the whole world could see right now yes through this
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camera right here yes what would you share with them embrace
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yourself for other cultures don't try to see only one side
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and always try to see different sides of a story to
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really try to understand the world you are living in
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but also the world
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that other people are living in you got to embrace the chaos you have to
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that way life might just astonish you that's so vague but yeah dang that's so wise Now,
445
try to watch this video one more time and speak as fast as we did.
446
And also, if you want to practice speaking with people from all around the world, simply follow the link right below this video to our FoxU community.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Comprehensible Input English Conversation Catania Italy B1 B2 C1”. This video has 446 sentences and 4716 words to shadow. The speech runs for 24:25. The speaker talks fast, about 193 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 84% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| volcano noun | /vɑlˈkeɪ.noʊ/ | A vent or fissure on the surface of a planet (usually in a mountainous form) with a magma chamber attached to the mantle of a planet or moon, periodically… |
| peeve verb | /piːv/ | To annoy; vex. |
| internship noun | /ˈɪntɜːnʃɪp/ | A job taken by a student in order to learn a profession or trade. |
| gosh | /ɡɑːʃ/ | A mild expression of surprise or enthusiasm. |
| canvas noun | /ˈkæn.vəs/ | A type of coarse cloth, woven from hemp (traditionally) or from cotton and polyesters, useful for making sails, tents, and overcoats or as a surface for… |
| crave verb | /kɹeɪv/ | To desire strongly, so as to satisfy an appetite; to long or yearn for. |
| duomo noun | /ˈdwəʊməʊ/ | A cathedral, or a cathedral-like building, especially one in Italy. |
| expressiveness noun | The quality or degree of being expressive. | |
| gossipy adjective | Prone to gossip. | |
| humid adjective | /ˈhjuːmɪd/ | Containing perceptible moisture (usually describing air or atmosphere); damp; moist; somewhat wet or watery. |
| gesture noun | /ˈd͡ʒɛs.t͡ʃɚ/ | A motion of the limbs or body, especially one made to emphasize speech. |
| buck noun | /ˈbʌk/ | A male deer, antelope, sheep, goat, rabbit, hare, and sometimes the male of other animals such as the hamster, ferret, salmonid, shad, skunk and kangaroo. |
| authentic adjective | /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/ | Of the same origin as claimed; genuine. |
| chit noun | /t͡ʃɪt/ | The embryonic growing bud of a plant. |
| demolish verb | /dɪˈmɒl.ɪʃ/ | To destroy (buildings, etc.), especially in a planned or intentional fashion. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| pop up verb | To come up with a "pop" sound. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| close down verb | /kləʊzˈdaʊn/ | To stop trading as a business. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| get back to verb | Return to (an activity) | |
| open up verb | To open. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Who do you consider yourself?
- How do you identify yourself?
- Where actually are you from?
- What's wrong with you?
- Shall we go to the sea?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if you stop they will go · if you don't stop they will stop · if you will stay the bear will be |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has led · i've never been · have not stayed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was born · has not been demolished · was seen |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who have · those who were · Yeah, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 120 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, thumb /ˈθʌm/, northeast /noːˈθɪjst/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: internship /ˈɪntɜːnʃɪp/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, demolish /dɪˈmɒl.ɪʃ/, astonish /əˈstɑnɪʃ/, perfectionism /pɚˈfɛk.ʃə.nɪ.zm̩/
- Long words — get the stress right: voluntary /ˈvɑ.lənˌt(ɛ)ɹi/, disappointment /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪntmənt/, confidently /ˈkɑnfɪdəntli/, journalistic /ˌd͡ʒɜː(ɹ)nəˈlɪstɪk/, perfectionism /pɚˈfɛk.ʃə.nɪ.zm̩/
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 volcano, peeve, internship.
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.