Shadowing Practice: Comprehensible Input English Natural Conversation B1 B2 C1 Sofia Bulgaria - Learn English Speaking with Video
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342 sentences
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If you want to speak English confidently, you have to do only two things.
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Number one, listen so your brain would get used to it.
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And number two, start speaking.
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No magic at all.
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And in this video, I am inviting you for a walk through one of the oldest cities on earth
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with this young girl, where we are going to have a B1,
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B2 with a flavor of C1 English level conversation.
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So you could listen and you could speak with us.
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Now, if you are down for a walk, hit the like button below and let's get started.
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Sounds like you are a bit of jack of all trades.
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Even as a kid he was known as a jack of all trades.
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Could fix up anything from a toaster to a bike to an entire farmhouse.
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You're a model, you're a software engineer, right?
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Yes.
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How can you combine being a model and a software engineer together?
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That's quite a mix.
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I know the Tourette's have quite the mixed bloodlines, but I never detected a Nordic strain.
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Well, usually when I was modeling it was during the summer mostly
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and I didn't have university then
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and also it was like I just liked taking pictures
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and being part of them
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and one of my friends actually he's also having a youtube
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channel he does a lot of photo shoots football career at first we did talk shows
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and photo shoots together and once I told him can you tell me how you do it
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because I was thinking about starting to do photo shoots
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and he was like okay you're the model stay there
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and i liked it
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and i was like wait wait a second why don't i first before i have a camera start doing that
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and it became like a hobby give me three countries you
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would love to visit i want to visit germany i want to see china
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and japan and japan japan is the second largest audience for our youtube channel
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so a lot of japanese people are going to see you right now i'm actually sitting in Japanese
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and i want to go there one day this is my dream maybe live there
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so i'm pretty sure a lot of people are going to
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invite you to their place i'll be happy to nice
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so this is the portain in the middle of the that's
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cool yeah in the middle of the store in the middle of the supermarket
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and also there is it to go out do we have
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sparkling water here excuse me can we get some sparkling water for the table please this is one good water
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that i enjoy it's a place where we have we get mineral water from nice the most common one so
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yeah it's cool is it uh that's kind of flavored water
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right yes i brought your favorite banana flavored tap this one is with apple
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and kiwi that sounds tasty with pineapple coconut i like the strawberries the most
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but i don't see them so there we go italian paligrino
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and also this one actually is a traditional sparkling water from
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bulgaria it comes from a natural resource sparkling nice whoa you
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have to visit it that's amazing i'll give it a shot
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i say we give it a shot let's do it man all right
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and now i'll show you the fountains where you can drink
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the water people come by from here with huge bottles of water
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and they drink from there it says
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that it has a medical cure oh wow it must be pretty healthy
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and it's hot also hot dang
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so during the winter time it must be really nice here it's really hot you can hmm interesting yeah shall we
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which one looks the most attractive well none of them but i'll have to test it okay they want me to
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i'm okay thank you
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so one thing is since it's kind of wet here there's a little bit of moisture
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and a green mass and it doesn't smell good the elephants know
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that baobab wood contains a lot of moisture i guess i prefer pellegrino come on it's all on me
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but i'm just saying you know this one's all on me oh thank you
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so much absolutely let's see the price is let me actually switch to english
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so we could all understand it too it's so funny that English is everywhere, but the euro is still using Cyrillical.
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It's a bug.
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It's a software bug.
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Opa! Did you say Opa?
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Yeah, it's a Brazilian phrase, but I know it's Bulgarian.
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We use it, yes, and I'm like, you know that word.
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You know Bulgarian.
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That's so interesting because I've heard it in Brazil, I mean, not for the first time, but I've heard it probably, I had never used it before,
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but in Brazil, we were passing by the main street in Sao Paulo
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and we were walking through with the camera and there was a Brazilian guy who was like, Opa, Americano.
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Opa.
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Opa, Brazilian.
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No, I haven't been there, but it sounds so fun meeting new people and cultures and getting knowledge like you have lived in there.
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Oh yeah.
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How many days do you usually visit?
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Well, it depends.
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I got stuck in Brazil for three months because it was amazing.
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You must find solid ground or we'll get stuck.
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How do you afford this?
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I run a couple of businesses.
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One of them is called CodeMify.
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It's a tech bootcamp where we teach people how to become machine learning engineers, software QA engineers.
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Now I can actually sign up in there.
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Sure.
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I'm still sitting, so.
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Nice.
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And a second business is the one that we are developing right now.
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And this channel is a part of it.
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FoxU is a platform that I opened for people from this channel right here.
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It's a platform that connects people around the world to practice English speaking.
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Actually, I've been thinking about English, how to use it, like work, except from teaching, probably.
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But something else, something like that's far more reachable for people like yours.
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That's really cool, because we have people from more than 130 countries around the world.
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Every time you can talk to a different person from Brazil, from Japan.
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And if you guys want to join us, it's completely free.
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The link for it is right here or right below this video.
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What's your favorite thing about Sofia?
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I think the urban life.
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The problem is when a completely urban life shuts you off from the ecological resources that sustain the life you have.
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The nightlife.
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The nightlife.
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Oh, wow.
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Tell me about the nightlife in Sofia.
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Sofia doesn't sleep, especially the center of the city and the students.
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Oh, the students.
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That's like the most student district in Sofia, right?
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Yeah.
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So I'm a student engagement coach slash behavior coach for a school district.
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You can go, for example, I'm going to go to the cinema at 10.20.
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Oh, wow.
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And it's going to finish in, I don't know, 12.
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Yeah.
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In the middle of the night.
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And after that we can go to a bar
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or to a disco or if not we can take a walk in the middle of the center.
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And it's okay.
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I also don't think it's that dangerous.
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It's super safe by the way.
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Yes, I haven't really...
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I have been scared from time to time from homeless people.
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Victoria does b borrow my designs from time to time.
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But this is probably the most scary thing.
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Yeah, I think it's remarkably safe in Sofia compared to almost any other city in the European Union.
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Within it, the chicks remarkably can maintain their body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius.
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Like a little old church.
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Yeah, this is the oldest church in Sofia.
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Look at that tiny door.
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That's cool.
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This is a window, actually.
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It's a window?
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Yeah.
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To the window!
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Wow!
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Wow.
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Oh wow.
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Yes, this was suddenly found like 10 years ago, I think.
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We didn't know about this.
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Yeah, it's a little city.
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Let's read about it.
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1,000 square meters.
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First to third century can also be seen.
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Whoa, that's crazy.
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So it's like 2,000 years young.
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Yeah, these are part of the walls of the rooms, I think.
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What do people do in this room?
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Because it doesn't even look like a room,
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to be honest like a little space with no door big bath maybe it was a big bath holy
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yeah it's beautiful holy pigeons right there holy pigeons yeah
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but does it look slavic at all i would say like it's like moroccan
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or algerian or something based on a color scheme no it is uh the Romanian before used to have these bats.
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This looks pretty dang old that's definitely greek second to third century
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a.d council of elders played with list of the members of
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gerosia what is gerosia i think it's a romanian i'm not quite sure
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but the roman empire yeah it looks roman or greek it's
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so beautiful many Many artists come here to draw the building
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and I have also seen students from the university of archaeology to draw that building.
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But it's gorgeous.
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If you look at the design of this building.
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Are you pretty or beautiful?
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Gorgeous.
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So you said that you went through some rough patches of your life.
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What helped you to get out of it?
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I know we've been through a lot of rough patches in our lives.
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Well, many people have told me I'm a strong person, in spirit.
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I haven't noticed that until they told me.
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But, like I have no choice, you know?
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When life sucks, you have to get up and you have to do it.
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And usually, in the most difficult times, I smile the most and I laugh even.
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And they're like, are you okay?
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When I'm like that and they're like, something's not okay.
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So when you're smiling a lot, things are not okay.
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Right now it's not like that.
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I usually smile also.
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Nice.
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In good times as well.
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Yeah, you've been smiling since we met today.
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I'm like, you're definitely a smiley person.
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Yeah, thank you.
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Well, I'm also happy to exchange cultures and to tell you something.
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So, I don't know.
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I think I enjoy life a lot.
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Nice.
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No matter what happens, enjoy the small things also.
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Yeah, that's pretty cool.
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For example, if I'm alone at home because I don't have brothers or sisters, And I just play some music and dance and I'm like, oh, I don't care.
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Nice.
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It's so nice that I get to do that now.
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Yeah.
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What kind of music are you into?
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He's a big music guy too.
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Oh, really?
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What are you into?
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I listen to pop.
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I also listen sometimes to chauga.
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What kind of music?
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Chauga, have you heard?
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Chauga?
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No, what is it?
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Oh, you haven't heard.
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It is like a traditional Bulgarian music.
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Now we're going by the way to the secret spot.
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To the secret spot.
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Yeah.
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I'm intrigued.
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I'm intrigued. And that never happens.
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It looks like a palace inside of a palace.
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It's kind of cute here already.
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Yeah, it is exactly the parliament in here.
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It's besides that.
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I actually haven't come from this entrance.
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I have come from the other side.
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I think it's on the other side as well.
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But let's check it out.
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I actually haven't seen it from here.
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We're going to sneak through.
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If we close, we would sneak through the back door.
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We would make ourselves ice cream.
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I'm going to show you another spot.
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Let's do it.
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That's coming from there.
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And we're going to...
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Oh, shit.
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Oh, are you okay?
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Yeah.
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Okay, we're going to go from there.
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We're going to cross underground.
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Sure.
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Since I was a kid, I remember once upon a time, I've twisted my ankle like this so pretty much it went 90 degree.
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What happened?
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You alright?
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No, I think I twisted my ankle.
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You wanna say hi to everybody?
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Hi!
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I've always had a complex about being short.
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Oh wow.
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So the thing is, tall people usually they have problems with their spine, with their back.
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Yeah, of course I have that.
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So for short people it's much easier to live a life.
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There we go!
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Come on girl, you're a model!
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Look at yourself!
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I enjoy myself too much.
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I agree with you.
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I also, I definitely agree with that.
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It's nice to watch yourself and to be like, how can I fix my hair?
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What can I do now?
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Yeah.
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It's like a hobby, another hobby.
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Exactly.
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People should love themselves.
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That's the most important thing.
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Actually, I've learned that in a really hard way.
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Didn't listen to my advice, but sometimes got learned the hard way, I guess.
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Many years I have been like, I'm not enough i'm not good enough i'm not really quite the who told you
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that well i don't know maybe from childhood maybe maybe from classmates who knows
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and when i've been growing up like in the last few years i started to believe in myself much more
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and it helped me to improve myself even
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when i watch in the mirror
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and i'm like you know what i'm i'm okay i'm pretty no no you're not okay Hey girl, you're beautiful.
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You're gorgeous, You're not okay.
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Thank you.
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Just like in ancient Sofia.
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Oh my gosh.
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Can you imagine?
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Yes, this is part of the subway.
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Yeah, Sofia is beautiful.
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The most fascinating thing for me in Sofia is that mountain right there.
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Fascinating.
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Absolutely fascinating.
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If we sit down, we'll see mountains right there.
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We will see mountains right here, which is crazy.
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We are surrounded by mountains, by the way, in Sofia.
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We have Vythussham Mountain, we have Lulin Mountain.
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I'm from the Lulin Square, not from the mountain, but like this is a neighborhood called Lulin.
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And it's close to Lulin Mountain.
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And we usually can go and have a climbing, as well as a beautiful view.
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Do you climb?
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Yeah.
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No way!
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I actually came back from climbing a week ago.
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You're a climber!
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That's cool! engineer, model, climber, what else are you?
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You're like a Swiss knife.
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I kind of describe myself as like a Swiss army knife.
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That's insane.
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I'm not sure if you can see goosebumps on my skin right now.
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The hair is pretty much rising.
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I can imagine how old it is.
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I can imagine people living here thousands of years ago.
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You know how locals in Sofia talk to each other?
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Brat, Brat, Brat.
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Oh yeah, like a brother.
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Yeah, their life.
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I've recorded a video on my TikTok.
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By the way, guys, if you want to have a little more fun in your life, here is my TikTok and here is my Instagram.
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And I recorded a video, it was one of my first videos in Bulgaria.
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And I was like, hey, Bulgarians, I've been to several countries, I've been to 34 countries, and every country has some very popular phrases.
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Like in Uruguay they say, vamos arriba! uh in poland is in poland they say
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which is a fun phrase i'm just kidding
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and in here we are no i just love
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because i was thinking what we do there's different greetings to i guess between girls
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and boys like girls are like and a hug
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and boys are like hey brad post our it
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and then the sick that's funny yeah let me ask you one question
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because usually during every video i tell people to share something about their country okay
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and if when we get more than 400 comments i randomly pick a comment
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and i send 100 to a person
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so what would you like to know about people from more
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than 130 countries around the world one thing about each country yeah well it's funny
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but i want to know the taxes the taxes yeah oh that's cool
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so how much tax do they pay right yeah like what's
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the price to live in there is it equivalent to the working
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and to the payment yeah to the jobs yes that's something
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that i would mostly be interested if i go to live in somewhere That's great, that's very specific.
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Let's ask them, how much tax do you pay?
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For example, I'm a US citizen.
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So even if I don't live in the US, I still have to pay US taxes.
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Like I've been traveling throughout the world this year.
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Throughout the world, other whale species also form societies.
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I spent two months in the US only, or one month so far.
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I'll still have to pay tax for the rest of the
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year i'll pay approximately 30 to 35 percent of what i make yeah
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that sounds like to actually do you know
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that in bulgaria we usually complain about taxes and politician
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and corruption i'm realizing how much i complain about my job
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but we actually i think is because we have many things
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that we are grateful enough for yeah for example we have the lowest taxes
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and this beauty also that's true so So let's actually finish it.
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Guys, let us know how much tax do you pay in
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your country by leaving a comment right below this video and putting your country and a percentage of tax.
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And as soon as we get 400 comments, I'm going to send $100 to one of you, just like I did on this video right here.
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If the whole world could see you right now
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and you could tell them one thing you always wanted to share with the whole world.
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Okay.
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What would you share?
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What would you say?
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I would say that no matter what happens in life, life is always worth it.
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And keep on living it, and keep on believing that something better is coming.
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Hell yeah!
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Thank you guys.
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Hit the like button below, and I'll see you on the next video.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Comprehensible Input English Natural Conversation B1 B2 C1 Sofia Bulgaria”. This video has 342 sentences and 3032 words to shadow. The speech runs for 18:27. The speaker talks at a natural 164 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| sparkling adjective | /ˈspɑɹkl̩ɪŋ/ | Of an object, reflecting light as if giving off tiny sparks or flashes of light. |
| fascinate verb | /ˈfæsɪneɪt/ | To evoke an intense interest or attraction in someone. |
| nightlife noun | /ˈnaɪtˌlaɪf/ | Nocturnal activities, especially visiting nightclubs. |
| hobby noun | /ˈhɑ.bi/ | An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. |
| flavor noun | /ˈfleɪvə/ | The quality produced by the sensation of taste or, especially, of taste and smell in combined effect. |
| climber noun | /ˈklaɪmɚ/ | Someone or something that climbs (such as a mountain climber). |
| intrigue noun | /ˈɪntɹiːɡ/ | A complicated or clandestine plot or scheme intended to affect some purpose by secret artifice; conspiracy; stratagem. |
| pigeon noun | /ˈpɪ.dʒɪn/ | One of several birds of the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes. |
| remarkably adverb | /ɹɪˈmɑɹkəbli/ | In a remarkable manner. |
| whoa | /woʊ/ | Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down. |
| moisture noun | /ˈmɔɪs.t͡ʃɚ/ | That which moistens or makes damp or wet; exuding fluid; liquid in small quantity. |
| ankle noun | /ˈæŋ.kəl/ | The skeletal joint which connects the foot with the leg; the uppermost portion of the foot and lowermost portion of the leg, which contain this skeletal joint. |
| sneak verb | /sniːk/ | To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen. |
| baobab noun | /ˈbeɪoʊˌbæb/ | A tree, Adansonia digitata, native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits. |
| bloodline noun | /ˈblʌdˌlaɪn/ | The abstract link between a person and their ancestors. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come back from verb | To become successful, confident or effective again after an injury, setback, failure, embarrassment, etc. |
| fix up verb | To provide (someone) with something; to furnish. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. |
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How many days do you usually visit?
- How do you afford this?
- Are you pretty or beautiful?
- What helped you to get out of it?
- Let's ask them, how much tax do you pay?
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 thinking · you've been smiling · i've been growing |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If we close, we would sneak · If we sit down, we'll see |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've heard · haven't been · have been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was known · is let · is called |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 94 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: remarkably /ɹɪˈmɑɹkəbli/, confidently /ˈkɑnfɪdəntli/, archaeology /ˌɑɹ.kiˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, supermarket /ˌsupɚˈmɑɹkət/, ecological /ˌiːkəˈlɒd͡ʒɪkl̩/
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 sparkling, fascinate, nightlife.
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.