Shadowing Practice: Conan Learns About His YouTube Audience | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend - Learn English Speaking with Video
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152 sentences
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All right, we're back.
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Last week, we were doing a State of the Podcast and it got sidetracked by Sona and the Brazilian butt lift, which is not a new Indiana Jones movie, but it is a children's story.
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It's a children's book coming out soon.
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And Sona and the Brazilian butt lift.
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Mommy, that's my favorite book.
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This is part two where we do intend to- So Adam, we interrupted you because you were listing our incredible accolades and successes- We had a ton of accolades.
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And I got embarrassed and we got off track.
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Lots of awards, great guests.
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And I was talking about how we've started doing full- Lots of awards.
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Major awards.
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We started doing a full-length video in May and numbers are great.
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And again, the concern was, is it incremental audience or are we just taking people away from the podcasting?
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Now, the interesting thing is on the history of the podcast delivery has been RSS.
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You know what that is, Conor.
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No, I don't.
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When people have listened to podcasts in the past when you use the podcast app, you're getting an RSS feed delivering you the podcast and you have to subscribe to that, right?
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So subscribers to the podcast will get the podcast every week.
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And we have built up a huge audience in podcasting over the past seven years on the podcast app.
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People have subscribed.
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The interesting thing about YouTube is we have a very large YouTube channel, over 9 million subscribers on YouTube.
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When we put out- Unrelated to the podcast.
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Completely unrelated.
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That's Conan content from before you chimps.
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That's very true.
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That was built almost, that was built on TBS content and lots of- One man's dream.
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We're keeping them subscribed.
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But the interesting thing about YouTube is with the, when we put a podcast video on that channel that has 9 million subscribers,
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about half of the views to our podcast video come from non-subscribers.
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Meaning that YouTube has- Algorithmically suckered those bitches in- Algorithmically is exactly the word.
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YouTube is serving our content to people who didn't subscribe.
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Who actively dislike me.
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I mean, I doubt it.
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I think YouTube thinks that they will, that they're gonna like this content.
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And so it's sharing the content more and more, which is actually awesome because it's growing out.
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The old legacy podcast is a very deliberate act.
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You know, you had to subscribe, then you get your podcast.
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This is like, we're growing our audience on YouTube
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because all these people who didn't already subscribe are getting fed the content and watching the content.
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So we're an invasive weed.
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Best description I've ever heard of this podcast.
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Is Conan gonna be like a YouTube personality though?
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Should he be like, hey, smash that like button.
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I mean, yes, we probably, the crazy thing is, and we talked about this a little bit on the last time, but like podcast, because podcasts are becoming so,
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are distributed so much on YouTube, as a billion people a month are watching podcasts on YouTube, which is a crazy number.
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The sort of podcast world and the YouTuber world, Sona, that you're talking about, they're kind of merging.
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Like podcasters and YouTubers are all part of this larger creator economy now.
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And you're there.
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It's hilarious that no one has sat me down, including you and talked to me about any of this.
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I'm sorry.
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This is not what this is?
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That's what this is for.
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This is what this is.
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I know, I know.
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I'm, I'm.
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We can't sit you down unless there's a microphone in front of you, so.
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Or a camera, turns out.
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That's incredible.
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You should become more of like a YouTuber, like do some pranks and like.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Unbox stuff.
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I'm gonna start unboxing stuff.
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Yeah.
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Here, drink this urine.
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Mm, yum, yum, yum, yum.
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Mm.
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Yeah, we're gonna start, I don't even know enough about YouTube stuff.
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I don't either.
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Well, I will say, Conan, sorry to interrupt you, but the other, the thing that you've joked about a bunch now, which is becoming more and more true,
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is that you're back to hosting a late night show
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because not only is YouTube the number one destination for people to listen to podcasts, it's also the number one streaming platform now.
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And the number one thing that people are watching on TV in their living rooms.
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So you have essentially just gone back and created another talk show.
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I make this show repeatedly, but it's so funny to me that I deliberately left late night after 28 years.
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I loved it.
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I enjoyed every second.
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I said, that's good.
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I'm gonna go now.
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I'm gonna do my little podcast.
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I'm gonna do my little travel show for HBO Max.
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I hope they always call it HBO Max and don't start messing with the name.
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And then everything, you know, that was it.
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And I'll work on my body at the request of everyone.
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And then this.
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Oh, my body.
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What?
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Well, people said, you've got to fix that body.
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That was the big thing I heard.
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I just don't like the way you worded it.
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It's weird.
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Body.
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Anyway, now we're doing this podcast and it keeps growing.
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And people started to say things like, we should do some in front of an audience.
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And if there's an audience, we should have Jimmy Vino there and other people in the band.
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It'd be really funny if you came out first and warmed up the crowd.
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Now you should do a monologue and then call out the other guys and do the podcast.
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Hey, it'd be really good if we put this up on YouTube.
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And now people are telling me, I love your show.
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And I'm like, it's not a show!
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It's a little podcast.
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But it doesn't matter to me.
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It's fun.
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It's organic.
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We're having a blast.
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I'm not asking.
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I'm telling you.
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It's really enjoyable.
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And all joking aside, you're not going to like this, but we have a secret sauce here with you guys.
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It's really, it's a really nice environment.
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I never know what's going to happen.
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Uh, I'd be miserable if I was here alone and, uh, you guys are really funny and this is lovely.
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I'm having a really good time.
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I'll drink some here into that.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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That's very nice of you to say.
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Thank you.
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It's all led by you, boss.
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There you go.
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Oh man
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You're ruined it You shouldn't have handed it back to me I know
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but you were being sincere So I was sincere back to you I was
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so sincere to get you to hand it back to me Yes I lead the way
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and it would never happen without me Well that's it for
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the state of the show Adam this has been a good pep talk
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Thank you And also thank you to Adam His leadership
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His leadership His common sense Of course Eduardo always there Working the knobs Guiding us Thank you.
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At the helm, taking care of us.
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Blaze, shouting into the microphone, things we don't need to hear.
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Just, what a lovely, lovely- Such a fun group of people.
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It's a fun group.
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It's a fun group.
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It's a highlight of my day, every day.
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Did you hear anything about the advertisers, Mad, that we talk still a lot about a lot of jizz and stuff?
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They don't mind.
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They don't mind me.
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No, they don't mind me.
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Check us out.
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Now we're getting jizz only.
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I was gonna say, your sponsorship is jizz monthly, so it's appropriate.
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The magazine.
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The Jizzinator.
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If you shot some jizz and you don't know where it is, use the Jizzinator.
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We won the Jizzy for best podcast.
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We won the Jizzy.
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Wow.
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And you beat Jizz Taylor.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And we've been invited to New Orleans Jizz Fest.
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And trust me, you gotta wear a raincoat to that thing.
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Stand of the podcast, stronger than ever.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
The speaker keeps coming back to these words: podcast, Youtube, content, jizz, audience. This video has 152 sentences and 1350 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:13. The speaker talks fast, about 187 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| subscribe verb | /səbˈskɹaɪb/ | To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name). |
| subscriber noun | /səbˈskɹaɪbɚ/ | A person who subscribes to a publication or a service. |
| sincere adjective | /sɪnˈsɪɹ/ | Genuine, honest, and free from pretense or deceit; heartfelt. |
| accolade noun | /ˈæk.əˌleɪd/ | An expression of approval; praise. |
| interrupt verb | /ˌɪntəˈɹʌpt/ | To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking. |
| microphone noun | /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌfəʊn/ | A device (transducer) used to convert sound waves into a varying electric current; normally fed into an amplifier and either recorded or transmitted over radio. |
| unrelated adjective | Not connected or associated. | |
| advertiser noun | /ˈædvɚˌtaɪzɚ/ | One who advertises. |
| incremental adjective | Pertaining to an increment. | |
| monologue noun | /ˈmɑnəˌlɔɡ/ | A long speech by one person in a play; sometimes a soliloquy; other times spoken to other characters. |
| podcaster noun | One who podcasts. | |
| raincoat noun | /ˈɹeɪnkoʊt/ | A waterproof coat to be worn in the rain; (loosely) any coat or jacket with this purpose. |
| sidetrack verb | /ˈsaɪdˌtɹæk/ | To divert (a locomotive or train) on to a lesser used track in order to allow other trains to pass. |
| unboxing noun | The removal of something from its box; an unpacking. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| build up verb | To erect; to construct. | |
| call out verb | To specify, especially in detail. | |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. | |
| go back verb | To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time. | |
| grow out verb | To allow (something, often hair) to grow unimpeded. | |
| put out verb | To blind (eyes). | |
| turn out verb | To end up; to result. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Mommy, that's my favorite book.
- Best description I've ever heard of this podcast.
- I'm gonna start unboxing stuff.
- I'm gonna do my little podcast.
- I just don't like the way you worded it.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've started · has been · have listened |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | lift, which is · people who didn · more, which is |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was built · are distributed · we've been invited |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 61 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shout /ʃaʊt/, smash /smæʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: advertiser /ˈædvɚˌtaɪzɚ/, deliberate /dɪˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹət/, deliberately /dɪˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹət.li/, miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/
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 podcast, subscribe, subscriber.
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.