Shadowing Practice: Easy English at a Vietnamese Coffee Shop - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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This is my favorite coffee place.
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If you can't tell, I'm feeling super groggy this morning.
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Have a seat.
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Ha.
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Where's my coffee?
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I'm so groggy.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Hello.
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Hello world.
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Don't you love this coffee place?
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This is my favorite coffee place.
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It's called Old Rice Field Coffee.
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Oh my god.
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Shut up.
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The sign here says Old Rice Field Parking.
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This is, oh my god, this is the parking lot where you'll park your scooter
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or your bicycle once you arrive here and it's covered by a tarp.
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This is a tarp and they have a tarp here to protect the seat of
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the scooter from the sun because the sun in Vietnam is really hot.
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When I drove the scooter here, I had to wear a helmet to protect my head.
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So I wore this helmet.
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Let's go inside.
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If you can't tell, I'm feeling super groggy this morning.
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Ah...
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Groggy is when you feel tired and you need to wake up.
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So I need to wake up.
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I need a coffee to wake up.
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So let's go.
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Let's get a coffee and wake up.
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The rooster has a lot of energy.
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to get to the coffee place.
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We have to walk over this little bridge.
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This is a bridge.
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The bridge is made of bamboo.
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This is bamboo.
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Suspended over the bridge, there's a sign and it reads "Old Rice Field Food
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and Drinks." That's the name of the coffee place.
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It's my favorite coffee place here in Vietnam.
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Do you know what this is called? Or this?
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Thank you.
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This is a flag.
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These are all flags of Vietnam.
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Let's walk over the bridge.
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Thank you.
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Right now I'm walking over the bridge.
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And this is called a lantern.
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A lantern.
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This lantern is pink in color.
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I'm so groggy.
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Can you see my eyes?
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Do they look groggy?
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I really need a coffee.
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Follow me.
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Let's order a coffee.
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Good morning.
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Yeah, I'm so groggy.
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You know what groggy means?
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Groggy means like I'm tired and I need to wake up.
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So I need coffee.
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So I think I came to the right place.
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This is the right place for coffee.
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Yes, good coffee.
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Okay.
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I'm gonna get a Vietnamese black coffee with ice and one coconut coffee as well.
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Okay, thank you.
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Now we need to find a place to sit.
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Wow, there's so many options.
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There's a table here that's made of wood with two chairs.
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These chairs are red in color.
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On top of the table, there's a pink orchid.
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Super beautiful, right?
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And then suspended above the table, there's two beautiful lanterns.
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And this lantern is white.
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And this lantern is pink.
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There's beautiful pink flowers in a pot on top of the table.
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Mmm.
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And they smell beautiful actually.
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Yeah, they're roses.
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These are roses.
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I've never seen this type of rose before.
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On the stem of the rose you can see thorns. and they're very sharp.
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If you touch the thorns too hard, you can prick your finger and then your finger might bleed.
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These chairs...
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are blue and this orchid is white.
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Also so beautiful.
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You can see some of the flowers still haven't bloomed yet.
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This one hasn't bloomed and these ones, they haven't bloomed yet.
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But soon they'll look like this.
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Let's find a place to sit.
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Thank you.
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This table has a beautiful view of the landscape.
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I think this is a really nice location.
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Thank you.
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Where's my coffee?
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I'm so groggy.
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Give me my coffee.
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Have a seat.
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Can you see this right here?
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This swollen area, I got a mosquito bite.
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And you can see that it's swollen and it's really itchy and really annoying.
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especially when you're groggy and you haven't woken up in the morning.
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The last thing you want is a mosquito bite.
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But the owner of the cafe She brought us a fan and the wind will help keep the mosquitoes away.
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So hopefully I won't get another mosquito bite.
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This is the landscape of what we can see where we're sitting right now.
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In the landscape, First of all, you can see the rice fields.
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the rice fields and further in the distance You can see a mountain.
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And over there you can see a house.
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And here you can see trees in the landscape.
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Our coffee just arrived.
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It's served in a glass with ice.
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And I can stir the coffee with a straw.
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And I'm hoping that it makes me feel less groggy.
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I'm not ready to take my sunglasses off yet because my eyes still look tired and I'm cranky.
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Cranky?
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is when you are irritable and little things annoy you that normally wouldn't annoy you.
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Like maybe loud noises or somebody waking you up in the morning when you're still sleeping and you wanted to sleep longer.
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Or maybe your cat woke you up because it was hungry in the morning
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and you didn't get enough sleep so you're cranky.
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So I'm feeling cranky right now and I'm hoping that this coffee helps.
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I'm not ready to take my sunglasses off yet because I feel like my eyes look really tired right now.
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The reason why I'm cranky is because I didn't get enough sleep last night.
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I went to sleep at 2 o 'clock in the morning
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and I woke up at about 5 o 'clock in the morning.
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So I only got about 3 hours of sleep.
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When I woke up at 5 o 'clock in the morning, I tried to go back to sleep and I just couldn't go back to sleep.
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Sometimes I wake up and my mind races.
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When the woman that owns the place brought our coffees, she brought us two cold, wet towels.
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and it's really warm today.
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Whenever she brings these, I undo the towel, I unroll the towel, and I usually like put it on my face, on my neck, on my arms to cool myself down.
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And it feels really refreshing.
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And I'll put them on my legs like this.
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It looks really funny, but
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It keeps you cool and it shades my legs from the sun so that I don't get a sunburn.
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When the owner brought us the coffee, she also brought us cold water in a glass.
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So it's also refreshing to have a sip of water when you're groggy and hot and cranky.
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I might need to take a nap later.
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so that I don't feel as tired as I do right now.
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I need another coffee.
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Where can I get another coffee?
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So, Okay.
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You can see the color of the rice field.
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It's sort of green.
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Usually it's really green.
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Right now it's a cross between yellow and green because the harvest happens sometime in September and October.
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depending on the weather.
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You can also see that the rice is almost ready to be harvested.
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These are the rice grains.
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These are grains of rice.
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And in the distance there, you can see the crop burning.
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After they harvest the rice, they burn the crops.
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I think I'm feeling a little bit more perky.
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Perky means you're feeling a bit more energetic.
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Like you're feeling a bit more energized.
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So I had one coffee, so I'm feeling a little bit perky.
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But I'm still not perky enough to remove my sunglasses.
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So I'm going to get one more coffee.
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I think I'll be in a position to give you a tour of the rest of the place.
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So let's get one more coffee.
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Let me know in the comments section below if you think I'm still groggy.
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And if you think I still sound like I'm groggy and tired, Does my voice still sound tired to you?
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Let me know in the comment section below.
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I'm still tired, so I need more coffee.
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um can i get another of vietnamese black coffee yes then I think I'm gonna be more awake.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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No smoking.
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No smoking.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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I have my second coffee.
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I'm going to take one sip of this coffee, and then I think I'll be ready to remove my sunglasses.
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Oh yeah, I'm ready.
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The sunglasses are coming off.
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I'm going to take off my sunglasses.
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You can also say, "I'm taking off my sunglasses." Thank you.
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You can also say: I'm going to remove my sunglasses After I take my sunglasses off,
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you can say: I took off my sunglasses or I removed my sunglasses.
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English is fun, right?
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Let me know in the comment section below if you think that English is fun.
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Is English fun or is it not fun?
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Also, let me know if I sound better and look less groggy.
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Do I look like I have more energy now?
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Do I look happier?
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Okay, maybe one more sip.
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Thank you.
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Yeah, I think I look better.
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Let me take you on a little tour of the place.
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Let's see what we can see.
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So we switched tables.
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We were sitting at a round table This table is round.
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But we decided to move, and now we're sitting at this table, which has a really odd shape.
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This table is made of glass.
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It's a glass table.
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And this table is wood.
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and we were sitting on chairs, but now we're sitting on a bench.
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This is a bench.
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Bye.
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In this cafe, there are many different flooring surfaces.
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The flooring here is wood.
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wood flooring.
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Over here, the flooring is tile.
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It's tiled flooring.
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The flooring is made up of multiple tiles.
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The flooring here is made up of stone.
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multiple square stones.
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The flooring here is made up of bricks and the bricks are rectangular in shape.
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Okay.
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Thank you.
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In this area of the cafe, they're doing some maintenance work.
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You can see on this table, They have various construction equipment, such as a drill, and screws.
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This is scaffolding, scaffolding.
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This is a ladder.
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a ladder.
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You climb up the ladder and you can get to the top of the roof.
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This is the roof.
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This is a sign indicating where the bathroom is.
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WC stands for water closet.
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W stands for water and C stands for closet.
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You can see that there's a sign here for the women's bathroom.
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Thank you.
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And then there's a sign here for the men's bathroom.
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And there's a sink, a white sink, with a faucet to wash your hands.
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There's a mirror to make sure that you don't look groggy or tired.
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Thank you.
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After you wash your hands, you can use a towel to dry your hands.
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These are towels.
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To wash your hands, you need soap.
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When you're finished drying your hands with the towel, you put the towel inside of this basket.
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And you can see on my shirt that it's wet because I'm sweating.
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This is sweat.
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You can also say "I'm perspiring" This is perspiration.
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perspiration.
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Because it's very hot in Vietnam.
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Surprise, surprise.
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I'm going to go back to my coffee.
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I'm sipping my coffee with a straw.
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I just took a sip of my coffee.
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So once I've taken a sip of the coffee, you can say, I just took a sip of my coffee.
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But now I'm about to take another sip of my coffee.
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I'm going to take a sip.
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You could also say, "I had a sip of my coffee." "I just had a sip of my coffee."
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English is fun, right?
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- Thank you very much.
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Yeah, I feel better.
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Yeah, I feel more awake now but I might need to take a nap later
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when the effect of the coffee goes away.
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See you next time.
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Thank you.
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All this.
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If you found this video helpful to your English learning journey, and if you have sympathy for how tired and groggy I feel this morning,
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then please hit the like button and consider subscribing to my channel so that you don't miss out on future videos.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Easy English at a Vietnamese Coffee Shop”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: coffee, groggy, table, sunglasses, sip. This video has 254 sentences and 2014 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:19. The speaker talks at a steady 141 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| groggy adjective | /ˈɡɹɑ.ɡi/ | Slowed or weakened, as by drink, sleepiness, etc. |
| sunglasses noun | Tinted glasses worn to protect the eyes from the sun or other bright light, and may also be worn as a fashion accessory. | |
| towel noun | /ˈtaʊ̯əl/ | A cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying anything wet, such as a person after a bath. |
| cranky adjective | /kɹæki/ | Not in good working condition; defective, faulty. |
| lantern noun | /ˈlæ̝ntɚn/ | A case of translucent or transparent material made to protect a flame, or light, used to illuminate its surroundings. |
| perky adjective | /ˈpɝki/ | Lively and often cheerful and enthusiastic. |
| mosquito noun | /məsˈki.toʊ/ | A small flying insect of the family Culicidae, the females of which bite humans and animals and suck blood, leaving an itching bump on the skin, and sometimes… |
| annoy verb | /əˈnoɪ̯/ | To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds. |
| café noun | /ˌkæˈfeɪ/ | A coffee shop; an establishment selling coffee and sometimes other non-alcoholic beverages, simple meals or snacks, with a facility to consume them on the… |
| tarpaulin noun | /ˈtɑːɹpəlɪn/ | A heavy, waterproof sheet of material, often cloth or plastic sheet, used as a cover or blanket (often as weatherproofing, or to keep loose cargo from blowing… |
| scooter noun | /ˈskuːtə(ɹ)/ | A kick scooter or push scooter; a human-powered land vehicle with a handlebar, deck and wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. |
| tile noun | /ˈtaɪ.əl/ | A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile, etc. |
| bloom noun | /blum/ | A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud. |
| ladder noun | /ˈlæd.ɚ/ | A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or… |
| harvest noun | /ˈhɑɹ.vəst/ | The process of gathering the ripened crop; harvesting. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| take off verb | To remove. | |
| walk over verb | To gain an easy victory. | |
| come off verb | To become detached. | |
| go away verb | To depart or leave a place. | |
| shut up | /ʃʌt ʌp/ | Stop talking (usually in the form of making annoying, irrelevant, or false comments, during a period of peace and quiet, or when one is not allowed to talk)… |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Don't you love this coffee place?
- Do you know what this is called?
- Can you see my eyes?
- You know what groggy means?
- Can you see this right here?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is made · is called · be harvested |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've never seen · haven't bloomed · hasn't bloomed |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might bleed · might need |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | were sitting |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 73 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thorn /θoɹn/, sympathy /ˈsɪm.pəθ.i/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: perspiration /ˌpɝspəˈɹeɪʃən/, refresh /ɹɪˈfɹɛʃ/, shade /ʃeɪd/
- Long words — get the stress right: perspiration /ˌpɝspəˈɹeɪʃən/, rectangular /ɹɛkˈtæŋɡjəlɚ/, energetic /ˌɛn.əɹˈdʒɛt.ɪk/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like groggy, sunglasses, towel.
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.