Shadowing Practice: Emma Watson Plays With Kittens (While Answering Fan Questions) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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53 sentences
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- Little ones!
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Yeah, oh my god, I want them all (laughs).
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Hi little guy.
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Hello. I'm dying, I can't even concentrate on what you're saying.
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(light music) (Emma squeals) I'm here with BuzzFeed, I'm playing with tiny cute kittens.
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My day is made.
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We designed for Belle this ring that would sit on her little finger.
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The costume designer saw that I had one which my mom had given to me, and she was like, can I design one for Belle?
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Because Belle's mother dies when she's really young.
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My mom is still alive and healthy and well, just as a side-note.
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Anyway, I was really proud of the ring and thought it was so beautiful that I asked if I could keep one, and they said I could.
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Do you want to come down?
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Is this a little high for you?
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Oh no, you kind of want to stay.
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Okay, you go here, you stay there, and you can come down here.
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(upbeat music) I just wanted to make sure that we stayed true to the original.
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So when Kevin Kline was gonna make Maurice less kind of like the inventor, and he wasn't gonna have that as his story anymore, I was like well could we use that for Belle?
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And so we made Belle this inventor who invents this washing machine, so that she can sit and read while it's doing her washing.
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This one's chasing its own shadow, literally.
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This is too much.
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(light music) I would want her to know that she is a force to be reckoned with and, never to underestimate her own power.
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Sometimes particularly young girls feel like their voice doesn't matter, and what they have to say doesn't really matter and, I think I would want her to know that it does.
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Oh, look at the rose pedals, look.
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Pretty rose pedals.
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(light music) So many times.
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When people have told me that I can't do something, it's gonna be too hard, or whatever else, I try to use that as motivation.
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Sometimes someone telling you that you won't be able to do something.
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I'm like oh you don't know what you just did.
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Oh it's its shadow again.
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Too cute. (light music) In my imagining, she opens the library that's in the castle, and she turns it into a school, and a public library, which she runs.
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I love that all of these guys are crazy and this one is just chill.
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(light music) Yes, they share the love of books.
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Hermione and Belle are like perfect head and heart girls.
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They have both.
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They're super smart, but they also have this incredible empathy, and compassion, and ability to see kind of beyond things, and be non-judgemental.
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(light music) When we completed the final dance at the end of the movie, I had the sound guys play Happy, and Kevin Kline started doing the conga, and like everyone joined in.
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It was the most surreal thing I've ever seen.
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Everyone in costume, in the Beauty and the Beast ballroom, doing the conga.
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(light music) We think that we live in a post-feminist society, and we do not.
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So we're told we don't need feminism anymore, that we have the vote, that like we're all good.
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And I think actually that's incredibly disconcerting because then, when young women move into the world and they realize, oh why am I not being paid the same?
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Why am I being treated differently?
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And they start to blame themselves, because they don't understand that they're part of a historic pattern, they're part of a much larger system which is kind of working a little bit against them.
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Um, no, I don't want it to be over!
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Please don't let it be over.
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I never want to leave, I only want to be into you by Buzzfeed from now on.
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I'm really gonna struggle to say goodbye to this guy.
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Massive shout-out to Best Friends Animal Society, who save hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of kittens.
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They make sure that these guys find a home.
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This has been the highlight of my press tour, without a doubt.
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We're peaking right now.
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There's nothing that's gonna top this.
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(light music)
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Emma Watson Plays With Kittens”. This video has 53 sentences and 709 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:08. The speaker talks at a natural 171 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| conga noun | /ˈkɑŋɡə/ | A tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban hand drum of African origin. |
| inventor noun | /ɪnˈvɛntɚ/ | One who invents, either as a hobby or as an occupation. |
| pedal noun | /ˈpɛdəl/ | A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano. |
| kitten noun | /ˈkɪtən̩/ | A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox, beaver, badger, etc. |
| costume noun | /ˈkɑsˌt(j)um/ | A style of dress, including garments, accessories and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period or people. |
| disconcert verb | /ˌdɪskənˈsɝt/ | To upset the composure of; to startle. |
| judgmental adjective | /ˌd͡ʒʌd͡ʒˈmɛnt(ə)l/ | Of or relating to judgment. |
| squeal verb | /skwil/ | To scream with a shrill, prolonged sound. |
| ballroom noun | /ˈbɔːlɹuːm/ | A large room used for dancing and banquets. |
| upbeat adjective | /ʌpˈbit/ | Having a fast pace, tempo, or beat. |
| invent verb | /ɪnˈvɛnt/ | To design a new process or mechanism. |
| surreal adjective | /səˈɹiː(.ə)l/ | Resembling a dream: fantastic and incongruous. |
| underestimate verb | /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/ | To estimate too low; to perceive (someone or something) as having a lower value, quantity, worth, etc., than what he/she/it actually has. |
| empathy noun | /ˈɛmpəθi/ | Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person. |
| reckon verb | /ˈɹɛkən/ | To count; to enumerate; to number; also, to compute; to calculate. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do you want to come down?
- Is this a little high for you?
- It was the most surreal thing I've ever seen.
- Why am I being treated differently?
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 · be reckoned · being paid |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have told · I've ever seen · has been |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 29 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, gonna, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: compassion /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/, shout /ʃaʊt/
- Long words — get the stress right: underestimate /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/, feminism /ˈfɛmɪnɪz(ə)m/
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 conga, inventor, pedal.
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.