Shadowing Practice: English You’ll Actually Use : Episode 1 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Welcome to episode one of our series, English You'll Actually Use.
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In this series, we're going to break down textbook English versus real English
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so that you can start sounding like a native English speaker.
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Are you ready?
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Well, then let's jump right in section.
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One of our lesson is the word you were never taught.
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You see textbooks teach the dictionary word native speakers, however, reach for a completely different one.
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And that's the word that makes you sound like you belong.
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If there are moments when you're speaking and people look at you and they're looking at you in a weird way, or you feel like when you're speaking,
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your like native speakers, it's because you've been using textbook English.
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So let's check out a few situations and compare textbook English versus real English.
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Here's our first situation. Being out.
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in the rain.
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Now, textbook English is very wet.
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This is a correct statement, but it's textbook English.
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However, Real life English is the word drenched,
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which means soaked completely through every layer of clothing, heavy with water.
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You see the difference.
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Very wet?
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Yes, it's very true, but that's textbook English.
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When I go outside, if it's raining heavily, I can say, "Oh man, I'm drenched." Textbook English, very wet.
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Real life English drenched.
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What about this situation right here?
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Let's say you're going to a coffee shop.
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Now textbook English would be.
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very tired.
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Maybe you are feeling tired at the coffee shop, but real life English is wiped.
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It means completely drained of energy, usually after a long stretch of effort.
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So yes, you're tired, but you'd say, ah, I'm wiped.
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I need to get some coffee.
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I need some energy again.
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Textbook English, very tired.
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Real life.
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English is wiped.
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What about our third situation?
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Our third situation is dealing with an airport.
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Now you could describe this individual sitting at the airport by saying, stressed, but that is textbook English.
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On the other hand, real life English is frazzled.
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Frazzled means mentally scattered and worn out from too much going on at one time.
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In English, real life English, we say frazzled.
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Now, very tired.
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Yes.
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Good example.
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Stressed.
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Yes.
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Good example.
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Very wet.
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Yes.
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Good examples, but they're textbook examples.
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Now you have the real life English examples, which leads us to section number two, forget the textbook phrase.
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You see the expression you learned.
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It's technically correct.
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The expressions you've learned in classes from your teachers, from a textbook, they're technically correct.
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but many of them are not used in real life by native English speakers.
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The real expression the real life expression is what signals you're
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a real speaker not you A student let's check this out for comparison situation.
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Number one, going back to our situation in the rain.
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Now textbook English is, it is raining heavily.
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It is raining very heavily.
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Now that's a good sentence.
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That's a good expression.
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It is raining heavily.
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but we're looking at textbook English in comparison to real life English.
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This is what real life English would sound like.
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It's Coming down hard.
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Look at the comparison.
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Listen to the comparison textbook English.
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It is raining very heavily real life English It's coming down hard Very subtle.
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But there is a difference.
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There's nuance.
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Textbook versus real life.
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And what about this situation.
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Now, situation number two, going back to The coffee shop.
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Textbook English now.
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How have you been recently?
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Again, very good question.
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It makes sense.
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The grammar is all correct.
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How have you been recently?
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But real life English is what have you been up to?
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What have you been up to again, a subtle difference, but if you say, what have you been up to immediately?
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A person will feel like your English is amazing.
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It's not textbook English again.
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How have you been recently is textbook English, real life English.
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What have you been up to?
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What about our third scenario?
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Our third scenario again, at the airport, we're at the airport.
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And this is an example of textbook English.
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There are many people here Again, there are many people here.
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Great sentence, great expression describes the situation very well, but listen to the subtle nuance.
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Now we're going to get real life English.
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Real life English is this place is packed.
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This place is packed.
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Something that native English speakers, including me, your English teacher, teacher Tiffany, we say all the time.
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Whoa, this place is packed.
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We're saying there are a lot of people in this location or at this location.
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Here now is section number three.
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How they actually describe it again,
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English you'll actually use, you see descriptive words separate flat English from vivid English, the textbook word.
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It does the job, but the real word, the real life word makes people picture it.
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They can envision it.
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They can visualize it in their minds. For example.
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Going back to our situation, situation number one.
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The rain textbook English would describe this by saying the wet street.
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Now that is a true statement.
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The street is wet in the image, but listen to the difference.
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Now we're going to look at real life English with the term slick.
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The streets were slick, which means smooth and dangerously slippery from rain.
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slick.
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You're hearing the difference.
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Again, the grammar is not the issue.
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We're trying to go from textbook to English you'll actually use.
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From textbook English to real life English.
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Here's our second situation.
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The coffee shop.
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Now textbook English describing the situation would be the busy coffee shop.
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Once again.
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There are lots of people.
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So yes, the coffee shop is busy, but that is textbook English.
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Real life.
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English is buzzing.
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The cafe was buzzing, meaning alive with low chatter and quiet energy.
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Textbook English, the busy coffee shop.
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Real life English, the cafe was buzzing.
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You see now you're learning English.
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You're so intelligent, but you have to understand the difference between textbook English and real life English.
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This is why this series is important.
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Situation number three, back to the airport.
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Textbook English.
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The crowded airport.
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but real life English bustling.
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The terminal was bustling, meaning full of fast, busy movement in every direction.
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Textbook, crowded airport, real life.
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The terminal was bustling.
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You're seeing the difference you've learned properly.
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You've learned a lot, but you have to understand the difference between
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textbook English and real life English leading us to section number four.
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The full picture in one breath.
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You see textbook English describes what's there.
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Real English answers the questions a native speaker's mind is already asking the five W's, you know it, who, what,
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when, where, and why without sounding like a list.
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So I want you to pay attention to this comparison right here.
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Looking at our first situation again, the rain.
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Now, textbook English would describe it like this.
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A woman is on the street.
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It is raining.
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She has no umbrella.
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She looks unhappy.
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These are facts being stated.
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You're describing the picture, but it still feels like a textbook.
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It doesn't feel like real life English.
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This is why.
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Real life English would describe it in this way.
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A young woman is rushing home through downtown on a Tuesday evening after work,
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because she got caught in a sudden downpour without an umbrella.
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You heard the difference.
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Real life English answers the who, what, when, where, and why.
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Answering these questions makes you sound more realistic, more fluent.
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Textbook English versus real life English.
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Look at this scenario.
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Scenario number two, situation in the coffee shop.
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Now describing this situation, our textbook would be Two friends are at a coffee shop.
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They are drinking coffee.
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They are talking.
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They look happy.
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Stating the facts, describing what we see in the image, but it still feels like a textbook.
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Listen closely now.
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The real life English version answers each of the five W's.
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Two old college friends are catching up at their favorite neighborhood cafe on Saturday morning
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because they haven't seen each other since one of them moved across the country last year.
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The who, the, what, the, when the, where, and the,
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why each of these W's can be found in the real life English description.
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And what about this situation again at the airport?
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The textbook English to describe the situation.
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We have this, a man is at an airport.
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He has a suitcase.
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There are only a few people at the airport.
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He looks tired.
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Textbook English though.
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You're giving me the facts.
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You're stating the points.
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You're describing what you are seeing.
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But listen closely to the real life English version.
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The real life English version is a businessman is dragging his
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carry on through the terminal during the Sunday evening rush at JFK.
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Because his connecting flight home from a week long work trip just got delayed for a second time.
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You hear all of the details, all of the information added into the response added into the description of the image.
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Textbook English versus real life English, which leads us to section number five.
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Same scene, different speaker again.
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Same scene, different speaker.
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You see, when a native speaker describes a moment, they don't recite facts.
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They tell a tiny story.
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This is where everything you've learned in the first four sections comes together.
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The word, the expression, the descriptive language term, the five W's.
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Now we're putting them together.
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Same scene, but different speaker.
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Listen to our first situation.
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Again, we have the rain.
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Textbook English would sound like this.
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I was walking home from work.
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The rain started.
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I did not have an umbrella.
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I got very wet.
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I was unhappy.
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You're giving me the facts.
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You're giving me the details.
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I know what happened, but it still sounds like a textbook.
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Listen to the real life English version.
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Here we go.
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I was on my way home from work when the sky just opened up out of nowhere.
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Of course, I'd left my umbrella at the office.
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By the time I got to my building, I was drenched like water in my shoes, drenched, not exactly how I wanted to end.
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my Tuesday.
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Okay.
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You hear the difference, the textbook English version versus the real life English version.
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Then we have this situation again, back to our coffee shop.
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And this is the textbook version to describe what happened.
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I met my friend at a coffee shop.
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We had not seen each other for one year.
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We drank coffee, We talked for two hours.
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It happened was a good day.
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Now I gave you all the information, but it still sounded like a textbook.
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It still sounded robotic, just relaying facts, relaying details.
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But now we have the real life English version.
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Thank you.
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I finally caught up with Sarah this weekend.
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It had been over a year since she moved to Denver.
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We grabbed coffee at that little place on 5th.
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The one with the good pastries and ended up sitting there for almost three hours.
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hours.
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Honestly, it felt like no time had passed. At all.
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You felt like I was telling you a story, right?
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That felt real because it was real life life.
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English.
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And what about our situation with the airport?
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Again, textbook English first.
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It would be...
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I was at the airport.
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My flight was late.
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I was very tired.
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I waited for many hours.
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Finally, I went home.
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It's as if I'm stepping you through the details, but not connecting them.
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Listen to the real life English version.
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So I just got back from a brutal trip, five days, three cities.
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And of course, My flight home got delayed twice.
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By the time I finally made it to baggage claim at JFK, I was completely frazzled.
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All I wanted was my bed and a quiet Sunday textbook, English versus real life.
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English.
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I hope you learned a lot and I'll talk to you in the next lesson.
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Speak Like a Native: Real English vs. Textbook Phrases
The Scenario
Imagine you’re caught in a downpour, dragging yourself to a coffee shop after a chaotic morning at the airport. Textbook English might have you say, “I’m very wet, very tired, and stressed,” but native speakers would raise an eyebrow. The video reveals how swapping these phrases for real-life alternatives makes you sound natural. In this scenario, you’d hear, “I’m drenched, wiped, and frazzled”—words that capture the full intensity of the moment.
Useful Chunks & Collocations
- “I’m drenched” – Perfect for describing being soaked through by rain or water.
- “I’m wiped” – Conveys total exhaustion after a long, tiring day.
- “mentally scattered” – A collocation that pairs with “frazzled” to describe feeling overwhelmed.
- “heavy with water” – A vivid way to explain why “drenched” means more than “very wet.”
- “drained of energy” – The natural partner phrase for “wiped” to emphasize tiredness.
Your Shadowing Challenge
Shadowing is a proven way to master natural speech, and tools like a shadowing app can help you practice. Here’s your task: Watch the video segment where the speaker uses “drenched,” “wiped,” and “frazzled.” Pause after each phrase, then repeat it aloud, mimicking the tone and rhythm. Focus on how “drenched” is stressed slightly more than “very wet,” and how “wiped” flows quickly in a sentence. Do this 5 times, then record yourself. Compare your version to the original—did you capture the casual, conversational vibe? Shadow speech techniques like this train your mouth to move like a native, making these phrases feel automatic. Whether you use a shadowing app or just a phone recorder, consistent shadowing (or “shadowspeak”) will help you swap textbook English for the real deal.
Remember, the goal isn’t to memorize lists—it’s to use words that native speakers actually reach for. With practice, phrases like “I’m frazzled” will feel as natural as “I’m stressed,” and tools like shadowing apps can speed up that process. Start small, focus on one chunk at a time, and soon you’ll notice people reacting to your English with understanding, not confusion.
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 | you've learned · have you been · haven't seen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were never taught · is wiped · is frazzled |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was buzzing · was bustling · was walking |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | you're speaking · is dealing · is raining |
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.