Shadowing Practice: Fast & Clear Advanced English Practice | Improve Your Listening & Speaking with this English Podcast - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
C2
Hello lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy.
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Hello lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy.
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Today's lesson is advanced, fast and clear English practice.
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I'm going to train you to improve your advanced listening and your speaking.
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We are going to focus on C2.
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This is the highest level of English.
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Today I'm going to test your listening skills with real, incredibly advanced clips from British TV programmes.
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Now, as I test you, I'm also going to teach you.
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They go hand in hand.
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I'll test your listening, but I will teach you lots of advanced vocabulary, advanced grammar, and advanced pronunciation tips.
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We will focus on informal language because ironically it's often harder for learners than formal English.
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I will save formal English for another video.
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We are covering so much C2 level language today, you definitely need to download the free pdf that goes with this video.
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It covers everything from this lesson plus more in-depth analysis of the language used in the clips.
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To download that, scan the QR code here or click the link in the description box.
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One last thing, if you are interested in reaching the highest level of English,
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I am in the final stages of production of my brand new beautiful British English C2 programme.
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I will launch it in early 2026.
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If you want to be the first to know about it, join the waiting list.
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You can scan the QR code there or click the link in the description box.
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Let's start the test.
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We'll begin with a clip from a program that's become both a national treasure and a British institution,
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the Great British Bake Off.
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In this reality TV show, amateur bakers compete or face off against each other in a series of baking challenges.
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This first clip is from Celebrity Bake Off with contestant Kate explaining what she's creating in the kitchen.
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We'll listen with some of the most challenging vocabulary missing from the on-screen transcript.
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For an extra challenge you can try listening without reading the words at all.
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After listening we'll examine the most interesting language from each clip.
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And once we're done you can download the pdf to review the script.
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I've included the scripts in the downloadable pdf.
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QR code there, link in description box.
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Okay, let's listen to the first clip.
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So this is the crucial ingredient.
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It's chai tea full of cardamom.
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It's got all sorts of ginger beautiful flavours in it.
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Oh, it's just amazing.
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It's basically a hug and a mug.
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So I just thought, why not whack it into a mini loaf cake?
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Infusing her love of a cuppa into cake, Kate will add the lightly spiced char to her mini loaf sponge and the buttercream topping.
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She'll adorn the lot with orange candied peel.
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How much of that did you put in?
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Well, they recommended a kind of large tea-spoon.
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I've gone for two.
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I don't think you should skimp on flavour in life, really.
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How did you find that?
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Let's go through some of the trickier vocabulary now.
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We have cardamom.
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Cardamom.
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Notice the schwa, uh, at the end.
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Cardamom, not cardamom.
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Cardamom is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of various plants in the ginger family.
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This here is a cardamom pod with the seeds inside.
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Now one of the reasons this clip is quite challenging, well the whole programme is to be honest,
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is that it's full of advanced food vocabulary and specialised baking terminology.
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If you speak or understand a European language, you might have understood this word.
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It sounds similar in Spanish and Italian, for example.
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But did you catch all of this?
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This short clip contains loads of high level food vocabulary.
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So if you want to build up your vocabulary knowledge in this area, you should watch this programme.
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I've included more information about this food vocabulary in the lesson PDF.
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Next, we have an expression I absolutely adore, a hug in a mug, a hug in a mug.
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I love the way it sounds.
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That little internal rhyme is so satisfying to say.
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This informal British expression describes a comforting hot drink, tea, hot chocolate, even soup.
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The idea is that when you hold the mug and take a sip, It feels especially soothing, like getting a warm hug.
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Then we heard the informal verb to whack.
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If you whack something somewhere, you put it there quickly without much care or attention.
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Where should I put these clothes?
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Oh, just whack them on the bed.
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In the clip, Kate says, so I just thought, why not whack it into a mini loaf cake?
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Here, the object pronoun it refers back to the chai tea, meaning she's going to add the chai tea spices to her cake mixture.
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Next, we had cha, an informal word for tea.
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The speaker likely used it as a synonym for cuppa in the same sentence to avoid repeating the same word twice.
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I love that we have such a rich and varied vocabulary to choose from in English.
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Let's take a quick look at the grammar in this sentence.
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Here we have a participle clause beginning with the ing form of the verb infuse.
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The sentence has two clauses.
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The main clause, Kate will add the lightly spiced char to her mini loaf sponge and buttercream topping.
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And the subordinate clause, infusing her love of a cuppa into cake.
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We can use participle clauses to show things like time, reason, cause, result, and so on.
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They're great for making sentences more concise.
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So how would you expand this participle clause?
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Well, this one likely expresses purpose.
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So the longer version would be something like, in order to infuse her love of a cuppa into cake.
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Or similarly, it could express reason.
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For example, because she wants to infuse her love of a cuppa into cake.
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Either way, Kate wants to infuse her love of tea into her cake, and she'll do that by adding the lightly spiced char.
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Participle clauses can be tricky, but they are powerful, and we explore them in detail in my brand new C2 programme.
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Join the waiting list by clicking the link in the description box or scanning the QR code there.
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Finally, the verb to skimp on something.
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In this context, it means to not use enough of something to get the desired result.
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If you skimp on sugar when making jam, for example, it might not set or taste right.
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So I definitely recommend watching this programme, The Great British Bake Off, to improve your high-level food and baking vocabulary,
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to practise listening to a wide range of accents, because they have contestants from all over the UK and beyond,
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and to better understand wordplay and puns.
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They play with the English language a lot in this programme,
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and I've included information about an excellent pun that comes just before this clip in the PDF.
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This show is just full of them.
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Okay, let's move on to our second clip now.
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This one is from a series called Travelman.
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The concept is simple.
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presenter and comedian Joe Lycett invites a celebrity to join him for 48 hours in a different city.
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Think weekend city break vibes.
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In this episode he's exploring Prague with fellow comedian Adam Buxton.
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Let's hear a short clip.
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The second half of our prance around Prague finds Adam Buxton and I in Lettner Park.
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Ah mum, can we go on that please?
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Yes okay as long as you sign a waiver
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because it was built in 1894 and it almost certainly doesn't stand up to modern safety standards.
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It's beautiful.
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Look at it.
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Beautiful is one word.
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I love the smell of horse hide in the morning so we choose our steeds and saddle up.
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Oh yeah.
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You look, I think the word I'd use is ridiculous.
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Oh!
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Giving Thought Park a run for its money.
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I feel regal.
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The Letna carousel has been frightening the good people of Prague for almost 130 years.
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OK, so bonus points if you spotted the grammatical error at the start of the clip.
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Yes, even native and proficient speakers make mistakes, especially when speaking.
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Presenter Joe Lycett says, the second half of our prance around Prague finds Adam Buxton and I in Lettner Park.
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Grammatically, it should be, finds Adam Buxton and me in Lettner Park, as Adam and Joe are the objects of the verb to find.
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Well done if you caught that mistake.
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There's some rich, high level language in the first sentence of the clip.
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Prance around Prague.
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Why prance and not walk or wander?
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Well, I think Jo chose this word for two reasons.
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Firstly, we have the lovely alliteration.
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Prance around Prague.
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So satisfying to say.
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The repetition of the p sound at the beginning of these two words
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is called alliteration it's a literary device often found in novels poetry
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and drama we explore this and many other advanced techniques in the c2 program i'm
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so excited to launch it very early next year understanding them is key to catching the subtle nuances
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and wordplay proficient speakers use second prance has a double meaning.
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With people, it means to walk energetically with more movement than necessary, almost like dancing.
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But it can also be used to describe the way a horse moves.
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If a horse prances, it moves quickly with small high steps.
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Joe's word choice gives us a playful image of him and Adam happily dancing around Prague, And it neatly leads into the next part of the programme, where they ride a carousel,
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a children's ride, with model horses that go round and round.
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English is full of these playful double meanings, or puns, but you need an excellent grasp of vocabulary and nuance to catch them.
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Let's take a look at some more tricky language from the clip.
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We'll hear Adam's request to ride the carousel and Joe's response one more time.
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Can we go on that, please?
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Yes, okay, as long as you sign a waiver
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because it was built in 1894 and it almost certainly doesn't stand up to modern safety standards.
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First up, sign a waiver.
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If you sign a waiver, you officially agree in writing that you won't hold someone legally responsible for any harm, damage or loss that might occur,
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often before participating in a potentially dangerous activity.
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It basically means that that you can't sue anyone if you get injured.
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Joe jokes that Adam should do this because the ride doesn't stand up to, meaning doesn't meet modern safety standards.
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Here Joe is clearly being sarcastic.
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How do we know?
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Well, riding a carousel is not generally considered to be a particularly hazardous activity.
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His tone of voice gives us another clue.
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Now, sarcasm is a key feature of so much British comedy
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and these two comedians are well known for using copious amounts of the stuff, copious amounts of sarcasm.
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We've got more sarcasm when Adam says the horses are beautiful and Joe replies with, beautiful is one word.
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Notice how his intonation rises at the end.
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This suggests that he hasn't quite finished thinking
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and we can infer from his tone of voice that he would probably choose a very different word to describe them.
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To infer something means to reach a conclusion about what a speaker means even
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if they don't say it directly
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or explicitly this is also known as reading between the lines the ability to pick up on these subtle cues
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and deduce meaning without explicit words is an essential skill from
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c1 level up the next part of the clip includes some
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more challenging horse related vocabulary hide is the skin of animals
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used to make leather horse hide is horse leather steed is
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another word for horse specifically a horse that's ridden saddle up
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means to put a seat like this on a horse
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and ride it another thing
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that makes this sentence potentially confusing is the cultural reference did
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you spot it the phrase i love the smell of horse
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hide in the morning is a playful nod to a famous
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quote from the film apocalypse now lieutenant colonel kilgore ironically says
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i love the smell of napalm in the morning there are
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a couple more cultural references here too joe sarcastically compares the
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carousel ride to rides at thorpe park a famous amusement park in england
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which has much scarier rides than this carousel
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and did you spot another participle clause in there that's right
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it's this what do you think this participle clause is a reduced form of?
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Let me know in the comments.
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I definitely recommend watching the series if you want to get a better understanding of British humour,
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especially sarcasm, are interested in poetic language such as alliteration and wordplay, and if you enjoy references to popular culture.
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I've watched a few of the episodes and the language used in them is super super high level, so give them a go if you really want to challenge yourself.
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Our final clip today is from a documentary called Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution.
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It's presented by the famous British chef Jamie Oliver.
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Here Jamie shares his experience growing up with dyslexia.
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This is a condition that generally makes it difficult for someone to read and write but it does not affect intelligence.
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Let's listen.
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In the 80s the dyslexia word was used very rarely.
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Being extracted for special needs during a class is like is not cool
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and it always came with a a little bit of a tag
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and a little bit of a kind of I guess a dunce's hat.
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It doesn't take long for feelings of like being stupid, being sick, being dumb, not being bright.
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Even in the primary school level that was already in my psyche.
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I kind of wrote myself off so that's why for me like cooking absolutely saved me.
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Perhaps one of the first things you noticed in that clip was Jamie's use of the word like.
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This word is used a lot in English as a filler.
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In these phrases, like is not cool, and like cooking absolutely saved me, the word doesn't really have any meaning.
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Jamie's probably using it to give himself more time to organise his thoughts.
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In this phrase, feelings of like being stupid, being sick, being dumb, not being bright,
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it's used as a more informal alternative to for example or for instance.
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Understanding multiple meanings of the same word and being able to use fillers when speaking is really important at C2 level.
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Before we look at some of the C2 language from this clip, let's take a moment to analyse the first sentence.
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Jamie's precise turn of phrase, the dyslexia word, is quite unusual.
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Normally we'd say something like the term dyslexia.
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By inverting the typical word order, Jamie mirrors the structure, the letter word.
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This is a euphemism used to avoid using unpleasant or offensive swear words like the F word.
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Jamie likely used this particular structure to highlight that in the 80s, dyslexia was treated as a taboo subject, just like swear words are considered taboo.
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Do you notice any more unusual word order here?
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Perhaps you picked up on was used very rarely.
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Again, the typical or neutral word order here would be very rarely used.
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By placing the adverb phrase at the end of the sentence, Jamie draws attention to very rarely, emphasizing the frequency or lack of in this case.
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Adverb order in English is really challenging and that's why I've made sure to include it in the C2 program.
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The second sentence is really interesting too.
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Here, Jamie's talking about when he was taken out of class because of his different learning needs.
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And yes, that's another participle clause.
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This is probably a reduced form of the act or experience of being extracted for special needs.
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However, instead of using the more common phrase taken out of, Jamie chooses the word extracted.
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To extract means to remove something, especially with force or effort.
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We often use this word with surgery.
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You have a tooth extracted at the dentist, for example.
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So Jamie's precise choice of word here suggests to the listener that this was a painful, traumatic experience for him.
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Next, we have a dunce's hat.
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Again, there's a cultural reference here that makes this term difficult.
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A dunce's hat is a tall pointed hat like this
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that some children were forced to wear in class if the teacher thought that they were learning too slowly.
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It was used in classrooms in Europe and America, and the idea was to shame the child in front of their classmates.
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Now, Jamie isn't saying that he literally had to wear a dunce's hat.
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This practice died out long ago, thank goodness.
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Rather, he is using the term metaphorically to express that he felt ashamed of being labelled dyslexic.
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Next, we have the word psyche.
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This is a formal word which refers to the mind and a person's deepest feelings and beliefs.
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So in this sentence, Jamie's saying that deep down, he felt stupid.
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Our last advanced phrase from the clip is the phrasal verb to write somebody off.
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If you write somebody off, you decide that someone is a failure and will never be successful.
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And this is often an unfair judgment.
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Sadly, Jamie actually wrote himself off, likely due to the way he was treated at school.
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I recommend watching this documentary as it has a really interesting mix of formal and informal language.
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Later on in the programme, Jamie speaks to various politicians about trying to change the British education laws.
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I've included the script of the clip, along with interesting language analysis, in the PDF that goes along with this lesson.
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So lovely students, that brings us to the end of this lesson.
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We've gone through a lot of really advanced language today, but we've only just scratched the surface.
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If this lesson has whetted your appetite, don't miss out on the updates for my brand new C2 programme.
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Sign up to the waiting list, the QR code is there, or you can click the link in the description box.
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I will see you soon for another lesson.
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Mwah!
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Context & Background
Welcome to an advanced English learning experience designed to enhance your listening and speaking abilities. In this lesson, we'll utilize a captivating excerpt from a widely celebrated British television show, "The Great British Bake Off." This program serves as a cultural touchstone in Britain, featuring amateur bakers who showcase their skills through various baking challenges. The dialogue in the clips is rich with informal language and advanced vocabulary, making it an ideal choice for learners striving for fluency at the C2 level. By engaging with real-world snippets, you will not only practice your listening skills but also gain insights into the subtleties of British culture and language.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- A hug in a mug: This phrase expresses warmth and comfort, typically in reference to a beverage like tea or coffee.
- Whack it into: A casual way to say "put it into" or "add it to," often implying enthusiasm.
- Skimp on: To be stingy or to use less than necessary. For example, not skimping on flavor means using a generous amount.
- Cardamom: An aromatic spice used in cooking, which is commonly discussed in recipes.
- Infusing her love of: A phrase indicating the incorporation of personal passion into a project, such as baking.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively harness the power of shadowspeak for improving your English skills, follow these steps while watching the video:
- First Listening: Play the video clip without any transcripts. Focus solely on the sounds and rhythm of the language. This will help you attune your ears to the natural flow of spoken English.
- Active Listening: Replay the clip while reading along with the transcript. Pay close attention to the phrases and vocabulary, especially the informal expressions that native speakers frequently use.
- Shadowing Practice: Try to mimic the speaker's pronunciation and intonation as you listen to the clip again. Pause the video after key phrases and repeat them out loud, capturing the essence of shadow speak.
- Vocabulary Deep Dive: After shadowing, take note of any challenging words or phrases. Research their meanings and practice using them in your own sentences.
- Engage and Record: Finally, record yourself replicating the dialogue while trying to incorporate the new vocabulary. This not only builds confidence but allows for self-assessment of your speaking style.
By regularly practicing shadowspeaks techniques like the ones outlined above, you will enhance your English speaking practice and achieve greater fluency and comprehension. With dedication and the right tools, you will make significant strides in mastering advanced English conversation!
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.
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