Shadowing Practice: For A Good Cause - Ep 1 | New Aussie Comedy Series - Learn English Speaking with Video

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232 sentences

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It's supposed to be an ad for the Australian workforce and it looks wider than a One Nation fundraising barbecue.

Just give us an hour or two in the edit.

We'll get you here.

Diversity.

Does it look like I slept in this?

No. Looks like you passed out in it and washed up in the Brisbane River.

You look good.

Can I get a Danish too, thanks?

I stayed overnight editing that workers' TBC for Max.

Oh, but I got to spend time with Lou.

Don't ask her on a date tonight.

Lou?

Yeah, I don't think you're her type. Because I'm white.

What?

No, because you're a social doofus who's always putting his foot in his mouth.

Carl, please.

You work at a social change media agency.

I'm the definition of hashtag woke.

Ooh, sorry.

Declined?

Maxwell hasn't paid me back for those coffee orders.

Can I give you an IOU?

Oh sorry, um, pay you back.

Come back tomorrow?

Yeah, no, I understood you, mate.

We don't do IOUs.

I'll come back on my lunch break.

You're literally stealing.

Sorry, my friend does not understand the struggles of the working class.

Cheers.

Good morning.

Lou, hot chocolate?

Nickname's a bit inappropriate.

Thank you, Ollie.

Oh, nice of you, flat white.

Oh, that's quite welcome.

Uh, so, hey, um, what are you doing tonight?

Anything except another all -nighter.

Oh!

Why are you asking me out?

Yes? Is that okay?

I don't think that would be a good idea.

Yes, I get it, because I'm one...

A co -worker, yeah.

Yes.

Mm -hmm.

That's fine.

You know what?

I'll think about it.

We have an emergency.

Great.

Not great, Ollie.

Tidal wave of feces is about to hit us, and you're a lifeguard on duty.

Jesus, what's wrong?

It's the workforce ads.

Trouble with the white balance?

Oh, well, I'm sure we can colour correct it.

Oh, really?

Mm -hmm.

All right, wizard boy.

Come work your magic.

Expecto.

Correcto.

Now.

I'm Bob Taller and I'm worried about jobs for our kids in the future.

There are many jobs that should go to Australians first, but the Prime Minister thinks

Australians lack the skills.

So these jobs are going to 457 workers, but the jobs are here and the people who want the jobs are here.

If it's really about skill shortages, we need to connect the two.

The Democratic Unionists Party will connect available jobs to training.

A taller government will build Australian first, buy Australian first, and employ Australians first.

Authorised by D1F DUP camera.

You've really fucked us on this one.

A complete one -sided fuck.

Wait, no, no, no, you guys, I can't fix this.

Like, it's a bit warmer than daylight.

Oh, God.

I can't believe you've done this to me.

We can't believe you've done this, Ollie.

Me?

I didn't cast them.

It's supposed to be an ad for the Australian workforce and it looks wider than a one -nation fundraising barbecue.

I left you in charge of shooting the extras.

You had one job, Ollie.

I don't care whose fault it is.

Okay, if this had gone to air, it would have been death by clickbait.

What if we do, like, a reshoot?

How?

We can't just ask

Bob Taller to take a day off parliament to get a shot of him shaking hands with an Aboriginal bloke.

Indigenous bloke.

First Australian.

He's gone.

We've lost him.

What if we get some extras in for a pick -up shoot and then I can just edit them into the background.

That's a great idea, Ollie.

Who's gonna pay for it?

We're already over budget.

I need this fixed today.

100

Grace, what if I said I had a solution but I couldn't tell you what it was?

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What, are you gonna set fire in the building?

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You want me to have plausible deniability?

103

No. You're gonna rub a magnet all over the hard drive and say an intern didn't eject it properly?

104

No, but that's a good idea.

105

We've already used that one.

106

I can't tell you because it'll ruin the illusion.

107

You can't solve this using street magic, Max.

108

Just give us an hour or two in the edit.

109

We'll get you diversity.

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I don't understand how we're going to make it more diverse.

111

There's no footage and no money.

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You said it before, just colour correct them.

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What? Who?

114

The extras.

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Just get their skin tone and just...

116

What?

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Max, um...

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I can't colour correct in racial diversity.

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Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh,

120

shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh,

121

shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh

122

The thing is, I can't.. ethically do this.

123

I've got plans tonight, and because of all your coffee orders since I started, I'm literally broke.

124

Right, well, if we lose the opposition as a client, you'll be broke and literally jobless.

125

So, find me a creative solution, and I'll make it worth your while.

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Yeah, Max, I can't...

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Do you mean like a raise or something?

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Yeah, like a raise.. or something.

129

I don't know.

130

I don't know.

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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I don't know.

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Carl.

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Carl.

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Carlton.

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Do not call me that.

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Do you have any stock footage on your drive?

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Just anything that says diversity?

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Like a rainbow?

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No, like different walks of life.

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Ah, the working class in the top end of town.

144

No, like different backgrounds.

145

Yep, cities, rolling fields.

146

People of colour.

147

Oh, what colour?

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Basically anything outside of Ipswich.

149

So like a laughing

150

Jamaican woman or a beautiful Asian man talking to a...

151

Shit.

152

Hey, Lou, Jono, um, crazy idea.

153

Do you know the workforce ad?

154

Wouldn't it be funny if some of us were in the ad?

155

And how would that be fun?

156

Funny for us, like a cameo, like, remember that time we were in that ad?

157

Whoa!

158

Why us specifically?

159

Oh, no reason.

160

You're a young, good -looking couple of friends, of platonic friends.

161

Jono, we can do you first.

162

Nah, more of a behind -the -camera type of guy.

163

Hey, Lou, are you up too much tonight?

164

Well, Ollie asked if I wanted to hang out.

165

Really?

166

And what are you guys doing?

167

Movies?

168

All right.

169

I am excited.

170

Yeah, Max, I had a real crack at that, but, um, only to show you that it won't work.

171

Mate, you need to start having more confidence in your own ability.

172

OK, boys, show me the magic.

173

All right, well, look, I can't take all the credit for this one.

174

In fact, it's mostly Ollie's genius at work.

175

Oh, is that a new workforce ad?

176

Mm -hm.

177

How'd it go?

178

Great.

179

In fact, do you want to watch it?

180

That's a good idea.

181

A couple more eyes on this before it airs could be good.

182

Absolutely.

183

Yeah.

184

All right, screening.

185

Everyone in here.

186

OK, OK, settle down.

187

I'm going to show you something that Ollie has adjusted and I want you to tell me if you see anything odd.

188

Max, wait.

189

I'm Bob Torter and I'm worried about jobs for our kids in the future.

190

There are many jobs that should go to Australians first.

191

The Prime Minister thinks

192

Australians lack the skills.

193

So these jobs are going to 457 workers.

194

But the jobs are here.

195

And the people who want the jobs are here.

196

If it's really about skill shortages, we need to connect the two.

197

The Democratic Unionist Party will connect available jobs to training.

198

A taller government will build Australian first, buy Australian first and employ Australians first.

199

Okay, who caught the edit?

200

Okay, well, Ollie, you might need to take another pass on that.

201

Why don't we just do a pick -up, like, with some extras?

202

That's a great idea.

203

Well, someone's going to have to stay back and shoot that.

204

Heading home.

205

Yep.

206

Hey, um, I'm really sorry about all that.

207

Like, that was majorly effed up.

208

Max just put me in an impossible position.

209

Really?

210

Max made you do it?

211

Mm -hmm.

212

Yeah, and I'm really sorry, like, if that offended you.

213

Excuse me?

214

You're sorry if I was offended by your digital blackface.

215

Yes.

216

Really sorry?

217

Well at least it was for a good cause.

218

Yeah.

219

So maybe it's tomorrow night.

220

Mate, I just want to say how much we appreciate all your hard work.

221

I know you've been doing overtime and you took a little heat today, and I know my words can't reimburse that, and neither can the company.

222

But, as I promised, here's a little something to say thank you for your time.

223

Oh, that's...

224

Movie vouchers.

225

Alright mate, gotta go.

226

Touch footy.

227

But hey, keep up all this amazing work, and guess what?

228

There'll be more of that coming your way.

229

Olly olly olly.

230

Oi, oi, oi!

231

Okay, Oli, this is May.

232

She will be the first worker for the pick -up shots.

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386 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “For A Good Cause - Ep 1”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: shh, Australian, Ollie, Max. This video has 232 sentences and 1549 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:12. The speaker talks at a steady 127 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 77% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding. 51 of its 232 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
worker noun	/ˈwɝ.kɚ/	One who works: a person who performs labor for a living; traditionally, especially, manual labor.
edit verb	/ˈɛdɪt/	To change a text, or a document.
workforce noun	/ˈwɝk.foɹs/	All the workers employed by a specific organization or state, or on a specific project.
skill noun	/skɪl/	A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
connect verb	/kəˈnɛkt/	To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object.
diversity noun	/daɪˈvɜː(ɹ)sɪti/	The quality of being diverse or different; a difference or unlikeness.
carl noun	/kɑɹl̩/	A rude, rustic man; a churl.
footage noun	/ˈfʊtɪd͡ʒ/	An amount of film or tape that has been used to record something, or the content of the recording.
employ verb	/ɪmˈplɔɪ/	To retain (someone) as an employee.
shortage noun	/ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/	A lack or deficiency; an insufficient amount.
fundraising noun	/ˈfʌndˌɹeɪzɪŋ/	The process of collecting money by requesting donations from individuals and businesses.
offend verb	/əˈfɛnd/	To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.
bloke noun	/bloʊk/	A fellow, a man; especially an ordinary man, a man on the street.
tone noun	/ˈtəʊn/	A specific pitch.
wash verb	/wɑʃ/	To clean with water.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
pick up verb		To lift; to grasp and raise.
come back verb		To return to a place.
keep up verb		To maintain; to preserve; to prevent from deteriorating or falling.
settle down verb		To make or become quiet and calm after a period of disturbance or restlessness.
stay back verb	/steɪˈbæk/	To remain (at work, school, organisation, country, etc.) after normal hours

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Does it look like I slept in this?
Why are you asking me out?
What if we do, like, a reshoot?
What, are you gonna set fire in the building?
You want me to have plausible deniability?

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	hasn't paid · You've really fucked · you've done
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was majorly effed · was offended
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	people who want

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 71 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: authorized /ˈɔθəɹaɪzd/, ethically /ˈɛθɪkəli/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shortage /ˈʃɔː(ɹ)tɪd͡ʒ/, wash /wɑʃ/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, racial /ˈɹeɪʃəl/, illusion /ɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/
Long words — get the stress right: diversity /daɪˈvɜː(ɹ)sɪti/, indigenous /ɪnˈdɪd͡ʒənəs/, inappropriate /ˌɪnəˈpɹoʊpɹi.ət/, deniability /dɪˌnaɪ(j)əˈbɪlɪti/, ethically /ˈɛθɪkəli/

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 worker, edit, workforce.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: For A Good Cause - Ep 1 | New Aussie Comedy Series - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?