Shadowing Practice: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Chapter 1 Audiobook - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
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Chapter 1.
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I am by birth a Genovese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic.
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My ancestors had been for many years counselors and syndics, and my father had filled several public situations with honor and reputation.
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He was respected by all who knew him for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business.
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He passed his younger days perpetually occupied by the affairs of his country.
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A variety of circumstances had prevented his marrying early,
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nor was it until the decline of life that he became a husband and the father of a family.
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As the circumstances of his marriage illustrate his character, I cannot refrain from relating them.
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One of his most intimate friends was a merchant, who, from a flourishing state, fell through numerous mischances into poverty.
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This man, whose name was Beaufort, was a proud and unbending disposition, and could not bear to live in poverty
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and oblivion in the same country where he had formerly been distinguished for his rank and magnificence.
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Having paid his debts, therefore, in the most honorable manner, he retreated with his daughter to the town of Lucerne,
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where he lived unknown and in wretchedness.
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My father loved Beaufort with the truest friendship, and was deeply grieved by his retreat in these unfortunate circumstances.
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He bitterly deplored the false pride which led his friend to conduct so little worthy of the affection that united them.
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He lost no time in endeavoring to seek him out, with the hope of persuading him to begin the world again through his credit and assistance.
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Beaufort had taken effectual measures to conceal himself, and it was ten months before my father discovered his abode.
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Overjoyed at this discovery, he hastened to the house, which was situated in a mean street near the Rus.
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But when he entered, misery and despair alone welcomed him.
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Beaufort had saved but a very small sum of money from the wreck of his fortunes,
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but it was sufficient to provide him with the sustenance for some months.
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And in the meantime, he hoped to procure some respectable employment in a merchant's house.
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The interval was, consequently, spent in inaction.
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His grief only became more deep and wrinkling when he had leisure for reflection, and at length it took so fast hold of his mind
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that at the end of the three months he lay on a bed of sickness, incapable of any exertion.
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His daughter attended him with the greatest tenderness,
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but she saw with despair that their little fund was rapidly decreasing and that there was no other prospect of support.
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But Caroline Beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon mold, and her courage rose to support her in her adversity.
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She procured plain work, she plated straw, and by various means contrived to earn a pittance scarcely sufficient to support life.
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Several months passed in this manner.
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Her father grew worse, her time was more entirely occupied in attending him, her means of subsistence decreased,
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and in the tenth month her father died in her arms, leaving her an orphan and a beggar.
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The last blow overcame her, and she knelt by Beaufort's coffin, weeping bitterly when my father entered the chamber.
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He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care, and after the interment of his friend,
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he conducted her to Geneva and placed her under the protection of a relation.
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Two years after this event, Caroline became his wife.
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There was a considerable difference between the ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them only closer in bonds of devoted affection.
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There was a sense of justice in my father's upright mind, which rendered it necessary that he should approve highly to love strongly.
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Perhaps during former years he had suffered from the late discovered unworthiness of one beloved,
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and so was disposed to set a greater value on tried worth.
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There was a show of gratitude and worship in his attachment to my mother, differing wholly from the doting fondness of age,
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for it was inspired by reverence for her virtues years and a desire to be the means of,
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in some degree, recompensing her for the sorrow she had endured, but which gave inexpressible grace to his behavior to her.
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Everything was made to yield to her wishes and her convenience.
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He strove to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the gardener, from every rougher wind, and to surround her with all
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that could tend to excite pleasurable emotion in the soft and benevolent mind.
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Her health, and even the tranquility of her hitherto constant spirit, had been shaken by what she had gone through.
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During the two years that had elapsed previous to their marriage, my father had gradually relinquished all his public functions, and immediately after their union,
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they sought the pleasant climate of Italy,
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and the change of scene and interests attendant on a tour through that land of wonders as restorative for her weakened frame.
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From Italy, they visit Germany and France.
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I, their eldest child, was born in Naples and as an infant accompanied them in their rambles.
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I remained for several years their only child.
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Much as they were attached to each other,
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they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love to bestow them upon me.
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My mother's tender caresses and my father's smile of benevolent pleasure while regarding me are my first recollections.
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I was their plaything and their idol, and something better, their child,
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the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven whom to bring up to good
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and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness
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or misery according as they fulfilled their duties towards me.
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With this deep consciousness of what they owed towards the being to
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which they had given life added to the active spirit of tenderness that animated both.
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It may be imagined that while during every hour of my infant life, I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self -control.
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I was so guided by silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me.
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For a long time, I was their only care.
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My mother had much desire to have a daughter, but I continued their single offspring.
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When I was about five years old, while making an excursion beyond the frontiers of Italy,
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they passed a week on the shores of the Lake of Como.
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Their benevolent disposition often made them enter the cottages of the poor.
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This, to my mother, was more than a duty.
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It was a necessity, a passion, remembering what she had suffered and how she had been relieved,
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for her to act in her turn the guardian angel to the afflicted.
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During one of their walks, a poor caught in the foldings of a veil attracted their notice as being singularly disconsolate,
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while the number of half -clothed children gathered about it spoke of penury in its worst shape.
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One day, when my father had gone by himself to Milan, my mother, accompanied by me, visited this abode.
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She found a peasant and his wife, hard -working, bent down by care and labor, distributing a scanty meal to five hungry babes.
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Among these, there was one which attracted my mother far above all the rest.
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She appeared of different stock.
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The four others were dark -eyed, hardy little vagrants.
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This child was thin and very fair.
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Her hair was the brightest living gold, and, despite the poverty of her clothing,
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seemed to be set a crown of distinction on her head.
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Her brow was clear and ample, her blue eyes cloudless, and her lips and the molding of her face
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so expressive of sensibility and sweetness that none could behold her without looking on her as a distinct species,
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a being heaven -sent and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features.
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The peasant woman, perceiving that my mother fixed eyes of wonder and admiration on this lovely girl, eagerly communicated her history.
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She was not her child, but the daughter of a Milanese nobleman.
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Her mother was a German and had died on giving her birth.
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The infant had been placed with these good people to nurse.
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They were better off then.
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They had not been long married, and their eldest child was but just born.
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The father of their charge was one of those
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Italians nursed in the memory of the antique glory of Italy, one among the Schiavi of Norframenti,
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who exerted himself to obtain the liberty of his country.
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He became the victim of its weakness.
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Whether he had died or still lingered in the dungeons of Austria was not known.
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His property was confiscated.
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His child became an orphan and a beggar.
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She continued with her foster parents and bloomed in their rude abode, fairer than a garden rose among dark -leaved brambles.
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when my father returned from milan
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he found playing with me in the hall of our villa
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a child fairer than pictured cherub a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks
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and whose form
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and motions were lighter than the chamois of the hills the
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apparition was soon explained with his permission my mother prevailed on
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her rustic guardians to yield their charge to her They were fond of the sweet orphan.
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Her presence had seemed a blessing to them,
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but it would be unfair to her to keep her in poverty and want when Providence afforded her such powerful protection.
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They consulted their village priest, and the result was that Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents' house,
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my more than sister, the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures.
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Everyone loved Elizabeth.
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The passionate and almost reverential attachment with which all regarded her became, while I shared it, my pride and my delight.
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On the evening previous to her being brought to my home, my mother had said playfully, I have a pretty present for my victor.
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Tomorrow he shall have it.
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And when on the morrow she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally,
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and looked upon Elizabeth as mine, mine to protect, love, and cherish.
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All praises bestowed on her, I received as made to a possession of my own.
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We called each other familiarly by the name of cousin.
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No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me,
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my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only.
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End of chapter one.
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Click the link below to continue on to chapter two.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Chapter 1 Audiobook”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: father, mother, became. This video has 127 sentences and 1826 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:16. The speaker talks at a steady 149 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.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| poverty noun | /ˈpɑːvɚti/ | The quality or state of being poor; lack of money |
| infant noun | /ˈɪn.fənt/ | A very young human being, from birth to somewhere between six months and two years of age after birth, needing almost constant care and attention. |
| affection noun | /əˈfɛk.ʃən/ | The act of affecting or acting upon. |
| abide verb | /əˈbaɪd/ | To endure without yielding; to withstand. |
| orphan noun | /ˈɔɹfən/ | A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died. |
| sufficient | /səˈfɪʃənt/ | An adequate quantity of; enough. |
| relation noun | /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ | The manner in which two things may be associated. |
| guardian noun | /ˈɡɑɹ.din/ | Someone who guards, watches over, or protects. |
| attract verb | /əˈtɹækt/ | To pull toward without touching. |
| decrease verb | /dɪˈkɹiːs/ | Of a quantity, to become smaller. |
| yield verb | /jiːld/ | To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render. |
| occupy verb | /ˈɑkjəpaɪ/ | To fill. |
| misery noun | /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹi/ | Great unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe. |
| attachment noun | /əˈtæt͡ʃmənt/ | The act or process of (physically or figuratively) attaching. |
| distinguish verb | /dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/ | To recognize someone or something as different from others based on its characteristics. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| bring up to verb | To raise (something) so that it reaches a particular standard or minimum requirement. |
| fall through verb | To be unsuccessful, come to nothing; to be cancelled; not to proceed. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, thin /ˈθɪn/, worthy /ˈwɝ.ði/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, tenth /tɛnθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: affection /əˈfɛk.ʃən/, sufficient /səˈfɪʃənt/, relation /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/, distinguish /dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: accompany /əˈkʌm.pə.ni/, reputation /ˌɹɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/, considerable /kənˈsɪdəɹəbl̩/, integrity /ɪnˈtɛɡɹəti/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/
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 poverty, infant, affection.
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.