Shadowing Practice: get ready with me for a DATE... - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hi guys, it's Syd and welcome back.

Wait, how do I open this?

It's not what it looks like.

This is alcohol -free sparkling rose.

This is my first time trying this actually It's from 90 plus sellers.

If you're watching this at home, you should go get your own drink of choice tea, whatever it is and we can get ready together. So cheers!

I'm so excited for this video.

I was about to get ready for my date.

I was honestly thinking to myself, I wish I had some of my friends to get ready with me.

Like, it's just always more fun.

And then it dawned on me, why don't I just film myself getting ready?

And that's why we're here.

I'm gonna do some skincare to start off, and then we're gonna do our makeup together, pick out an outfit, hair, really just like the full, the full thing.

I'm going on a date tonight with my boyfriend.

currently February 11th at 7 p .m.

We're going to celebrate Valentine's Day early because he'll be out of town on Valentine's Day.

I don't really know anything except we're going to the restaurant that we actually had our first date at, which I'm really excited.

I thought that was really cute.

I went on my Instagram stories and I asked you guys to ask me questions as I got ready.

I wanted to do that espresso makeup.

It's really just like a name for a bronzed neutral look.

I love my new of me redecorating my room.

I had so much fun.

There's a little drama in the comments.

I did get a lot of people telling me that my room needs to have less mirrors.

And I actually think you guys are right.

Like that's the thing.

Like you guys are usually right about these things.

I'm not really the best interior decorator.

It's something that I'm working on.

So you guys did influence me.

And I think I'm going to take this one out.

You guys should just decorate my room for me to be Thank you.

I would say truly living in New York City is the best it's ever been for me right now.

Moving here at first was, I would say, pretty challenging just because I knew, not even exaggerating, I knew zero people moving here.

There is a huge transition period.

You know, you can't expect to make all of your best friends within three months of moving to a new city.

And I think I was just a little bit discouraged and lonely.

At that point, I was still so new.

And I knew deep down that I did want to give it a chance.

Unless I was absolutely miserable, I wanted to give it at least a year.

And after a year, if I still didn't like it, I knew that I would move out at that point.

So I'm really grateful that I stayed.

And I'm really happy now that I have some really good friends.

And I just feel a lot more settled in.

Which did take, I would say, a good year.

Where is your dream place to live?

I don't know.

I go back and forth about this.

That question kind of gives me a lot of anxiety.

Because I truthfully just don't know where I want to be.

I guess maybe Minnesota, maybe Southern California.

I could see myself in like Orange County just because I love the weather there.

I have some good friends down there, but then a part of me really misses my family in Minnesota.

So yeah, I really don't know.

What are you doing for Valentine's day this year?

That's so funny because I'm filming this video.

And for Valentine's day, I'm going on a date with my boyfriend.

Are you still Christian?

Yes, 100%, I still am.

I'm trying to find new churches to try out.

Actually, if you guys have any recommendations in Manhattan, definitely let me know.

My faith has always been really important to me and I'm

so grateful to have my faith

and my own relationship with god i would say like the

toughest times in my life i don't think i could have gotten through them without

that is starting a business hard like you imagined for those

of you who don't know i have a jewelry brand

that i started about three months ago now it's been

so much fun it's truly like my dream i love jewelry

it is definitely a ton a ton of work i think

that's why people always say it's important to be passionate about the brand you're starting

to get through how much work it is.

You just have to be really driven, I think, and like have a reason and a genuine motivation behind it.

It's been really hard, but I wouldn't say it's been like not fun.

It's been a lot of work, but simultaneously so fun.

I just love working on it.

I would say the hardest part for me is just balancing that with social media.

I would never want my social media to like take a backseat.

I'm not the best with managing my time in that way, like splitting my priorities.

I'm usually best if I just like focus on one thing.

will you ever do your ophelia pop -up shop and possibly meet

and greet i would love to pop up it's definitely a goal

that i have for ophelia definitely that is something

that is high on my radar you have a new boyfriend now

so happy for you sid

and i hope you're doing well this honestly was just like such a sweet message

so i just wanted to say thank you it just felt

so genuine and sweet i truly am doing really well i'm so happy although i don't talk much about my relationship

of being in a relationship and my experiences without like sharing personal details.

I don't know.

I'm still like navigating that.

Like how to do that properly.

I don't know.

What they say is true.

Like it always comes when you least expect it.

And to be honest, like a relationship was the last thing I was expecting for myself.

At least like at this time.

It's so funny because it's what they always say.

100

It is really true.

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I think.

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Ways to feel more confident.

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Love ya.

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The one way to is really just doing things that are outside your comfort zone.

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There's just something empowering about doing something that you think you can't do or something that you're really afraid to do.

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And then after the fact, you feel such like an inner type of confidence.

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It kind of just pushes you to be better and like do things out of your comfort zone.

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I'm not saying like do something irrational or something reckless.

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That's not what I mean.

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For me, for example, I really wanted to move to New York.

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But the one thing I was scared about was moving there

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and just like not knowing anyone and starting completely over New york is also just such an overwhelming city, you know, it's definitely like a big jump But if

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that was the only reason like the only thing holding me back I didn't want

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that to be the reason I didn't try it out.

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So I moved here I definitely went through some uncomfortable times as I talked about

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and now like fast forward a year and a half I'm

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so happy that I did and it really gave me more confidence

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so extreme like move to a big city to give

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that confidence to yourself even something small like

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if it's like public speaking maybe you're afraid of practicing even

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if it's in front of like five people signing yourself up for a class it can be super small things

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and those i would say just are the things

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that have made me the most confident how tall are you i'm five foot three sometimes five foot four

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but usually it's five foot three fave matcha spot in new york city i really like strawberry puree is really good.

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Favorite coffee.

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Okay, I wanted to answer this because I have been switching up my order recently.

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I always get an iced vanilla latte.

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Usually I get it with oat milk, but recently I've been getting skim milk, which I used to never do, but I really like it.

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Is that like controversial to say?

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Maybe I started drinking the milk in my smoothies.

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I think that's what did it and I just been liking it a lot better Also, this is the best lip liner.

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This is the makeup forever liner in the shade wherever walnut It's so good.

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Like I wear this all the time

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and then I always blot my lips after you can also use this like anywhere on your face

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So i'm gonna do a little bit of this as eyeliner I got some questions asking about ophelia

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and why I decided to name my jewelry brand ophelia in middle school when we read Shakespeare.

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I just remember reading that name and loving it and I was probably about 14.

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I just love it.

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I just thought it was so feminine and beautiful

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and I also love Shakespeare and her story was just something I just always remembered.

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What's the one thing you hate about being an influencer?

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I've been thinking about this a lot recently actually.

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There's so much I like but there's one thing in particular

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that I just feel not like insecure about but kind of

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that i'm coming off really self -centered i hope

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that this doesn't offend anyone i really like this is not

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about anybody except for me it's just like my relationship

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that i have to my job i obviously love making videos i've been making them since i was like 14

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but i feel like i know you guys

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and i feel like i truly have like a relationship with you guys

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and i so badly wish that i could just sit down with each of you

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and just like talk i just never want to come off like self -centered photos of myself, I post videos on YouTube,

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and I am like my brand in a way.

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The older I get, I really like to share

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so many different elements of my life that I'm like learning and discovering that aren't just like strictly about me.

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Like new hobbies or challenges in your 20s, things that are just relatable to everybody.

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I don't know, I just, I'm conscious to not come off like self -absorbed because sometimes I just feel like I'm talking about myself the whole time, but it's also just like kind of, that's like I guess what vlogging is.

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I don't know, you guys.

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I don't know if this makes sense and I hope no one gets offended

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and that actually kind of leads me to How much I love

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when you guys come up to me like whenever i'm in public

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and one of you guys like says hi I usually try to just like have a conversation

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because meeting you guys in person is like my favorite thing ever I feel like I can be more personable that way.

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What's your go -to activity to de -stress to be honest like

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so honest Getting off social media is number one and secondly, I usually just call my mom just chat.

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I don't know.

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My mom is like my best friend.

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She's very like de -stressing to me.

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I just love chatting with her.

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If not that, I would say like going on a walk, calling like one of my best friends or listening to music.

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Really just anything but being on social media is the main thing that helps me.

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I love this lip oil I got.

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It's from Charlotte Tilbury and I got it in their like advent calendar.

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It's so nice.

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I think we've answered enough questions for now.

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I am going Per usual, I'm running a little late.

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Just a titch.

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Also, people seem to not know what titch means.

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It must be a Minnesota thing.

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What do I wear?

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It is really, really cold, so probably something I should keep in mind.

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Pink or red would be really fun.

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I have this pink sweater with bows on it.

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This is from Petal and Pop.

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It's so beautiful.

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I love this sweater.

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I have this sweater, which is nice.

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It's this nice cream sweater from the brand Skys Are Blue.

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I get a this.

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This could be an option.

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Ooh, I have this red sweater that I love.

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It's this button -down burgundy sweater.

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I get so many questions about this whenever I wear it.

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And it's from White Fox.

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Maybe if I wear like a white top under.

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This is really cute.

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I love this top.

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I got this from Garage and it's pink, but there's just no way.

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Like, why am I even thinking about this?

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Way too cold.

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These are the three sweater options I'm working with.

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I should probably try them on.

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This is option number one.

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I love the sweater.

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This is kind of like my safe sweater though.

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I wear it probably too much.

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It's so nice.

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Like, I love this sweater.

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Do I really want to wear this again?

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No, I can't be predictable.

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I can't be predictable these days.

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I need to catch them off guard.

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I love this sweater.

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It's so cute, you guys.

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This sweater.

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I just feel just so feminine and pretty.

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It, like, makes me happy wearing this.

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The color I thought initially would, like, wash me out a little bit, but it's actually, like, the perfect pink.

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This is a contender.

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I'm gonna be dilly -dallying.

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Like I actually have no time.

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This is the last option.

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I don't know if I would wear it.

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Probably wear it with just these two buttons.

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I honestly thought I would choose this one, like just first glance.

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But now that I've tried them on, I don't know.

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It'd almost be a disservice to not wear this tonight.

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Okay!

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I love this sweater.

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So I think I'm just scrapping the whole sweater.

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I actually really reconsidered this.

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I would like to wear a dress tonight So I'm gonna put this one on.

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It's this black long sleeve dress.

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So let's try this.

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I'm stressed out.

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Um, yes, this is it for sure.

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This is way better.

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I don't know Honestly guys, what was I thinking with the sweaters?

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This is much better.

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The outfit part is like this is getting to be stressful.

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Oh Mostly because I'm late, but this dress is like perfect.

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It's from Abercrombie and I like the long sleeves

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and like the high neck and it cinches I don't know if you guys can see on the waist right here.

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So it's just so flattering.

245

I'm gonna get some shoe options And I should probably put tights on.

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I feel like my mom's gonna watch this

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and be like Sydney Why did you ever think you should wear that first outfit?

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Okay, I'm putting my tights on.

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This is never cute The tights are nice because I self tan

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and I did not self tan my legs because I was lazy

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shoes in my mind I really only have one option for my shoes

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which are these boots because they're so beautiful

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and they're just gonna go perfectly with this I think they're these Dolce Vita knee -high boots

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much much better what was I thinking guys like I'm actually scared

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that I was thinking I should wear a sweater okay

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so this is the fit in my mirror I think this came together really well

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and I think it looks really nice as far as the purse goes these are my two best options

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so I have this tiny black purse and this is from white fox

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or I have this large red one I have other options but these are just like my favorites

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I know it's gonna seem boring, but I think I'm gonna just do this simple black purse.

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And for hair, well, we're running out of time.

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Hair is gonna be limited for options.

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I kind of want to put my hair up just because it's such a high neck.

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I think putting my hair up in like a claw clip updo could be pretty.

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What do you guys think?

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Do we like, guys?

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I think I actually like it.

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My hair is laying perfectly.

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Usually that doesn't happen the first try.

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If I had more time, I probably would throw a curl in.

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Should I throw a curl in?

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I'm gonna try to throw a curl in really quickly.

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It's like this front piece that I have.

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Oh my god.

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Okay, I'm late.

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I feel bad.

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My hair needs to look good, you guys.

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I can't go with bad hair.

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This is the best wand ever like $20 on Amazon.

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Much, much better.

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Okay guys, I'm running out the door.

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Sorry, this is on my iPhone now, but I decided to put in these gold hoops that I have.

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I got them like three years ago.

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I don't even remember where they're from, but I'm leaving.

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I have my little coat on 'cause it's obviously freezing.

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This place is like two seconds away from my apartment and it's snowing, which I didn't think it would stay snowing.

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There goes my hair. do Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “get ready with me for a DATE..”. This video has 287 sentences and 2943 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:38. The speaker talks fast, about 188 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
sweater noun	/ˈswɛtɚ/	A knitted jacket or jersey, usually of thick wool, worn by athletes before or after exercise.
curl noun	/kɜɹl/	A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet.
jewellery noun	/ˈd͡ʒʊ-/	Collectively, personal ornamentation such as rings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets, made of precious metals and sometimes set with gemstones.
purse noun	/pɚs/	A small bag for carrying money.
outfit noun	/ˈaʊtfɪt/	A set of clothing (with accessories).
shoe noun	/ˈʃu/	A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of…
offend verb	/əˈfɛnd/	To hurt the feelings of; to displease; to make angry; to insult.
liner noun	/ˈlaɪnɚ/	A large passenger-carrying ship, especially one on a regular route; an ocean liner.
predictable adjective	/pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/	Able to be predicted.
feminine adjective	/ˈfɛmɪnɪn/	Of or pertaining to the female gender.
sleeve noun	/sliv/	The part of a garment that covers the arm.
scare verb	/skɛɚ/	To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
boot noun	/but/	A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.
burgundy noun	/ˈbɝ.ɡən.di/	A dark red colour tinged with purple, like that of Burgundy (red) wine.
decorate verb	/ˈdɛkəɹeɪt/	To furnish with decorations.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come off verb		To become detached.
get through verb	/ɡɛt ˈθɹu/	To overcome; to endure.
pop up verb		To come up with a "pop" sound.
come together verb	/ˈkʌm tʊˈɡɛðɚ/	To assemble; to congregate; to combine.
come up to verb		To approach.
get off verb		To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it.
go back verb		To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Wait, how do I open this?
Where is your dream place to live?
What's the one thing you hate about being an influencer?
Do I really want to wear this again?
What do you guys think?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	have been switching · I've been getting · I've been thinking
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If not that, I would say
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has always been · have made · we've answered
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be really driven · be limited

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 106 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: smoothie /ˈsmuːði/, truthfully /ˈtɹuːθ.fəl.i/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shoe /ˈʃu/, irrational /ɪˈɹæʃ.(ə.)nəl/, recommendation /ˌɹɛkəmɛnˈdeɪʃən/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, shade /ʃeɪd/
Long words — get the stress right: predictable /pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/, decorator /ˈdɛkəˌɹeɪtɚ/, exaggerate /ɛɡˈzæd͡ʒ.ə.ɹeɪt/, influencer /ˈɪnflu.ənsə(ɹ)/, personable /ˈpɜɹs(ə)nəb(ə)l/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like sweater, curl, jewellery.

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: get ready with me for a DATE... - 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?