Shadowing Practice: Girlfriend Abusing Our Kids? | Wayback Wilkos - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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It might be abuse, but it ain't child abuse.
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It ain't child abuse.
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Wait, wait, wait.
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It's not something that social services don't run and pull them out of the house.
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My guest is Amanda.
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Amanda, why are you here?
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Steve, I'm here today because my husband's girlfriend is abusing my kids.
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Your husband's girlfriend.
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Are you still married?
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Legally, yes.
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Legally, yes.
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And how long have you been separated from your husband?
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Um, since 2007.
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Well, so you've been separated for a long time time yes
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so you guys were married you had how many kids to we have a 13 year old
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and a 10 year old 13 year old
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and 10 year old how long were you married for ten
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and a half years
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and a half year very long time did you leave him
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I left him he did he keep the daughters my girls asked me
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if they could stay with their dad that's where their friends were that's where they were born
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so I chose to allow him to stay there I wanted
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I always wanted to bring them back I didn't never wanted them to stay there forever
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so you eventually thought that you get settled and I would bring her back.
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Okay.
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So now you know your husband's got a girlfriend?
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Yes.
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And how do you feel about her?
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I can't stand her.
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If I could, honestly Steve, I hate to say it, but if I could smash her face in, I really would.
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But that's not gonna get my kids safe.
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Yeah, and it's not gonna be good for you either.
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Right.
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And so what don't you like about this girl?
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She abuses my kids.
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My kids come over, when they do come over, they tell me on a regular basis that she tells them she hates them, she smacks them in their mouth.
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The youngest one, my 10-year-old, told me that Brandy went as far as punching my 13-year-old in her mouth.
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I'll bleed.
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This girlfriend's punching your 13-year-old in the face?
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Yes, this is what I'm being told, yes.
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And when your kids are telling you, hey, dad's girlfriend's punching me in the face, what are you doing?
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I'm getting pissed
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and I'm telling her I'm tell I tell my kids I'm gonna I'm calling your dad
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So you call the dead and what do you say what the hell is going on?
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Why do I why is your kids telling me this
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and he says they're lying or if it is if or she didn't do it like that They're exaggerating it.
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And what do you say?
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I don't care.
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They're 13 and 10 There shouldn't be any physical abuse period.
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Well, don't you get in a car a plane or a train or an automobile
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And maybe I didn't handle it the way I should have, but that's why I'm here today.
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Okay, you're here today.
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Okay, so, you know, next time anybody says they're doing something bad to your children, you dropped everything, and you go.
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This is it.
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I'm not giving him or her another chance.
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How long have you been gone from your daughter's life?
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I was gone two years.
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Two years?
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Right.
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Did you see him in that two years?
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Twice.
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Twice?
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Three times, maybe three times.
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You know, you need to start keep going higher for me to be happy about that.
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I was in an abusive relationship.
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I was 500 miles away from my house.
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What's up?
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I ended up into an abusive relationship to the point where I was getting eye saccharges.
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I mean, it was very abusive.
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So he kept me from my family, he kept me from my friends.
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What specifically do your girls say that your husband's girlfriend is doing to them?
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For one instance was that she punched her in her mouth and made her mouth bleed.
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She smacks them inside their head, smacks him across the face, hits him in the arms.
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If this is going on, then we need to bring this young woman out.
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We're gonna your husband's 21-year-old girlfriend, Brandi.
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And now, I can't believe, I I can't touch her How dare you?
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Seriously, how dare you?
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Put your hands on my kids They might touch your kids Then why would they tell me they didn't?
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You did I don't blame you, they say that you're lying Constantly?
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They say you're lying
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Every time they come over they cry and cry
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because they don't want to go home They say that you make
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that up every time I bring it up to them Why would I make it up?
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That's what they tell me And you know what?
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The lie detector test results, let's show it.
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Okay, I guess I will.
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Come over here.
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So, you're with her husband now.
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Yes.
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You've been dating for how long?
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For a little over a year now.
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A little over a year now.
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So, she's saying, she's the mother of these children, she's saying you're punching them in the face, that you're slapping them, that you're calling them morons, stupid.
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You've never done any of it?
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No!
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Do you ever put your hands on the kids?
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If they get up in my face, like, there has been times, And I did admit on the lie detector
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that your 13 year old got in my face talking to
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me screaming It doesn't give you a right to put your hands on her.
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I did not punch her.
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I tapped her on the mouth.
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Doesn't matter.
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Tapped her, punched her, smacked her, flicked her.
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She's not your kid.
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You tapped her in the mouth.
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I wouldn't touch your kids.
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What do you mean by tapping somebody in the mouth?
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I tapped.
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I did.
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You want to this?
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Hold on.
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Hold on.
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Did you go like this?
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No, I just tapped her.
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I did not.
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Steve, can I tap her in the mouth?
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No, no, no. Please?
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Did you hit the other child?
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The 10-year-old?
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Yeah.
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I have.
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OK, see, it's- But I don't hit them hard enough, like, leaving marks, nothing like that.
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Oh, you restrain yourself.
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You use a certain amount of force.
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No, it's not like that.
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You shouldn't be putting your hands on it, because they're not your kids.
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Why are you putting your hands on them?
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You're 21 years old you're very young yourself.
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You shouldn't be putting your hands on children.
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Children that aren't yours.
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You're not married.
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You're not in a committed relationship.
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He's still married to this woman.
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These kids aren't yours.
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Do you, you know, you don't have a lot of experience being a parent, do you?
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I have three children.
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You have three children.
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All right, let's bring out your boyfriend, your husband, James.
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Who dare you call toilet trash?
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Who dare you call toilet trash?
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Who dare you call toilet trash?
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Who dare you call toilet trash?
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How are you gonna let a 21-year-old girl put her hands on your kids?
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She has never hit the girls down hard.
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So your kids are lying to me?
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Yes, just like the way the kids say it before.
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Well, you know what?
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We're gonna find out today.
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We're gonna find out today who's lying and who wasn't.
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Just like the way the kids always say that you tell them to get in the middle of the...
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Well, don't worry, because we're going to know right today the truth.
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Get you and your dad and Brady split up.
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Stop, stop.
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No matter what's being said, she's admitted that she physically disciplines your children.
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Yes.
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You're okay with that?
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I don't see where it's wrong for her to tap the kids in the mouth if they're back talking or whatever.
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They're too old for that kind of discipline.
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She cannot tell me that her boyfriend would not do that.
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James, James, I don't give a butter boyfriend right now.
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It doesn't matter.
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This is the one doing it.
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This one.
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This one, I gave permission to.
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And she has never hit them to the point where they bled or had fat lances or nothing like that.
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I mean, I'm defending your kids.
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Isn't that your job?
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Yes!
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I mean, I get confused sometimes.
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They're your kids, and I'm saying, don't let the girlfriend hit your kids.
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And you're like, well, I gave them permission.
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I will never give anybody, until my dying breath, permission to hit my kids.
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Well, but I'm doing it as a need to, as a need to.
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The problem I have with is
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that you're letting a 21-year-old girl that's only a few years older than your daughter discipline her.
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And we have talked about that.
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And lately, the discipline is until I hear her.
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If they're bad or if they get lippy or whatever, they sit in the corner until I show up.
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That is their punishment now.
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Oh, so you stopped the physical discipline.
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I stepped in.
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She does not hit them no more.
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She now puts them on a time.
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And what made you stop that?
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I stopped it because I didn't know how far it was going to go, because my 13-year-old...
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So you did have a problem with it.
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My 13-year-old...
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So you did have a problem with it.
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My 13-year-old has a master's like her mother and does not know when to shut up until she gets knocked down.
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So you had a problem with it.
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That is a wrong way.
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Wait.
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We're talking about a 13-year-old and a 10-year-old here.
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Are they acting so crazy James?
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No, the 13, the 10 year old acts good.
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We don't have a problem with her.
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Well then why is she tapping that one in the mouth?
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She's not.
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She's saying she did.
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She says she doesn't bruise a little.
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There's many times where I do where she gets in my face just like, just like 13 year old.
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And I told you that.
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She has never physically abused him the way Mandy says.
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You're tapping a 10 year old in the mouth, what do you call it?
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Abuse.
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It might be abuse, but it ain't.. it ain't child abuse.
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It's not something that shows the service if you don't run and pull them out of the house.
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Isn't it a shame, a damn shame, that I have to argue with this knucklehead about protecting his own damn children?
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Yeah!
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Amanda took a lie detector test before the show you were asked.
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Are you fabricating that Brandy's abusing your daughters?
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You answered no. Have your daughters ever told you that Brandy abuses them?
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You said yes.
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Do you want to be back with James?
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You answered no. The results of Amanda's lie detector test is that, Amanda, you told the truth.
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Thank you.
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Not that you really believe.
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That's your kids.
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That's all your kids.
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Now you know I wasn't lying.
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That's everything your damn kids told me.
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That's not me making jealous of your little girlfriend.
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I'm not making it up because I'm gonna be with you.
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I did it because your girls told me.
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That's why when they come back to me and tell me in front of mom and everything, mom tells us to go over there and cause problems just to get you guys a split up.
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Why would they...
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Why are they not even smart enough to make that?
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She passed the test that she's not making it up.
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This...
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Wouldn't your first reaction be, Maybe, oh man, maybe she is telling the truth.
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The only reason why maybe you're not opening your eyes to it is because maybe you know it already.
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Maybe, maybe I'm a 35 year old guy.
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You'll accept anything from her because you got a 21 year old girlfriend.
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And you'll put up with anything.
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You were asked, have you ever told James' daughters that you hate them?
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You answered no. Have you ever drank liquor and told James his daughters drank it?
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You answered no. And the results for those questions are that you told the truth.
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Now!
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She already admitted to hitting him. So I'm glad.
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Steve, I'm glad she passed.
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I'm glad she passed.
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Hold on.
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Just one more question.
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Oh!
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Brandy, you were asked, have you ever hit James' daughters with excessive force?
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You answered no. And the results for that question is that you did not tell the truth.
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Oh!
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Oh my god!
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You stupid bitch!
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I swear to god!
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Don't let me get you outside the studio, I swear to god!
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Okay, we got it at home.
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I swear to god!
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I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna put excessive force on you just like you did to them!
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Okay.
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Get it up!
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Let me get back to a house.
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What'd you do in your room?
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I'm not.
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I'll leave.
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I'm not.
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I'm not.
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I'm not.
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I'm not.
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I'm not.
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I swear to god!
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You stupid bastard.
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So, I mean, it's all right.
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I'll leave.
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That's it.
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You just said you're done with him?
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If he's sitting there, he's questioning me, well, when do you beat on them?
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When do you beat?
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I don't beat on them.
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You do!
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The proof is right there!
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The truth of it is, she's too young to be in this situation.
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She's 21 years old.
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She's got three kids of her own.
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Now you throw in the mix almost basically two teenagers.
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That's got to be tough.
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It's not fair to her.
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She's probably made some mistakes, right, with his daughters?
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I don't understand why not I have used excessive force being completely honest with you.
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Well, when you hit somebody in the mouth, guess what?
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That's excessive force.
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You need to start making better decisions.
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Teenagers are gonna be teenagers.
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Yeah.
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Right, because you know what?
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The oldest one is a teenager and she has ADHD.
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And you know what?
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They all do.
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I still don't give her a right to put her hands on them.
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Shut your face!
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Shut your face!
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Quit the sending little hoochie!
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He is talking to us!
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Keep your mouth out of it!
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I've got what I needed.
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I'm done.
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Thank you very much.
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Thank you for having me on the show.
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Thank you.
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Please, from father to father, I'm asking you.
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You have to give this young woman guidance, okay?
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And you can never be okay with somebody putting their hands on your kids.
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Nobody.
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Promise me that.
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If the two of you love each other, I hope it works out.
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I hope everything works out for you.
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You probably need to take parenting classes.
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And if you want to do it, we'll provide parenting classes for you, okay?
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Don't put...
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Tell me, tell me that you're not going to put your hands on his kids anymore.
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I won't put my hands on them anymore.
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And you're not going to tolerate it anymore?
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No. Never again?
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Girlfriend Abusing Our Kids?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: kid, mouth, hands. This video has 319 sentences and 2497 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:58. The speaker talks at a natural 179 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow. 67 of its 319 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| punch noun | /pʌnt͡ʃ/ | A hit or strike with one's fist. |
| dare verb | /dɛ(ə)ɹ/ | To have enough courage (to do something). |
| discipline noun | /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ | A controlled behaviour; self-control. |
| smack verb | /smæk/ | To slap or hit someone. |
| detector noun | /dɪˈtɛktə(ɹ)/ | A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon, and that optionally sounds an alarm or triggers a warning. |
| teenager noun | /ˈtiːnˌeɪ̯d͡ʒə/ | A person between thirteen and nineteen years old (inclusive). |
| excessive adjective | /ɪkˈsɛsɪv/ | Exceeding the usual bounds of something; too much (of amount); extravagant; immoderate. |
| toilet verb | /ˈtɔɪ.lət/ | To assist another (a child, etc.) in using a toilet. |
| bleed verb | /ˈbliːd/ | To shed blood through an injured blood vessel. |
| abusive adjective | /əˈbju.sɪv/ | Prone to treat someone badly by coarse, insulting words or other maltreatment; vituperative; reproachful; scurrilous. |
| legally adverb | /ˈliːɡəli/ | As permitted by law; not contrary to law. |
| physically adverb | /ˈfɪz.ɪ.kli/ | In a physical manner. |
| bruise noun | /bɹuz/ | A purplish mark on the skin due to leakage of blood from capillaries under the surface that have been damaged by a blow. |
| exaggerate verb | /ɛɡˈzæd͡ʒ.ə.ɹeɪt/ | To overstate, to describe more than the fact. |
| fabricate verb | /ˈfæb.ɹɪ.keɪt/ | To form into a whole by uniting its parts; to construct; to build. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come over verb | To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| split up verb | Cease to be together, break apart from the group. |
| bring out verb | To elicit, evoke, or emphasize (a particular quality). |
| get back to verb | Return to (an activity) |
| go over verb | To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze. |
| knock down verb | To hit or knock (something or someone), intentionally or accidentally, so that it falls. |
| put up with verb | To endure, tolerate, suffer through, or allow, especially something annoying. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Amanda, why are you here?
- You've been dating for how long?
- You've never done any of it?
- What'd you do in your room?
- You just said you're done with him?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if you want to do it, we'll provide |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | been separated · you've been separated · were born |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've been separated · You've never done · has been |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | shouldn't be · should have |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 130 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: exaggerate /ɛɡˈzæd͡ʒ.ə.ɹeɪt/, automobile /ˈɔː.tə.məˌbil/
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 punch, dare, discipline.
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.