Shadowing Practice: Green Book VS Oscar Bait - Let Me Explain - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Listen, I got this movie back at TIFF where it was getting a mad amount of buzz.

To be straight with you, I had seen those trailers and I thought they were the corniest thing in the world.

Like if there was a formula to get nominated for an Oscar, they pretty much got every writer who could give them that.

They put them together in one room so they can come out with this product of a movie.

And for some reason, every audience has freaking loved it to the point

that it even won the award while I was at TIFF.

And I'm still here wondering, yo, in 2018, are we still falling for Oscar bait?

Because I freaking love this movie.

Let me explain.

So this movie really does hit every cliche possible.

It's corny.

It's cheesy.

It has those moments where people are talking like it's 2018.

But, you know, just like entertainment in medieval times, it's all about the execution.

The movie's based off of a true story that's written by Tony's son, who was a chauffeur to Don in the South, where he was guiding him to go to the only places that he could, as seen through this green book.

And while I know that some people will scoff at a movie that, you know, kind of says that tensions can be fixed by just going on a road trip, I'm here to tell you that's not what the movie's saying at all.

See, I just saw this as a buddy movie, and that's where it surprised me the most, where these guys go on a road trip, and one of them is the definition of elegance, while the other one is a complete and utter buffoon.

Why are you breaking my balls?

And I loved Viggo in this movie.

I'm not even saying this as a diss, because this dude was freaking hilarious, and that's probably because one of the brothers who directed this movie was one of the guys who made Dumb and Dumber.

Now I know that there's some controversy when it comes to Don's estate

and them saying that the movie doesn't fully represent him and I'll kind of agree with that, I'll be 100% because while he may be the best person in this movie,

there still seems to be some points where they don't fully give him all of the credit

that he deserves but y'all already know Mahershala Ali's got it.

If If there's one person who can take pride in his culture but also set straight all those race-baiting bloggers, it's this dude.

try to connect with these characters and these people as honestly and as deeply as possible.

And so, one spiritual practice,

I don't necessarily feel like it's relevant unless it gives you

a way into having more empathy for these people that you have to advocate for.

So, but I'm proud to own that.

See, at one point I just thought he was playing himself because Mahershala is the definition of elegance.

He's got a better posture than playing from Ed, Edd, and Eddie.

He's never losing his temper.

Man's eating chicken like he's playing the flute

and leave it to Ali to be able to deliver the most manufactured scene of the year, right?

Where he literally just comes out of a car

because he knows this is going to be the bit that they play for his nomination at the Oscars.

He literally asked for them to pull over just so he can give his speech in the rain.

And as soon as he's done with it, he just goes back into the car knowing that he could have set it inside the whole time, but then where's the fun in that?

Obviously not all of it happened the way that the movie portrays, but to me the difference between a film like this and Bohemian Rhapsody, two movies that I personally did enjoy,

is just how they flesh out the characters, you know?

The fact that this movie just focuses on the trip, it makes those two hours go by super quick.

The fact that Mahershala Ali's character is barely like a quarter of what they could have done with them, yet they're still able to be super compelling is really cool,

and the The fact that Tony is such a complete and utter buffoon makes you laugh at everything this guy says.

Not to mention this movie has Linda Cardellini who y'all know is a freak and a geek.

Like I would personally watch anything with her in it, right?

She's the only redeeming factor when it comes to Hakai's sorry self.

I saw two seasons of Bloodline just cause of her and even with that new movie La Llorona that's coming out, you know, I had a bunch of people on Twitter asking me

and tweeting me about the whitewashing in that trailer

which I was astonished to hear so I broke my of not watching trailers, went and saw this one,

and, well, you know, maybe we should just wait for the movie to judge it, you know guys?

What I'm getting at is that a movie can be Oscar bait and still be enjoyable.

You know, this movie is the definition of an audience pleaser, and while Film Twitter sees it as a bad thing, I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I'm not saying it's the best movie of the year, I'm not saying that it's gonna beat out everything else when it's at the Oscars, but what I'm saying is that this movie earns its charm.

It has great performances from Viggo, who literally gained 20 pounds for the role.

Mahershala Ali, you already know, is one of the greats.

And like I mentioned, it has Linda Cardellini.

So, if there was one movie that I would recommend for you to see this winter, it's Widows.

Shout out to all the peeps on Twitter who are always tweeting out our videos.

And again, I'm not saying this is one of the best movies of the year.

There were some scuffles happening because this movie was getting all the awards.

This movie's doing crazy on Rotten Tomatoes, but I'm telling you, after seeing that trailer and thinking that it was supposed to be extra corny, It's still corny, but I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought.

This is definitely the definition of an audience pleaser.

I think it's enjoyable.

I can't see anyone coming out of it hating it, but I can definitely see this being that one movie

that gains a little too much traction at the Oscars and maybe wins an award or two, and then people overly want to hate it because of that.

But that's just my opinion on it.

I'm curious to know your thoughts down below.

What's the other big movie that you're looking forward to seeing?

Let me know down below in the comment section what your favorite Linda movie is out there and don't forget to comment, like, and subscribe, and I'll send you the original recipe.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 70 sentences and 1192 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:38. The speaker talks fast, about 212 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 85% 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

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
trailer noun	/ˈtɹeɪlɚ/	Someone who or something that trails (follows behind); something that is trailing.
bait noun	/beɪt/	Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.
tweet noun	/ˈtwiːt/	The sound of a bird; any short high-pitched sound or whistle.
enjoyable adjective	/ɛnˈd͡ʒɔɪ.ə.bl̩/	Pleasant, capable of giving pleasure.
utter verb	/ˈʌtəɹ/	Sometimes preceded by forth, out, etc.: to produce (a cry, speech, or other sounds) with the voice.
earn verb	/ɝn/	To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.
necessarily adverb	/ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/	Inevitably; of necessity.
curious adjective	/ˈkjʊɹ.i.əs/	Tending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying.
formula noun	/ˈfɔː.mjʊ.lə/	Any mathematical rule expressed symbolically.
deeply adverb	/ˈdi(ː)pli/	To a deep extent or degree; very greatly.
buddy	/ˈbʌdi/	A person far removed from the conversation.
spiritual adjective	/ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/	Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul.
connect verb	/kəˈnɛkt/	To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object.
pound noun	/ˈpaʊ̯nd/	A unit of weight in various measurement systems.
execution noun	/ˌɛk.sɪˈkjuː.ʃən/	The act, manner or style of executing (actions, maneuvers, performances).

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
beat out verb		To sound a rhythm on a percussion instrument such as a drum.
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
come out with verb		To say (something) unexpectedly.
look forward to verb		To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
pull over verb		To come to a stop, and turn off the road (i.e. onto the roadside or hard shoulder).
see through verb		To perceive visually through something transparent.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 23 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: execution /ˌɛk.sɪˈkjuː.ʃən/, tension /ˈtɛnʃən/, flesh /flɛʃ/, nomination /ˌnɑmɪˈneɪʃən/, shout /ʃaʊt/
Long words — get the stress right: necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, execution /ˌɛk.sɪˈkjuː.ʃən/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, controversy /kənˈtɹɒv.ə.si/, nomination /ˌnɑmɪˈneɪʃən/

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 trailer, bait, tweet.

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: Green Book VS Oscar Bait - Let Me Explain - Learn English Speaking with Video

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