Shadowing Practice: I ate ONLY Chinese KFC breakfast for a week... - Learn English Speaking with Video
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would you believe me if I told you all these breakfast you see me eating here I actually bought from KFC hey join me in today's video where I'm eating my way through China's KFC breakfast menu for an entire week
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including a congee battle for the ages as I put the world's biggest fast food chains head to head in a blind taste test to determine who does it's congee and you tiao best can you ouch my mouth
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stay tuned hello and welcome to another Chinese food adventure and today is gonna be a little bit different let me give you a bit of a back story it was a few days ago that I was making a video about KFC's late night menu
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it's a menu that only exist after eight PM even including one item, ji jia, or chicken carcass we which is a quintessential late night snack at least here in the northeast of China that you can slowly pick apart in front of the TV
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and yeah needless to say I was very impressed to see it on a KFC menu and it was when filming that that I also saw that there's a very localized breakfast menu and I was very intrigued to try it
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and I thought maybe you'd like to come on this journey with me we're gonna take it a day at a time about to go inside and get my first ever Chinese KFC breakfast and there's a dish that I saw in the menu that I think is gonna be really
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really intriguing 你好，这个包子还有吗？ 没有了 没有了？ - 嗯 明天会有吗？ 有，你得起早 I'll go for that tomorrow but I'm also really excited because a new menu item
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that was not here a few days ago when I was checking is KFC re gan mian if you're not familiar with re gan mian you can check out some of my Wuhan videos I've done before it's a very typical breakfast there
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it's basically this mix of sesame sauce soy sauce vinegar little bit of pickled vegetables it's like the ultimate Wuhan breakfast food so that's what I'm gonna get today we've got noodles that do look similar to the typical kind of noodles
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you find in Wuhan when it comes to re gan mian but something you don't typically see on top of a re gan mian is chicken but I guess this is a KFC it's a part of the brand okay check that out quite saucy
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but hugely important when it comes to the re gan mian is you've got to mix all those sauces at the bottom together with the noodles really well take my friend Iris Clarence from Wuhan for example she spends up to 5 minutes mixing her noodles
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before she's satisfied with the flavor distribution so for the sake of authenticity let's try do this the Wuhan way I mean this is just such a weird moment I'm sitting here in northeast China in a KFC eating Wuhan's classic breakfast dish
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but if China has taught me anything it's to expect the unexpected there's a battle going on in my head because on one side my brain is like Yum that's actually a pretty decent re gan mian
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but the other side is like you're betraying Wuhan how can you even say that this is coming from a KFC but the the classic flavours are there you've got that sesame undertone
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you've got that saltiness it even came with a bag of chili oil so I added that too in Wuhan they are famous for being able to walk and eat and do a billion other things at the same time so you know what
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I'm just completing the Wuhan experience feel like our KFC breakfast adventure is off to a strong start this is something I'd actively order again
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hello and welcome to day 2 of eating the KFC breakfast menu and since it seems you have to get up early to get your hands on this xiao long bao seems like they're really in demand I thought the most user friendly
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solution would be just to order from home very excited you can see them there how cool is that but since it's 13 RMB for a serve I'm still a little bit under the delivery limit
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so I was actually just perusing the menu and I saw this which is very intriguing it's called Cloud Toast so I'm gonna add that as well should take about 20 minutes
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which is a perfect amount of time to fit in a German lesson with my anytime anywhere language learning buddy Rosetta Stone if you've watched my channel for a while you'll know I've been using this app for years literally four years yes um
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and I've stuck with it for a reason Rosetta Stone it uses a dynamic immersion method to basically mimic how you learn language as a child through context visuals repetition so phrases actually stick
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but it's not just about memorizing words for example I recently spent over a month with my German in laws traveling and I'm really proud to say that the entire time we only spoke German 这就是大名鼎鼎的紫禁城啦
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只有净了身的男人 能在紫禁城里工作 这就是北京的中轴线了 and what was even cooler is I wasn't constantly translating from German to English
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English to German in my head the words just came naturally it felt like I even started thinking in German which is exactly what Rosetta Stone is designed to help with another thing I love about the app is you're learning practical
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real world language that you're actually gonna wanna use and you get to practice alongside native speakers with Rosetta Stone's true accent technology Bitte Setzen Sie Sich Bitte Setzen Sie sich to give you instant feedback on your pronunciation
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so whether you've got a trip coming up or you've always just wanted to learn a new language you can check out the link in my description or you can scan the QR code on screen right now for an exclusive Rosetta Stone discount anyway I think my items have just arrived
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finally got my hands on the KFC Xiao Long Bao but how about we get this started with the very intriguing looking Cloud toast okay first impression it's reminding me a bit of a Hong Kong style
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French toast smells buttery it's basically a slice of really fluffy toast with a thick smear of peanut butter and then melted cheese on top it's somehow good and weird at the same time
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I think that the cheesiness on top is just putting me off a bit you've got this layer of cheese and then you've got the peanut butter on the bottom and then the bread is quite nice it's quite fluffy and all I can think about doing
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is getting from my fridge a very special item that I collected when I was in Singapore recently and I use a lot it's my kaya jam so first things first just gonna grill that up a bit
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get a nice crispy and hot then go in with a thick layer of that kaya jam now it's making more sense this is now a breakfast I would come back to the kaya jam just adds a lovely sweetness to it
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making the cheesiness feel a bit more salty and um goes so well with peanut butter but now the moment I've been waiting for and in some ways the reason I wanted to make this video in the first place KFC Xiao Long Bao oh
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they smell good how will it taste hmm okay KFC okay before I get into how it tastes I just want to address the elephant in the room
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which is for some people watching this video they may be looking at this being like that's not a xiao long bao where's the soup it doesn't look like anything like the xiao long bao I had in Shanghai that one time well to answer your question
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Xiao long bao don't just refer to soup dumplings and to properly introduce what this actually is I wanna take you to a breakfast spot I actually do go all the time so one of the classic breakfast options you'll find all across China
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no matter where you are are these Hangzhou style Xiao long bao you can see the sign here Hangzhou Xiao Long Bao so Xiao long bao if we break down the elements of this word it means small steamer basket bao
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or like little dumplingy baos and that's exactly what this is so let's go in and get some Hangzhou style Xiao Long Bao and good timing too because I've caught him right in the middle of making a fresh batch and as you can see the filling he uses
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it isn't just plain mince it's really juicy and saucy so once it gets wrapped inside the softer proof dough and steamed up you actually see some of that rich sauce soaking slightly through the skin there
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as you can see they look very similar to the ones we have just ordered from KFC they're one of my favourite things to eat for breakfast at the moment because it's just such a perfect serving size a small little basket
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they're very satisfying just super savory and salty it really fills the hole and you've got like that bao fluffiness and you can see this one here is quite a similar concept less of a dumpling skin
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and more of like a bao zi skin the meat and the sauce inside it's really flavorful very fragrant got some onion in there um garlic ginger and it's something that you can just eat on its own
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I mean another another win so I've just finished my Xiao long bao and I'm just walking around the Changchun city centre when I came across this breakfast stall here
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selling shaobing and I thought I'd get one because they actually do offer a shao bing at KFC so I thought let's do it the other way around instead of trying the KFC first and then the actual version let's try the actual version and then the KFC one
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a question that some of you might have is what exactly is a shao bing it's hard to define a shao bing because even within the city of Changchun I've probably tried five or six different varieties of xiaobing
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let alone within China itself it's something that changes a lot from region to region but at its essence it's like a baked cake like a wheat it's made from wheat it's usually very layered
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and look at I mean look at this layer just flaking off here this shao bing here is the kind you wanna pair with something it doesn't have as much flavour on its own but just for the sake of showing the variety in the shao bing scene I wanted to show you a different kind of shao bing
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I like getting here in Changchun which couldn't be more different this one's actually sweet and there's um sesame inside and it's flaky and crusty on the outside
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and I bring everyone who visits me to Changchun here
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this is this is Harry we started learning Chinese together 12 years ago at UNSW and we studied together at Fudan and now he's visiting me in Changchun how is it amazing delicious
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very good so yeah both Shao Bing both deliciously layered but otherwise completely different so let's see what KFC's Shao Bing is gonna be like and first impressions is it looks really good
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at least the bread check that out it's super super layered as we saw earlier that's what a Shao Bing should be also looks super crispy like listen to this
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amazing and it also has a very strong smoky smell because I had the choice between two different fillings for my shao bing either bacon and egg or smoked chicken
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so I've gone for smoked chicken cause I thought that sounded a bit interesting
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to be completely honest I'm not the biggest fan of processed meat sausage so I might just actually take that out it does have a nice smoky flavour but it's just not my not my thing but this bread is definitely my thing
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it is so crispy and also soft on the inside I mean if I got this at a bakery I'd be happy with that the bread is so good
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New Day new breakfast and I'm excited about this one because one of the most important Chinese breakfast is congee and of course KFC has its own congee but not only KFC also McDonald's too
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so what I thought I would do is do a little bit of a comparison a bit of a taste test a blind taste test where I compare McDonald's congee and McDonald's Youtiao by the way this is the McDonald's Youtiao
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KFC Congee and KFC Youtiao this for your reference is the KFC Youtiao and as a control I have a local congee brand just from takeout
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that I've also gotten one of their congee and also a you tiao and to keep it fair I've gotten the same flavour of congee across all three the flavour I'm going for is the pi dan shou rou zhou
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Pi dan is century egg and shou rou is like pork so it's a classic combo obviously I can't do it alone so I would like to introduce my guest star for this portion
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my husband you can't see me no not at all no you can I'm gonna need your hand to help me you're gonna mix it up yeah I don't want any clues I've also prepared this so you can write down my score
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so thank you for your hard work and for helping me out I got you a McDonald's coffee this is a a cold brew a cold brew yeah oh could I McDonald's cold brew I saw it and I thought you might like it
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thank you very much Derk is in his cold brew era yeah I've started uh last week I had my first cold brew oh very good yeah yeah okay I mean as far as McDonald's coffee go yeah
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it's not offensive yeah okay let's do this so the first one is this one that's a spoon
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no you have to feed me I I have to feed you OK
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open your mouth it was tasty it's salty a nice mouth feel you know what I'm gonna give it a 7 7 and
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I feel like you know what my prediction is I feel like bread wise I don't know if you can tell big differences oh are you kidding me you're the king of bread of course you can tell big differences
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that had a really nice crisp on the outside soft on the inside a little bit of a crunch and a nice you tiao taste yeah honestly I'd give that an 8.5 this is number two and go oh
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that one's different not in a bad way I actually kind of like it it's got the same saltiness and like mouth feel as the first one yeah but it has a slight smokiness from
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I guess the meat inside mm hmm almost like a baconiness so for that reason
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I think I actually like that one a little bit better it's a little bit more exciting in my mouth I don't know I think I give that an 8 for the congee and now let's move to the bread oh huh
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that is not a good youtiao really oh try it
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why why try it it has a weird taste on the outside hmm can you taste that wow it's not good it's like I think something's wrong with the oil I'm sorry but I give that
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you tiao a 1 okay yeah that brings us to the last one right
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hmm hmm good that is great that's my favourite by far oh yeah it's thick which is how I like my congee to be yeah it's much thicker it's not too watery yeah
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oh the grains are really soft it tastes really good I give it a nine yeah I was just about to say this one's number one nine out of 10 then we go to the bread can you what the what can you ow
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my mouth you need to bite it yeah just like
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what the f OK let's go be soft yeah
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not as good as No. 1 the I mean it's not an offensive youtiao
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and actually tasting that youtiao I think I know what brand it is because I can taste McDonald's chips I rate it um a 6 for the youtiao so after combining the scores for the youtiao and congee
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in first place we've got the local congee shop with 15.5 points closely followed by McDonald's in second place with 15 points and then in third place sorry KFC is sitting on 9 points
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let's see if KFC can redeem themselves in our final day of eating the KFC breakfast menu today we are ticking off the final two items first up I wanna try this Da Bing which literally translates as big pancake
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and I guess some of you might see this and be like oh it's it's like a breakfast burrito yeah I guess it's kind of similar it's a wrap with items on the inside but Da Bing is such a concept here in China
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you'll find different variations all over the place but by far the one that sticks out in my mind is the one that I had in Tianjin which they literally called Da Bing juan yi qie, big pancake wraps everything
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because you get to the front of the queue and you basically choose what fried items you wanna put in your pancake and it's absolutely massive so yeah this is one of also one of the popular breakfast items you will find around the place
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in China this one is beef with egg and some got these crispy bits here
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maybe like a cut off you tiao
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hmm have to say I quite like that you've got the really nice contrast between this I think it's a burger Patty actually here which is nice and marinated it's described on the menu as like black pepper beef
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and it's kind of giving that vibe that peppery savouriness and then you've got the egg which is nice and soft but what I really like are these crispy little little you tiao bits or crunchy bits underneath
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which is adding this extra dimension of crunch and brings it all together very nicely I would definitely get this again this is good and now for the final KFC item and I feel like this is something that maybe
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for some people watching outside of China you may not have seen something like this before and before you get carried away no this is not KFC Sushi this is something very very different this is a fan tuan literally rice roll or rice wrap
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and it's something you'll find a lot in southern rice producing areas of China because this is made from glutinous rice that's basically wrapped around different fillings so my personal favourite variety of fan tuan
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or there they call it nuo mi tuan is from Guiyang or from Guizhou province where they've got this salted marinated sticky glutinous rice and then you add your choice of fillings inside
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that range from pickles to coriander to these crispy pork bits that are crunchy and smoky it's like absolutely fantastic and it'll fill you up for an entire day uh but this one is actually filled with a youtiao
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so one of my favourite things carbs on carbs in carbs but also got some pork floss in there as well so you know what let's give this a try hmm no complaints there this is actually really good I like that the glutinous rice
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the texture is good it's nice and sticky it's got a nice bite to it and then inside you've got a little bit of you tiao but it's like the one that was in our da bing those little crispy bits so you can't you're not getting like the full you tiao in there
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and then you've got pork floss which is adding this really nice sweetness as well so it's somehow like salty and sweet and yeah very very filling also a little bit of onion in there as well so you've got some fragrance
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all in all have to say I've been very impressed by this KFC breakfast experience very diverse menu it feels like KFC went into the boardroom and was like how can we actually sell to China properly
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like how can we deliver what people in China actually wanna eat and you can see that through the breakfast menu it's really ticking off different regions and breakfast habits from different regions of China because here in China
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it's not just one breakfast that people like to eat it changes so dramatically as you go across the country I'm not just talking north south east west I'm not even talking province to province but from city to city and village to village
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and county to county you'll find different breakfast habits and what people like to eat on a day to day basis and that's also why I like to do breakfast food adventures cause I feel like breakfast is a dish
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for many people around the world that it's more repetitive it's something you eat day in and day out and you tend to be a bit more passionate about it cause it's like this is what I grew up eating this is what I eat every single day
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so I feel like a great way to understand the cuisine of a city or of a place is to understand its breakfast culture so I feel like KFC has definitely done its research and I have to give props to them
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definitely there are no other big fast food foreign chains in China that are doing a similar amount I think McDonald's really only is doing the congee angle uh Burger King
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I checked their menu not too much to report there at all so yeah I'd love to hear what you guys think about all of this which of the breakfast I've had in this video attracts you the most and really interested to know if your country
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that you live in right now has a localized breakfast menu from a fast food chain if so what is it and what are they selling I'm super intrigued to know whether they're only doing this in China surely not but yeah
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with that that's gonna wrap up our food adventure for today thank you so much for watching it's been a little bit different um I didn't think I would dedicate a whole video to KFC um but yeah
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here we are and I hope you've enjoyed it so as always don't forget to like comment and subscribe and I will see you next week from here in China goodbye hi
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging with content like “I ate ONLY Chinese KFC breakfast for a week…” offers a unique opportunity for english speaking practice. The casual tone and relatable experiences depicted in the video help English learners grasp everyday conversational vocabulary and expressions. By immersing yourself in the lively narrative, you can improve your speaking skills through imitation and shadowing. This method, known as shadow speech, helps learners internalize phrases and intonations used by native speakers.
The variety of food items discussed, along with cultural references, provides context that makes the language more memorable. Practicing with such content can enhance fluency and confidence in speaking, as well as allow learners to adapt the cultural nuances of English conversation.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In the video, several key structures present excellent learning opportunities:
- Present Continuous Tense: Phrases like “I’m eating” and “I’m about to go inside” show how to describe ongoing actions. This tense is often used in conversational contexts to provide real-time commentary.
- Questions & Responses: The interaction “你好，这个包子还有吗？” followed by a clarification demonstrates effective questioning techniques in daily conversations.
- Descriptive Language: Terms such as “fluffy,” “saucy,” and “buttery” are examples of adjectives that enhance description and can be useful for learners looking to express flavors, feelings, and experiences more vividly.
Utilizing these structures while practicing with the video aids comprehension and encourages active participation in conversations.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you watch and practice along, note some pronunciation challenges that may arise:
- Congee - The pronunciation involves softening the ‘g’ sound, which may differ from learners' native phonetics.
- Xiao Long Bao - Make sure to practice articulating this term carefully; the tonal nature and syllable breaks in Mandarin can be tricky.
- Re Gan Mian - This dish's pronunciation might be difficult due to its rhythm and vowel sounds. Rehearsing it can help improve overall fluency.
When practicing these terms, consider using a shadowing app to monitor and refine your pronunciation actively. Listening and repeating can drastically enhance your clarity and accent.
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 | I've been using · I've been waiting |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've done · has taught · you've watched |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | this which is · German which is · everyone who visits |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is designed · is made · is actually filled |
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.