Shadowing Practice: I Cooked Against Robots - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Nick: Robots are becoming more and more like humans.
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They can build cars, clean your house, and even do parkour.
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But in this video, I'm cooking against three levels of robots to find out who's the better chef. Robots or humans?
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For level one, Mark Rober will be the judge.
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Mark: We're gonna see if Nick can beat some of the most basic kitchen robots that money can buy.
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And level one we'll have five speed rounds: chopping, stirring, toasting, pizza making, and cleaning. And to win, it's a classic best three out of five.
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Nick: Are you Team Robot or Team Nick?
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Mark: I mean, of course I am Team Robot.
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For this first mini round, we'll be testing chopping skills.
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And in the robot corner, we've got the Robot Coupe.
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It's basically an extremely powerful food processor with a couple of googly eyes to boot. I like putting googly eyes on my robots.
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Are you ready, Nick? Nick: Let's do this.
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Mark: Start! Nick: Now?
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Mark: I said start, yeah. I'm taking my time.
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I'm not worried. How many do you want me to put in, Nick?
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Nick: I mean, you're Team Robot.
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Mark: That's true. That feels like a good start.
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Oh, no. Ah, that's so fast.
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Nick: Oh, my God. Mark: I didn't even have the time to put it under.
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Nick: This seems so unfair.
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Mark: Look at that. They're like perfect cubes.
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Nick: Before you actually judge, let's look at our cuts.
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Mark: Yours aren't even real cubes.
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Those are like rectangular prisms.
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I mean, this is like laser precision.
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As a chef, do you want smaller cubes like that or bigger?
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Nick: I mean, it takes more skill to make smaller cubes.
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Mark: I rule in favor of our robot overlord.
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Mark: For speed round number two, we're going to be testing your stirring skills.
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You will be facing off against an army of five stirring robots, once again with googly eyes.
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Nick: They are very cute. Mark: Thank you. Nick: Because stirring just one pan wouldn't be much of a challenge. We each have five pans, but there's just one of me and there are five robots. We're going to be stirring pine nuts, which are expensive and burn really easily.
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Mark: So the first person to burn their nuts loses.
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That doesn't sound great.
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Nick: Okay, here we go.
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Mark: Time to turn on the robot army.
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And as soon as I start smelling and especially seeing burnt pine nuts, somebody's losing.
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Nick: This seems a little unfair again. Mark: I don't know.
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So we're getting good spinning.
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But the problem is, is it's spinning in place and not going to every edge of the pan.
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Also, I think like two googly eyes have dropped into the pan.
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That feels like a definite points off situation.
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I have seen you spill a few nuts and I don't love that, Nick.
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Nick: Yeah, but your robots aren't even touching the nuts.
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I actually think I might win this challenge.
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I'm actually going to do something the robots can't do and switch my pans around to kind of keep things even as well.
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And the robots, they just don't have arms.
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Mark: Ah, the robot feet are melting! Nick: Oh no!
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He's melting. Mark: Stoves off, stoves off.
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Nick: What happened here?
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Mark: Disaster on the robot front. It completely charred these pine nuts.
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And on top of that, the plastic feet melted in the pan.
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Wow. This is a nice, even golden brown.
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Let me taste test.
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That's good. I don't have the courage to try any of these. Plastic's not necessarily my thing.
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This one's an easy call. Nick: winner of this round.
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We're all tied up heading into speed round number three. For round three, we'll be testing your ability to make toast.
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It's very simple, but easy to screw up from personal experience.
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On the robot side, we have this extremely high tech $500 toaster with a screen.
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So where's your screen, Nick?
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Nick: On the human side, I have a good old pan with some fire.
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Mark: Is that how you actually make toast at home?
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Nick: Yeah. Mark: You're so fancy.
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At the end of this round, I will judge the winner based on looks and taste.
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Nick: Here we go. Mark: Oh, wow.
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Bread. English muffin.
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Waffle. Bagel.
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Hey, do your thing.
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Don't look over here. ...And start.
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Oh, there it goes.
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Nick: so the key to making a nice slice of toast, Mark, while your toaster just slowly takes its sweet time over there. I like to quickly hit both sides of the toast right away, and you have to be very gentle. You don't want to press into the toast.
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Mark: Wait, why tweezers? Nick: I'm cooking against a $500 robot.
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It's all about precision.
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Mark: Okay. How are we doing here?
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Oh. It's browning.
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Oh, I feel like I smell and see smoke, though.
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Oh, it's a countdown now.
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Seven. Six. Five. Nick: What?
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Mark: Yeah. Where's your countdown?
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Come to papa.
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Oh, wow. Okay, actually, that is pretty exact.
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Nick: The key with toast is to make sure that the outside is nice and crispy, while the inside stays nice and light and fluffy.
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Mark: This is a butter knife, right?
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Nick: No. Oh, my gosh, look at that.
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Mark: Oh, wow. That looks like grilled cheese.
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Nick: I'm even gonna get the sides.
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Why don't you do that toaster?
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Mark: I'm nervous about this one.
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You're putting a lot of chef's kiss in that. So that I can be a very impartial judge, I'm gonna close my eyes, and it's just the one bite challenge.
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You know the rules. Nick: Mark, I'm gonna shuffle them around. Mark: Okay. Nick: So number one.
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Mark: Can you do, like, an airplane sound? Nick: Mark: That makes me want to cry.
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It's so good. Can we just do one more bite at number one before we move on?
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Nick: Sure. Mark: And with the airplane sounds.
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Nick: Mark: Mm, I didn't know toast could taste so good.
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Nick: Number two. I'm not doing airplane.
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Mark: By comparison this is just like a wet sock.
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Number one by a nautical mile.
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Nick: Number one was me.
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Mark: Wow. Okay, well, I finished eating this.
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The score is now humans: 2.
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Robots: 1. For speed round number four, we're going to see who can make the best pizza. Man versus robot.
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And this is a doozy here.
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All I have to do is load in the sauce.
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Now I just got to add in some cheese.
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Put my dough right there.
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Nick: I haven't even started.
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Mark: All right, here we go. It's scanning the pizza.
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Look at that laser scan.
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Sauce goes on.
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Now, right here is where it's putting the pepperonis on.
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Nick: It seems super unfair.
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Mark: Wow. Put that in the Louvre.
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I want to see how many pizzas I can make in the time it takes you to make one, Nick.
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Nick: I'm still just rolling out my dough.
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Mark: While I'm over here laser scanning pizzas.
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Not only are you taking forever, but you're also making a mess.
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Luckily, round five deals with cleaning up messes.
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Do you need any help?
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Nick: Do you know how to make a pizza?
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Mark: I do not.
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Nick: At this point, I'm just trying to finish my pizza before Mark makes... Mark: Number four?
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Nick: Yeah. Yeah.
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Mark: All right.
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Well, you have exactly 40s.
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Nick: I can do 40s.
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Let's just do a little bit of olive oil.
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Mark: Oh, never mind. Zero seconds.
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It was done.
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Nick: I'm done. Two very, very different looking pizzas.
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Mark: Very different looking.
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That looks like it's about to go into an Easy-Bake oven.
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These are masterpieces.
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Like put these in a brick oven.
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Nick: Already, I feel like this is off to an unfair start, but it's not done yet.
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I think we should bake them.
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Mark: We need to bake them.
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Okay. Time's up.
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And Nick's pizza looks interesting.
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Now, as for the robot, look at that.
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Aesthetically, the robot definitely has it at this point, but let's see how they taste.
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Human first.
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That's like a 4.8.
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Nick: Now for the robots.
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Mark: To be honest, the taste is pretty similar.
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The robot has a way better ratio of like dough to cheese to pepperoni.
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It's just a much more balanced bite.
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Robot takes it, and that means going into the fifth and final round, it's robots: 2, Nick: 2.
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We are tied.
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And speaking of the final round, it's an absolute mess back here, thanks to Nick. Time for our cleanup challenge.
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All right, this is it.
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Fifth and final round.
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Nick, you made quite a mess here.
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I'm adding a little extra.
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It's you versus the Roomba cleaning robot.
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I'm going to divide this down the middle.
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You have to clean that side.
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The Roomba's got to clean this side.
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Nick: Why did you give me so much more to clean?
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Mark: Now, remember this is winner takes all.
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Whoever wins this round wins all of level one.
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Okay? Come on, boy, do something.
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Oh, wow. That's good.
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That is way cleaner than I was expecting.
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Nick: Honestly, that's making me extremely nervous.
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Mark: The problem is, he's going the wrong way.
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Nick: Not to brag, but I'm doing pretty well over here.
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Mark: Roomba, where are you going?
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You hardly did any work.
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You didn't earn a docking station.
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Oh, here he comes. Let's go.
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Round two, baby.
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Nick: Oh, he's getting my side dirty again.
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Mark: Yeah, sabotage! Robot, where are you going?
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No. I think I'm ready for the final verdict.
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Well, given that we were tied heading into this round, Nick, whoever won this clean up round wins all of level one.
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And after looking at the results, the winner for all of level one between robots and humans is... the humans.
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Nick: Yes! Mark: Nick!
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Congratulations. Nick: I am sorry, Mark, because I know you wanted robots to win.
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Mark: I did. Nick: Deep down. Mark: I really did.
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Robots don't let me down in level two.
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You got this. Nick: For level two, I'll be cooking against Moley, the world's first fully robotic kitchen.
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I'm kind of scared. It took ten years of research to make this robot, and it can recreate movements of a professional chef and has over 5,000 recipes uploaded to its memory. We're going head to head to see who can make a better pasta dish, and at the end, a blind taste test will determine who wins this round.
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Before we start cooking, I'm going to choose the recipe that Moley is going to make today.
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And since we're doing pasta, I'm going to go with a spaghetti puttanesca.
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I just found out that this is a kill switch, so if he starts beating me, I'm just gonna whack it. It's time to find out if Moley's really worth that $100,000 price tag.
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And here he goes. First things first.
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It looks like he's turning on the cooktop.
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Oh, we're going for the olive oil.
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Good start, Moley.
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Now it's grabbing some olives, anchovies, some garlic, some capers.
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Sometimes I feel like Moley is just doing fancy movements to flex on all of us.
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What? It's using a spatula?
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Moley's scraping the bottom of the pan right now, making sure all those nice little flavorful bits aren't sitting there and burning.
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The more I watch right now, the more nervous I'm getting about this competition.
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Thinking about pressing the red button. It just tapped and now is scraping off the extra ingredients on the spatula.
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This is unbelievable.
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And in we go with the tomato sauce and he's gonna mix it all up.
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Here comes the pasta. Oh, come on with the tap.
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That just seems like you're rubbing it in.
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Some of that pasta is sitting above the water right now, so I'm wondering if Moley is going to do anything to make sure that that goes under the water.
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Oh, okay. At this point, you have to wonder if the robot just heard me say that.
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Or maybe it's just really that smart on its own.
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So I'm guessing right now that Moley has it down to an exact timing.
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And I'm thinking right now that this might be the most perfectly cooked pasta I have ever seen in my life. Oh, you missed a noodle, Moley.
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Let me help you. It's very well cooked.
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This here seems like the final step.
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Just throwing in these herbs.
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So after one last wipe of the spatula, it looks like the dish is complete.
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That was amazing. The only chance that I might have is if the judge picks up on that some of the pasta might be a little bit less cooked than the rest of the pasta.
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Moley didn't quite fully stir it all the way here, but I'm gonna help Moley plate it onto a nice dish so the judge cannot tell which is the robot's and which is mine.
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I'm going into this challenge a bit nervous, but for my dish, I'll be making an uni butter pasta. To begin, I'm starting out with this fresh sea urchin.
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Sea urchin tastes almost like butter, so it's going to be perfect with our pasta.
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First, I'll add these to a small blender, making sure to use plenty.
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Then for a bit of acidity, I'll add just a touch of yuzu juice and for a bit of color, just a touch of saffron oil.
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Now, because we want to make an uni butter, I'll take a few nice knobs of butter and add that to my uni. Once it reaches a nice smooth and creamy consistency, our uni butter is done. Now I'm actually going to cook my pasta a little bit earlier than Moley cooked his. I'll start by tossing a generous amount of salt into my pasta water, and then in we go with some fresh homemade pasta.
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You hear that, robot?
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Homemade pasta.
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I'll go in with a bit of pasta water to a new pan, and then drop in a nice few spoonfuls of our fresh uni butter.
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We'll mix this together so it forms a nice sauce.
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And then in goes our pasta.
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I know robots aren't supposed to be able to feel emotions, but I have a feeling Moley's scared right now. I'll add in my pasta.
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Nice and tight in the center of my plate, then finish with a nice drizzle of herb oil.
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A few pieces of fresh sea urchin and just a few nice microgreens.
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Time to see who wins.
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After a bit of plating help, here's the robot spaghetti puttanesca.
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And here's my dish and uni butter pasta.
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The way they're plated, the judge shouldn't be able to tell who made which dish.
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Harrison will be the judge for our blind taste test.
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Harrison: Oh, damn.
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I'm being honest right now.
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I have no clue which one's which.
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I'm gonna start with the uni butter pasta.
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I've never had uni, by the way, before, so this is like a first time for everything.
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That is insane. Puttanesca.
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Here we go. This is...
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This is, this is good.
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I'm just trying to figure out how has a robot sliced olives, put capers over...
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But then how have we got uni over here?
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I'm so sorry if I get this wrong.
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I think the robot made the uni pasta.
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I'm gonna say the puttanesca tastes better.
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Nick: That's made by the robot.
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Harrison: No it's not.
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I'm so sorry.
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Nick: I just lost to a robot fair and square.
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That means we're tied 1 to 1, and it all comes down to round three.
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For level three, our final challenge, I'll be cooking a steak against Neo Beta, an advanced humanoid robot.
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What's up, Neo? Neo: How's it going, Nick?
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The way this will work is simple.
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In front of us are three steaks.
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We've got a porterhouse, a filet mignon, and a ribeye.
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We're each gonna cook one, and the audience will decide in the comments below who is the true champion.
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Neo: How about we do rock, paper, scissors to see who picks first?
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Nick: I'm down for rock, paper, scissors.
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You ready? Rock, paper, scissor.
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Shoot. Neo: I beat you.
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Nick: Fair is fair. You get to pick first.
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Go ahead. Neo: My dad likes the porterhouse the most.
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Personally, I'm usually a ribeye guy.
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But today I'm going to go with the filet.
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Nick: You're going with the filet?
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Neo: Yeah, just a classic cut.
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Nick: Go for it.
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It's all you. I'm probably gonna go with the ribeye.
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The steaks have been chosen.
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Best of luck, Chef Neo.
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Neo: Let the best chef win. That's a weak handshake.
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Nick: The first thing with a steak, of course, is salt and pepper.
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So I'm going to go salt all over my beautiful ribeye.
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And I can see you're also starting with your salt.
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By the way, how long have you been cooking?
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I'm curious. Neo: Three months.
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Nick: You've only been cooking for three months?
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Neo: I'm only a year old. What do you expect?
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I read a little bit about cooking steaks on Wikipedia before this.
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Nick, I don't know if you know or not, but when you season a steak, you're supposed to get all the different sides.
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Nick: I don't know if you're trying to get my head or what you're doing, but it's not going to work.
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Neo: I'm ready to cook.
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Nick: You know how to turn on the burner?
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Neo: Of course. I'm just gonna twist this knob real quick.
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And there it is.
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Nick: Nice job.
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Neo: All right, I'm just gonna grab my - ope, ope!
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Sorry about that. Nick: That's all right, that's all right.
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Neo: Pick it up real quick.
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Nick: Okay. That is impressive.
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Do you mind if I borrow that? Neo: Yeah.
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Let me just grab it for you real quick.
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Nick: Thank you so much, I appreciate it.
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Okay. Perfect. So our oil is in both of our pans.
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I think my oil is getting to that temp that I'm ready to put my steak in.
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What about you?
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Neo: Me, too. Nick, would you mind handing me that spatula over there?
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Nick: Yeah, absolutely. Not a problem at all.
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Neo: Just gonna pick it up nice and careful here.
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And just like that.
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Nice and easy.
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Nick: Are you ready for this sound?
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Neo: Yeah, let's see it. Pretty good.
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When you sear, you just want to make sure it's fully flat to get the best sear possible on the bottom of the steak.
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So I'm just applying some light pressure with the spatula here.
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I'm going for the flip, Nick. Check this out.
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And there it is.
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Nick: Oh my gosh.
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No way you just did that.
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All right, I'm gonna go for my flip now.
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Mine doesn't look as good as yours.
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Neo: All right, Nick, I'm gonna go in for the butter.
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Three. Two. One.
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And. Touchdown!
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Nick: You're actually butter basting now?
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Neo: Yep. Nick: How do you even know what that is?
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Neo: I was watching a lot of Food Network last week.
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Nick: Mine's actually done. I'm gonna go ahead and start resting it.
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Neo: I'm not allowed to use knives, so could you help me?
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I just need those potatoes behind me over there.
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Just chop those up real quick, and I'm just gonna make a quick side dish.
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Hey, could you just grab me a plate over there?
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Nick: You're gonna keep bossing me around.
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Neo: And put it right there. Just rest that for, like, five-ish minutes.
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That'd be pretty good. Bring those potatoes over right about here.
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Nick: Okay. Neo: And I'll just grab them.
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All right. I'm just gonna add a couple into the pan here.
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Can I have the asparagus now, please?
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Nick: Listen. This is it.
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I'm not helping you anymore. I need to make my chimichurri.
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Now, I'm gonna go in with a bit of olive oil and a nice splash of white wine vinegar.
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Then some garlic. Fresh parsley.
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Whoosh! Neo: Whoa! Nick: Just a touch of paprika.
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A few red pepper flakes.
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A bit of garlic powder, a touch of salt, a good amount of fresh cracked pepper.
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And last but not least, my secret ingredient.
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Neo: I'm listening. Nick: A few pistachios.
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You see what you're up against right now?
334
Neo: Yeah, that's... that's advanced stuff.
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Nick: Here we go. You want to taste?
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Neo: That's real funny, Nick. Let's just cut the steaks.
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Nick: Congratulations, Neo.
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We've finished cooking both of our steaks.
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The question now is, whose do we cut into first?
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Neo: I think we.
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Got to definitely go with yours.
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Nick: The pressure is on for both of us.
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Neo: That's right. Nick: I'm gonna cut right in the middle.
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I'm gonna give you a sneak peak first.
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What do you think?
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Neo: Not too shabby.
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Nick: You can be honest with me. Are you nervous?
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Neo: I'm a little nervous. It is my first time cooking a steak.
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Moment of Nick: truth, okay? Three.
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Two. One. Look at that. As much as I hate to admit it, it looks like Neo also got a perfect medium rare. Before you all vote in the comments below who won this challenge, I won the first level, then the robots won round two with that amazing spaghetti puttanesca, so it all comes down to this: level three. Neo, why don't you explain your dish first?
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Neo: So I prepared for you a filet mignon.
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Perfect. Medium rare.
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And as you can see, we have these beautiful potatoes as well as some perfectly seared asparagus.
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Nick: I will admit, yours actually looks pretty good, but what I have here is a more flavorful ribeye cooked perfectly medium, which is my personal favorite.
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You and I can agree to disagree on that one.
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Neo: You're just wrong.
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Nick: And under it, I've made a pistachio chimichurri and topped it off with a few extra parsley leaves.
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Neo: Don't let the parsley leaves fool you.
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They don't really do much.
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Nick: All right, guys.
361
You've seen everything you need to see, so make sure you go subscribe.
362
And then go down to the comments below and say who you think won.
363
Neo, any last words?
364
Neo: Let's face it, Nick, robots are way cooler in every single way poss-- Nick: Shh.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “I Cooked Against Robots”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Nick, Mark, robot, Neo, pasta. This video has 364 sentences and 3786 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:31. The speaker talks fast, about 229 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| robot noun | /ˈɹoʊ.bɑt/ | An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal. |
| pasta noun | /ˈpɑ.stə/ | Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating. |
| steak noun | /steɪk/ | Beefsteak: a slice of beef, broiled or cut for broiling. |
| toast noun | /toʊst/ | Bread that has been toasted (cooked lightly by browning). |
| dish noun | /dɪʃ/ | A vessel such as a plate for holding or serving food, often flat with a depressed region in the middle. |
| stir verb | /stɝ/ | To disturb the relative position of the particles (of a liquid or similar) by passing an object through it. |
| puttanesca noun | /ˌputəˈnɛskə/ | A cooking sauce made from tomato flavoured with garlic, anchovies, capers and olives, created in Naples. |
| ribeye noun | Synonym of ribsteak (an unfilleted ribsteak, with the bone-in) | |
| spatula noun | /ˈspætjʊlə/ | A kitchen utensil consisting of a flat surface attached to a long handle, used for turning, lifting, or stirring food. |
| olive noun | /ˈɑ.lɪv/ | A tree of species Olea europaea cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it. |
| chef noun | /ʃɛf/ | The presiding cook in the kitchen of a large household. |
| fillet noun | /fɪˈleɪ/ | A thin strip of any material, in various technical uses. |
| googly adjective | /ˈɡuɡli/ | Bulging. |
| cube noun | /kjub/ | A regular polyhedron having six identical square faces. |
| unfair adjective | /ʌnˈfɛɚ/ | Not just. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| clean up verb | To make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy. | |
| come down to verb | To reach by moving down or reducing. | |
| go ahead verb | /ˌɡoʊ əˈhɛd/ | To proceed with; to begin. |
| go in with verb | To commit to something with; to partner with. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| go in for verb | To enter a competition. | |
| go under verb | To descend into a body of water; to founder. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How are we doing here?
- Why don't you do that toaster?
- Do you need any help?
- You see what you're up against right now?
- Neo, why don't you explain your dish first?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have dropped · have seen · haven't even started |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was done · is done · have been chosen |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | nuts, which are · tell which is · medium, which is |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | start smelling · finished eating · start cooking |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 160 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dish /dɪʃ/, chef /ʃɛf/, pistachio /pɪsˈtæʃioʊ/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, precision /pɹɪˈsɪʒ.ən/
- Long words — get the stress right: puttanesca /ˌputəˈnɛskə/, asparagus /əˈspæɹ.ə.ɡəs/, chimichurri /ˌt͡ʃɪmiˈt͡ʃʊɹi/, pepperoni /pɛpəˈɹoʊni/, ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/
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 robot, pasta, steak.
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.