Shadowing Practice: I simulated a LEGO CITY... - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Today, I'm going to build and simulate a massive LEGO city, adding its own population, government, entertainment, transportation, its own military, and more.
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So, anyway, let the challenge begin.
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Okay, so this channel just hit 10 years on YouTube, and to celebrate, why not build the biggest LEGO creation I've ever made?
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And what's bigger than a literal city where all my minifigures can live?
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So, I emptied out my entire roof, and my plan is to transform this entire space into one.
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But first, we need to set the environment so it actually feels like one.
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So I'm going to paint my entire wall blue so it looks like the sky.
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Nice.
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I then bought a table that our city will go on, and it needs to support a lot of weight because this city is going to be huge when it's done.
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And for the land, we need as many base plates as possible, so I then made Lego rich and bought every single one that was at the Lego store.
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okay the map is loaded
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but it's as empty as my bank account after buying all
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these basic plates okay now we're actually ready to begin building the city
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so the first step is giving it its own population
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so i grabbed every single minifig i owned
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and placed them on my table
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but before they can become official citizens we need to check each
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and every one of them for criminal backgrounds like illegal building techniques putting stickers on like this or anything else suspicious
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okay everyone else is clear and can now be granted their id cards and now
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that they're official citizens we can welcome them to their brand new home oh that's right there's literally nothing here
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and they're gonna start getting mad so we need to quickly build something
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and the first thing the city needs are homes for all the citizens to live in
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so i built this giant apartment building with multiple levels
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and multiple rooms they can live in now we need to add furniture
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so i built these small beds from five pieces
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and in a separate room i built these kitchens
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so we can let them cook and now
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that all the apartments are ready it's time for our minifigures
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to move in attention all citizens please proceed to your new living spaces
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nice now everybody has a place to live
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and we can turn their frowns upside down
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but we still have a long way to go until our city is finished
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and thankfully i have an entire wall full of lego we can use to build.
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Oh, minus this piece.
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The next thing these people need is a store so they can buy stuff to survive.
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And what store has the widest variety of products?
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Walmart.
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So that's what I built next.
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Okay, the front's complete, but there's no merchandise inside.
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First, I added a grocery section with fresh fruits and frozen meat.
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Next, I built a basic clothing department where you can buy cheap pants and shirts.
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I then built an electronic section with phones, tablets, and this flat screen TV.
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And for the final department, I built a toy section where you can buy skateboards, basketballs, stuffed toys, and actual Lego sets.
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Nice.
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Now the store is open for business and people are shopping.
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Also, Walmart did not pay me to do this.
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The next thing the city needs is its own form of government, like its own mayor.
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So I built a stage where the citizens can go up to debate important political topics to see who's the most worthy.
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Okay, who votes for this guy?
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okay what about this guy okay they've made their vote
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and it looks like they've chosen this guy as their new mayor
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so now we need to build him a town hall where he can work
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and make important plans for the city moving forward inside i
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built a personal office where he can have calls with other
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important world leaders i also built a meeting room where he can discuss important plans for the city
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and another room where he can live stream himself to the citizens of lego city and make important announcements.
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Nice, this city now has its own leader and the citizens will do anything he says.
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Attention, it's time to pay tax.
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Give him all your money right now.
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Nice, now we have tax money so we can afford to keep building the city.
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Now, a problem about this city is that all the people living here are extremely dumb and don't know anything.
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So next, we need to build them a school so they can learn and become smart.
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Okay, the outside is finished.
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Now we're ready to build the inside of the school, so I built two classrooms where a variety of subjects can be taught that every LEGO minifigure should know,
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like how to become a master builder or how to follow instruction booklets.
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And out in front of the school, I even built a small playground.
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I built this spinning carousel, this swing made from chain pieces, and I even built this tiny slide using a literal brick separator.
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Okay, the school's complete, and that's another thing added to our city.
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This city also needs its own emergency services, like its own hospital, in case a patient becomes severely injured.
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But first, we need a vehicle to transport them there.
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So that's why I bought this $20 Lego set, which we're gonna be adding to our city.
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And after building it, it's this Lego ambulance, which will transport the patients.
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And in the very back, there's a small room to load them in on a stretcher.
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So now we're ready to build the hospital to send them to.
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okay we're ready to heal the patients now we're ready to build the inside
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so first i built this lobby where all the patients come
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to check in at this front desk then they sit on these chairs
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and wait to be operated on next i built an emergency care room where minifigs can get fixed
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so i built a shelf full of spare body parts
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and different tools to easily remove and replace them
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and in this third final room i built this giant x -ray
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which can fit an entire minifig inside
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that way we can scan them for any possible diseases okay
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the city is now big enough to where it needs its own road system
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so i bought a bunch of these giant lego plates
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and i'm gonna form one giant road using them okay
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that just took up a lot of space
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but i just realized what's the point of building a road
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if there's literally no cars
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so my next plan is to build this city a giant
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car dealership where you can buy basically any car you could possibly want okay
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so i built this parking lot
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and this private showroom for the most expensive ones i then bought a bunch of cheap ten dollar lego cars
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which will be added to this dealership like this electric car
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with its own ev charging station this car with a giant trunk in the back
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that can fit lots of items this blue sports car
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which can turn into a convertible i even built this super old car this minivan this truck and the literal Tesla.
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So we're now ready to add them to our dealership.
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Wow, they hardly fit.
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And for the most expensive cars, I built this Lego Porsche, this Ferrari, and this McLaren.
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So we're ready to unlock the private showroom that we built for them and load them inside.
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Okay, the cars are secure.
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Now this dealership is open for business
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so people can spend their entire life savings
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and buy their dream car to drive around lego city nice
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this is actually starting to look like a city now now
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aside from basic food at the store there's basically nothing good to eat in this entire city
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so next i'm gonna build a gourmet five -star restaurant okay i can't pronounce the restaurant name
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so i already know it's gonna be expensive first the customers wait in line
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and walk up to this kiosk to place a reservation okay your table will be ready in five hours
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and when they're ready to be served they enter the restaurant
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and are seated in this fancy dining hall with live music
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and every type of dish imaginable okay
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that will be 500 plus a 100 tip now we built a restaurant
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but i also bought this 20 lego set
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which we'll be adding to the city
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and it's a lego ice cream truck inside is a kitchen to prepare all the ice cream
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and on the side of the truck is this window where the customers can order and be served.
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Okay, at this point, the city is ready for a bigger population.
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So next, what if we tried building a giant airport so we can transport people from all over the world?
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But first, we need to build them an actual airplane that will get them there.
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So I built this giant commercial aircraft where I added many seats inside to fit many passengers.
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Now we're ready to build the actual airport.
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So I first built this giant runway that the plane can take off
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and land on this guy to direct the plane on and off the runway
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and i even built this airport terminal where people check in
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and wait for their flight first they enter this lobby where
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they grab their boarding passes then they pass through this security checkpoint
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and finally they enter this gate full of chairs where they wait for their plane and now
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that our airport is complete it's time to welcome our new
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citizens of lego city okay you guys all look like the same person
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which one of you is bob oh please help so now
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that our population has grown it's time to build more housing to accommodate the new citizens
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so i built this small neighborhood full of six houses where
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the new citizens can live look how far our city has come we're actually starting to run out of space
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and the airport alone takes like a third of the land
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okay at this point the city is starting to collect a lot of trash
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and it's also starting to smell bad
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which means the city needs its own trash service
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so i built this lego garbage truck
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which can pick up trash around lego city there's a door in the back to load it
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and this arm to lift it
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and dump it into the back oh there's trash right here
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and to keep the city even cleaner i built this lego street sweeper to remove any trash
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or hazards off the road okay the city has a new emergency
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because it looks like this guy was gaming
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so hard his pc literally caught on fire
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which means the city now needs its own fire department
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so i built this giant lego fire truck from 500 pieces
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there's an office inside to take calls a ladder to reach
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the top of any building a working gun on the top
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that shoots water and it even comes with the literal drone
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that also shoots water okay we put the fire out
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but i think bro needs a new pc now now something
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i noticed about the city is there's basically no trees
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or nature so what
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if we built this city it's own park where the citizens can come to relax
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so i built this small nature walk with a trail full of trees and animals
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and in the very middle of the park there's a statue in honor of the mayor a small skateboard park
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and there's some ladies even doing a yoga class okay before i add to the city i'm tired of building
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and i need a break so i called up an actual friend of mine
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which is also a lego youtuber and he's gonna build and add anything of his choice
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i built this lego hot dog stand so
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when people are walking down the street they can get some food nice
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while the citizens gobble on glizzies we're ready to continue building
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our city now as our city has grown something that's also grown is the crime rate
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so to fix that
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and make our city safer we need to build it its own police force
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so i built these two lego police cars like this sport car
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and this truck which has a place in the back to keep criminals it even has this special piece with working lights.
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Nice, it even makes noise.
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Now we need to build a prison to lock up the most evil people in all of Lego City.
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So I built this tall electric fence which will keep the criminals from escaping.
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I built security cameras and I even built this watchtower with guards.
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I then built three tiny prison cells to punish the criminals with the worst living conditions possible.
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They get a tiny bed, a toilet, and a small window to breathe.
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And when it's time to eat, they get fed old expired bread.
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My pet dog literally lives better than this.
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Now aside from the police, what if we give this city its own superhero to protect it?
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So I bought this $50 Lego Batman set.
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It comes with Batman himself, this light to signal when help is needed, and to get around the city, I built him his own personal vehicle,
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which is this giant tumbler with working guns that shoot studs.
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Hey, stop whatever this guy's doing.
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At this point, I need to touch grass and go outside, so next I'm gonna quickly speed run to a store
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that sells Lego to see what Lego they have that we can add to our city.
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Okay, the sets have been copped.
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Ignore that this one's for girls.
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This first Lego set is a Fortnite burger restaurant.
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There's this giant burger on top of the building, and the guy who runs the restaurant is dressed like one.
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The customers can either order at this drive -thru window, or they can order inside where the burgers are prepared.
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And this second Lego set is a small pet shop.
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Outside the building is this giant dog
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and inside you can not only buy pets
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but also pet food pet accessories like these hats
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or you can take this elevator to the second level where
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there's a pet bath okay not sure what this is
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but it's either ice cream
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or it's poop okay those are two new things added to our city also please like
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because i'm spending way too much money next i'm gonna build
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this city a lego shopping mall full of different businesses
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so the citizens can buy anything they want okay the outside is finished
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and I made it big so we can fit all the stores.
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Now we're ready to build all the shops.
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So first, I built this high -end designer clothing store where only the richest people in all of LEGO City will shop.
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You can even buy accessories like handbags and watches.
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The second store is a LEGO store made from LEGO.
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Yep, that actually doesn't make sense now that I think about it
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because aren't the people just buying what they're literally made from?
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I even built a LEGO Apple store where you can buy iPhones and computers
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and this video game store where you can buy every lego video game ever made video game consoles
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and even these video game action figures
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and in the heart of the mall i built a lego
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movie theater where you can spend your monthly rent on popcorn
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and watch any movie of your choice
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and for the actual movie screen i literally used my phone
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okay the mall is complete now the citizens can go shopping
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and we're almost out of space to build but another thing this city needs is its own hotel Yep, that's right.
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We need to build a hotel for all the people who come visit Lego City.
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And my plan is to make this the tallest building in the whole city.
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Okay, the outside's finished, and I made it super tall to accommodate all the guests.
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Now we're ready to build the inside of the hotel.
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So I built multiple levels, like this lobby where you check in and grab the keys for your room.
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I then built multiple hotel rooms for all the guests to sleep.
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And to compliment your stay, I built an indoor swimming pool and a dining hall that serves complimentary breakfast.
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Okay, because this building is so tall, we need to test how sturdy it is.
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Nice, it's up to code.
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And just like that, we're out of space to build, so our LEGO city is finally complete.
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Nope, get pranked.
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Because we've actually unlocked an entirely new part of the map, where I plan to build the biggest and coolest attractions in this entire city.
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But first, we need a way to get there.
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So my first plan is to build a Lego bridge to transport the citizens across.
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Okay, the bridge is complete.
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So to make sure the cars can cross safely, we're gonna see if they can handle some weight.
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Okay, some of the bridge broke, but the actual road did.
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So the cars can now cross, and people can even come to bridge jump.
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The first attraction I'm going to build is a lego beach where the citizens can come to enjoy the water.
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So to build the sand I used these tan plates and I used clear bricks to build these waves.
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Here you can surf, listen to music, play sports like volleyball, make sand capsules, go metal detecting for rare treasure,
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watch dolphins and turtles, and I even built this shark using a triangular brick.
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I even built some lego boats like this expensive yacht or the sailboat.
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works like it should i even built this giant lego coast guard boat to patrol the water
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and rescue people who are drowning
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and even defend the city against pirates next i want to build a lego train
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that will transport people around the island so i built this track
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and i bought this 100 lego set which is a working lego train that you can actually control using this remote
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yes let's go it works we're on track to finishing our
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city inside the train are seats for all the passengers
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and there's even a small restaurant where you can buy cupcakes
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and hot dogs oh maybe not
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that fast next i want to build this city a giant stadium to entertain all the citizens with live events
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and we need it to fit as many people as possible
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okay the stadium is finished i built this giant field in the middle for the events
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and look at all the people who have gathered to watch
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first i built this lego concert i'll be cooking up like
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taco tuesday punching those hops like my name jay spin just
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a boy spinning like baby i even built a lego soccer match
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and i use these special pieces that allow the minifigures to kick the ball and score
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okay what if we opened a giant theme park full of rides to bring even more people to lego city Yeah, we're gonna need a lot of space,
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so I'm gonna dedicate the entire half of this island to put it Let's start with the smallest and most basic ride, which is this one that literally goes up and down
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I also built this spinning swing ride where you sit in these chairs and are spun into the air
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And for the final biggest ride, I built this roller coaster which goes around the entire park
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let's go this is actually looking like a theme park
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but i just realized where the heck is the actual theme
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so to pick what theme we give it i'm gonna spin this wheel with random ones
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and see what we get okay here we go oh let's
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go we got the dinosaur one i then turned the park
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into a tropical rainforest i built this dinosaur themed entrance
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and i added even more dinosaurs including this t -rex okay the theme park is open to the public
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and it looks like it's a 10 hour wait
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what if i ask my subscribers what i should add
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so i quickly went to instagram to ask for your ideas
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and we actually got some big youtubers to comment like ben
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azelaar who said to build a lemonade stand i promise that's lemonade
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and not something else zhc told me to build a dog park
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so i built one for all the dogs in the city to play with toys and the squirrel
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Hafu Go told me to build a secret room, so I built this boulder with a homeless guy living in it.
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My cousin told me to build someone ore farming.
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Someone told me to add a Lego version of myself.
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Add balloons to a house to make it look like that one from Up.
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Skyscrapers to make this feel more like a city.
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A speed bump to slow down traffic.
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A working ATM machine that dispenses money.
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And someone even told me to build a Lego basketball court.
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I even added this custom Lego LeBron James.
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At this point, the journey of building this Lego city is coming to an end.
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But just now, a distant planet has arrived to declare war on our city and claim it as theirs.
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And Batman alone can't protect us.
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Which means there's only one thing left to do.
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And that's to build a giant military force to defend the citizens.
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But before we do that, this video is sponsored by Raid Sh - Actually, no, we don't have time for that because everyone is about to die.
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So I built a giant, highly fortified military base full of highly trained armed soldiers and this attack helicopter, which can shoot down any enemy with these missiles.
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Let's go.
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The city is finally at peace.
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And now that it's finally complete, I can go touch grass.
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This has got to be the biggest Lego build I've ever made.
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If this video gets 100 ,000 likes, I'll do a part two where I test this city with natural disasters to see if it will survive.
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Thank you guys for 10 years on YouTube.
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This was literally my first video.
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Hello everyone.
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This is Tyler
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and today I'd like to show you this two -story custom
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Lego family home Comment what I should do next like for part two subscribe.
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Thanks for watching.
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I'll see you in the next one
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “I simulated a LEGO CITY..”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: built, lego, build, giant, citizens. This video has 304 sentences and 3830 words to shadow. The speech runs for 19:58. The speaker talks fast, about 192 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 |
|---|---|---|
| spin verb | /spɪn/ | To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction. |
| trash noun | /tɹæʃ/ | Useless physical things to be discarded; rubbish; refuse. |
| literal adjective | /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/ | Exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation; according to the letter; not figurative or metaphorical; following the letter or exact words; not… |
| mall noun | /mɔːl/ | A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct. |
| brick noun | /ˈbɹɪk/ | A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building. |
| burger noun | /ˈbɝ.ɡɚ/ | A hamburger. |
| lobby noun | /ˈlɑ.bi/ | An entryway or reception area; vestibule; passageway; corridor. |
| dinosaur noun | /ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/ | Those animals of the clade Dinosauria that existed during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are now extinct. |
| clothing noun | /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/ | Any of a wide variety of articles, usually made of fabrics, animal hair, animal skin, or some combination thereof, used to cover the human body for warmth, to… |
| defend verb | /dɪˈfɪnd/ | To ward off attacks against (something or someone). |
| sand noun | /sænd/ | Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in… |
| custom noun | /ˈkʌstəm/ | Frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving. |
| grass noun | /ɡɹɑːs/ | Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as… |
| passenger noun | /ˈpæs.ɪn.d͡ʒɚ/ | One who rides or travels in a vehicle, but who does not operate it and is not a member of the crew. |
| swing verb | /ˈswɪŋ/ | To rotate about an off-centre fixed point. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| call up verb | To retrieve from personal or computer memory. | |
| get around verb | To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path. | |
| go around verb | To move or spread from person to person. | |
| go up verb | To move upwards. | |
| lock up verb | /ˌlɒk ˈʌp/ | To imprison or incarcerate (someone). |
| move forward verb | To cause to make progress. | |
| pass through verb | To go through, to travel through, to transit or lie across a place or from one place to another. | |
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. |
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 | I've ever made · they've made · they've chosen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is loaded · be granted · is finished |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | ambulance, which will · truck which has · fence which will |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the biggest · the widest · the most worthy |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 61 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, gonna, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, bath /bɑːθ/, theater /ˈθi(ə)tɚ/, worthy /ˈwɝ.ði/, breathe /bɹiːð/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: trash /tɹæʃ/, attraction /əˈtɹækʃn̩/, dish /dɪʃ/, treasure /ˈtɹɛʒəɹ/, instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: accommodate /əˈkɑməˌdeɪt/, accessory /əkˈsɛs.(ə.)ɹi/, helicopter /ˈheliːˌkɔptə(ɹ)/, elevator /ˈɛləˌveɪtɚ/, reservation /ˌɹɛz.ɚˈveɪ.ʃən/
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 spin, trash, literal.
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.