Shadowing Practice: I Told Everyone Mom went into a Coma for Attention - Learn English Speaking with Video

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277 sentences

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Hi, I'm Rochelle from Iowa.

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I was just a baby when mom and dad divorced, and growing up, my mom was pretty much my whole world.

We did everything together, walking our dogs, swimming, and reading on rainy days.

Once mom took me to the playground, and kids were playing hopscotch.

I wanted to join them, but I didn't know how.

So I started crying until mom picked me up and started jumping and playing.

Some kids laughed, some stared, and some begged their moms to hold them.

The moms didn't like that and glared at us.

But mom didn't care.

She jumped harder, and we fell badly on the ground.

I got bruises on my face, and mom broke her leg.

Some moms came running to help us, and I swear some of them were laughing.

Mean witches.

I wanted to punch them, but I was too little.

And yeah, mom and I were inseparable.

And as a kid, I was really shy and had a hard time making friends.

I would just sit on the sidelines watching other children play.

But whenever someone tried to talk to me, I'd just freeze.

Do you want to play kickball with us, Rochelle?

I… I… I… Eh, just forget it.

I did well in school, but every year I got a little more lonely.

By the time I was eight, everyone treated me like I was invisible.

Some teachers didn't even know my name.

Once our math teacher was absent, so the other class's teacher came to fill in her place for the day.

She was old and grumpy and she smelled like Home Depot.

When she saw me, she said, Oh my god, did someone bring their sister to school again?

For the thousandth time, don't bring your relatives to school they don't attend.

This is not a BTS concert.

Give me your mom's number.

I'm calling her to pick you up right now.

I swear I don't get paid enough to do this.

But, but, I, I'm the school.

Excuse me?

Then some of my classmates interfered and told her that I attended this school.

She wasn't convinced until I swore on my grandma's grave.

And then she checked the class list and left me alone.

Duh, I'd been going to the same school since kindergarten.

The only people who knew I existed were the mean kids who loved to pick on me.

I never understood why, but I guess it was because I was an easy target and wouldn't fight them back.

They'd be stealing my lunch, calling me a ghost and whatnot.

I don't understand what I did wrong.

They're always giggling when they see me.

Is it my hair?

Mom, do I smell?

Wait, is it my big nose?

No, duckling.

You are perfect.

Sometimes kids are just mean.

Don't give up, though.

In time, they'll see the real you.

This went on for five years, but when I turned 13, I swore it would end.

I needed to find a way to make friends and get the other kids to leave me alone.

If they didn't like who I was, I'd just have to change.

I talked my mom into taking me on a shopping spree.

I changed my whole style.

New shoes, a new jacket, even clip-on earrings because I didn't have my ears pierced.

My mom wouldn't let me dye my hair, so I got a new haircut instead.

But when I went to school the next day, well, you could say the outcome was disappointing.

Ew, who are you supposed to be? Who, me?

This is just how I dress.

Well, stop it.

You look like a weirdo.

And just like that, my confidence was shattered.

Julie, the most popular girl in my school, hated how I looked.

I felt so stupid.

I waited for the end of the day, then ran home and cried in my room.

But then, I had a moment of realization.

What does Julie have that I don't?

If she can be so popular, I can too.

Fine, if a new look wasn't enough, I'd just have to do something more extreme.

I'd be like Julie.

I made a list of everything she did.

The food she ate, the movies she talked about, the sports she played.

Don't ask me how I got all this info.

Shy kids have their ways.

Shy kids are the scariest.

Don't be a shy kid.

If I couldn't get friends by being myself, I was ready to fake it till I made it.

Three weeks later, I sat down at the popular girls' table in the cafeteria.

Everyone stared at me.

I was panicking.

Julie loved volleyball.

I wanted to talk about it to win her over.

Volleyball.

Ahem.

Volley, according to the Oxford Dictionary, means a lot of bullets, stones, etc. that are fired or thrown at at the same time.

Ball.

Well, it's kinda the same thing, but not a bullet or a stone or etc. and not thrown at the same time.

Everyone at the table was looking at me like I had two heads.

Someone get this freak away from me?

Okay, I needed a new plan.

So I spent the whole summer planning, and after much thinking, I knew what I had to do.

I would pretend to have spent the summer in Italy.

I even practiced an Italian accent.

No one else from my school had ever been to Italy.

They would have to think I was cool.

On the first day back from summer break, the homeroom teacher called on me, And I knew this was my chance to show off my new accent.

I'm here.

100

Since when do you talk like that?

101

Oh, this?

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I spent the summer in Italy.

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Julie burst out laughing behind me.

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No you didn't, you little liar.

105

Brittany saw you in the library.

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You're lying about going on vacation.

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Oh yeah, that's a new one.

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Thank God you didn't work in a zoo during the summer break.

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Imagine how you'd be talking now.

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Who lies about going on vacation?

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Someone whose mom died!

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I couldn't believe I said it, but it was too late to take it back.

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Julie stopped laughing, and everyone got quiet.

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The teacher was busy at his desk and didn't notice.

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Wow, I'm sorry, Rochelle.

116

Sam was comforting me?

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I didn't remember the last time she'd even spoken to me.

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Yeah, I'm sorry too.

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I didn't know.

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Do you want to, like, sit with me at lunch or something?

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Sure, I guess that'd be okay.

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I didn't know why I said that.

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I just panicked.

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But suddenly, I had a spot at the popular girls' table.

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Kids who had always bullied me were now fighting over who got to buy me lunch.

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I'd gone from being the most hated girl in my school to being the most loved one overnight.

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Everyone was sympathizing with me and wanted me to feel better.

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Not wanting to lose all the attention, Julie took me under her wing and started acting like a big sister to me.

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We hung out between classes and she even walked me home after school.

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So, like, who's taking care of you now that your mom's, um, gone?

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My aunt is looking after me for now.

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I'll probably have to move in with her later.

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Her house is even bigger than my mom's and she has a pool.

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Not that I'm okay enough to swim and have fun.

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I'm still sad, but I thought it was worth mentioning that she had a pool.

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I ran inside before Julie could ask any more questions.

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My mom was in the kitchen cooking spaghetti.

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Oh, hi, Rochelle.

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How was school?

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Sorry, mom.

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Can't talk now.

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Lots of homework.

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I locked myself in my room and tried to catch my breath.

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How could I have lied about that?

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And about my mom, of all people?

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But I couldn't go back now.

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Everyone would hate me even more than they did before.

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Even my mom would hate me.

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I would just have to keep pretending my mom had died, forever if I had too.

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What I was about to do was crazy, but what choice did I have?

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It's okay.

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It'll be worth it.

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The next day, everyone at school was nice to me.

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Kids gave me their snacks and even offered to do my homework for me.

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All I had to do was walk around looking gloomy, and they did the rest.

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Teachers at my school were always super busy, so none of them even noticed what was going on.

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So what happened?

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I mean, how did she pass away?

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Like, was she sick or something?

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The whole table got quiet.

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Julie elbowed Sam, but you could tell she wanted to know too.

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Luckily, I was prepared.

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I handed Sam something I'd made on my computer the night before.

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It was a fake obituary, with an old picture of my mom and everything.

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I had just copied one from a newspaper and changed a couple of things.

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All the kids leaned closer to read it.

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Sudden illness?

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That's awful, Rochelle.

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Really awful.

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I can't imagine my mom dying.

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How are you keeping it together?

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Well, having friends like you helps a lot.

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Everyone gave me a group hug, but all I could think about was how bad lying felt.

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I had never meant for things to get so out of hand, but now I was trapped.

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Maybe if I just lied well enough, everything would work out okay.

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That night at dinner, I was bursting to tell mom everything, but I couldn't.

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I got invited to go roller skating with Julie and her friends.

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Oh, duckling, that's wonderful.

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Do you want me to drop you off at her house or...

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No!

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Rochelle, is everything alright?

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Everything's fine.

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I just.. feel like walking.

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What's been going on with you?

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You've been acting strange recently.

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Hiding things and having outbursts?

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I'm worried about you.

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I'm okay, really.

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I'd love to meet some of your new friends.

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You will, Mom.

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Just.. not yet.

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The better things got at school, the worse they got at home.

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Pretending my mom abandoned me was stressful, especially since I had to face her at home after.

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I started yelling at the littlest things, storming off and even throwing stuff.

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I knew I was acting crazy, but I couldn't stop.

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Two weeks passed and still no one had found out.

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It was getting harder and harder to keep track of all my lies.

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The popular kids' table was starting to feel like a prison.

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How come you never invite us over to your house?

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It was always just me and my mom there.

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I'm just not ready to have anyone else in it.

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But your aunt's there, right?

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Oh, right.

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Yeah, I'm close with my aunt.

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I call her Tito.

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Her name is Time.

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Poor thing.

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Mom is luckier.

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I mean, was, was luckier.

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Her name's Date.

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But yeah, I'm trying to adapt to the new situation.

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I can't believe they still make you go to school and do homework.

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You should, like, get a year off or something.

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Do you want me to talk to the principal for you.

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No, don't do that.

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I mean, uh, I need school.

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It helps distract me.

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And I've already talked to the principal anyway.

219

The week after was Julie's birthday, and she threw a huge party at her house.

220

Half the school was there, even some parents and teachers who were friends with Julie's parents.

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I was laughing and joking with some of the other girls when I saw Julie start to do a speech.

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I want to thank everyone for being here to celebrate, especially my best friend, Rochelle, it's so sad that it took your mother's death for us to become friends,

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but I'm so glad to know you now.

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Her mother's what?

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I couldn't move.

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I couldn't breathe.

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There was my mother, standing at the back of the crowd.

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How had she heard about the party?

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Who had told her?

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This couldn't be happening.

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Excuse me, are you her mom?

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Yes.

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Rochelle, do you want to explain what's going on?

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Oh wow, that's very MSA.

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Everyone stared at me.

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I wanted to disappear.

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People were talking, but all I heard was buzzing.

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Julie was saying something and pointing at me.

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Then my mother grabbed me by the arm and led me out of the party.

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She didn't say anything until we were driving back to our house.

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You need to explain yourself.

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I broke down.

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Everything that had happened swept over me at once, and I told my mother everything.

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I'm so sorry, Mom.

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I don't know why I lied.

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I didn't mean to hurt you.

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I'm so sorry.

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My mother was quiet for a long time, just driving.

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When she finally looked at me, there were tears in her eyes.

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It breaks my heart that you were in so much pain and couldn't tell me.

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You're my daughter, and I only want what's best for you.

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I wish I had known that you were so lonely.

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I know you didn't mean for all this to happen.

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Now, you have to fix things.

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I didn't sleep at all that night.

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I was so scared to see Julie and everyone else at school.

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But when I got there, no one teased me.

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The only people who talked to me at all were my teachers.

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Everyone else ignored me, just like I was eight years old again.

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I was sitting alone at my old lunch table when Julie joined me.

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None of the other popular girls followed.

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You don't have to pretend to like me anymore.

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I was never pretending, Rochelle.

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I do like you.

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I tried to tell you at the party, but your mom dragged you away before I could.

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Why would you even talk to me after what I did?

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I lied to you.

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I faked about my mom leaving me, even though she's the best mom in the world.

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I'm crazy.

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You aren't crazy.

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You're lonely.

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And the cure for loneliness is a friend.

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A real one this time.

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You'll stop being popular if you hang out with me.

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There are more important things than popularity.

276

You really want to be my friend?

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Yeah, I do.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “I Told Everyone Mom went into a Coma for Attention”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: mom, Julie, kid. This video has 277 sentences and 2408 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:24. The speaker talks fast, about 194 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% 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

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
pretend verb	/pɹəˈtɛnd/	To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
stare verb	/stɛɚ/	To look fixedly (at something).
homework noun	/ˈhoʊmˌwɝk/	Exercises assigned by a teacher to a student which review concepts studied in class.
lonely adjective	/ˈloʊnli/	Unhappy due to feeling isolated from contact with other people.
duckling noun	/ˈdʌklɪŋ/	A young duck.
volleyball noun	/ˈvɒlibɔ(ː)l/	A game played on a rectangular court between two teams of two to six players which involves striking a ball back and forth over a net.
accent noun	/ækˈsɛnt/	A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to…
burst verb	/bɜːst/	To break from internal pressure.
aunt noun	/ɑːnt/	The sister or sister-in-law of one’s parent.
swim verb	/swɪm/	To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
bullet noun	/ˈbʊlɪt/	A projectile, usually of metal, shot from a gun at high speed.
panic noun	/ˈpænɪk/	Overwhelming fear or fright, often affecting groups of people or animals; (countable) an instance of this; a fright, a scare.
breathe verb	/bɹiːð/	To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.
invite verb	/ɪnˈvaɪt/	To ask for the presence or participation of someone or something.
bruise noun	/bɹuz/	A purplish mark on the skin due to leakage of blood from capillaries under the surface that have been damaged by a blow.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
break down verb	To stop functioning.
burst out verb	To appear suddenly from within something else.
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
give up verb	To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
go back verb	To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
grow up verb	To mature and become an adult.
pass away verb	To die.
show off verb	To exhibit the best attributes of something.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Wait, is it my big nose?
Ew, who are you supposed to be?
Someone get this freak away from me?
What's been going on with you?
Rochelle, do you want to explain what's going on?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if a new look wasn't enough, I'd just
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	What's been going · You've been acting
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	people who knew · Kids who had · teachers who were
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was shattered · are fired · was trapped

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 84 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, didn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: breathe /bɹiːð/, thousandth /ˈθaʊzən(d)θ/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shatter /ˈʃætɚ/, realization /ˌɹɪə.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, shoe /ˈʃu/
Long words — get the stress right: cafeteria /ˌkæ.fə.ˈtɪ(ə).ɹi.ə/, inseparable /inˈsɛ.p(ə).ɹə.bl/, obituary /əˈbɪt͡ʃəˌwɛɹi/, realization /ˌɹɪə.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, kindergarten /ˈkɪndəɹˌɡɑːɹt(ə)n/

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 pretend, stare, homework.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: I Told Everyone Mom went into a Coma for Attention - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?