Shadowing Practice: I Went to NYC's Most Secluded Neighborhood - Learn English Speaking with Video

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238 sentences

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Today's Tuesday, and on a normal Tuesday, I would already be on the subway on my way into

my co -working space where for the next eight hours i would

research write a script edit a video be on calls some combination of those things after

that i would go to the gym for an hour then head home

and cook dinner with my roommate then maybe watch an episode of something

or just hang out then i'd take a shower i'd get in bed

and read for about an hour and then I would go to sleep

and that is a typical Tuesday but

you know what I decided today's not a typical Tuesday

because I feel like taking the day off and exercising my free will in New York City let's get started

all right guys see this townhouse obviously it looks nice these brooklyn townhomes are nice

but it doesn't look insane right well the director of the hunger games just sold it for 10 .6 million dollars.

This isn't the point of the video, but while I pass it, I had to tell you.

Free will!

All right, sometimes I come to a park like this on a Tuesday afternoon, like right now, and I'm like, what are you guys doing?

Don't you have work?

I know what I'm doing.

What are you

What are you doing?

I'm just kidding.

All right, my personal favorite way to exercise free will is to walk really long distances, because why the heck not?

But instead of our usual going to Manhattan to explore, Manhattan's that way.

We're gonna go somewhere a little more off the beaten path, it's that way.

people do this kind of stuff all the time just leaving books out for you to take

there were some on that stoop over there too it's so cool

all right this is one of the coolest recent discoveries I've made in the neighborhood

so this is strong place that I'm walking on no car behind me

and this looks like a church right I think at one point it definitely was well now it's condos inside

and I looked them up on street easy

and they're millions of dollars each they are really really pretty anyways

i was walking down the street at nighttime a few days ago

and people have their lights on inside and the windows open

so you can see right in it's kind of fun to be a looky -loo

Daniel Craig and Rachel Weiss just sold this townhouse for $12 million.

Public information.

after living here for the last five years i would say

that the things i enjoy exploring and going out

and doing it's changed quite a bit i think

when you first move here new york especially

but any big city really you're just you're drinking from a fire hose there's

so many places to go people to see bars

and restaurants to go to

but I would say over the last year especially the last eight months I have found

so much joy in going to places that are more off the beaten path

when you let yourself go sort of a different direction

you just stumble on cool stuff like this like I was training for the marathon

and then running through all these kind of random back streets

and I just stumbled on this it's a public sculpture yard

and it's really freaking cool

so let yourself go the wrong direction you might find something cool

and i think the neighborhood we're going to kind of embodies the whole off the beaten path thing

and that's why we're going let's carry on I'm in the house in the corner,

and it used to be called the Obama house, because when Bush was president, his helicopter would have to go over here,

and we put a big I love Obama sign on.

And then the wall disintegrated, so now you'll see what we've had now.

The artist who did this one, Jimmy Raskin, and the artist who did the other one was Mark The woman,

the third or the second, and my husband.

Oh my god, very cool.

This is Liz.

And we love the neighborhood.

I love it too.

Over a quarter of a century.

Wow, impressive.

Yeah.

And those are cuts by Frank Cook originally with all the prices.

The sculptures?

It is so cool.

What's the history to the sculpture yard?

She and her husband are collectors and promote art.

That's so cool.

She's a wonderful person.

I love it.

Thank you for saying hi.

I appreciate it.

Ah, well, you look great and you're walking great, too.

Hi. That is so cool.

That woman I was just talking to, Liz Magnus, lives right here.

She said so publicly.

Good to share this.

She's a jazz pianist and she said that when she and her husband moved here many, many years ago, there was absolutely nothing here.

And then we'll talk again in a very little bit because we are almost at the neighborhood that we're going to

all right guys we made it and i just got a compliment on my shirt

which is huge but time for the reveal

so the neighborhood we are in is largely known for one thing two things actually

The first one is Ikea.

The second thing that it's known for is having one of the best burgers in the city.

So they say.

The neighborhood is called Red Hood.

So let me orient you.

I printed these maps and they've been crumpled in my bag.

This is New York city

so we have manhattan we have the bronx we have queens

we have brooklyn down here satin island you got

it all right good this is a more zoomed in map

now in my videos

we have by far explored manhattan the most manhattan is sort of the most famous sort of quintessential new york

when you think of new york you probably think of manhattan

and i lived in manhattan for years

and then about eight months ago i moved to brooklyn

100

now brooklyn is also classic quintessential awesome new york in many ways

101

so many good neighborhoods

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we have three point williamsburg fort green clinton hill prospect heights

103

park slope dumbo brooklyn heights cobble hill all right by each other well you know kind of

104

so where's red hook red hook is all the way down here here's the ikea now it's not

105

that far away

106

but as the new york times put it a couple years ago it's an isolated brooklyn enclave

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that is resemblant of a forgotten seaside town

108

because the thing is you don't organically pass through red hook

109

there are no subway lines here it's hard to get to

110

and that right there the fact that it is isolated

111

and just so different and far removed from the rest of brooklyn

112

and manhattan that makes it appealing to me

113

but what makes it appealing to others you might ask well let me just show you.

114

Hi, how are you?

115

Good.

116

Awesome.

117

Connecticut lobster roll, please.

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Thank you.

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And then let's do the Pilsner on tap, please.

120

Yep.

121

Thank you so much.

122

I would say that peak free will is having a buttery lobster roll with fries

123

and a beer all by myself on a tuesday afternoon in red hook

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we're living good all right moment of truth because this looks insane oh my god

125

buttery you know i almost got the main lobster roll

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but it said the connecticut one was poached in butter

127

so i got the connecticut one naturally no man left behind dropped a piece

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we're eating it have a second roll oh man that is decadent i am intrigued

129

I will take this.

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Thank you so much.

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That was really cool.

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I just popped in Rocco Chocolatier.

133

And I talked to the woman.

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She just gave me all the rundown on how the extreme lengths they go to to have single origin,

135

ethical sourcing, all that, since the chocolate industry can be a controversial one when it comes to sourcing.

136

So it was cool to hear more about the process.

137

And then I bought a bar.

138

I'll show you.

139

So I am pretty basic with my chocolate.

140

I just like a really standard solid milk chocolate.

141

And most of theirs were a little bit more artisanal.

142

But this, she said, was the closest thing to like a good milk chocolate.

143

I tried it.

144

It tastes more like dark chocolate to me.

145

But I liked it.

146

So I bought a bar and I'm going to share with my roommate.

147

He's going to like it even more.

148

Sharks, the moment you've been waiting for.

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Red Hook, Brooklyn's most undervalued coastal asset.

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A whole neighborhood of industrial grip, cobblestone streets, and developable waterfront that the market has criminally underpriced.

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IKEA made their move here in 2008.

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What's stopping you?

153

The maritime renaissance is coming, and this is the last frontier of the Brooklyn waterfront.

154

I walked it today so i know all right joking

155

but what if i told you that i made

156

that deck in 20 seconds i did it with gamma a tool

157

that helps professionals from designers to marketing teams to founders build decks in seconds

158

that look professional

159

and visually beautiful as you saw no more banging your head against the wall trying to get things to align

160

i do not miss those days anyway gamma can either generate things from scratch

161

and then you customize it in any way that you want

162

or you can add all of your own info and Gamma helps out with the layout, spacing, and visual design.

163

Or you can just start with one of Gamma's many aesthetic templates.

164

The world is your oyster.

165

So if you never want to stare at a blank PowerPoint again, Gamma has everything that you need to present professionally but without the pain.

166

Click the link in my description to give it a try.

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Now back to red hook sharks gotcha

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and this is how you create the layers and yeah so it's like we have to move each layer like back

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Wow man how long is this

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it's all art studios so cool i just talked to

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that guy this is really really neat as i walk around even though things are closed

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and certain shops are closed you walk down any block

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and you find communal art spaces or woodworking in that case

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or leather works

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or glass works like i've already seen each one of these in such a short amount of blocks too

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so anyway we're on our way to a really cool one

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and he just told me where they relocated from where Google Maps shows that it was.

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And wow, look at this.

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It's so cool.

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So remember when I mentioned that

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Red Hook is really known for two things ikea

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and one of the best burgers in the city

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that's here red hook tavern notoriously difficult to get a table at

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and i played myself

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i thought coming here party of one on a tuesday afternoon

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like around 2 p .m weird time right who eats

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then me sometimes i thought i would have no trouble getting in they don't open till 5

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so no red hook tavern for me

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but apparently it's one of the best burgers so they say so i just have to wait for another day

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so close yet so far let's carry on an old subway car so cool

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there she is a frontal facing view you don't get

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that anywhere in manhattan look at her this is actually quite nice

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i mean it smells like the sea in the best way not like low tide but like the sea.

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Like you know you're next to the ocean.

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I can't say I've ever been in New York City and noticed the salty smell.

196

So this is pretty cool.

197

All right, this is one of the most famous of the restaurants here besides

198

Red Hook Tavern, obviously.

199

It is barbecue.

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I have not been here, but you know where I have been.

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I'll show you one sec lo and behold brooklyn crab probably the institution

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that screams come here in the summer when it's hot outside

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and i came here in february it was actually i think

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it was below freezing i came with uh two friends

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we got a pitcher of beer a bunch of crab it was delicious

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I need to come back when it's actually hot again.

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So what's the appeal of Red Hook?

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Well, it's secluded, it's industrial, it's known for its maritime history.

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It's got old cobblestones, it's a famous historic port, and it's turned so many of these historic warehouses into coffee houses and eateries,

210

and most notably, places for art.

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I don't think I've ever seen

212

so many art studios in such a short radius of blocks

213

but aside from all

214

that you know what the biggest appeal for me is it's just different it feels

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so uniquely different a little gritty underdeveloped compared to the rest of the city in a way

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that I really really love I'm sure

217

that it will look very different in 15 years

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so I'm glad to be here now exploring it

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while it has sort of some rough edges still I quite like it

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and you know what we've been saying for a

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while we got to go back to Red Hook especially in the summer

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and today I exerted my free will and did just that.

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Thank you guys for joining me.

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Until next time, turtle out.

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Open invite.

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Not so open.

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My roommate is filming this, but he has AirPods in so he can't hear me.

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I literally just asked him for the shirt off of his back for this, and he was like, yeah?

229

Get yourself a roommate who gives you the shirt off their back.

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All right, cut.

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We came here too in February and we got hot toddies.

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It was fun.

233

Name a better way to exert your free will.

234

I know some of you guys would comment on it if I didn't mention it, but Steve's authentic key lime pie,

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Red Hook is also famous for, and I got it on that fateful day in February.

236

It was good.

237

I have dinner in two hours though, so can't be having it right

238

now all right cav count of the day one oh that's a good one too yes yes

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “I Went to NYC's Most Secluded Neighborhood”. This video has 238 sentences and 2429 words to shadow. The speech runs for 16:30. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% 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
hook noun	/hʊk/	A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
explore verb	/ɪkˈsploɹ/	To examine or investigate something systematically.
roommate noun	/ˈɹu(m)ˌmeɪt/	A person with whom one shares a room, as in a dormitory, barracks, rooming house, or apartment.
gamma noun	/ˈɡæ.mə/	The third letter of the Greek alphabet (Γ, γ), preceded by beta (Β, β) and followed by delta, (Δ, δ).
burger noun	/ˈbɝ.ɡɚ/	A hamburger.
subway noun	/ˈsʌbˌweɪ/	An underground railway, especially for mass transit of people in urban areas.
sculpture noun	/ˈskʌlpt͡ʃɚ/	A three-dimensional work of art created by shaping malleable objects and letting them harden or by chipping away pieces from a rock (sculpting).
lobster noun	/ˈlɑb.stɚ/	A crustacean of the Nephropidae family, dark green or blue-black in colour turning bright red when cooked, with a hard shell and claws, which is used as a…
tavern noun	/ˈtævəɹn/	A restaurant or bar.
deck noun	/ˈdɛk/	Any raised flat surface that can be walked on: a balcony; a porch; a raised patio; a flat rooftop.
insane adjective	/ɪnˈseɪn/	Exhibiting unsoundness or disorder of mind; not sane; utterly mad.
layer noun	/ˈleɪ̯ɚ/	A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
maritime adjective	/ˈmæɹ.ɪˌtaɪm/	Relating to or connected with the sea or its uses (as navigation, commerce, etc.).
crab noun	/kɹæb/	Any crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.
isolate verb	/ˈaɪ.sə.leɪt/	To set apart or cut off from others.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
walk down verb	To continually advance (on an opponent) and punch (the opponent) in order to control the fight and dominate the opponent, while shrugging off the opponent's…
come back verb	To return to a place.
go back to verb	To stem from; to originate in.
go out verb	To leave, especially a building.
go over verb	To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.
leave behind verb	To abandon.
pass through verb	To go through, to travel through, to transit or lie across a place or from one place to another.
run through verb	To summarise briefly.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Don't you have work?
I know what I'm doing.
What are you doing?
What's the history to the sculpture yard?
Hi, how are you?

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	you've been waiting · we've been saying
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've made · have found · we've had
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	be called · is called · they've been crumpled
Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group	the coolest · the best · the most manhattan

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 46 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we're, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: leather /ˈlɛðɚ/, marathon /ˈmæɹəθən/, ethical /ˈɛθɪkəl/, authentic /ɔˈθɛn.tɪk/, aesthetic /ɛsˈθɛ.tɪk/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, controversial /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.ʃəl/, quintessential /ˌkwɪntɪˈsɛnʃəl/
Long words — get the stress right: naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, institution /ˌɪn.stɪˈtʃuː.ʃən/, controversial /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.ʃəl/, helicopter /ˈheliːˌkɔptə(ɹ)/, visually /ˈvɪzju.əli/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like hook, explore, roommate.

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 Went to NYC's Most Secluded Neighborhood - 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?

De-influencing you on life in New York City - a truly realistic take