Shadowing Practice: If You're Suffering, Please Watch This Video - Learn English Speaking with Video
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92 sentences
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1
Excuse me sir, sorry to bother you.
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My name is Chris, I'm a portrait photographer and I thought you had a really interesting look.
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Really?
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You look really great.
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Thank you for that.
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I appreciate that.
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No problem, no problem.
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And you look like you're a man with depth.
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So I have this thing on social media where I just approach people
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and ask if I can take the picture
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and you don't have to say yes to me you don't feel pressured or you're a little bit shy
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it's been a weird few months why is
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that i can go in depth
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but i don't want to take up too much of your time
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i have all the time in the world you know what's your name vice shake in vice vice
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cool name vice what is it you're doing in in the world
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i don't know man i'm kind of trying to I figured it out.
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I'm writing a book.
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It's an album.
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Yeah, it's a weird story.
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It's a long story.
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I make music.
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You make music?
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Yeah.
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Are you from London originally?
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Yeah, I've pretty much lived here my whole life.
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Sorry man, forgive me.
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I survived a really difficult night.
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and since then I've been convinced the girl that helped me survive the night is real
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and like I've been writing songs about it for the past six years.
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Long story short, I was trying to take my own life
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and I decided to do it on a train track but I didn't and I was too scared to,
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I went and sat on the train the whole night until I physically like, it was from like 12pm to like 6am,
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I physically sat on that train until I saw the sunrise
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and I felt safe and I created a story from
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that as if there was this girl telling me to find her
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when I wake up and that's the adventure I went on
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that train and I wrote something about let me show you oh that's you yes sir vice monroe
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and you're on Spotify yes sir oh my goodness eight million yeah oh my goodness man well done well done
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so basically vice you are creating art you are creating art
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that is helping other people this song that I wrote for seven stops until sunrise it saved a lot of their
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it saved them from
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that difficult night the whole story is just as simple as
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surviving the most difficult night of your life in order to live how long ago was
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that if you went through that night 10 years ago 10 years ago when I was 17
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When you were 17.
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I wrote this song three years ago, so seven years after that night.
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And three years ago the song connected with so many people, they were telling me how it helped them.
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It drove me crazy because it was like, I felt an imposter syndrome.
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This was just my story.
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It connected so deeply with them.
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And after that period I started getting these dreams of what I call her the Sunrise Girl.
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And she was coming to me in these dreams.
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Well, Vice, I am so happy that you're still here, man.
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I'm so happy that you're still here.
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Thank you.
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Yeah.
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Would it be okay?
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Could I get a couple of pictures?
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It'd be my pleasure.
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I'm not photogenic.
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You can tell me no. If you prefer not to, that's okay.
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I want to.
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I'm just scared.
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I'm just scared.
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That's it.
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I want to.
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I'm just grateful.
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I'm grateful you came after me.
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A lot of people will think this is stage.
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I trust my intuition when I approach somebody and I just knew you're a man with a story.
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I appreciate that, man.
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And you look great, so don't put yourself down.
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Don't put yourself down.
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Thank you.
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And how are you now after going through all of that 10 years ago?
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How are you feeling now?
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Grateful.
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You're grateful.
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I just want this story to exist so that it can help.
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That's it.
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I don't want nothing else.
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As I say, I trust my intuition.
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I was about to go home.
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I saw you there and I immediately thought I have to speak to him I'm a bit nervous.
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I'm a bit shy but I think this is a sign for me to like not,
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you know I don't know what made you come to me
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but I believe it was you were meant to at this company.
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Now have you heard?
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Yes, of course.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “If You're Suffering, Please Watch This Video”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: vice, grateful, train, song, sunrise. This video has 92 sentences and 771 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:03. The speaker talks at a natural 153 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| grateful adjective | /ˈɡɹeɪtf(ə)l/ | Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful. |
| scare verb | /skɛɚ/ | To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way. |
| sunrise noun | /ˈsʌnɹaɪz/ | The time of day when the sun appears above the eastern horizon. |
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| physically adverb | /ˈfɪz.ɪ.kli/ | In a physical manner. |
| goodness noun | /ˈɡʊdnəs/ | The state or characteristic of being good. |
| intuition noun | /ˌɪn.tjuːˈɪʃ.ən/ | Immediate cognition without the use of conscious rational processes. |
| adventure noun | /ədˈvɛn.t͡ʃə/ | A feeling of desire for new and exciting things. |
| deeply adverb | /ˈdi(ː)pli/ | To a deep extent or degree; very greatly. |
| bother verb | /ˈbɑðɚ/ | To annoy, to disturb, to irritate; to be troublesome to, to make trouble for. |
| shake verb | /ˈʃeɪk/ | To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly. |
| photographer noun | /fəˈtɑ.ɡɹə.fɚ/ | One who takes photographs, typically as an occupation. |
| convince verb | /kənˈvɪns/ | To make someone believe, or feel sure about something, especially by using logic, argument or evidence. |
| forgive verb | /fɚˈɡɪv/ | To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against. |
| syndrome noun | /ˈsɪndɹoʊm/ | A recognizable pattern of signs, symptoms and/or behaviours, especially of a disease or medical or psychological condition. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| take up verb | To pick up. | |
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm so happy that you're still here.
- Could I get a couple of pictures?
- If you prefer not to, that's okay.
- I'm grateful you came after me.
- How are you feeling now?
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 | it's been · I've been · have you heard |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was trying · were telling · was coming |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | you're doing · I'm writing · are creating |
| Obligation: must / have to / need to saying that something is necessary | have to say · have to speak |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 32 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: intuition /ˌɪn.tjuːˈɪʃ.ən/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/
- Long words — get the stress right: intuition /ˌɪn.tjuːˈɪʃ.ən/, photographer /fəˈtɑ.ɡɹə.fɚ/, photogenic /ˌfoʊ.toʊˈd͡ʒɛn.ɪk/
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 grateful, scare, sunrise.
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.