Shadowing Practice: Interview with Bruno Mars: – That's the hardest question anyone has ever asked | Skavlan - Learn English Speaking with Video

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This new album is called 24 karat magic.

Please welcome Bruno Mars.

Hi Bruno, I'd like to see you again.

How are you?

Good.

Great to have you here again.

It feels good to be back.

It's cold out there out there.

It's cold out here, yes it's wintry.

Yeah.

And tell me, it's I mean, having listened to your rehearsal here, it's really all about dancing now.

It's dance music, isn't it?

Yeah, that's what music's supposed to do.

Yeah, make it make you dance.

So what, I mean, the internet is full of Bruno Mars moves.

Oh yeah?

You never, you never google yourself?

No, never.

Really?

It says Bruno Mars moves.

It's a, well if you google Bruno Mars moves, I don't do this often.

You were trying some?

I did yesterday.

And to prepare a few moves.

I did it to just...

I mean, what I wanted to do was see what are the new moves of the year.

Well, I'm your guy.

So, yeah, exactly.

So what are your favourite moves?

My favourite?

What is the perfect move this year?

The Bruno move.

I don't care of magic in the air.

I've never seen that before.

Well, you know...

Because you do something here.

That's it!

Amazing.

Bruno, you call yourself a student of music.

What do you mean by that?

Before anyone knew who I was, I was producing music for other artists.

I had to be able to produce for a rock artist, a hip hop artist, all kinds of different music.

So it's my job to study all kinds of music.

So I'm allowed to go into the studio and know what they're talking about, know what worlds they come from.

So therefore I'm a student of music.

I've read somewhere about you that you are the kind of musician that has music constantly in your head.

Yeah.

How does that work?

Take us in...

How does it take us in there?

You don't want to go in there.

No, it's just, you know, I'm constantly, for this album, I was constantly thinking about how I could make it better, how I could make the chorus better,

different chord progressions, different drum beats.

And now that the album's ready and I've got to perform, I'm thinking about, all right, how the light's going to hit.

And I want to make sure everyone, we traveled all this way I want to make sure everyone has a good time

so I'm always constantly thinking about something involved with music do

you do you ever get time off do you ever does

it ever get quiet no what do you do to get

some time off I like movies I go to the movies

you play cards as well I do yeah what kind of cards is

that I used to play poker a lot how do you do I mean Are you any good or is it?

No, I used to play a long time ago.

For a long time, that's how I would pay my rent.

And then I stopped.

So you paid your rent by playing poker?

Yeah.

So I take it you won more than you lost?

I wouldn't go that far.

I got, I had a lucky streak for a while, but at some point it had to come crashing down.

You can't, you know, your shoebox of money starts depleting.

You know, you have, I had a couple, a couple dollars in a shoebox, and then all of a sudden my car breaks down,

and whatever, doctor bill, and all of a sudden that money's not looking so pretty.

We were talking about that earlier in this programme.

And I know you don't like to talk about the election.

I'm not going to talk about that.

But we were talking about class.

And I wonder, because now you're sort of pop royalty in America.

Thanks.

You are, of course.

But sometimes before that, I mean, have you ever experienced the other side of it?

Have you ever experienced to be really on the other end of the scale?

Yeah, my whole life I feel like I've been struggling to do what I want to do, and that was music.

And it just wasn't easy.

I had to go through some things.

But you can't regret it because I might not be here if it wasn't for that journey that I had to take.

So were you like poor or middle poor?

Poor is an understatement.

I was below poor.

Well, you see, it started off, my father had a show in Hawaii.

And it was a successful show.

And we were doing good were well off.

When my father and mother divorced,

we lost the businesses and then that kind of spiraled into getting as poor as it gets.

This is something you just decided that you were going to be an artist, you were going to be a star.

I was always going to be doing music.

That's all I know.

There's videos of me you could look up on the internet of me is this big singing

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and dancing and I'm not good at anything else.

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And that's all I wanted to do and I was just, I wanted to take it to the next level,

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that's why I moved to California and figured out that you have to write your own song.

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You can't tell, you can't ask anybody, you know I was going into the studio saying, I wish I could, I want to do a song that sounds like this and feels like this.

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They don't know what you're talking about.

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So the only way I had to do it myself.

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Do you agree that this is also a part of your gambling personality?

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Yeah, I think I'm always betting on.

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A huge gamble to just make it.

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Yeah, I'm always betting on myself.

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Before anything.

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I bet on me.

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Do you have a gambling personality?

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I don't gamble.

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So that's what the voice is telling you?

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Don't gamble.

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Yeah, yeah.

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I'm sure you've taken risks.

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That's really what it's about.

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I never play poker and I don't gamble in that sense.

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But you have to be willing to go to the comfort zone and just go for it.

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When you write a song, you very much think about a film.

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Or in the perspective that you're telling a story.

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Well, no, for this album, because I love music so much and because I come from a producer background and work with different artists,

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for this album, I kind of tricked myself and said, I'm going to write a movie.

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I'm going to write a script.

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And I can see it in my head I can see me

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and my band dancing and gold everywhere and women screaming for me when I do interviews

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so that's how you envision it I just I just envisioned

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that I envision this fun album that made people want to dance, made people want to fall in love, make people want to make love and dance again.

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It was because of my upbringing.

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There's music that I grew up with that I was dancing.

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Me and my friends when I think about the height like going up in Hawaii, if you didn't dance, girls weren't looking at you.

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So it was very important that you knew how to dance and that was the music that was playing on the radio.

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And that's the music you make today?

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That's the music I aspire to make.

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I remember that feeling of wow this feels so right, this feels so good.

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So I was just trying to make, with this album that's what I was aiming for.

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Is to try to capture that feeling and give it to the world.

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And one last question before you go on stage.

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I just wonder if you were to pick one song that can really get you up on the floor.

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And it's none of your own songs, right?

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That can make you...

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I mean, you're in a disco, and the DJ puts on one song.

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Which song would be the best choice?

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The best choice?

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I'm gonna ask you two afterwards, so prepare.

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That's the hardest question anyone has ever asked me.

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Right now, how I feel...

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Rick James, Super Freak.

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Rick James, Super Freak.

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I'll make you note of that and I'm going to play it in a locked room by myself, very loud when I come home.

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Yeah, nobody's going to see me.

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Which one is your favourite?

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Love Cat with The Cure.

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It's a really good song.

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I grew up with that one.

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I think it would have to be something with ABBA.

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Of course it should be ABBA.

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Don't you like ABBA? Who doesn't like ABBA?

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I know!

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I mean, I even like ABBA.

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That's like cheating.

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Safe bet.

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You can't answer safe bet.

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That's like cheating.

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What's your favorite ABBA tune?

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You can dance, you can stop, having the time of your life.

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Thank you so much, Bruno Mars.

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Thank you so much.

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Boost Your English Speaking with Bruno Mars' Interview: What You'll Learn

This lively conversation is a goldmine for honing real-world speaking skills. First, you’ll practice casual small talk—how to respond naturally to questions like “How are you?” or “What’s new?” (perfect for IELTS speaking practice!). Second, you’ll learn to explain your process (e.g., “I study all kinds of music to produce for different artists”)—a key skill for describing experiences or opinions. Finally, you’ll pick up conversational flow, like how to keep a dialogue moving with short, engaging replies. Use a shadowing site to mimic the back-and-forth; it’s a great way to build confidence in everyday chats.

Listen For These Sounds: Connected Speech in Action

Native speakers often link words or reduce sounds—let’s break down what’s happening here. Notice how “It’s cold out there out there” becomes “It’s col(d) ou(t) the(re) ou(t) the(re)” (the “d” and “t” sounds are softened). Also, “I don’t do this often” turns into “I don’t do this of(t)en” (the “t” in “often” is almost silent). These small changes make speech sound smoother. Practice listening for these links—they’re crucial for improving English pronunciation. A shadowspeak tool can help you spot them more easily!

Say It Like a Native: Rhythm and Stress Tips

Bruno Mars’ speech has a relaxed, rhythmic flow—let’s mirror that. In phrases like “That’s what music’s supposed to do,” stress the key words: “That’s what music’s supposed to do.” This makes your speech sound natural and easy to follow. Also, pay attention to pauses: he pauses briefly before explaining “So it’s my job to study all kinds of music,” which gives the listener time to process. Try shadow speaking along with the video, focusing on stress and pauses—you’ll notice a difference in your fluency. Whether you’re prepping for IELTS or just want to sound more confident, mastering this rhythm is key.

Ready to practice? Use a shadowing site to replay short clips, mimic the tone, and nail those connected sounds. With shadow speak, you’ll turn casual conversations into powerful learning tools—one move (and one phrase) at a time!

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to play
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've never seen · I've read · Have you ever experienced

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: Interview with Bruno Mars: – That's the hardest question anyone has ever asked | Skavlan - Learn English Speaking with Video

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What is the Shadowing Technique?