Shadowing Practice: John Sinclair Revolutionary on Revolution. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

69 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

Revolution is always possible.

I mean, it's a matter of people organizing and overthrowing the government.

But there's no doing it without struggle and organization and effort and discipline.

You always have a revolution.

You just gotta do it.

You can't do it by having a TV program.

You can't have it by making a movie or something.

The revolution is people getting together and fighting the government head on.

The police state is what I hate about it most.

The police state, he says.

It's just all set up as a police state.

And everybody, they got people perfectly trained to go along with it.

Can we search your car?

Sure.

Can you take your shoes off?

You want to get on a plane?

Take your shoes off.

Okay, great.

If you had a revolution here, you would have to throw out the capitalists.

You'd have to assassinate the bankers.

You'd have to land the Republicans up against the wall.

Wouldn't be nothing nice.

You'd have to put Karl Rhove's hand on a pike.

We shunned the news.

We shunned anything to do with the overground.

We had our own press.

We could put on our own concerts.

We had our own sound system.

We had our own radio shows.

You know, we believed in self -determination.

That if you wanted to do something, you had to do it yourself.

You had to make it happen.

And conversely, we weren't interested.

We didn't...

We rode off the square.

We just fell off the square.

They didn't have a chance to understand what we were talking about.

Maybe their kids would.

I don't think that they even know what a revolution is.

What do they know?

The closest thing they know to a revolution is buying something with Chez Bavaria's face on it.

To wear around their head or something.

That's as close as they get, man.

You got the world's greatest living revolutionary, 90 Minutes for America, Fidel Castro, and they're just trying to throw him out.

And have been for 50 years.

But he had a revolution.

It's not easy to unseat him because he organized the people to support his ideas and they won.

They drove the bad guys out and they fought the U .S.

to a standstill and that was quite difficult.

So what advice do you have to people in their 20s in America?

Do what you want.

And what about the revolution?

Well, if you want to have a revolution, have a revolution.

You gotta decide what you want to have, what kind of world you want to live in, and then try and make it happen.

Even if you don't win, you have a ball trying to do it.

We had a ball.

Day in and day out.

Except for the police, we had a ball.

Trying to demonstrate to our lives that there was a different way

that you could live and you didn't have to be like that.

It was wonderful.

I don't know why they gave up, but I didn't.

I'm still the state.

Well, I don't know, you win by fighting.

You win by resisting.

You know, you won by not going on with the program.

I did.

Thank you.

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

54 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “John Sinclair Revolutionary on Revolution”. This video has 69 sentences and 544 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:40. The speaker talks at a steady 148 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 88% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
shoe noun	/ˈʃu/	A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of…
organize verb	/ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/	To arrange in working order.
discipline noun	/ˈdɪsəplɪn/	A controlled behaviour; self-control.
demonstrate verb	/ˈdɛm.ənˌstɹeɪt/	To show how to use (something).
resist verb	/ɹɪˈzɪst/	To attempt to counter the actions or effects of.
revolutionary noun	/ˌɹɛvəˈluʃənɛɹi/	A revolutionist; a person who revolts.
determination noun	/dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən/	The act, process, or result of any accurate measurement, as of length, volume, weight, intensity, etc.
capitalist noun	/ˈkæp.ɪ.tə.lɪst/	The owner of a considerable amount of capital; a wealthy person.
banker noun	/ˈbæŋkəː/	One who conducts the business of banking; one who, individually, or as a member of a company, keeps an establishment for the deposit or loan of money, or for…
overthrow verb	/ˌoʊvɚˈθɹoʊ/	To bring about the downfall of (a government, etc.), especially by force; to usurp.
conversely adverb	/kənˈvɝsli/	With a reversed relationship.
shun verb	/ʃʌn/	To avoid, especially persistently; ostracize.
assassinate verb	/əˈsæs(ə)nˌeɪt/	To murder someone, especially an important person, by a sudden or obscure attack, especially for ideological or political reasons.
overground noun		A commuter rail or similar rail transport system, or a train in such systems, generally running through an urban area largely above ground and faster than an…
standstill noun	/ˈstændˌstɪl/	A complete immobility; a halt.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
fall off verb		To become detached or to drop from.
get together verb		To meet, to gather together, to congregate.
give up verb		To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
go along with verb		To acquiesce to or comply with a proposal, despite lacking a desire or value for it.
ride off verb		To ride defensively so as to deflect an opposing player.
set up verb	/ˌsɛt ˈʌp/	To make ready for use.
throw out verb	/ˈθɹəʊ ˌaʊt/	To discard; to dispense with something; to throw away.

Sentences worth repeating

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

Can we search your car?
Can you take your shoes off?
You want to get on a plane?

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 19 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, you'd. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shoe /ˈʃu/, revolutionary /ˌɹɛvəˈluʃənɛɹi/, determination /dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən/, shun /ʃʌn/
Long words — get the stress right: revolutionary /ˌɹɛvəˈluʃənɛɹi/, determination /dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən/, capitalist /ˈkæp.ɪ.tə.lɪst/, assassinate /əˈsæs(ə)nˌeɪt/

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 shoe, organize, discipline.

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: John Sinclair Revolutionary on Revolution. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

V For Vendetta Speech - Seeds of Revolution! HD

What is Marxism? (And Why The Outrage is Wrong)

Dylan Palacio: 'I'm a dangerous man when it comes to freedom'

Interview with Malcolm X after return from Mecca, Hajj in 1964 Complete

Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters EXPLOSIVE Interview Sets Record Straight

Society doesn't want us to be free | Krishnamurti

Take Action If You Want Changes - President Obama Motivational Speech

The unpopular idea that would save San Francisco

Ho Chi Minh: The Price of Freedom | Historical Documentary | Lucasfilm

Slade in Flame (1975) - Charlie (Don Powell) starts to have doubts

BLK Overseer Defends Charlie Kirk... Marquett Teaches Him a Lesson