Shadowing Practice: Learn English with BREAKING BAD — Walter White Meets SAUL GOODMAN - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Oh yeah, let's learn English with Breaking Bad.
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Oh yeah, let's learn English with Breaking Bad.
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Mr.
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Mayhew, nice of you to come down.
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Please.
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Oh, look at you.
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Should I call the FBI and tell him I found D.B.
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Cooper?
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Joking.
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Come on.
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Please.
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Hello.
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Saul Goodman.
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Please sit.
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So it's a shame that we have to meet under these circumstances.
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So, Walter White's former student, Badger, or Brandon, has been arrested for selling crystal meth.
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And Walt is afraid that Brandon will snitch.
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So he goes to meet with his lawyer, Saul Goodman, to make sure that Brandon stays quiet.
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By the way, if you snitch on someone, it means that you inform on others to the police or the authorities, especially in criminal context.
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And we're going to learn more than 16 other advanced expressions in today's lesson.
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You don't want to get into a conversation, have a chance to use one of these, and not remember it.
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You want to be able to use every one of these confidently, just like a native, right?
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The easiest way for you to do this is with the flashcards that we created for you on our app.
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These use a scientific method called space repetition, which works like super glue to make new words stick in your head.
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See for yourself.
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You can get the premium lesson with Breaking Bad for free using the link in the description below.
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And now, let's meet Saul Goodman.
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Excuse me, the DEA?
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Yeah, that's the Drug Enforcement Administration, the feds.
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I hope that I'm not the breaker of bad news, but your nephew got mixed up with some pretty nasty customers.
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I understand that, but what does that have to do with the DEA?
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They're after some mystery man, some heavy hitter that goes by the name Heisenberg.
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Look, look, what about reprisals?
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I mean, if Badger, if Brandon informs on this Heisenberg, I mean, what if, God forbid, that they decide to take revenge?
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What have you been telling him?
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The kid keeps spouting off about, if I talk, they'll kill me, blah, blah, blah.
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You know, right now, he's the only thing holding up this deal.
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Good.
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No, that's not good.
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That's terrible.
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Now, although Walt is pretending to be Brandon's uncle, he doesn't really care about helping Brandon to get out of prison.
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Rather, he's afraid that Brandon is going to reveal that he is in fact Heisenberg.
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By the way, did you catch Saul's opening joke?
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Oh, look at you.
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Should I call the FBI and tell him I found D.B.
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Cooper?
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Here's a fascinating piece of history.
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D.B.
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Cooper is one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in American history.
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In 1971, a man using the name Dan Cooper, later misreported as D.B.
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Cooper, hijacked a plane, demanded $200,000 in ransom, and then parachuted out of the aircraft with the money.
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Despite a massive FBI investigation, he was never found.
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So we can see why Walt's outfit is a bit surprising and Saul decides to poke fun at him.
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Now let's dive into the expressions from that first clip.
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Good things are happening.
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Fact is, your nephew is going to get out in no time.
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Here, Saul is basically telling Walt that Badger won't spend a lot of time in prison.
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He'll be released soon.
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You can use this in other contexts too.
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For example, imagine you're stuck in traffic, but then it suddenly clears up.
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You might say, we'll get there in no time.
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Or if someone is worried about a minor surgery, a doctor might reassure them, don't worry, you'll be out of here in no time.
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Next Saul said an expression that I personally use a lot.
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There's still a few details to be ironed out, but now that the DEA is involved, I think looking at time served and probation.
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This expression comes from ironing clothes.
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Just like you iron out wrinkles and fabric, you iron out problems in a plan.
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Like when you plan a trip, if you booked your flight and hotel already, then you just need to iron out the details like tours you'll do and restaurants you'll eat at.
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We could even say that you're a good English speaker, but you need to iron out some mistakes.
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Saul also used a legal term here.
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There's still a few details to be ironed out, but now that the DEA is involved, I think he's looking at time served and probation.
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These are two sentences a judge could give as a punishment for a crime.
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Time served refers to time spent in prison.
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And probation is a period after release from prison where you have to follow certain rules, like checking in with a probation officer, not leaving the state, or passing drug tests.
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If you break these rules, you can be sent back to jail.
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I think he's looking at time served than probation.
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I bet you feel like Saul speaks fast and is difficult to understand.
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However, this is more about his use of connected speech than the actual velocity of his speaking.
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That's how we natives cut, reduce, and link our words together in fluent speech.
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Listen to what he said here again.
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You might have noticed before that with words ending in ing, we often drop the g sound.
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So here, instead of saying looking, he said looking, looking.
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The t in at is a glottal t.
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This means that it's cut off at the back of the throat.
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Pay attention to the difference.
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So instead of looking at, we hear looking at.
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Later, we hear a similar example when Saul asks this question.
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When we have pronouns like him, her, and them, we often cut the first consonant sound.
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So this becomes telling him.
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telling him.
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Your speaking will only improve with lots of practice.
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So listen to those two lines again and try to say them just like Saul did.
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I think he's looking at time served.
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I think he's looking at time served.
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What have you been telling him?
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What have you been telling him?
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Next, we heard Saul use a creative variation of a common expression.
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Usually, we say someone is the bearer of bad news.
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That means the person who has to deliver information that the other person probably won't like.
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Here's another example.
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your psychic friend's predictions about the drug case were wrong, which means all of her predictions are wrong.
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So I'll probably confuse this with another expression, breaking news.
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You might hear this on a news program when something has just happened and they interrupt the scheduled programming to report on it.
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And Saul said Badger got mixed up with nasty customers.
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When you get mixed up with someone, it means that you get involved with them, usually in a bad way.
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You didn't plan to get into trouble, but you ended up connected to dangerous people.
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Check out this example.
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Can I ask you a question?
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Okay.
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How'd you get mixed up with a guy like Wes?
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Now let's listen to some connected speech that Walt used here.
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I understand that, but what does that have to do with the DEA?
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Wow, that was fast.
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But what does that have to do with the DEA?
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When we have a T-D combination at the end of one word and start of the next, usually we just pronounce the second one.
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So what does becomes one fluent sound like what is, what is.
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To usually reduces to just ta.
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Have to often just sounds like hafta, hafta.
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So this full question is not what does that have to do with, but what does that have to do with?
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What does that have to do with?
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to Walt again and try to say it just like him.
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A heavy hitter is someone who is powerful or influential in their field.
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The term comes from baseball, where heavy hitters hit the ball really hard and score a lot of runs.
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In In business or even crime, a heavy hitter is someone at the top of the organization.
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Think about Apple or Microsoft.
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Tim Cook and Satya Nadella are heavy hitters in the tech industry.
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Now listen to this example.
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The party was a complete home run.
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All the fashion heavy hitters were there.
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Look, look, what about reprisals?
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What do you think reprisals are?
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rewards for good behavior, acts of revenge, legal appeals.
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Great, this word is formal and Walt may have chosen it because he's talking to a lawyer.
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However, you'll probably more commonly just hear revenge.
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But then we hear Saul use a couple of nice informal phrasal verbs.
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First, to
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spout off about something means to talk about it a lot, often in an annoying way.
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Imagine you have a friend who just learned about cryptocurrency and won't stop talking about it.
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You might ask them to stop spouting off about Bitcoin.
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Next, when Saul says that Brandon is holding up the deal, he means Brandon's fear is an obstacle preventing the deal from moving forward.
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In business, you might hear, we're ready to sign the contract, but there's one issue holding up the deal.
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Or in real estate, the home inspection found some problems that are holding up the sale.
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Now let's continue with the next part of the scene.
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Trust me, sir, your nephew won't last in prison two weeks.
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You let him take his chances on the outside.
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Maybe I can work in some witness protection.
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No, look, look.
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These are vicious, desperate people.
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I've been told that one of them killed another man by crushing his head with an ATM machine.
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People love to take credit for the fun ones.
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The guy who got his head smushed used to be a client of mine.
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His wife killed him, all right?
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It was open and shut.
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Trust me, you folks have nothing to worry about, okay?
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I'm going to set your nephew straight, yet I'm singing like a canary.
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all's right with the world.
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$10,000.
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$10,000.
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Cash.
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To you.
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I'm not saying to throw the case.
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Just no talking to the DEA.
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Are you saying what I think you're saying?
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Yes.
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What's it going to be?
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Trust me, sir.
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Your nephew won't last in prison two weeks.
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You let him take his chances on the outside.
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When you take your chances, you decide to face an uncertain situation and accept whatever happens.
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Saul is saying Brandon should risk revenge outside of prison rather than face the guaranteed danger inside.
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For example, when the weather looks uncertain, you might say, I don't know if it'll rain, but I'm going to take my chances and not bring an umbrella.
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Here's another example.
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I'm going to go to Moscow.
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Wait, wait, wait, wait.
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Hold on.
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You can't just go to the Soviet Union, Hank.
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You need a business visa, a full background check.
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It takes months.
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Well, get a tourist visa then.
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So you lie.
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But that's a felony.
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They could throw you in jail.
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I'll take my chances.
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Next, let's take a moment to talk about grammar.
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Maybe I can work in some witness protection.
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No, look, look.
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These are vicious, desperate people.
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I've been told that one of them killed another man by crushing his head with an ATM machine.
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Notice how Walt says, I've been told rather than someone told me.
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Why did he use the present perfect here?
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We use the present perfect when the exact time doesn't matter, but the information is still relevant now.
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So although using the simple past would also be correct here, we'll probably use the present perfect to emphasize the importance of this information to the present moment.
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You'll hear this a lot in news reporting.
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We've been told that the president will make an announcement.
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Or when planning where to have dinner, your friend might say, I've been told that this restaurant is excellent.
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People love to take credit for the fun ones.
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To take credit for something means to claim responsibility for it.
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Usually we take credit for good things we've done.
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Like if you have friends over to your house for dinner and they compliment the food, you might take credit for cooking.
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However, Saul is joking darkly that criminals often brag about traumatic murders.
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By the way, the opposite would be take the blame, accepting responsibility for something bad.
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I've been told that one of them killed another man by crushing his head with an ATM machine.
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People love to take credit for the fun ones.
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The guy who got his head smushed used to be a client of mine.
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His wife killed him.
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All right, it was open and shut.
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Now, what do you think smushed means?
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Exploded?
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Cut?
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Crushed?
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Right.
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Smush is an informal, somewhat playful word meaning to crush something, like with this stress ball here.
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It's interesting that Saul uses this almost cute-sounding word to describe something so violent.
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It shows his dark sense of humor.
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For example, kids love to smush Play-Doh.
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Here's another example.
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Norton's tree.
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Yeah?
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You mean the dead one I've been asking him to take down for three years before it finally blew over that tree?
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It really got smushed.
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You ain't kidding.
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And Saul used an expression we can hear in many police and law TV series.
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People love to take credit for the fun ones.
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The guy who got his head smushed used to be a client of mine.
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His wife killed him, all right?
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It was open and shut.
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When a case is open and shut, it's very clear with obvious evidence.
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There's no doubt about what happened.
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Think about someone who is caught stealing with the stolen goods in their bag.
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That's open and shut.
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You might use this outside of legal context too.
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It's an open and shut decision.
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We obviously need to hire her.
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She's by far the best candidate.
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Let's check out a final bit of connected speech Saul used here.
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The guy who got his head smushed used to be a client of mine.
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Used to be a client of mine.
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First off, of often is reduced to just a schwa sound.
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Uh, uh.
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And when we have an N and T together, we usually drop the T sound, like in advantage, dentist, or internet.
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So instead of a robotic client of mine, this becomes a fluent client of mine.
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Client of mine.
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Listen to Saul again and try to say that just like him.
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The guy who got his head smushed used to be a client of mine.
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Used to be a client of mine.
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By the way, can I ask you a quick favor?
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We depend on your feedback to make lessons you enjoy and that will help you to speak English confidently and fluently.
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So take just a moment to pause the lesson and comment below one series, movie, or celebrity you would love for us to make a lesson with.
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The RealLife team and I read every single comment.
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Trust me, you folks have nothing to worry about, okay?
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I'm going to set your nephew straight, yet I'm singing like a canary.
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all's right with the world.
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To set someone straight means to get someone to behave properly.
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You might often hear that a parent set their child straight when they did something wrong.
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I should have listened to her in high school instead of to those mean girls.
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You know if I was in high school with you?
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I would have set them straight.
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And I love this other colorful idiom that Saul used.
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I'm gonna set your nephew straight, yet I'm singing like a canary, all's right with the world.
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What do you think singing like a canary means?
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Singing beautifully, being very happy, revealing secret information.
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Exactly.
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When someone sings like a canary, they're telling everything they know to the authorities, usually to get a better deal for themselves.
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Canaries are songbirds known for their singing, so the image is of someone who can't stop talking and revealing information.
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Finally, we have throw a case, which in legal terms means to deliberately lose a case, usually because you've been bribed.
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This is obviously illegal and unethical.
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You might also hear about athletes throwing a game, losing on purpose.
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Here's another example.
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Let me make things a little easier for you.
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Figure out a way to throw this case or figure out where you're going to work when you get out of here because I don't know where it's going to be if it's not for us.
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I hope you had a lot of fun learning English with Breaking Bad.
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And if you want to be able to understand fast speaking natives without getting lost, without missing the jokes and without subtitles, then we help you to do that every single week with two new lessons with really fantastic series, movies and celebrities that you love.
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So join over 10 million English learners from around the world who are doing exactly that.
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Just hit the subscribe button and the bell down below and you won't miss a single new lesson.
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And if you're really ready to become a confident natural English speaker, the best way is with the real life app where you can learn with these lessons and never forget all of the advanced native expressions by using our magic flashcards.
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Plus, we have a lot of other great tools like our AI coach where you can practice speaking English in a safe environment.
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So you'll really become confident using all these new words.
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Check it out for free with the link down in the description And if you're sticking with us here on YouTube, then I recommend you check out this lesson next You want to see me?
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Did you go see joy after I told you not to?
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I Told you a puppy can't clean up its own mess.
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Look my plates full with stable shelters.
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I need you to look into Jerome's daughter But if you think that means that I can't kick your ass up and down this floor Take a swing and see what happens Look, I took him the offer.
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I presented it to him and recommended that he take it.
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In fact, I urged him to take it.
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You know what he told me to do?
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He told me to tell you to shove it up your ass.
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About This Lesson

In this engaging lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills using a thrilling scene from the popular TV show Breaking Bad. Walter White, a former teacher turned meth manufacturer, meets with his lawyer, Saul Goodman, to discuss the arrest of a former student. As you follow their conversation, you'll sharpen your understanding of advanced expressions and colloquial English. This lesson not only immerses you in real-world dialogue but also equips you to use these phrases confidently in your own conversations. By practicing with shadowspeak techniques, you can enhance your speaking abilities and communication style.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Snitch: To inform on someone, especially regarding criminal activity.
  • DEA: Drug Enforcement Administration; a federal agency responsible for combating drug smuggling and use.
  • Heavy hitter: A person with a lot of influence or power, often in a negative context.
  • Reprisals: Acts of retaliation or revenge, especially in a hostile situation.
  • Spouting off: Talking excessively or in a foolish manner.
  • Breaking bad: To deviate from expected behavior, often in a negative way.

Practice Tips

To make the most of your english speaking practice with this lesson, try using a shadowing app to follow along with the dialogue. Pay attention to the speed and tone of the actors, especially Saul Goodman's character, who has a distinctive, quick-witted style. Shadowing can greatly improve your English pronunciation and help you gain confidence in real-life conversations.
Here's how to practice effectively:

  • Listen closely to the dialogue, focusing on intonation and stress patterns.
  • Rewind the video as needed to repeat challenging segments, mimicking the actors' speech.
  • Incorporate the key vocabulary into your practice by creating your own sentences using these phrases.
  • Utilize shadowspeak techniques to time your speaking with the dialogue, aiming for synchronicity.
  • Record your voice and compare it with the original to refine your pronunciation and fluency.

With patience and practice, you will notice significant improvements in your ability to use natural spoken English, helping you communicate more effectively in various contexts.

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.

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