Shadowing Practice: Learn English with SUITS - Louis Wants to Be Harvey - Learn English Speaking with Video
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262 sentences
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where's your gatekeeper any tom dick or harry can just waltz right in
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well i don't see any toms or harry's here but
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let's learn english with lewis and harvey from the popular legal series suits so in
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that first line we heard from lewis he used a lot
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of advanced expressions first a gatekeeper is someone who controls access to a person
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or place donna harvey's secretary usually acts as his gatekeeper, but she is absent, and we'll find out why later.
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Next, a waltz is a dance, and if you waltz in a place, you enter there confidently or without permission.
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Imagine you have a boss who treats you terribly, and you can't take it anymore.
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You would probably waltz into their office and tell them you quit.
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And who could waltz into Harvey's office?
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Why, any Tom, Dick, or Harry.
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This is a funny old expression that means any random person, and we usually use it to complain.
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Finally, Harvey turns this around into a joke.
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Dick can be a name, short for Richard, like Dick Cheney, who is Vice President of the USA.
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But you can also use it as an insult for a man who you find stupid or unworthy.
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Obviously, it's very rude.
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So Harvey's saying he does not see any Toms or Harrys, but he jokes that Louis is a dick.
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Now, don't just learn these expressions and then forget them.
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If you want to feel confident when you speak, to speak naturally, just like you do your mother tongue,
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then you need to be able to access these expressions when you get into a real conversation.
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So I have just the thing for you.
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I want to give you access to all of the smart flashcards from this lesson with suits for free.
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You can practice with them in our app by clicking the link below.
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Thousands of learners just like you are becoming more fluent
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and having fun while doing it so if
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that sounds like something you'd like be sure to try out
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our method you only need a few minutes a day to see real progress
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now let's see what lewis is doing in harvey's office
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okay can we just please cut the small talk
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and you let me know what i'm not privy to
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so first you hand me ross on a silver platter then
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don is not at her desk for days you think
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that i don't know that there's a power struggle going on between jessica and hartman I mean, I haven't always been, um, well -behaved, but I can help you on this.
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You just got to trust me.
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Lewis, go away.
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All right, so we're going to break down all of the advanced expressions and pronunciation that we just saw.
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But first, let me give you a bit of context about the scene.
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Daniel Hardman, one of Pearson Hardman's founding partners, had just returned after being forced out years earlier over a scandal.
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He was caught misusing the firm's money.
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Hardman is now scheming to push Jessica Pearson out and take his old position back.
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Jessica and Harvey know Hardman can't be trusted.
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So they're deliberately hiding a serious problem from him.
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Harvey is being accused of fraud by an old rival, Travis Tanner, over a case involving a defective car part.
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And if it comes out, it could destroy the whole firm.
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They don't trust Lewis with this information, but he knows that they're hiding something from him.
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And that's where the scene begins.
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Okay, can we just please cut the small talk and you let me know what I'm not privy to?
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Small talk is light, casual conversation people make, like talking about the weather or how your weekend was.
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So to cut the small talk means to skip that and get straight to the point.
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Lewis is telling Harvey to stop joking around and just tell him what's actually going on.
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Listen to this example.
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Good morning, Andrea.
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How are you?
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Maggie, I have a meeting with the board in 20 minutes, so can we please just cut the small talk?
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Um, yes.
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lewis then continued with this advanced expression okay can we just please cut the small talk
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and you let me know what i'm not privy to what do you think it means
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if you're not privy to something
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someone shared information with you nobody has shared information with you you know information is being hidden
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right if you're not privy to information it means you don't have access to it We could also say
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that you're being kept out of the loop.
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Check out these examples.
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Alright, then we hear Lewis list the evidence that shows him something is going on.
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So, first you hand me Ross on a silver platter, then Donna's not at her desk for days.
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You think that I don't know that there's a power struggle going on between Jessica and Hartman?
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So, if you hand someone something on a silver platter, you're giving it to them in the easiest way possible, with zero effort required on their part.
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Think of a butler literally serving food on a shiny silver tray.
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That's the picture.
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Listen to this way natives use it.
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You want everything handed to you on a silver platter.
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I mean, we were interns, Nancy.
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Interns!
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You won't get near a jury
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because I'm going to make sure they know Mike Ross handed you this case on a silver platter.
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But listen to how Lewis actually uses it here.
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So first you hand me Ross on a silver platter.
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He's being sarcastic.
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Harvey had recently loaned him Mike to help with a case, which seemed like a nice, generous move at the time.
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Now Lewis is looking back and implying it wasn't really kindness.
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It felt like he was being distracted or kept busy while something else was going on behind his back.
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Next, he points out exactly what he has noticed is happening with the firm's management.
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Then Don is not at her desk for days.
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You think that I don't know that there's a power struggle going on between Jessica and Hartman?
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A power struggle is a conflict between two people or groups who are both trying to gain control or authority.
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Have you seen House of the Dragon?
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That series is about a bloody power struggle between two parts of the Targaryen family.
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Here's another example.
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The Eternals have their games.
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The Guardians have their power struggles.
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And I bet you feel pretty frustrated when natives speak fast and you can't understand us.
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Actually, the issue isn't the speed, but that we use connected speech.
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That's how we natives cut, reduce, and link our words together when speaking fluently.
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Listen again to how Lewis said this.
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These three words almost sound like just one.
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Let's break it down.
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We usually cut the first consonant in pronouns like his and her.
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And when a T is between two vowel sounds, it morphs into a soft D sound, like in butter or cat and dog.
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And know that the E in desk is a E like in pen or bear, not a A like in pain or bear.
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Desk.
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at her desk at her desk your speaking will only improve with lots of practice
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so listen to lewis again and try to say
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that just like him and donna's not at her desk for days and donna's not at her desk for days
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by the way the reason donna is not around is
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because she's helping search for evidence to defend harvey in his
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case against tanner now harvey is tired of lewis's interrogation so he says this.
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This is a simple but common phrasal verb.
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Go away is a blunt, rude way to tell someone to leave you alone.
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You'll hear teenage brothers and sisters use it all the time.
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Do you sometimes feel like you can understand a lot of English?
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Like me talking to you right now.
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But when it's time to speak, all the words you've learned disappear from your memory.
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I've been there myself and learning six languages, and I know it sucks.
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Now this may be because you are learning the words, but then you aren't studying them.
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So you hear them and poof, just hours or even minutes later, you no longer have access to them.
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The good news is that there are learners who actually internalize words and use them naturally when speaking.
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Do you want to learn their secret?
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They keep these new words they've learned active in their brains by using flashcards.
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So if you want to see how that works, it's really simple.
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Just click the link in the description
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and we'll give you for free a set of flashcards for
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this lesson with suits on our app now the reason this works is
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that we put the science and the right technology behind it basically
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that knows the exact expressions you've learned from all lessons
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and just when you're about to forget one we bring it back for you to practice
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and you only need 10 to 15 minutes daily for more natural english speaking super easy
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so click the link to try the real life app right now
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and start getting a bit more fluent every day moving on to the next part of the scene, Mike has been listening to the whole conversation and feels bad for Lewis.
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Let's watch.
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Harvey Specter.
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So, Mike uses this common expression to criticize Harvey's approach.
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That was harsh?
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Are you kidding me?
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Harsh describes something that feels overly severe, cruel, or unkind.
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It could be used for criticism and punishments.
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It's even a common collocation with weather.
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Here are some examples.
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But I am going to give you the opportunity to think about it
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while you spend one year in a state correctional facility.
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Isn't that a bit harsh, Your Honor?
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No!
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And I love the next old idiom that Mike used.
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Which of these situations would you guess best fits coming hat in hand?
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Marching into your boss's office to demand a raise, bragging to your co -workers about a promotion, nervously asking a friend to forgive you after a big fight.
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Great!
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To come hat in hand means to approach someone humbly, to ask for help or favor, especially if you swallowed your pride to do so.
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Picture someone literally holding their hat, standing there respectfully, hoping for a yes.
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Lewis is very self -important and rarely approaches anyone humbly.
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That's why Mike feels pity for him.
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However, Lewis is not getting any sympathy from Harvey, who knows him too well.
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This guy gets one whiff of what we've been hiding from Hardman.
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I guarantee you it's his office he's in, not ours.
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A whiff is literally a small amount of smell.
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For example, I think one of the best feelings is catching a whiff of fresh coffee in the morning.
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But here, it's being used figuratively to mean the smallest trace of information.
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So, one whiff of what we've been hiding means that if Lewis picks up even a tiny clue about their secret, he'll use it against them.
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Benita Gibbs is a goddamn assistant U .S attorney.
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She gets one whiff of this and we are both disbarred.
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Guess who his dad is?
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Jacob Tiernan.
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As in Tiernan shipping?
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That's right, guy who practically owns every port in the Pacific.
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Well, that explains the confidence.
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One whiff of trouble and daddy bails him out.
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I know, we can't trust him.
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Still, you should have seen him in this deposition i mean
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all he wants is to be you as it's a legal show we hear this word constantly in suits
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a deposition is a formal recorded interview
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that happens as a part of a legal case where someone answers questions under oath before a trial
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so mike is referring to the case he worked on with lewis apparently lewis was sharp
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and assertive handling it almost channeling harvey's confidence mike wants to emphasize
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that lewis really admires harvey still you should have seen him in this deposition.
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I mean, all he wants is to be you.
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Native speakers use this constantly.
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It doesn't always mean I'm saying in a literal sense.
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In cases like this, it's what we call a discourse marker.
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That's just a fancy term for a little phrase that we use to organize our speech, clarify a point, soften what we're about to say, or add extra emphasis.
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Here, Mike uses I mean to add weight to his next sentence. And actually, we've already heard a few other discourse markers earlier in this
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scene take a look Harvey look I admit I haven't always
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been well behaved Lewis opens with look we don't use this
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to mean use your eyes here it's a way of grabbing
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someone's attention before saying something important okay can we just please cut the small talk
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and you let me know what I'm not privy to
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that okay here isn't really asking for permission it's just a
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soft way to enter into what you're about to say well i don't see any toms
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or harry's here but
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and well is a classic discourse marker too it's just a
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little pause word we used to buy ourselves a second before responding
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so next time you're watching a show in english try listening for little words like look okay i mean
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and well you'll start noticing native speakers use them constantly
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and look can i quickly ask for your help well we
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depend on feedback from learners like you to continue making lessons
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that you'll enjoy so take just a moment to pause the video
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and comment below one series movie or celebrity
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that you would love a lesson with me
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and the real life team read everyone appreciate it
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and let's wrap up this lesson analyzing a final bit of
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connected speech I mean all he wants is to be you
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know what everybody wants now it could be quite tricky to catch every word here without the subtitles
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and that's mostly because of a common pattern with T you probably did not learn at school.
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The T in isn't, that, and what are all what we call a glottal T.
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We cut off the T at the back of the throat instead of releasing it fully.
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It's like when kids make a mistake and say uh -oh, uh -oh, that same sound.
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Isn't, that, what.
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And in In the case of ISN'T, Harvey reduced it even more by dropping the S, so we just hear IN. IN.
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Let's put that all together.
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Isn't that what everybody wants?
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And quickly, I want to circle back to the very start of the scene, because we heard that glottal T in the first word we learned.
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Where's your gatekeeper?
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So it's not gatekeeper, it's gatekeeper.
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Gatekeeper.
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Now listen to both those lines again, and repeat.
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All he wants is to be you.
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Isn't that what everybody wants?
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Isn't that what everybody wants?
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Where's your gatekeeper?
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Where's your gatekeeper?
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Aw yeah, you've done an incredible job with his advanced lesson, but you're not done yet.
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Now comes the most important part.
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You'll test everything that you learned by watching the scene again, this time without subtitles.
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And I don't want to hand you your test on a silver platter.
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So I'll also challenge you with some quiz questions.
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You'll do great.
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Where's your gatekeeper?
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Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can just waltz right in.
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Well, I don't see any Toms or Harrys here, but...
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Okay, can we just please cut the small talk and you let me know what I'm not privy to?
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If your boss asks you to cut the small talk, they...
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Want you to start with some friendly conversation?
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Don't have time to talk to you now? wants you to get straight to the important topic.
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So first you hand me Ross on a silver platter, then Donna's not at her desk for days.
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You think that I don't know that there's a power struggle going on between Jessica and Hartman?
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A power struggle is best described as a workout between two athletes, two people competing for control, a disagreement about money.
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I admit I haven't always been well behaved, but I can help you on this, you just gotta trust me.
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Lewis, go away.
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That was harsh.
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Are you kidding me?
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He came hat in hand, Harvey.
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If someone comes hat in hand, they are approaching you, humbly asking for help,
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confidently and aggressively, angrily ready to argue. Have you met him?
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This guy gets one whiff of what we've been hiding from Hardman.
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I guarantee you it's his office he's in, not ours.
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I know, we can't trust him.
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Still, you should have seen him in this deposition.
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In a legal show, a deposition refers to a recorded interview, the final decision made by a judge, a lawyer's opening speech in court.
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I hope you had a lot of fun learning with suits today.
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And if it's your goal to understand fast speaking natives without getting lost, without missing the jokes, and without subtitles,
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then we help you to do that every single week here on Learn English with TV series with two new lessons.
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So join over 11 million learners who are finding this is
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the most fun way to get fluent English by hitting
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that subscribe button and below and that way you won't miss a single new lesson.
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And if you're really ready to break out of intermediate and become a confident, natural, advanced English speaker, then you should really be learning with these lessons on the RealLife app
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and also join our speaking club for free while you're there.
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You can find that with a link below or by searching for RealLife English in your favorite app store.
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Or if you're sticking with us here on YouTube, check out this lesson next.
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I'm paying you millions, and you're telling me I'm going to get screwed?
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Jessica, have I come in a bad time?
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Gerald, this is Harvey Specter.
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He's our best closer.
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Well, if you're the best closer, where the hell you've been for the last three hours?
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Well, Gerald, I specialize in troubled situations, and when I left here at 7 p .m., this deal wasn't in jeopardy, so I'm just trying to figure out what happened in the interim.
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We keep offering more money, they keep rejecting it.
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It's last -minute bad faith bullshit.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Learn English with SUITS - Louis Wants to Be Harvey”. This video has 262 sentences and 3098 words to shadow. The speech runs for 18:35. The speaker talks at a natural 167 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gatekeeper noun | /ˈɡeɪtˌki.pɚ/ | A person who guards or monitors passage through a gate. |
| platter noun | A tray for serving foods. | |
| privy adjective | /ˈpɹɪvi/ | With knowledge of; party to; let in on. |
| whiff noun | /wɪf/ | A brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft. |
| waltz noun | /wɔlts/ | A ballroom dance in 3/4 time. |
| deposition noun | /ˌdɛp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/ | The removal of someone from office. |
| learner noun | /ˈlɜɹnəɹ/ | One who is learning; one receiving instruction. |
| harsh adjective | /ˈhɑɹʃ/ | Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses. |
| flashcard noun | /ˈflæʃˌkɑɹd/ | A card used to aid rote memorization. One side of the card contains data of one kind, or a question, and the other side contains the associated response which… |
| humbly adverb | /ˈhʌmbli/ | In a humble manner. |
| subtitle noun | /ˈsʌbtaɪtəl/ | A heading below or after a title. |
| fluent adjective | /ˈfluənt/ | That flows; flowing, liquid. |
| discourse noun | /ˈdɪs.kɔːɹs/ | Expression in words, either speech or writing. |
| marker noun | /ˈmɑː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)/ | A felt-tipped pen, a marker pen. |
| behave verb | /bɪˈheɪv/ | To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go away verb | To depart or leave a place. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| keep out of verb | To stay away from (a place or condition). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Do you want to learn their secret?
- Are you kidding me?
- Want you to start with some friendly conversation?
- Don't have time to talk to you now?
- Jessica, have I come in a bad time?
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 | has been listening · we've been hiding |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't always been · has shared · has noticed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being forced · was caught · can't be trusted |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who controls · man who you · guy who practically |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 84 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: unworthy /ʌnˈwɝði/, oath /ˈoʊθ/, sympathy /ˈsɪm.pəθ.i/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: deposition /ˌdɛp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/, harsh /ˈhɑɹʃ/, flashcard /ˈflæʃˌkɑɹd/, collocation /ˌkɑ.ləˈkeɪ.ʃən/, specialize /ˈspɛʃəˌlaɪz/
- Long words — get the stress right: deposition /ˌdɛp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/, confidently /ˈkɑnfɪdəntli/, collocation /ˌkɑ.ləˈkeɪ.ʃən/, internalize /ɪnˈtɝnəlaɪz/, respectfully /ɹɪˈspɛkt.fə.li/
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 gatekeeper, platter, privy.
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.