Shadowing Practice: Learn English with The Simpsons [Advanced Lesson] - Learn English Speaking with Video
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330 sentences
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Today we're going to learn advanced English vocabulary with The Simpsons.
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So do you want to understand natives even when we speak fast without getting lost, Without missing the jokes?
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How about without subtitles?
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Well you're in the right place!
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You better hit that subscribe button and the bell down below
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so that you don't miss a single one of our new lessons
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and you can take your English to the next level just like Alexi who says
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that he took his English from the A2 to the B1 level in just one month with our lessons.
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Bathed in the glow of Burns brand electricity.
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Hello, Lamp Post.
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Whatcha knowin'?
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I've come to watch your power flowin'.
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That's odd.
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Where's Homer, and Bart, and Lisa, and Grandpa?
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After all these years, things are finally starting to go my way.
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I feel like celebrating.
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Oh, it's you.
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What are you so happy about?
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I see.
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Well, I think you'd better drop it.
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I said drop it.
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Get your hands off.
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Where is everybody?
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Hey, Mia, are you okay?
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Won't dignify that with response.
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Mr. Burns has been shot.
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Just a minute.
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This isn't Mr. Burns at all.
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It's a mask.
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Wait, it is Burns.
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His wrinkly skin looks like a mask.
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I don't think we'll ever know who did this.
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Everyone in town.
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Well I couldn't possibly solve this mystery. Can you?
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Yeah, I'll give it a shot.
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I mean, it's my job, right?
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In this episode of The Simpsons, Mr. Burns constructs a giant disc to permanently block out the sun in the town of Springfield,
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forcing everyone to continuously use the electricity from his power plant.
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Ah, perpetual twilight, bathed in the glow of Burns' brand electricity.
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So, we hear Mr. Burns speak in a poetic way about electricity and street lighting.
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Twilight is the time of day just before the night, when the daylight has almost gone, but when it is not completely dark.
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Perpetual defines something that never ends, that is permanent.
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So, by perpetual twilight, he's referring to the permanent darkness that is covering
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Springfield, caused by the giant disc which he is using to block out the sun.
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Literally speaking, the verb to bathe means to take a bath or to wash yourself in a sea or a river, for example.
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However, Mr. Burns is speaking figuratively here.
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He is talking about how the streets are covered by, or bathed in, the glow from the lampposts, which are powered by his power plant.
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Hello, lamppost.
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Whatcha knowin'?
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I've come to watch your power flowin'.
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What You Knowing is Mr. Byrne's own informal way of asking, how are you?
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This is a parody of the Simon and Garfunkel song, the 59th Street Bridge song, Feeling Groovy.
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After all these years, things are finally starting to go my way, I feel like celebrating.
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If something goes your way, it goes according to your plans, you succeed, or you feel favored by the universe, God, or some high power.
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Check out this example.
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Oh, I'm sorry, Maggie, but even at your age, I'm sure you understand things can't always go your way.
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So, in the scene, Mr. Burns is referring to how his plans of blocking out the sun
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and making more money from all the extra power consumption are working.
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So, he says that things are finally starting to go his way, meaning he's finally being favored by the circumstances.
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Oh, it's you.
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What are you so happy about?
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Drop it is an expression used as a command for somebody to drop or let go of their weapon.
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For example, it is commonly used by the police when confronting armed suspects.
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We cannot see what is happening with Mr. Burns in the scene but from this line,
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we can guess he's speaking to somebody holding a gun or other weapon.
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By the way, did you notice how he pronounced the word drop and it together?
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This is a clear and good example of how connected speech works in spoken English.
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Connected speech is the tendency we have of cutting, reducing, and linking words together while speaking.
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In this case, the letter P from drop simply links to the next word, which started with a vowel,
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it, and that resulted in the sound we heard from Mr. Burns, drop it.
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Let's listen to it and practice after him.
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Jason, drop it!
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until April 24th.
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Just imagine this time next year you could understand your favorite series and laugh along with all the jokes,
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have a confident conversation, get a promotion at work or even move to another country.
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Really the possibilities are endless when you set your mind to it
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and the Fluent with Friends course can help you a lot in reaching your goals.
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Just like Adita who told us
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that our course helped her stop looking at English as a boring school subject
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and helped her become passionate about learning the language.
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So what are you waiting for?
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You can learn more and sign up by clicking up here
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or down in the description below and remember to get your 49 % discount just use the code 2million at checkout.
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Now let's get back to laughing and learning with The Simpsons.
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To dignify somebody or something is to treat them with respect and take them seriously.
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So if you say that you will not dignify something with a response,
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that means you will not answer or respond to it because you do not think it is worth your attention or respect.
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First of all, your father can't eat onions, he's deathly allergic, and I won't even dignify your navy bean suggestion.
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Mr. Burns has been shot.
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Just a minute!
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This isn't Mr. Burns at all!
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It's a mask!
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Wait, it is Burns.
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His wrinkly skin looks like a mask.
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This part of the scene makes fun of something a lot of science fiction movies and series have done.
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To have a character wearing a realistic human mask which is only noticed and removed at a critical moment in the story
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The joke is that
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Chief Wiggum thought Mr. Burns' wrinkly skin made his face look like a mask his wrinkly skin look looks like a mask.
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I don't think we'll ever know who did this.
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Everyone in town's a suspect.
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Well, I couldn't possibly solve this mystery. Can you?
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Yeah, I'll give it a shot.
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I mean, it's my job, right?
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If you say that you will give it a shot, that means you will make an attempt to do something.
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You will try to achieve it.
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This is especially used when talking about something that you are not familiar with.
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Stop!
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Don't shoot my dad!
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He's innocent!
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He wouldn't hurt a fly!
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Stop telling him it was me!
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I'll kill you for saying it was me!
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What is the meaning of this?
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Smithers, who is this beast that's shaking me?
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No!
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See, it burns!
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See, I never shot you!
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Before.
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Shot?
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By you, I'm afraid not, my primitive friend.
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Your kind is neither the cranial capacity nor the opposable digits to operate a firearm.
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The one who shot me was...
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Ha!
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Ha!
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Ha!
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M -Maggie Simpson!
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With the sunblocker in place and the town aghast, I was on top of the world,
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so I wanted to kick up my heels and indulge my sweet tooth.
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I feel like celebrating.
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Oh, it's you.
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What are you so happy about?
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I see.
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Yes.
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That's the one.
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Smithers had thwarted my earlier attempt to take candy from a baby, but with him out of the picture,
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I was free to wallow in my own crepulence.
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I think you'd better drop it, but the old axiom was misleading.
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Taking the candy proved exceedingly difficult.
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I said drop it!
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Stricken, I lurched forth in search of aid, but finding only slack -jawed gawkers, I gave up and collapsed on the sundial.
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Then with your last ounce of strength, you pointed to W and S, or from your point of view,
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M and S, Maggie Simpson.
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What?
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No. With my last ounce of strength, I sucked out my gold fillings and swallowed them.
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Those paramedics have sticky fingers.
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Well, I'm just relieved that
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Homer's safe and that you've recovered and we can all get back to normal.
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If Maggie could talk, I'm sure she'd apologize for shooting you.
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I'm afraid that's insufficient.
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Officer?
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Arrest the baby!
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Yeah, right, Pops.
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No jury in the world's gonna convict a baby.
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Maybe Texas.
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Stop!
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Don't shoot my dad!
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He's innocent!
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He wouldn't hurt a fly!
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A fly is this insect.
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So if you say that someone wouldn't hurt a fly, that is a figurative way of saying that they are very kind and gentle,
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and would not hurt anyone, not even a fly.
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Primitive refers to something or somebody relating to very old times, like a society at a very early stage of development,
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with people living in a simple way without machines or advanced technologies, for example.
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Example, primitive races colonized these islands 2 ,000 years ago.
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Mr. Burns called Homer his primitive friend, meaning to insult him and call him ignorant or simple -minded.
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Your kind is neither the cranial capacity nor the opposable digits to operate a firearm.
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As you may know, the noun kind refers to a group with similar characteristics or a particular type.
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In this case, Mr. Burns is still referring to Homer as a primitive or prehistoric person,
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as if he were a caveman. So, he says that
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Homer does not have the cranial capacity, that is, the intelligence, nor the opposable thumbs, to handle a gun.
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Opposable thumbs is how we call the thumbs seen in human hands.
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They can be placed opposite the other fingers, allowing the hand to hold and handle objects.
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Sun blocker is what he's calling the giant disc which was placed in front of the sun, and covered the whole town from daylight.
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Aghast is an adjective meaning extremely shocked or horrified.
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This word is not very common.
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And if you say that you feel, or that you are on top of the world, you are emphasizing that you feel extremely happy and healthy.
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to kick up my heels and indulge my sweet tooth i feel like celebrating
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oh it's you what are you so happy about i see
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the expression to kick up your heels means to relax
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and enjoy yourself a lot for example at a party now
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if you say that you have a sweet tooth you mean you have a craving or desire to eat sweet foods, especially sweets and chocolate.
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So if you indulge your sweet tooth, you are allowing yourself to enjoy the pleasure of eating sweets.
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I like to indulge myself on holiday with things like massages and spa treatments.
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So we are at peace once more.
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Let us indulge in exaggerated displays of affection.
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This guy, I love him!
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Get over here!
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My brother, over here!
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You're my everything over here!
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You color my world over here!
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Yes, that's the one.
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Smithers had thwarted my earlier attempt to take candy from a baby, but with him out of the picture,
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I was free to wallow in my own crepulence.
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To thwart somebody means to prevent them from accomplishing something.
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So if you thwart a person's attempt to do something, you are stopping them from being successful.
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as you know every diabolical scheme that i've hatched has been thwarted by austin powers
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and why is that ladies and gentlemen mr burns is saying
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that smithers had stopped him from taking candy from a baby before
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but now that he is out of the picture
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that is he is not present anymore he will not be able to interfere
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and stop him now even though in english
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there is a figurative expression to take candy from a baby meaning to do something
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that is very easy and offers no challenge
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or resistance here mr burns means it literally he has actually tried to take candy from maggie a baby
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so he says
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that without smithers to stop him he could indulge his impulses for eating sugary food
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i think you'd better drop it but the old axiom was misleading
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An axiom is a statement which is regarded as being accepted or true, without the need for proof.
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For example, the axiom, you cannot give what you do not have.
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So Mr. Burns refers to taking candy from a baby being easy as a misleading axiom, saying that the task actually proved to be very difficult,
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which is quite humorous when we think about it.
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Something considered misleading gives you the wrong idea or impression about it. Which was misleading. For all others.
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Stricken, I lurched forth in search of aid.
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But finding only slack -jawed cockers, they.. gave up and collapsed on the sunday.
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To lurch is to move in a way that is not regular or normal, making sudden movements backwards or forwards or from side to side,
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especially in an uncontrolled way.
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So he says that he lurched forth in search of help.
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A gawker is a person who stares openly at someone or something.
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For example, after a bad car accident on the highway, gawkers often slow down for a look.
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A slack -jawed person is someone with their mouth open in surprise.
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A sundial is a device similar to a clock that looks like this,
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which indicates the time of day by the position of the shadow of some object exposed to the sun's rays.
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Then with your last ounce of strength, you pointed to W and S, or from your point of view,
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M and S, Maggie Simpson.
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Lisa is saying that Mr. Burns gathered all the energy he had left, that is his last ounce of strength,
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and pointed to the W and S letters as a way of informing who had shot him.
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What?
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No, with my last ounce of strength I sucked out my cold feelings and swallowed them.
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Those paramedics have sticky fingers.
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If you say that somebody has sticky fingers you mean that they have an inclination or tendency to steal.
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Mr. Burns is saying that he swallowed his gold teeth pieces to keep the paramedics, who would help him, from robbing him.
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If Maggie could talk, I'm sure she'd apologize for shooting you.
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I'm afraid that's insufficient.
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Officer, arrest the baby.
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Yeah, right, Pops.
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No jury in the world is going to convict a baby.
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Maybe Texas.
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To convict somebody of a crime is to declare them to be guilty.
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This is normally done by a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
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Now, why does he say, maybe Texas?
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Culturally, many other states look at Texas as being a very conservative state.
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For example, it is one of the states that still has the death penalty.
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Chief Wiggum is joking that perhaps Texas would be strict enough to convict a baby of a crime.
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Ah, perpetual twilight, bathed in the glow of Burns -brand electricity.
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Hello, Lamp Post.
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Whatcha knowin'?
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I've come to watch your power flowin'.
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That's odd.
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Where's Homer, and Bart, and Lisa, and Grandpa?
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After all these years, things are finally starting to go my way.
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I feel like celebrating.
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I...
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Oh, it's you.
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What are you so happy about?
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I see.
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Well, I think you'd better drop it.
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I said drop it.
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Get your hands off.
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Where is everybody?
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Hey, Mia.
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Are you okay?
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Won't dignify that with response.
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Mr. Burns has been shot.
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Just a minute.
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This isn't Mr. Burns at all.
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It's a mask.
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Wait, it is Burns.
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His wrinkly skin looks like a mask.
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I don't think we'll ever know who did this.
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Everyone in town's a suspect.
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Well, I couldn't possibly solve this mystery. Can you?
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Yeah, I'll give it a shot.
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I mean, you know, it's my job, right?
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Stop!
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Don't shoot my dad!
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He's innocent!
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He wouldn't hurt a fly!
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Stop telling him it was me!
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I'll kill you for saying it was me!
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What is the meaning of this?
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Smithers, who is this beast that's shaking me?
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No!
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Say it burns!
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Say I never shot you!
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Before.
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Shot?
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By you, I'm afraid not, my primitive friend.
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Your kind is neither the cranial capacity nor the opposable digits to operate a firearm.
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The one who shot me was Maggie Simpson.
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With the sunblocker in place and the town aghast, I was on top of the world.
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So I wanted to kick up my heels and indulge my sweet tooth.
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I feel like celebrating.
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Oh, it's you.
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What are you so happy about?
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I see.
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Yes.
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That's the one.
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Smithers had thwarted my earlier attempt to take candy from a baby.
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But with him out of the picture, I was free to wallow in my own crapulence.
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I think you'd better drop it.
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But the old axiom was misleading.
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Taking the candy proved exceedingly difficult.
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I said drop it.
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Stricken, I lurched forth in search of aid.
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But finding only slack -jawed gawkers, they gave up and collapsed on the sundial.
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Then with your last ounce of strength, you pointed to W and S.
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Or, from your point of view, M and S, Maggie Simpson.
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What?
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No!
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With my last ounce of strength, I sucked out my gold fillings and swallowed them.
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Those paramedics have sticky fingers.
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Well, I'm just relieved that
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Homer's safe and that you've recovered and we can all get back to normal.
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If Maggie could talk, I'm sure she'd apologize for shooting you.
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I'm afraid that's insufficient.
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Officer, arrest the baby!
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Yeah, right, Pops.
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No jury in the world is gonna convict a baby.
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Maybe Texas.
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Besides, she didn't mean it.
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It was an accident.
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Awesome work today!
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Now, if you are ready to take your English to the next level and understand your favorite movies and series,
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even without the subtitles, then I highly recommend you take advantage to check out our Fluent with Friends course
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and get a huge discount by using that code 2 million at checkout to get 49 % off.
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Just click down in the description below to find the link for that,
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but remember you only have a few more days to take advantage of this offer.
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Now it's time to go beyond the classroom and live your English!
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Aw yeah!
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We'll be right back.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Learn English with The Simpsons”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: burns, drop, shot, baby. This video has 330 sentences and 3069 words to shadow. The speech runs for 28:09. The speaker talks slowly, about 109 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 79% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| mask noun | /mæsk/ | A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection. |
| candy noun | /ˈkæn.di/ | Crystallized sugar formed by boiling down sugar syrup. |
| ounce noun | /aʊns/ | An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams. |
| indulge verb | /ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒ/ | To yield to a temptation or desire. |
| refer verb | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | To direct the attention of (someone toward something). |
| primitive noun | /ˈpɹɪmɪtɪv/ | An original or primary word; a word not derived from another, as opposed to derivative. |
| finger noun | /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other… |
| bath noun | /bɑːθ/ | A tub or pool which is used for bathing: bathtub. |
| electricity noun | /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/ | Originally, a property of amber and certain other nonconducting substances to attract lightweight material when rubbed, or the cause of this property; now… |
| tooth noun | /tuθ/ | A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for biting and chewing food. |
| convict verb | /ˈkɑnvɪkt/ | To find guilty, as a result of legal proceedings, or (informal) in a moral sense. |
| jaw noun | /d͡ʒɔː/ | One of the bones, usually bearing teeth, which form the framework of the mouth. |
| glow verb | /ɡloʊ/ | To emit heat and light without a flame. |
| swallow verb | /ˈswɑ.loʊ/ | To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat. |
| heel noun | /hil/ | The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| kick up verb | To rear back; to become more active or restless; to speed up. |
| get back to verb | Return to (an activity) |
| give up verb | To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone). |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| hands off | Refrain from touching; refrain from initiating any physical contact. |
| get off verb | To move from being on top of (something) to not being on top of it. |
| get over verb | To overcome. |
| sign up verb | To add a name to the list of people who are participating in something. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I've come to watch your power flowin'.
- What are you so happy about?
- I don't think we'll ever know who did this.
- Byrne's own informal way of asking, how are you?
- Smithers, who is this beast that's shaking me?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if you say that you will not · If you say that you will give · If Maggie could talk, I'm sure she'd apologize |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've come · has been shot · have done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been shot · are covered · being favored |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | lampposts, which are · mask which is · one who shot |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 63 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: bath /bɑːθ/, tooth /tuθ/, thumb /ˈθʌm/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/, smither /ˈsmɪðə(ɹ)/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: insufficient /ɪnsəˈfɪʃənt/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, shock /ʃɔk/, fiction /ˈfɪkʃən/, shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/
- Long words — get the stress right: electricity /ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪsɪti/, apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, insufficient /ɪnsəˈfɪʃənt/, permanently /ˈpɜː.mə.nənt.li/, characteristic /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/
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 mask, candy, ounce.
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.