Shadowing Practice: Listen to How Native Speakers REALLY Talk - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello everyone.

I have a surprise for you today.

My aunt, the sister of my mother, her name is Angela, she sent me a 24 -minute audio message on WhatsApp.

It was great.

I love listening to podcasts.

I just listen to it while I get ready for the day or do literally whatever.

And usually what she does is she wakes up in the morning and while she's still laying in bed, she will send me a message and just talk and talk

and talk and update me on what's going on in the family with different family members, what's happening.

And she'll respond to me.

She'll respond to my previous message and what I said.

And I asked her if I could use her message in a video.

And she said, yes.

So what I did was I cut parts of her message into shorter clips,

and I'm going to play them for you with the subtitles on the screen

so you can listen to her talk

and you can also read along you can read you can see what she's saying

if you don't want to read it just close your eyes

or look in a different direction and just focus on what she's saying

and how she's saying it

and then after we're gonna break it down i'm gonna analyze it i'm gonna go back

and go over it and look at different phrases and words that she used.

And I'm going to explain things to you and I'm going to teach you stuff.

So I'm going to use my aunt's audio message to teach you English.

You're going to learn a lot.

This is real life, real deal English.

My aunt is a native speaker from the US who only speaks English.

And when she sent me this message, she was not expecting anyone else to listen to it.

So this is how we really talk to each other in my family.

This is the real deal right here.

She didn't think she was going to be on camera.

So this is as real as it gets.

All right.

Are you excited?

I'm excited.

All right.

Sit back, relax, and let's get into it.

So here is the first clip.

This is like her introduction of her message.

It is, what is it, like 6 .45 on Friday morning.

I am lounging in bed, which is foolish because I have to get up and go to work, But I'm working remotely today,

so I feel like I can be a little indulgent this morning.

So you're in Argentina, Buenos Aires, which I'm sure I botched that.

But it always seemed like a destination place for travelers, like a vacation -y type place.

But honestly, I don't know much about it at all.

But I'm glad that you're settled in there and enjoying yourself and it's starting to warm up for you gradually.

But 40 degrees at night, like you must be bundled in bed unless it, I mean, I'm sure the, even though they don't have heating,

I'm sure it with the sun during the day, like places heat up

that the actual temperature in the space where you're living isn't necessarily 40 degrees at night but that's like camping.

All right.

Welcome back.

How was that?

I just want to let you know that I cut out a lot of silence, a lot of long pauses.

My aunt wakes up in the morning and she's yawning

and she's thinking and she makes these incredibly long pauses between her thoughts.

So even in one sentence,

she'll say like, so I was thinking that maybe,

and I don't know, this is just, that's how she talks.

This whole idea of native speakers always talk fast.

OMG, native speakers always talk fast.

No, no. How many times do I have to tell you guys no?

When we're thinking about what to say, no, we, we, we sometimes take a long time.

Also, it depends on the personality.

My aunt does not have like an intense, intense, anxious personality.

My aunt is pretty relaxed.

She's a pretty relaxed person.

So she's not talking fast.

Even, even when she's not half asleep, she doesn't talk fast.

And as you can see, she talks pretty clearly.

She has pretty standard American English, just like me.

And most of what she says is just normal stuff that you probably already know.

So remember, I cut out a lot of the silence to make it seem faster than it really was.

It actually was slower.

So if you think this is slow the way it is now, you have no idea.

So remember the speed at which native speakers talk, it's all based on the context the situation the person the person

and it's easy to say fast things

if you're just going to say one quick thing

and then the next person is going to talk but

if you're going to talk for a minute

if you're going to talk for a

while about something it's very difficult to maintain a fast speed okay it's not realistic

so i just want to clarify i just want to remind you guys of that first off.

Okay.

Now I'm going to get into analyzing the message that you just heard.

So let's check it out.

I'm looking at the subtitles here on my laptop.

So we're going to go through it together.

So she says, what is it like 6 45 on Friday morning?

So she asked a question and she answered it.

What is it like 6 45?

Oh yeah.

What is it like 6 45?

I am lounging in bed.

Lounging is just like relaxing.

You can lounge on the couch.

You can lounge in bed can lounge anywhere it's just like laying back

and relaxing which is foolish because i have to get up

and go to work foolish it's foolish it's it's it's not

a good idea it's foolish i'm a fool it's foolish

but i'm working remotely today

100

so i feel like i can be a little indulgent this

101

morning indulgent indulgent is like you let yourself enjoy the pleasures you can indulge in the pleasures of life

102

so i feel like i can be a little indulgent today

103

so i can let myself just lay in bed a little bit longer

104

and relax i don't have to get up

105

and get ready for work quickly

106

because i'm working at home i'm feeling indulgent today maybe i

107

will have a piece of chocolate cake i'm gonna indulge in a piece of chocolate cake

108

so it's just kind of to to let yourself go to let yourself enjoy something.

109

So you're in Argentina.

110

And then she says, Buenos Aires or whatever.

111

She said some kind of pronunciation of Buenos Aires.

112

And that was funny.

113

She doesn't speak Spanish, right?

114

And after that, she said, which I'm sure I botched that.

115

So yeah, she's fully aware.

116

She said Buenos Aires in her gringa accent, in her English accent.

117

And then she said, I'm sure I botched that botched

118

that is like i messed it up i said it wrong i did it wrong like i'm sure i said

119

that wrong it's just a way of saying that i'm sure i botched

120

that i'm sure i i said that wrong but

121

that always seemed like a destination place okay she's talking about

122

buenos aires for travelers like a vacation -y type place okay so we're constantly doing this in english we are creating

123

adjectives by taking a noun and adding a Y to it.

124

So we took the word vacation and we want to use it like an adjective.

125

So we're saying a vacation -y type place.

126

It's like a vacation -y, vacation -y type place.

127

So it's like there's a cloud in the sky and then it's a cloudy day.

128

So cloud becomes cloudy with a Y and that is a real word.

129

But so we do the same thing to other words and we invent words.

130

I don't know if vacation -y is a word.

131

I would think that it's not a word, but we can use it like a word because we can play with the language.

132

So a vacation -y type place.

133

But honestly, I don't know much about it at all.

134

About it at all.

135

About it at all.

136

About it at all.

137

That might be something you want to practice.

138

And you don't have to say it like that.

139

That's how native speakers say it.

140

But you can say, I don't know much about it at all.

141

I don't know much about it at all.

142

Like, it's okay it's okay if you don't

143

if you can't say about it at all about it at all like

144

but that's still a good structure to practice that's still a good phrase

145

that we use a lot yeah at all is a very common thing

146

that we use all the time in english i don't want

147

it at all like i don't want any of it like nothing zero i don't want it at all

148

but i'm glad that you're settled in there and enjoying yourself

149

so she says i'm glad you're settled in settled in settle has a lot of meanings

150

but in this case I'm glad you're settled in it's like she's glad

151

that I am in my apartment in my routine you know

152

I'm all in my life my comfortable life here in Argentina

153

I'm all you know comfortable in my normal life yeah I'm

154

settled in settled into my apartment I got everything good everything's going well yeah it's just a way of saying

155

that and it's starting to warm up for you gradually

156

So I was talking about how it was wintertime and it was quite cold.

157

And I normally only use Celsius because I don't live in the United States.

158

But when I talk to my family, I have to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit.

159

So I actually have to look up Celsius to Fahrenheit in order to talk to my family.

160

So I did the conversion and I told my family that usually it's, you know, it gets down into the,

161

into the forties at nighttime at the cold, you know, on the coldest nights, 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

162

And so she's responding to this.

163

She says, but 40 degrees at night, like you must be bundled in bed.

164

So you must be bundled in bed.

165

So bundled or bundled up, bundled up phrasal verb, it's like to take your blankets or your clothes or whatever,

166

and just like wrap yourself up like a like a bundle like

167

so if you got a lot of clothes on in the winter like say you have a big winter coat

168

and you've got a scarf and you got a hat

169

and you get you know you're bundled up you can say

170

i'm all i'm all bundled up she says you must be

171

bundled in bed you know i must be like this in bed with all the blankets

172

because it's so cold and i told her that my last apartment didn't have heating which is true.

173

My last apartment didn't have a heater.

174

So I was cold.

175

It was cold.

176

But this month, this past month, I moved to a new apartment.

177

Basically, I stay in Airbnbs and I reserve one month at a time.

178

So I stayed my first month in Buenos Aires in one apartment that didn't have heating.

179

And then I'm currently in my second month and I came to a new apartment.

180

So this apartment does have a little electric heater.

181

So that's nice.

182

So they do have heating in Buenos Aires.

183

Some people do have electric heaters.

184

They do have it, but not everybody.

185

And it's not the same as in the U .S where there's just like heating built into the house.

186

Like a lot of buildings here, a lot of houses here don't have heating like built in in the house itself.

187

So you need to buy like an electric heater.

188

Some people have one that looks like an air conditioner, but it is for heat.

189

But here I just have a little, a little electric heater on the floor, a little thing that I can move around.

190

She's responding to me talking about my last apartment where I didn't have one, but now it's springtime.

191

It's starting to get warmer here.

192

We've had some warmer days.

193

So, so that's good.

194

I mean, I'm sure even though they don't have heating, I'm sure with the sun during the day,

195

like places heat up that the actual temperature in the space where your living isn't necessarily 40 degrees at night,

196

but that's like camping for her to sleep in such a cold place because she lives in Maine.

197

So the winters are very cold, extremely cold, but she has heating in her house.

198

So they heat their homes to, you know, 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

199

I don't in Celsius, like 20 something, you know, 20 something degrees Celsius.

200

So the inside of the house feels warm always.

201

So for my aunt, for Angela, sleeping with like, you know, five degrees Celsius is like camping for her.

202

It would be like sleeping outside.

203

So that's what she's saying.

204

It's like camping.

205

So that is the first message, the first clip of the long message.

206

So now we're going to look at the second clip where she is responding to me talking about the gym.

207

So I was telling her how you know i'm going to the gym regularly

208

and and i'm loving it and i you know i do weight training

209

and cardio and yeah so she's responding to that

210

so let's check it out that's awesome about the gym i mean it sounds like you're really getting into it

211

which i which i love because that's like which is great

212

because i think it's a healthy thing to do for yourself

213

and it's obviously something that has been a way of life for me forever.

214

So I think that's great.

215

And you do start to become more familiar with your body and how it moves and that body awareness, which honestly so many people don't have.

216

And I notice it when I'm treating patients, but, um, but it's, I think it's helpful.

217

It's definitely helpful.

218

But, um, so yeah, so yeah, the hip abduction machine can be, you know, can be the, could be the cause, like maybe you overdid it on that.

219

All right, now let's analyze it.

220

So she starts off by saying, that's awesome about the gym.

221

That's awesome.

222

This is such a classic American English word.

223

If you do not have the words awesome and amazing

224

and great as part of your american english vocabulary you need

225

to you need to you can't speak american english without saying

226

things like awesome amazing great yes we have other words we

227

have fantastic we have wonderful we have cool we use

228

that one all the time we have many

229

and yes we use those too but awesome and amazing these are so so common and this, for me, this is like classic American English.

230

That's awesome.

231

That's amazing.

232

Yeah.

233

If you don't have these phrases in your vocabulary, that's awesome.

234

That's amazing.

235

You should, you should, if you're trying to speak American English, you should say those things.

236

So she says, that's awesome about the gym.

237

I mean, it sounds like you're really getting into it, getting into it.

238

Like you're really doing it and loving it, enjoying it, doing it regularly, which I, which I love because that's like,

239

and she kind of trails off and she starts one sentence

240

and then changes it and changes it because she's thinking while she's speaking.

241

So a lot of what she's saying is not a coherent, complete sentence.

242

Like if you wrote down exactly what she's saying, it would not be correct English writing because we don't speak like that.

243

So she's saying, which I, which I love because that's like,

244

which is great because, and so you see how she's jumping from thing to thing and it's not correct English.

245

It's not coherent, correct English, but it doesn't matter.

246

We still follow her.

247

We follow her train of thought.

248

And this is just how we talk.

249

You know, we don't talk with these perfectly polished sentences.

250

We think as we speak.

251

And sometimes we start a sentence and then we start saying something else

252

and start saying something else and it's all these like fragments of sentences.

253

This is just normal speaking.

254

And my aunt, she is intelligent.

255

She's educated a normal person speaking like a normal person, which is great because I think it's a healthy thing to do for yourself.

256

And it's obviously something that has been a way of life for me for, I mean, forever.

257

It's part of her lifestyle.

258

My aunt, I think she runs every single day.

259

Like she has run almost every day of her life for

260

decades like that's just what my aunt does she just she loves running

261

so I think that's great she says so she's just saying like

262

that it's great it's awesome that you're getting into the gym life

263

and my aunt is also a physical therapist so she also has

264

that perspective as a physical therapist recently I was talking to her about some some pain

265

that I was having I think I pulled a muscle

266

and she also has

267

that perspective on the topic of like she she really understands the importance of moving your body

268

and working certain muscles and all that good stuff.

269

So she says, and you do start to become more familiar with your body.

270

You do, you do start to become more familiar with your body.

271

This is how we use the word familiar.

272

I think there are a lot of students who try to use the word familiar to mean like family or family related.

273

Maybe it has that meaning in the dictionary, but I have rarely heard it used like that.

274

We usually use familiar to say like something that you know about something

275

that you know well

276

so to become more familiar with your body is to better

277

understand your body to learn more about your body yeah to know about

278

and better understand your body that's what it is

279

so that's like to become more familiar with something

280

so you can say i'm familiar with this place i'm familiar

281

with this thing i know about it that's usually how we

282

use the word familiar we usually don't even use it in

283

a family related sense like i know it looks like the word family

284

or familia but it's not usually

285

that of course you are very familiar with your family

286

but it's kind of like obvious so why would we even say

287

that so you start to become more familiar with your body

288

and how it moves and that body awareness

289

so there she's just explaining you know elaborating the body awareness

290

which honestly so many people don't have and i i notice it

291

when i'm treating patients

292

so as a physical therapist she has many years of experience of treating patients

293

and so she notices that a lot of people are not familiar with their bodies

294

but um but i think it's helpful it's definitely helpful

295

but um so yeah she says a lot of um she says a lot of so yeah

296

so just like me just like me right this is my

297

mom's sister you know this is how my aunt talks this

298

is how my mom talks this is how I talk this is it

299

so I was telling her about how I I pulled a muscle

300

and I think it might have been like going too hard

301

on the hip abduction machine it's just a machine like where you open

302

and close your legs and with weight basically

303

and I think I went too hard and I pulled something

304

and I was sore for a while I'm still not completely back to normal, but I have gotten better.

305

And so now she's just responding to that.

306

She says, yeah, the hip abduction machine, it could be the cause.

307

Maybe you overdid it.

308

You overdid it.

309

Like you, you did it too hard.

310

You did it too much.

311

You overdid it.

312

Yeah.

313

Maybe you overdid it on that.

314

This is a very common phrase in American English.

315

Maybe I made some food and I overdid it on the, on the seasoning, on the salt or on the pepper.

316

You know, I overdid it on the spiciness.

317

Maybe it's too spicy.

318

I overdid it, you know, or whatever.

319

Like there are many ways you can use this.

320

It's just basically to, to do it too much, to go past the limit.

321

You know, maybe you, you overdid it.

322

You overdid it.

323

All right.

324

We're going to do one more and then we're going to wrap it up for today's episode, but there are many more clips from her message.

325

We're not going to get to all of it.

326

So I'll probably have to do a second video for this

327

so stay tuned for that

328

but now we're going to look at one more clip daphne

329

nally's fluffball kitty has been here with us pretty much lives in nally's room

330

but that's her personality and her temperament

331

and her physical ability at 16 years old

332

so she has no real desire to escape the room

333

so um but they just gave her a lion cut so she is a massive fluff ball.

334

She has so much fur, but it was starting to get matted and she very much dislikes being brushed.

335

I think it hurts her because she has arthritis in her spine.

336

So anyway, they just got her groomed and she now is shaved, but with a lion cut so that her head

337

and neck are big fluff ball like a lion's mane her tail is fluffy

338

and her little feet her little paws are fluffy I mean it's adorable she looks

339

so tiny but um

340

but I think she's cold now I mean she lost a whole thick layer

341

but anyway she's their baby and they baby her to no end

342

and are getting her sweaters and whatnot to make sure she stays warm.

343

All right.

344

So this clip is where my aunt is talking about, and by the way, I say aunt, some people in the U S say aunt,

345

there are multiple forms of pronunciation of many words in the U S.

346

Okay.

347

I get a lot of people ask me like, why do you say often?

348

I thought it's often.

349

There are both ways.

350

There are two ways in the United states

351

so some people say often some people say often same thing

352

with the word aunt some people say aunt some people say

353

aunt i say aunt okay a lot of times it's a stop t at the end

354

so we don't even say the t it's like aunt aunt

355

but sometimes we might say aunt

356

so not everybody in the us has the same pronunciation

357

so this is a clip where my aunt is talking about

358

my cousins her daughter my cousin natalie's cat named daphne

359

so my cousin natalie and her boyfriend ty they have a cat

360

and she's an older cat she's 16 years old

361

and she just basically lives in natalie's bedroom

362

because there's another cat in the house

363

and the other cat would attack daphne like they would fight

364

so and daphne because she's such an old cat she doesn't really care about leaving the room

365

so she just basically lives in natalie's room

366

and natalie lives in angela's house so angela is talking about

367

that natalie is um i think 22 years old um she recently graduated college

368

and she has a job and she works she she lives at home

369

and also i think works at home a lot

370

and she she takes care of the cat and whatever so

371

so that's what my aunt is talking about here so let's go through the message.

372

So she says, Daphne, Natalie's fluff ball kitty.

373

So she's describing the cat as a fluff ball.

374

Fluffy is like, you know, I don't think I have to explain fluffy, but I think you probably know this word, but if you don't know this word, just Google it, just look up fluffy.

375

It's just a texture, you know, it's just like, like a cat, you know, has like a fluffy cat who has a lot of hair,

376

a lot of fur, or maybe you have a fluffy blanket or pillow.

377

It's just that kind of soft, nice, furry, hairy texture.

378

It's like fluffy.

379

So she's saying Natalie's fluff ball kitty.

380

So she's saying the cat or the kitty is like a fluff ball, a ball of fluff.

381

So she's been here with us, she says, pretty much lives in Natalie's room, but that's her personality and her temperament.

382

Temperament, this is an interesting word.

383

I never use this word, but it's just another way of saying like her personality and her way of being.

384

So that's just her personality and her temperament and her physical ability at 16 years old.

385

So talking about the senior cat, the old cat.

386

Some cats at that age might still be quite agile, maybe active, maybe cats that are used to like being outside

387

but I think Daphne is a cat that's mostly been like you know relax at home type cat

388

so she probably is just totally comfortable just laying on the bed all the time

389

so she has no real desire to escape the room

390

so she's totally content she's totally happy in Natalie's bedroom in her room

391

and she has no desire to escape she doesn't she doesn't

392

try to escape she doesn't like go to the door and try to try to leave.

393

So they just gave her a lion cut.

394

So like a haircut.

395

So she is a massive fluff ball.

396

So Angela is going to explain it, but basically they cut the cat's fur to make the cat look like a lion, a lion cut.

397

So she's a massive fluff ball.

398

Like she has so much fur.

399

We use fur to talk about the hair on animals.

400

When we talk about cats or dogs or whatever we say fur their fur

401

so she has so much fur

402

but it was starting to get matted it's just a way of talking about fur

403

or hair getting like tangled or you know just kind of like

404

when you have too much of so much of it

405

and it just gets all like you know it's it's difficult

406

to brush it's hard to brush it gets matted clumped together

407

and she very much dislikes being brushed I'll see you next time.

408

I think it hurts her because she has arthritis in her spine.

409

So arthritis in her spine, she's got pain maybe.

410

So maybe it hurts her to be brushed.

411

So it's better to just remove the fur.

412

So anyway, they just got her groomed.

413

They just got her groomed.

414

And so now she is shaved.

415

So to groom is like just to kind of take care of physically, like you can groom yourself.

416

It's not just for non -human animals.

417

It's also for humans like you can i mean it's more commonly used with non -human animals we groom them

418

but you could use it for people also in certain contexts just like cutting their hair

419

and brushing their hair and doing you know not just hair related things

420

but it's kind of like doing nice things like to kind of improve the comfort

421

or the appearance of someone yeah there are other meanings of the word groomed, but in this context, that's what it means.

422

So there's a totally different meaning that's like bad and unrelated to this.

423

Like it's like kind of a scary topic, a really negative thing, but that's a totally different meaning.

424

But if you're curious, you can look up like the different meanings of groom.

425

A groom is also like a bride and a groom, like two people, like a man and a woman that get married or whatever.

426

There are a lot of meanings of this word, but in this context um like i'm grooming myself you know like yeah

427

so now she's shaved she got her fur shaved on her body

428

but with a lion cut so that her head

429

and neck are a big fluff ball like a lion's mane a lion's mane is like like the male lion

430

that has all the the hair here we call

431

that the lion's mane so her tail is fluffy

432

and her little feet

433

or you know her little paws we use paws with um

434

animals her her little paws are fluffy i mean it's adorable

435

she says it's adorable yeah you can use the word cute we use the word cute all the time

436

but a good alternative is adorable we also like

437

that word adorable adorable is just like a little bit extra emphasis on cute she looks

438

so tiny tiny small

439

but i think she's cold now i mean she lost a

440

whole thick layer a thick layer of of fur of hair to keep you know she had all

441

that fur to keep her warm and so she lost it

442

and now angela thinks she's cold but anyway she's their baby

443

and they baby her to no end this is a good phrase right here she's their baby

444

so baby used like a noun she is their baby

445

and they baby her to no end

446

so here she's using baby like a noun and like a verb

447

so she's saying they baby her it's a way of saying

448

they treat her like a baby they treat her like their baby

449

so they baby her you know they care about every little thing

450

and they you know they want to make sure she's

451

so perfectly comfortable like a princess

452

and we like to use a lot of nouns like a verb we like to turn them into verbs

453

so to baby someone is to kind of treat them like a baby it could be like a positive

454

or negative thing

455

but in this case i think it's kind of a cute thing positive thing i mean it's a cat

456

so it's okay to baby your cat i guess especially your old cat

457

so they baby her to no end this is a phrase

458

that my family uses a lot to no end my grandma

459

my aunt it's like a lot all day long forever they

460

baby her to no end there's no end to the babying

461

and are getting her sweaters

462

and whatnot whatnot is a great word i use this a lot whatnot is just

463

when you're listing things or you're saying unspecified things.

464

It's just like a general word.

465

It's like the word stuff, you know, getting her sweaters and stuff.

466

It's like just a kind of a general word to add to your list of things.

467

If you break it down, if you look at the word whatnot, it's like what not, like everything, anything, what not, you know, like it kind of makes sense, right?

468

Getting her sweaters and whatnot, getting her anything, anything she wants, anything she needs, you know, what not what are they not getting her to make sure she stays warm?

469

All right.

470

So those were three clips from my aunt's audio message.

471

There are several more.

472

So if you like this video, let me know in the comments.

473

I'll make another video about this where we break down my aunt's other clips.

474

I think it's super interesting to listen to other native speakers on my channel besides me, because I know you guys like listening to me and you listen to me all the time,

475

but it's cool to show other native speakers.

476

I mean, I'm in Argentina.

477

My aunt is in the U S I mean, I can't, and I don't even know if she would want to be in a video like I did with my grandma.

478

So I can't, you know, have her physically here, but sometimes she sends me these audio messages.

479

And I think the quality is pretty good.

480

I download the messages from WhatsApp.

481

Um, I think she has great standard American English.

482

And I just like to show you, I like to show you guys that, um, plenty of people in the U S are not hard to understand if you actually just,

483

you know, talk to them for a while.

484

Of course, if your only reference is like, you know, watching movies that use a script and bad audio quality

485

and everybody's whispering and speaking fast because it's scripted and everybody's saying like these quick one -liners, super fast back and forth in a dialogue.

486

Well, yeah, it's going to seem like English is so hard to understand.

487

But when you actually like talk to people in real life

488

or like listen to people recording an audio message in real life or whatever, like it's not

489

that hard it's normal we speak in a very relaxed normal

490

easy simple way most of us a lot of us i just like to show

491

that on my channel to try to like boost your confidence

492

and help you you know not overestimate what american english is

493

but like i always say there will always be things

494

that you don't understand i have a pretty good level of

495

spanish you know i can go out on the street

496

and talk to people hell i do i do activism in

497

spanish i do vegan activism in spanish where i I have conversations with people on the street about veganism and about, you know, animal exploitation and all the, I use all these, you know,

498

difficult words and whatever, or advanced words, words, I should say, you know, and I, and I have conversations with people and I can do all that,

499

but there are always going to be moments when people say something and I'm like, what, you know, and it's usually, it's usually not when I'm having a conversation with someone.

500

It's when I hear someone say something really quick and out of the blue, like random, you know what I mean?

501

Like I'm checking out at the grocery store,

502

you know, I'm buying something and the cashier says something quick and random that I'm not like expecting.

503

So it's like silence, like we're not talking, we're not talking.

504

And then all of a sudden, you know, that's what's hard.

505

Those moments are hard.

506

And often I don't understand when people say like quick, random things to me, but when you're actually having a conversation with someone,

507

you're actually listening to someone talk for a while your ear

508

and your brain is kind of already tuned into the way they're talking it's not hard it's not hard

509

so context is everything context everything there will always be those

510

moments where people say things to me in spanish like out of nowhere

511

and i'm like what but when we're having a conversation i understand almost everything

512

so i just want to remind you guys of

513

that i'll probably remind you again because people don't watch all my videos

514

and then they ask me the same questions later and I've already talked about it a million times.

515

But anyway, yeah.

516

So hope you enjoyed this video and I'll see you in the next one.

517

And yeah, take care.

518

Have a great life.

519

Bye.

📺 Same Channel

✨ Recommend Video

192 sentences

How to Understand Native English Speakers: Advanced Listening Skills

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

324 sentences

Native English Conversation - With My Sister! Listening Comprehension

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

86 sentences

Video

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

321 sentences

Special delivery | Learn English with real-life stories | Bonus 127

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

153 sentences

Who Can Make You Speak English Fluently?

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

254 sentences

🎧 Luyện Nghe Tiếng Anh Level B2- YO BAE - | Listening English Podcast |🎯

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

306 sentences

2389 - Everyday English You Should Use Every Day

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

431 sentences

Speak Like a Native | Day 8 | Talk About Friendship | B1-B2 Listening Practice

Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students

214 sentences

Speak English Like Natives in 8 Days – Day 5

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

481 sentences

10 Real ENGLISH Conversations: Can you understand them?

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

569 sentences

English Podcast for Daily Life English Conversation | Talk About Fast English Movie | Part 2

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

152 sentences

Transform Your English Listening Ears: The 'Native Speed' Audio Protocol!

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Listen to How Native Speakers REALLY Talk”. This video has 519 sentences and 5968 words to shadow. The speech runs for 32:40. The speaker talks fast, about 183 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

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

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
aunt noun	/ɑːnt/	The sister or sister-in-law of one’s parent.
groom verb	/ɡɹum/	To attend to one's appearance and clothing.
clip noun	/klɪp/	Something which clips or grasps; a device for attaching one object to another.
bundle noun	/ˈbʌn.dl̩/	A group of objects held together by wrapping or tying.
vacation noun	/veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/	An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure.
settle verb	/ˈsɛtəl/	To determine (something which was exposed to doubt or question); to resolve conclusively; to set or fix (a time, an order of succession, etc).
relax verb	/ɹɪˈlæks/	To make something loose.
lion noun	/ˈlaɪən/	A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
audio adjective	/ˈɔ.di.oʊ/	Focused on audible sound, as opposed to sight.
phrase noun	/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/	A short written or spoken expression.
brush noun	/bɹʌʃ/	An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including…
adorable adjective	/əˈdoɹ.əˌbəl/	Befitting of being adored; cute or loveable.
lounge noun	/ˈlaʊ̯nd͡ʒ/	The act of someone who lounges; idle reclining.
foolish adjective	/ˈfuː.lɪʃ/	Lacking good sense or judgement as a general trait; unwise; stupid.
heater noun	/ˈhitɚ/	A device that produces and radiates heat, typically to raise the temperature of a room or building.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
get up verb		To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb.
look up verb	/ˌlʊk ˈʌp/	To have better prospects.
cut out verb		To refrain from (doing something, using something etc.), to stop or cease (doing something).
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.
heat up verb		To heat, to cause to become hotter.
break down verb		To stop functioning.
go back verb		To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
go over verb		To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze.

Sentences worth repeating

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

You're going to learn a lot.
Sit back, relax, and let's get into it.
How many times do I have to tell you guys no?
I'm looking at the subtitles here on my laptop.
I don't know if vacation -y is a word.

Grammar in this video

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

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	must be bundled · being brushed · is shaved
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has been · has run · have gotten
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	bed, which is · relaxing which is · heating which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 150 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, therapist /ˈθɛɹəpɪst/, arthritis /ɑːˈθɹ(a)ɪtɪs/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, brush /bɹʌʃ/, foolish /ˈfuː.lɪʃ/, shave /ˈʃeɪ̯v/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: adorable /əˈdoɹ.əˌbəl/, arthritis /ɑːˈθɹ(a)ɪtɪs/, pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, destination /dɛstɪˈneɪʃən/

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 aunt, groom, clip.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Listen to How Native Speakers REALLY Talk - Learn English Speaking with Video

It's rude AND strange in English

A fun video we made in Ecuador in 2022 (in English)

Which American Accent Is Better?

7 Ways You're Overcomplicating English Learning

The Best TV Show to Learn American English

17 Phrasal Verbs I Heard in Conversation Today

45 Minute American English Speaking Practice

Connected Speech You NEED to Know in English 🇺🇸

REAL American English Conversation With Native Speakers

9 English Learning Lies You Probably Believe

Speak With Me: 30 Minute English Speaking Practice

REAL English Speaking Lesson About Personal Life Problems

What's REALLY Your English Level? (Not What You Think)

Repeat-After-Me + Shadowing Practice (REAL American English)

Think You Can Speak REAL English? Try This Advanced Challenge!

Speak With Me: Realistic English Speaking Practice

AVOID THIS If You're Learning English 🚫

A Day in My Life in Vietnam (English Listening Practice)

STOP Making These CRINGE English Mistakes

The #1 English Mistake That Drives Me CRAZY

How to Understand Native English Speakers: Advanced Listening Skills

Native English Conversation - With My Sister! Listening Comprehension

Video

Special delivery | Learn English with real-life stories | Bonus 127

Who Can Make You Speak English Fluently?

🎧 Luyện Nghe Tiếng Anh Level B2- YO BAE - | Listening English Podcast |🎯

2389 - Everyday English You Should Use Every Day

Speak Like a Native | Day 8 | Talk About Friendship | B1-B2 Listening Practice

Speak English Like Natives in 8 Days – Day 5

10 Real ENGLISH Conversations: Can you understand them?

English Podcast for Daily Life English Conversation | Talk About Fast English Movie | Part 2

Transform Your English Listening Ears: The 'Native Speed' Audio Protocol!

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?