Shadowing Practice: Matthew Dicks at The Moth GrandSLAM Championship | A Masterclass in Storytelling - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Please welcome Matthew Dix to the stage.
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Thank you.
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I'm standing on the playground behind my school.
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It's recess duty.
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When my son was very little, he asked me, is recess duty like duty?
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Like poop?
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And I said, yeah, actually, it is just like that.
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And I sent him away.
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I am sure that conversation created enormous problems for him at some point in his life, but it was an accurate description of recess duty.
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I waste my precious time putting band-aids on cuts that are not cuts, pretending to listen to stories about cousins' birthday parties,
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and telling mean children that they have no one to play with because they are mean.
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And so I'm standing there doing all of these things when I hear these four words that strike fear into my heart.
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Never have I ever.
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And I look over and I see three of my students, 10-year-old girls, on the sidewalk, and apparently they are playing this game.
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So now I am running, because I have played Never Have I Ever.
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I understand the dynamics of this game.
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This is not a benevolent game where we acquire knowledge about our friends.
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This is social combat.
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This is...
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We extract information from foolish children, and then we sharpen it, and we stab them with it later on.
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So I'm running over.
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Like 1985, Jimbo Powers' birthday party.
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Melissa says, Matt, never have you ever kissed someone?
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And immediately I have to figure out, do I tell the truth?
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Basically what I'm wondering is, is everyone else in this room kissed somebody?
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Because if so, now I have to lie and say yes, and I have to prepare myself for the questions that will come, which will undoubtedly be, who did you kiss?
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And since no one has ever kissed me in my school, and probably never will, I have to make up a story about the time my parents took me to the far-flung land of or Pawtucket,
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Rhode Island, or Woburn, and I was in a candy store, and I had a tryst by a licorice stand with a girl.
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A story that did not work.
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A kid once asked me, never have you ever gone to third base?
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And I knew it wasn't about baseball, but that is all I knew about that question.
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So I am running to these girls, and as I get close, I hear one of them say, never have I ever gone to bed without brushing my teeth.
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And I sort of grind to a halt, because this is not 1985 sex and drugs, never have I ever.
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This is like Paw Patrol Never Have I Ever.
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It's fine.
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There's nothing wrong here.
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And as I turn to walk away, the girls say, Mr. Dix, you want to play Never Have I Ever?
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And they explain to me that their game's a competition.
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They stand on the sidewalk, and if you've never, ever done something, you take a step forward, and whoever gets to the bench first wins.
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And now I'm all in, because I love competition.
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I love to crush small children in games
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that are utterly meaningless They're utterly meaningless so I can feel better about myself as a human being.
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So I'm standing there on the line with the girls and the first girl says, never have I ever climbed a mountain.
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And all three of them step forward.
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I'm like, are you kidding me?
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You're 10 and you've never gone up a mountain?
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Like no lie, when I'm 12 I get lost in the white mountains of New Hampshire for two days and nobody cares including me.
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They've never climbed a mountain before?
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And the next girl says, never have I ever gone to bed without a nightlight on.
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And I think, oh my god, lady, don't say that, because we're all going to make fun of you for it.
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And then I realize, oh my god, I'm the only one who's going to make fun of her for this.
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Like this group of children that I'm taking care of, they're so different than I was.
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Like they've taken all their daggers and put them away.
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They're sweet.
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They're accepting.
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It's not all good.
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No, no, it's not all good.
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Like they, this generation of children can't get ten feet from a water
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bottle without being They're the most hydrated group of kids I've ever met in my entire life.
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It is a nightmare.
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They can't go through my math lessons without a squishy thing or a stuffed animal.
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I had a girl last week in my math lesson with a blanket wrapped around her.
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I said, what's up with the blanket?
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She said, it makes me happy during math.
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I said, math isn't happy.
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It's awful.
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It's hard.
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It's onerous.
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I would have loved to have a water bottle and a blanket
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and a stuffed animal during math when I was a kid.
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All I had was angst and despair.
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It made me who I am.
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I can't stand these kids.
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And I'm losing the game because I have done everything and they've done nothing.
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So they're nine steps ahead of me.
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And then the tallest girl says, never have I ever met my father's expectations.
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And I think that is nonsense because I know your fathers.
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They're all fine men.
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What are you talking about?
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And one of the girls says, well, I'm a swimmer and when I get a PR in the pool and I come out, my dad's happy for me.
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But then he says, but just imagine how much better you could have been
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if you had nailed the kick turn on the third lap.
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And the next girl says, well, I mastered my multiplication facts last month, and when I came home to my dad, he said, that's great, but why didn't you do it in October when you were supposed to?
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And the third one says, my dad always tells me how I can be better, and I know he does it because he loves me, but it never feels like love.
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And now I'm panicking, I'm thinking, what about my children, Charlie and Clara?
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Have I ever told them that they've met my expectations?
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They never have.
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I mean, they don't even come close.
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But how have I at least fooled them into believing that they occasionally meet my expectations?
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And so as I'm panicking about this situation, the tall girl says, Mr. Dix, have you ever met your father's expectations?
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And I catch for a minute.
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I don't know what to say.
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But then I know exactly what to say, because I've been working with kids for 25 years as a teacher, and I know they're more capable than we all know.
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And so I tell her, I say, my father left when I was seven and he never came back.
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And so I don't think he ever had expectations for me.
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And three hands reach out and they grab my wrist and they pull me forward.
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And that girl says, that counts, Mr. Dix.
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And then she tells me, I'm sorry your father abandoned you when you were a kid.
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And it is crazy, but from the age of 7 to 52,
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I have basically been waiting for my father to come back.
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And it is not until I'm on a sidewalk with a 10-year-old girl
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that I understand for the first time that he is not coming back.
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It is the first time I have ever in my life heard the word abandoned used to describe what happened to me.
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And it is the first time ever that a human being has ever said to me, I'm sorry that happened to you.
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My friends have said, that sucked, it was terrible.
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I know that my wife hates what happened to me as a boy.
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But that 10-year-old girl, she was the first person to tell me, I am sorry for what happened to you when you were seven.
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When people ask me today why I am still a public school teacher after 25 years, with all of the unspeakable,
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ridiculous, nonsensical, impossible things that school teachers go through today,
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and with, quite honestly, all the other opportunities I have to leave a classroom and go do other things with my life,
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my answer is always immediate and simple.
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I love kids, but far more important than that,
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kids understand me, and they speak truth to me, and they love me.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Matthew Dix.

About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking and listening skills through the engaging storytelling of Matthew Dicks. By immersing yourself in his humorous anecdotes about childhood experiences and interactions with students, you will learn how to convey emotions and deliver narratives effectively. This exercise will help you enhance your English fluency and confidence, as well as improve your ability to comprehend and replicate conversational expressions. This practical application of the shadowing technique will facilitate a deeper understanding of the nuances of English language storytelling.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Recess duty: Responsibilities taken during school breaks.
  • Never have I ever: A popular party game for sharing experiences.
  • Social combat: Engaging in playful yet competitive exchanges.
  • Tryst: A romantic meeting, often secretive.
  • Utterly meaningless: Without significance or importance.
  • Nightlight: A small light left on during the night for comfort.

Practice Tips

To effectively use the shadowing technique with this video, pay close attention to Matthew Dicks' pacing and intonation. Start by listening to short segments of his storytelling, focusing on his expressive tone and humor. Try to mimic his speech patterns and emotional expressions as you repeat after him. Use the shadowspeak method by saying the lines in sync with his delivery. This will not only help you improve your English pronunciation but also enhance your ability to convey stories with emotion and clarity.

Since Matthew's storytelling is lively and engaging, practice in a comfortable environment where you can fully concentrate on both listening and speaking. Aim to repeat phrases multiple times to practice your shadow speech. Additionally, consider recording yourself to compare your intonation and pacing with the original. This will support your goal to learn English with YouTube and boost your overall communication skills in real-life scenarios.

By committing to these practice tips, you will develop a stronger command of the English language, enabling you to express your thoughts and stories with confidence and flair.

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.