Shadowing Practice: Michael Jackson EXPOSES His Father's Horrific Abuse & A Childhood Stolen | the detail. - Learn English Speaking with Video
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How often would he beat you?
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Too much.
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Would he only use the belt?
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Do you remember any time in your whole life when you weren't performing?
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Wow.
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Not really.
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No. We've always performed.
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Yeah.
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Even when we were small kids.
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My mother caught me making my bed one day and I was singing.
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And she said to my father that I could sing and he didn't want to hear of it.
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You know, he said that Jermaine's the lead singer, not Michael.
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My mother said, Joe, you really should hear him sing.
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He can sing.
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He goes, no, Jermaine's the lead singer of the group, and that's it.
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She forced him to listen to me.
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And once he listened to me, From that moment on, I was the lead single in the group.
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Yeah, we weren't wealthy, but we weren't poor.
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My father always prepared for the family, as well as my mother, always wonderful.
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That's very important.
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They made sure we got the right things for ourselves.
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Strong parents, I think, are very important, especially in our situation.
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Well, on stage for me was home.
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I was most comfortable and still most comfortable on stage.
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But once I got off stage, I was like very sad.
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Really?
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Yes.
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And sad from the beginning?
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Sad since it's first started?
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Lonely, sad, having to face with popularity and all of that.
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Christine, what school do you go to?
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Do you go to a school?
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Yeah, I go to a private school in the valley.
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Do the kids stare at you because you're so rich and famous? Do they?
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Do they stare at you? not because of it.
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It's kind of a school like the kids already in the business.
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There are other singers, dancers, and aerialists, and jugglers and tumblers and so on.
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I remember precisely going to Motown Studios to record.
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Right across the street from the studio was a park
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and I could hear the roar of the you know the little league team and they're playing
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soccer and football and volleyball and they were playing baseball.
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And I remember a lot of the times looking back and really hiding my face crying.
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When I was really little, around 11 and 12, I was under contract with Motown
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and I would have to go to the recording studio go
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and make these albums because the summer tour was right around the corner
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and right across the street from the recording studio was a ballpark
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and I could hear the kids you know the roar of the crowd
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and playing and catching ball and having fun and playing tennis
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and some of those times I
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so passionately wanted to just go over there just play a little bit
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and not go to the recording studio
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and sing just to you know have some fun with the kids
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and i couldn't i mean on tour backstage without musicians
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and the singers and i feel growing up for ages for a lot of my life
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when i was i remember all the time when i was still they used to call me a 45 year old midget, wherever I went.
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I used to always hear that and I just would hear it.
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Never thought about it.
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When you were little and you started to sing, did you know you were that good?
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I never thought about it.
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But you don't miss then, not ever having had what they call an average childhood?
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Like a- No, not really.
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We get to do things kids do in the neighborhood.
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Well, you don't get to do things that other children get to do.
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You know, the simple things that they so much take for granted.
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Having friends and slumber parties and buddies and just hanging out.
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There was none of that for me.
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I didn't have any friends when I was little.
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My brothers were my friends.
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In bed, sleep at night, I was up doing clubs.
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I was doing club dates.
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Three in the morning.
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The striptease would come on after us.
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You know, I was, we were performing.
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And we were, we did have friends.
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My brothers were like my friends, but we worked.
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We worked, we worked them for Christmas, they were my birthdays, and we were very strict to Hopelessnesses.
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From one concert to the next, it wasn't concert, it was the recording studio.
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It wasn't that, it was TV shows or interviews or picture sessions.
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There was always something to do.
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What would you do if you had a vacation?
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I mean, a real vacation where you just get off and away from singing and anything that looked like work.
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What would you do?
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What would I do?
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I really don't know.
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You've never really done it.
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In my life, I really had one vacation and that was last Christmas.
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Outside of that, let me think what I did.
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I just stayed home.
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I watched television.
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I read.
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And I remember one time we were getting ready to go to South America and everybody was packed up in the cars, ready to leave and go, and the plane was about to.. and I hid.
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I was crying while I was hiding, because I really did not want to go.
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I wanted to play.
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I did not want to go.
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No, he's gonna kill me.
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He's gonna get you still worried about me.
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Well, he feels that he was stretched.
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I'm glad he said it.
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Now I'll say it yes.
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Did he ever beat you?
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Yes, he did.
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And that was difficult to take, getting beaten and going on stage and performing.
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Yes.
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My father would always say, don't mess up, you know?
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And I felt I knew every part.
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And if something went wrong, I felt I could cover it.
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Well, I didn't have it that hard because he used me as the example.
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It was like, do it like Michael.
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You know, and he practiced us with a belt in his hand.
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And if you miss a step, expect to be...
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He'd look in the audience, he'd make a face like this.
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He'd go, I can't mess up, he's going to kill us.
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It would just scare the bejesus out of you.
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He'd be like, everybody's clapping, he'd be like, looking at your heart, like, don't you mess up.
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And I'm like, oh, God.
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I'm in trouble at this show.
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And he would tear you up if you missed.
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And so we, not only were we practicing, we were nervous rehearsing because he sat in the chair and he had this bell in his hand.
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And if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you.
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And I got it a lot of times, but I think my brother Marlon got it the most because he had a hard time at first.
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And he tried so hard.
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And it was always, do it like Michael, do it like Michael, you know,
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but the others were very nervous And I was nervous too, you know, because he was tough.
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He wanted me to, I guess maybe, I don't know if I was his golden child or whatever it was.
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Some may call it a strict disciplinarian or whatever, but he was very strict, very hard, very stern.
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Just a look would scare you, you know, and- Were you scared of him?
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Very, frightened.
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There's been times when he'd come to see me and I would get sick, you know, start to regurgitate as a child or as an adult.
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I don't think he realizes to this day how scared, scared.
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I mean scared, so scared that I would regurgitate.
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You would vomit?
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Mm-hmm. When would you vomit?
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What would produce that sort of reaction in you?
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his presence just seeing him and sometime I'd faint
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and my bodyguards would have to hold me up I don't have you hearing today.
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I'm scared of my father to this day.
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My father walked in the room and God knows I'm telling you the truth.
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I fainted in his presence many times.
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I'll say once, to be honest.
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I fainted once.
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I've thrown up in his presence because when he comes in the room, and oh, it just aura comes, and my stomach starts hurting.
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I know, like, I'm in trouble.
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Now he's so different now.
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He wants to be a better father.
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I just wish he had learned that earlier.
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Why are you still scared of him?
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Because the scar is still there.
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So I'm like an angel in front of him, not scared.
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One day he said, why are you scared of me?
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And I couldn't answer.
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I felt like, and children, do you know what you've done?
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How often would he beat you?
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Too much.
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Would he only use a belt?
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Why do you do this to me?
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No more than a belt.
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What else would he use to hit you with?
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Arnie cords.
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whatever's around.
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Throw you up against the wall as hard as you could.
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He was left.
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The way he would beat you was, you know, was hard.
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Sometimes you take, you make a strip of nude first.
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He would oil you down.
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Your whole ritual, he would oil you down.
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So when the flip of the, the ironing cord hit you, it would just, you know, and it was just like me dying.
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And you just flip all over your face, your back, everywhere.
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I always hear my mother, but no, Joe, you're going to kill him.
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You're going to kill him.
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I would just give up.
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I thought there was nothing I can do.
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And I hated him for it.
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He would lose his temper.
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I just remember hearing my mother scream, Joe, you're going to kill him.
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You're going to kill him.
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Stop it.
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You're going to kill him, you know?
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And I was so fast, you know, he couldn't catch me half the time.
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But when he would catch me, oh, my God.
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It was bad.
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He hit me, I would hit him back, which was terrible.
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And I would run around the house and hide and all that stuff.
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But I would really get it more than anybody.
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His car coming down the driveway drove, always throw this big Mercedes.
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He drives real slow.
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Shut up home.
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Shut up home quick.
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Boom.
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Door slam.
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Everybody runs to their room.
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I guess sometimes I'd be in bed at night sleeping.
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It's 12 at night.
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The door is locked.
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I'm giving you five seconds.
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You're not open.
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I'm going to kick it down.
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He starts kicking it.
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Boom.
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Kick it.
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Like breaking the door.
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Why did you sign that contract today?
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I go, I don't know.
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He goes, well, sign it.
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If you don't sign it, you're in trouble.
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Did you decide?
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I had to.
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He was very physical.
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He'd throw you and hit you as hard as he can.
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Did you begin to feel that you were like a money-making machine boy?
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Yeah.
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I'll never forget one day he said, you guys ever stop singing, I'll drop you like a hot potato.
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That's what he said.
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You're going to hurt me.
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He don't say that to children, and I never forgot it.
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When he was beating you, did you hate him?
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Yeah.
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Strong hate.
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That's why to this day I don't lay a finger on my children.
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I don't want them to ever feel that way about me.
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Ever.
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And he didn't allow us to call him daddy.
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And I wanted to call him daddy so bad.
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He said I'm not daddy, I'm Joseph to you, you know?
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I never felt love from him.
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And he would never hold me or touch me.
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We used to say to our mother, we'd say to each other, I'll never forget this, Janet and myself, we'd say, I'll say, Janet, shut your eyes.
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She'd go, okay, let's shut.
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I'd picture Joseph in a car and he's dead.
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Did you feel sorry?
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She'd go, no. That's what we'd do to each other as kids.
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We'd play games like that.
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She'd go, nope.
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She'd go, nope.
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That's how hateful we were.
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He just, I don't think how much he hurt me with me as well.
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But he's a genius.
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The man is a genius.
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At the same time, he was a genius.
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He really is.
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But Michael, he injured you when you were a child.
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Yeah, but look what came out of it.
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Well.
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Maybe I wouldn't have the infection for the kids that I have today and wanted to help them.
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And I totally forgive him for all of it, you know.
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You have to.
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but uh i don't allow my children to call me michael i say i'm daddy it's just the opposite
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so when people say the abuse abuse that's not true that's not true at all
About This Lesson
In this lesson, learners will practice their English speaking skills by engaging with a heartfelt transcript featuring Michael Jackson's reflections on his childhood and experiences within the music industry. Through shadowing, learners will focus on improving their English pronunciation and fluency as they mimic the tone, speed, and emotional depth of the original speaker. By imitating Jackson's expressions and phrasing, students will enhance their ability to convey personal stories and emotions in English.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Performing - Engaging in a performance, especially in music or theatre.
- Lead singer - The main vocalist in a musical group.
- Horrific abuse - Severe mistreatment or harm.
- Lonely - Feeling alone or isolated.
- Private school - A school that is not funded by the state and requires tuition fees.
- Popularity - The state of being well-liked or admired by many people.
- Comfortable - Feeling at ease or relaxed in a particular environment.
- Shadow speech - A technique used to enhance speaking skills by imitating a native speaker.
Practice Tips
To effectively use this transcript, follow these specific shadowing tips to maximize your practice sessions:
- Listen attentively - Before shadowing, listen to the entire segment to capture the nuances of Michael's tone and emotion.
- Use a shadowing app - Leverage technology by using a shadowing app that allows you to play the audio at slower speeds and loop sections for optimal practice.
- Focus on pacing and inflection - Pay attention to the rhythm of the speech. Shadowing can help you improve your English pronunciation and mimic the natural flow of the language.
- Practice in short segments - Break the transcript into small phrases and practice each one before moving on to the next. This method enhances retention and improves fluency.
- Record yourself - After shadowing, record your voice to compare it with the original. This will allow you to identify areas for improvement in your pronunciation and emotional delivery.
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.