Shadowing Practice: Michelangelo's David: Great Art Explained - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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The story of Michelangelo's David is anything but the story of a teenage boy king who slew Goliath.
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In one of his poems, Michelangelo wrote, Som di essere brutto, I know I am ugly.
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His nose was broken and appeared crushed into his face, which he said gave him the look of a beggar.
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He was tortured by his appearance and alienated from his own body.
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Despite, or perhaps because of this, he would spend his life in pursuit of sublime perfection.
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He could do little about his own looks, but he would make sure his David would be the standard by which male beauty would be judged.
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Michelangelo believed that he was a tool of God.
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He wasn't creating a sculpture from marble, he was simply releasing the figure imprisoned within it.
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Unfinished work by Michelangelo gives us many insights into his techniques.
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Most sculptors would create a clay model and then mark up their block of marble to know where to chip.
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But Michelangelo worked mostly freehand starting from the front and working back.
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To sculpt in marble you need the strength of an athlete and the dexterity of a surgeon.
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Any slip -up can destroy years of work.
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Michelangelo would start by what is called roughing out.
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Taking the bulk of weight off with a point chisel
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and a large mallet for getting it down to the general shape of the sculpture.
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Then he'd use a tooth chisel and a smaller hammer for more detailed work in modelling the form.
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As he needed more details, he'd use finer and finer tooth chisels.
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He would use a drill to get into the deeper crevices.
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Then he would refine using various smaller tools, followed by finishing the surface with a tool like the rasp, a sort of file.
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Finally he would polish the statue using abrasive pumice stones and then leather until it is smooth and glossy.
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If we look at his unfinished work here, we can clearly see the sculpture emerging from the stone.
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The marks we see here were made by Michelangelo's own hands.
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The outer part show us where Michelangelo started to cut away the stone with a large pick
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and a mallet
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and in this area we can clearly see he has used
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a tooth chisel here on the chest we see even more detail
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and the marks of fainter where he has used much finer tools michelangelo was 26
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when he was asked to sculpt a colossal statue of the
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biblical hero david to be placed on the roof of the cathedral in florence 80 meters above street level
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Only two years before he had carved the achingly beautiful Pieta in Rome and he was already considered a master.
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He was asked to use an old block of marble already owned by the cathedral
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that had been sitting around for 50 years.
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Two other sculptors had attempted to use it but the marble was flawed and considered too narrow to produce a successful figure.
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One sculptor had even carved a large hole out between what were to have been the legs of his figure.
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But where others saw flaws, Michelangelo saw opportunity.
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Because of the shape of the marble, Michelangelo had to be precise.
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There was no room for manoeuvre.
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David had to look to the side as there wasn't enough marble to have him facing forward.
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David had to be in the contrapposto position so that his legs would fit around the large hole already in the marble.
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And he would have to be slender because of the depth of the marble.
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The story of David and Goliath is the biblical story of the Philistine giant defeated by the teenage Israelite, armed only with his sling.
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The finale of the story is David cutting off his head and holding it up to the cheering crowd.
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Traditionally, David had been portrayed at the point of victory, triumphant over the dead Goliath.
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Florentine artists like Donatello and Verrocchio depicted their own version of David standing over Goliath's severed head.
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All statues are more than mere representations, but Michelangelo's take on it would be revolutionary.
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By removing the conventional attributes of the Biblical hero, Stripping him down, both literally and figuratively,
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Michelangelo also removes a simplistic reading of it, as just an illustration of the story, and gives it a wider metaphorical meaning.
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For the first time in art, David is depicted before the battle, rather than the moment of victory.
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This changes everything.
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First and foremost, Michelangelo's David depicts rationality.
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David isn't about to fight Goliath with brute strength, but with skill and reason.
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David represents the humanist ideal of a man who can become a hero by his intelligence and willpower alone.
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These are the virtues of the thinking man, considered perfection during the Renaissance.
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Michelangelo catches him at the peak of his concentration as he contemplates the challenge ahead of him.
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David is no longer the traditional self -assured boy.
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Now he is shown as an apprehensive man.
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David's neck is tense.
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His thigh muscles are flexed.
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His nostrils are flared and his brow is furrowed with fear.
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He is just about to glide easily and naturally into action.
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He is tense but contemplates the challenge ahead of him with a calculated gaze.
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The rock is hidden inside his right palm.
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The slingshot rests on his shoulder and hangs down his back, almost invisible, emphasizing that David's victory was intellectual.
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His chest appears to pulse with anxiety.
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Like all of Michelangelo's sculptures, the viewer sees David at a specific and pivotal point.
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It is not meant to be the whole story.
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David is in motion.
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The position he is in is known as contrapposto or counterpose.
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It was invented by the ancient Greeks and is a very natural and human way to stand.
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The red lines show where his muscles are tensed and the yellow ones where his muscles are relaxed.
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Most of the weight is on one leg with the other leg forward, causing the figure's hips and shoulders to rest at opposing angles,
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giving a slight S curve to the entire torso and therefore giving the statue a more dynamic look.
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The story of David and Goliath would come to represent the city of Florence itself.
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During the Renaissance, Italy was a collection of city -states, each with its own ruler.
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The newly independent Republic of Florence saw itself as the David of Italy,
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holding out with unexpected strength against the Medici's and the powerful and all consuming influence of the Pope in Rome.
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This point was emphasized when David was placed in a secular spot, rather than its intended religious one.
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Commissioned as a statue of the biblical story, in Michelangelo's hands it becomes something else entirely.
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The proportions of David are not typical of Michelangelo's work.
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The figure has an unusually large head and hands.
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But Michelangelo, who had dissected many cadavers, understood the human body better than any physician.
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As per the commission, the statue was designed to be seen from 80 meters below.
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In 2010, a fiberglass replica was temporarily placed in the spot originally planned for David.
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And we can clearly see that the proportions work perfectly when seen from below.
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Nudity was unusual at the time for a biblical story, but the Renaissance was a decisive time for the nude in Western art.
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A renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman art brought the human body to the forefront of artistic innovation during the Renaissance.
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Achievement in representing the body became the standard for measuring artistic genius.
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It is far harder to depict a nude figure than a clothed one.
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It is a myth though that Renaissance Europeans were comfortable with nude bodies in art, particularly when displayed in public.
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In fact, the city fathers had a garland of 28 gilded copper leaves made to protect David's modesty, and in later years he wore a fig leaf,
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as in this photo from the 1860s shows.
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Why is the Jewish hero David not circumcised?
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Again, we can trace this back to the inspiration for the Renaissance, the ancient Greeks and Romans.
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They regarded circumcision as barbaric, and there are no depictions of circumcision in ancient statuary.
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Also, the Catholic Church denounced circumcision in the Middle Ages.
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The Jewish figure of David has been placed into the Christian context of Florence, a hallmark of the High Renaissance.
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It has been remarked that David's penis is rather small this was considered an indication of modesty
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and respectability and shows that the biblical figure is in control of his own urges.
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We can contrast that with contemporary images of satyrs and other figures which represented evil sexuality.
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David has a slight squint.
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It is rarely remarked on but his eyes point in slightly different directions.
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This is a typical Michelangelo trick to pull us into the eyes of David.
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The pupils are carved out hollow to capture the changing sunlight adding to the intensity of the gaze.
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Michelangelo calculated every angle and always considered the position of the viewer.
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The details are extraordinary.
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My own favorite is the jugular vein which is swollen.
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This only occurs when people get excited or nervous.
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Michelangelo understood this over a century before scientists would describe the circulatory system.
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The veins in the raised left hand are delicate, while the veins in the hanging right hand are pulsing and more well -defined.
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The way our blood circulates, this is exactly what would happen to our own hands in the same position.
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Every detail points to Michelangelo's passion for human anatomy.
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Michelangelo, who never wasted a minute of his life, worked morning, noon and night on David, alone and in total secrecy.
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At night he would attach candles to his hat.
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He rarely ate and when he did sleep he slept in his clothes, which he seldom, if ever, changed.
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In 1504 he finally presented his giant to the cathedral committee.
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They were astonished at Michelangelo's skills and agreed it was far too perfect to be placed at such a height.
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They decided to find a better location and eventually decided it should be placed in the political heart of Florence,
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in Piazza della Signoria, in front of the Town Hall, where its copy still is today.
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One member of the committee tried to persuade them to place David in a less prominent place.
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His name?
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Leonardo da Vinci.
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David is truly a colossus.
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At nearly six meters tall and weighing six tons it took four days
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and 40 men to move the statue half a mile from Michelangelo's workshop.
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In a gesture of defiance David was placed facing south towards Rome.
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Michelangelo then added the finishing touches on site.
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Originally the sling and tree stump support were gilded with gold as seen in these reconstructions.
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David received a rapturous reception from the Florentines
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and right from the start it was hailed as a masterpiece and a symbol of the Republic.
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The Italian 16th century historian Giorgio Vasari wrote,
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after seeing this, no one need wish to look at any other sculpture or the work of any other artist.
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In 1873 David was moved to the Accademia Gallery to protect it from environmental damage
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and in 1910 a full -size copy was placed in the square.
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His fig leaf was eventually removed and David could be seen as Michelangelo intended.
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Statues have power beyond their initial reading.
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One man's hero is another man's symbol of oppression.
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Michelangelo would go on to create many masterpieces, but his miraculous transformation of a shepherd boy into the physical
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embodiment of Florence would prove to be a defining moment in his artistic career.
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He was an alchemist who turned marble into flesh and bone
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and brought a psychological insight and physical realism to sculpture never seen before.
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He died in Rome in February of 1564, still working at the age of 88 years old,
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having outlived both his arch -rivals Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
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He was brought back to Florence to be buried in Santa Croce Church, just a stone's throw away from his divine David.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 144 sentences and 2007 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:06. The speaker talks at a steady 142 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 76% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| marble noun | /ˈmɑɹ.bəl/ | A metamorphic rock of crystalline limestone. |
| statue noun | /ˈstæt͡ʃu/ | A three-dimensional work of art, usually representing a person or animal, usually created by sculpting, carving, molding, or casting. |
| biblical adjective | /ˈbɪblɪkəl/ | Of or relating to the Bible. |
| sculpture noun | /ˈskʌlpt͡ʃɚ/ | A three-dimensional work of art created by shaping malleable objects and letting them harden or by chipping away pieces from a rock (sculpting). |
| muscle noun | /ˈmʌs.əl/ | A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement. |
| artistic adjective | /ɑɹˈtɪs.tɪk/ | Having or revealing creative skill. |
| meter noun | /ˈmitəɹ/ | A device that measures things. |
| tooth noun | /tuθ/ | A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for biting and chewing food. |
| nude adjective | /n(j)uːd/ | Of a color (such as beige or tan) that evokes bare flesh. |
| cathedral noun | /kəˈθiːdɹəl/ | The principal church serving as the office (and some as place of residence) of an archdiocese's/a diocese's archbishop/bishop which is symbolized by an… |
| vein noun | /veɪn/ | A blood vessel that transports blood from the capillaries back to the heart. |
| rarely adverb | /ˈɹɛəɹli/ | Not occurring at a regular interval; seldom; not often. |
| angle noun | /ˈæŋ.ɡəl/ | A figure formed by two rays which start from a common point (a plane angle) or by three planes that intersect (a solid angle). |
| symbol noun | /ˈsɪmbəl/ | A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object. |
| leaf noun | /lif/ | The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| cut away verb | To fail to show something; to stop before showing something; to leave a scene; to switch to a different scene quickly. | |
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| stand over verb | To be very watchful of. | |
| work back verb | to work overtime; to make up time off by working overtime; to work beyond a specific shift. |
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 | was broken · was tortured · would be judged |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been placed · has been remarked |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | man who can · vein which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 5 contractions and reduced forms, such as he'd, wasn't, isn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: tooth /tuθ/, cathedral /kəˈθiːdɹəl/, smooth /smuːð/, leather /ˈlɛðɚ/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: proportion /pɹəˈpɔɹʃən/, perfection /pɚˈfɛk.ʃən/, unfinished /ʌnˈfɪnɪʃt/, contrast /kənˈt(ʃ)ɹæst/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/
- Long words — get the stress right: naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, extraordinary /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/
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 marble, statue, biblical.
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.