Shadowing Practice: Modern Family Best Of Season 1 | Modern Family Clips - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
We're gonna be stuck with these people for the next five hours.
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You're right, you're right.
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Okay, I'm sorry.
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Hi, hi.
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Look at that baby with those cream puffs.
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Okay, excuse me.
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Excuse me, but this baby would have grown up in a crowded orphanage if it wasn't for us cream puffs.
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And you know what?
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Note to all of you who judge.
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Hear this.
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Love knows no race, creed, or gender.
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And shame on you, you small-minded, ignorant few.
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What?
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She's got the cream puffs.
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Oh.
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We would like to pay for everyone's headsets.
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That's when my dad's picking me up.
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Hey, if we're not done by three, I'm going to tie a noose on this thing.
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In Colombia, there's a saying.
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If you have two stubborn burros that don't like each other, you tie them to the same cart.
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The ceiling fan is the cart.
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My dad's taking me on Space Mountain.
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He's supposed to be really fast, but he's not scared of anything.
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He doesn't even wear a seatbelt when he drives.
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Wow, how about that?
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Killed a bear once.
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Really?
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Was the bear sitting in the passenger seat?
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Read me the instructions.
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Safety tips.
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Warning.
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To reduce the risk of electrical shock...
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We can skip that.
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Uh, failure to heed these warnings can lead to serious injury or death.
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You know, you worry too much.
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You know that.
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Nobody's gonna get shocked.
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One time my dad was shocked by lightning.
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That's why he can drink as much as he wants.
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Manny thinks his dad is like Superman.
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The truth, he's a total flake.
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In fact, the only way he's like Superman is that they both landed in this country illegally.
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How's this?
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Not far enough.
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Go on.
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Okay, further down.
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You can't go too far.
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Right, okay, I get it.
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I get it!
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How's this?
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Good.
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Now stand still.
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Don't move.
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Okay, let's do it!
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Woo!
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Woo!
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I love it!
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I love it!
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My mom started drinking these cocktails called Horny Columbians with some of Gloria's uncles,
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whom apparently the drink was named after.
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Oh, come on.
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They were funny.
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They kept patting my butt.
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Somebody's full of herself.
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It's a Colombian wedding tradition, they said.
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I would like to make a toast.
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Yeah, Nana got totally wasted.
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It was really funny.
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Then it was gross.
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To the bride and the groom, my ex.
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35 years we were together and he couldn't wait 10 minutes to run off with Charles.
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Oh, my goodness.
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That's a joke.
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Seriously.
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I knew they were perfect for each other when I saw his wallet and her boobs.
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Take your hands off me.
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Mom.
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Mom.
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Oh, relax, Mitchell.
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Would you take your Claire pill?
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Okay.
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Let's just take a little fresh air, okay?
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And then it got weird.
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Gloria!
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Gloria!
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Gloria!
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Cheese me!
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Oh, hey, cheese me!
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No!
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Oh, jeez!
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Okay, okay.
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What?
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Nana's really strong.
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I did.
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I did.
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I did.
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Come on, Margaret.
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I did.
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I did.
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I'm sorry.
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Ah!
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During my vows to my first husband, drug dealers burst in and assassinated the judge.
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This was way worse.
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What can I say?
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I drive women crazy.
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It's too soon, I guess.
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Well, there's book smart and then there's street smart.
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Yeah, and then there's Luke.
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Oh, he's just, he's just curious.
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That's all.
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He's got this almost scientific mind with the thirst for knowledge.
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He's like this little Einstein.
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Some people ask why.
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Luke asks why not.
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I ask why a lot.
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So Lily likes that, that singing?
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Yes, it relaxes her.
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Oh, okay. So Lily's deaf.
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There, my little stinkers!
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Come on in.
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Hey.
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Hola.
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Hola, hola.
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Well, hello there, Harry.
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Take it down a notch, Jethro.
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So, you guys ready for some fun?
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What?
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I love you, Grandpa, and I'm never gonna forget you.
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Okay, okay, back at you, champ.
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Whoa, whoa, whoa, this is a pajama party.
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Where's your PJs?
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Yeah, they're in my bag.
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I need to talk to you about something.
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She wants to go to a party with Dylan, Grandpa.
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Shut up, Alex.
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It's at my friend Andrew Adler's.
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He lives three blocks from here.
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Ah, walking distance.
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Right, so I wouldn't ask you this because I love coming to your house, but it's kind of an important party, and I...
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Yeah, if somebody invites you over, the last thing you want to do is insult them.
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Exactly.
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I'm glad we agree.
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Oh, my God, that was so easy.
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This is awesome.
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You really don't understand what just happened there, do you?
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PJ's on, Haley!
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What?
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Um, I would be happy to let her change in my room.
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I am brave.
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Roller coasters?
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Love them.
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Scary movies?
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I've seen Ghostbusters like seven times.
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I regularly drive through neighborhoods that have only recently been gentrified.
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So yeah, I'm pretty much not afraid of anything.
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Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, everybody!
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Quit your clowning around!
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That's my job!
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Except clowns.
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Never shared that with the fam, so I do have an image to maintain.
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I am not really sure where the fear comes from.
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My mother says it's because when I was a kid I found a dead clown in the woods, but who knows?
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Don't be mad.
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I just got up to change her.
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Well, Mitchell really wanted to ferberize the baby.
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Ferberize.
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It is a method of getting the baby to sleep through the night by, yes, basically letting her cry herself to sleep.
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Torture.
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It's not torture, Cam.
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It's just hard if you happen to be a person who hates to hear another person suffer. Or two people suffer.
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No, no, you got up to comfort her, which only teaches her that every time she cries, her daddy will come in and cuddle her and put on her favorite...
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What are we watching?
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Brian De Palma's controversial masterpiece, Scarface. For the baby?
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She happens to like it.
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I don't know if it's the colors or the sounds.
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Oh, here comes the nightclub massacre.
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She loves it.
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Watch her little eyelids.
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It's so cute.
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They get so heavy.
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Sorry, Jay.
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It was an accident.
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You know, I'm beginning to think you don't like Barkley that much.
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I mean, first you hide him in the guest room and now this.
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It's ridiculous.
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I didn't mean to hurt it.
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First of all, let's cut the it's.
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He is a he.
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And you can pretend to be innocent all you want, but action speaks louder than words.
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Yeah, they can be very revealing.
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What are you trying to say?
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Nothing, but you have to admit that the dog butler is a little ridiculous.
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You know what else I think is ridiculous?
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That mountain of pillows you have on our bed.
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I feel like I'm working on a loading dock just trying to get under the covers.
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They're pretty.
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They're a damn nuisance.
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OK, forgive me for trying to make our home beautiful.
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You know, if I can put up with those, you can put up with a piece of art.
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This is not art.
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This is an unholy mix between man and beast.
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Fine.
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If you love it so much, put it wherever you want.
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Thank you.
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Where are you going?
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Get some more pillows?
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No, don't worry.
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It'd be a long time before I bother you again with my pillows.
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Oy, so handsome!
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Thank you.
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Manny, are you wearing aftershave?
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Yes, for my date.
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This will be the first time she will ever smell me.
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Her name is Whitney.
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I met her in an online book club.
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We both like vampire fiction and the romance of eternal life.
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I think it's adorable that Manny has a date.
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He even picked out the lunch menu.
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Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.
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Tomato soup because, you know, the tomato soup is like the blood and the vampires like to eat the blood.
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And then he wants me to take them out for ice cream.
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Well, because Manny likes ice cream.
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Oh, that must be her.
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If this goes well, you don't need to stick around.
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Hi, I'm Whitney.
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I'm here for Manny.
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It's a terrific gym, Jay.
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Very liberal with the towels.
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I love that.
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Showers are private, in case you wondered.
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I wasn't.
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Thanks for the heads up.
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Now that's a surprise.
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Boxers.
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Is that necessary?
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Well, I just always pictured you as a tighty-whitey guy.
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Well, do me a favor.
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The next time you picture me, leave the underwear out of it.
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Well, don't you worry.
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The only thing I'm picturing is how clean the floor is going to be when I'm done mopping it with you.
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Is that the best you can do?
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Because it's gonna take a little more than some lame trash talk to get me out of my...
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God, what the hell is that?
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Our butts pressed against each other.
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They didn't press.
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It was glancing.
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Stop talking about it.
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Oh, come on.
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All the time you've spent in the locker room, this can't be your first moon landing.
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You got a name for it?
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It's very common.
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You got off easy.
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At least it didn't happen after a shower.
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Enough.
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We call that a splashdown.
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That's it.
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I'm changing in the stall.
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Excuse me!
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Mind if I join you?
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I'm Clive.
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Clive Dixby.
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Yes, I can see that.
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I'm Juliana.
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So, Clive, you in town for a convention, or do you just forget your name a lot?
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Pretty kitty has nails.
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I like that.
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I'm in town for a trade show.
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I design high-end electroacoustic transducers.
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Wow, that is very specific.
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It's a fancy way of saying I get things to make noise.
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Hmm. So, what's your story?
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Miss America pageant in town.
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You're a pretty smooth talker, Clive.
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I'm pretty smooth all over.
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Sir, there's no smoking in here.
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Oh, that's fine.
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I'm not actually a smoker.
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You're quite the Boy Scout, Clive.
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Tell me, would you be interested in earning a merit badge tonight?
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Do you know anything about tying knots?
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I probably shouldn't be talking to you.
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I'm a married man.
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Ah, well, I just so happen to like married men.
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Tell me about your wife.
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Well, she's beautiful, of course.
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Like, well, if she's so very beautiful, why are you here with me?
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Because she's always so tired, and she's always making lists of things for me to do.
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Maybe if you did them, she wouldn't be so tired.
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Oh, no, she can make lists for days.
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But back to your mouth and how sexy it is.
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Uh-uh.
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I want to go back to these alleged lists and your nagging wife.
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I'm not talking about you.
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I didn't mean that.
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Can we try this again?
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No. So if your wife is so beautiful, why are you here with me?
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Because I respect her too much to do to her what I'm going to do to you.
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No jackpot.
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I'll be right back.
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Bye.
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What am I most afraid of?
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Let's see.
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Global warming.
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I'm getting a B.
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The phone ringing in the middle of the night.
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That I'm too much of a perfectionist.
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I mean, this isn't a job interview.
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Oh, man.
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Job interviews.
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Nothing.
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Yeah, right.
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What about the pigeons?
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Oh, I don't like them.
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They're shifty.
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Losing Mitchell.
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Oh.
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Hotel bed spreads.
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Never getting my driver's license.
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Or getting one and the picture sucks.
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Dying alone.
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Can I just say that is a lovely outfit?
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Oh, thank you.
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Well, it's just nice to see you out of your lab coat but you actually have quite a nice figure.
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Take it down a notch.
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We're just trying to make a friend, not initiate a three-way.
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Lily looks great.
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Do you think so?
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Shouldn't she have more teeth?
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I see these kids running around at the park, and they look like sharks.
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Don't worry.
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She's perfect.
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Aren't you, Lily?
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Oh, look how calm she is with you.
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She's usually very fidgety around new people.
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Well, I just think she senses you're going to be a good friend for her during good times and flu season.
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Mommy.
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Did she just.. did she just say...
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Well, her first word was every gay father's worst nightmare.
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Mommy!
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What's my coaching philosophy?
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Give a kid a bird?
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Yes.
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And he becomes one of those weird dudes who walks around with a bird on his shoulder.
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But give him a pair of wings?
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He can fly.
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Unless he has absolutely no hand-eye coordination.
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Okay, I support you! Is that the alarm?
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Has our perimeter been breached?
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It's not the alarm.
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The doorbell won't stop ringing.
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Maybe a demon is ringing it.
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Not a demon.
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Who keeps ringing the doorbell?
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We're pretty sure it's a demon.
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Hell yeah!
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There!
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If it were a demon, it would keep on ringing.
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Not if he's already inside.
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I'm getting a weapon.
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What were you thinking?
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Who takes a little boy to a horror movie?
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That's loco, Jay.
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This is no big deal.
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You want scary?
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When I was his age, I lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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I slept with a butter knife under my pillow in case I had to fight some Soviet colonel.
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Why would they send a Soviet colonel to get a little boy?
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Because I could identify every commie plane.
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What are we talking about?
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Look, all I'm saying, being scared is part of growing up.
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Manny will get over this.
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It builds character.
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I'll take the first watch.
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You two might as well get some rest.
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It's gonna be a long night.
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Character.
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Nobody likes a crying baby on a flight.
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It's very stressful.
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Yeah, last year I flew back from New York next to a baby who was very upset the entire flight, and it was hell.
380
I was on that flight with you, and I don't recall...
381
Oh, I get it.
382
You're talking about me.
383
That's very funny.
384
Yeah, we couldn't get tickets to Billy Elliot.
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All he wanted to do was dance.
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And that's my story.
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Five hours of this.
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I just want to dance with the ballet.
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Don't you want to keep our room neat?
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You know, in case we entertain.
391
Who would we entertain?
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I noticed some lovely tweens down by the kids' club.
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Maybe we can find a nice spot near them by the pool and send over a couple of virgin Mai Tais.
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They may be interested in too sophisticated men like us.
395
I am a bathroom martian.
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Beep, boop, boop.
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I am from the nebula of the great toilet.
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Beep, boop.
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I'm really excited about it.
400
The whole extended family, all dressed in white in a single file line down the staircase.
401
Oh, like a line on the highway.
402
No. Or a ski jump.
403
No. Why would I want a ski jump?
404
I don't know.
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My idea was to have the whole family in a giant bed like in Willy Wonka.
406
Yeah, but that's ridiculous.
407
Ridicu-licious.
408
Great.
409
We are screwed.
410
No, we're not.
411
We haven't unwrapped our secret weapon yet.
412
Luke walks over there, hurtlocker style, flips the switch, and boom.
413
Or not boom.
414
Water off.
415
Put the he in hero, son.
416
Hurtlocker, it's more like squirtlocker.
417
Really?
418
That wasn't funny?
419
I actually pity you guys.
420
Jay?
421
Over here.
422
Hey.
423
Hey.
424
What are you doing?
425
I'm stuck.
426
I laid down, my back went up.
427
Oh, well, don't you worry.
428
We're gonna get you out of here.
429
Grab on.
430
You know, Phil, this might not be the best thing.
431
No, no, no, no, no, no. We're just gonna rock you.
432
Like a hurricane.
433
I'm kidding.
434
You're too old to get that.
435
Here we go.
436
Wait, why don't you just get someone who works here?
437
No, this is gonna work. And now.
438
Oh!
439
Wow!
440
You're spasming.
441
Don't move.
442
Don't move.
443
Um.
444
By the way, I just wanna thank you for this trip.
445
It's really been a vacation of a lifetime.
446
Oh.
447
Nothing weird.
448
Aloha.
449
I keep my wallet in my front pocket, so that's...
450
that's what that is.
451
Neck going.
452
I'm sorry.
Context & Background
This excerpt from a Modern Family clip offers a humorous glance into the dynamics of family interactions and the complexities of communication among different generations. The dialogue covers a mixture of light-hearted banter and cultural references, making it an excellent resource for English learners looking to improve their comprehension and conversational skills. The characters express their personalities through humor, sarcasm, and cultural nuances, all of which can be beneficial for learners seeking to understand real-life conversational English. This material provides a contemporary context in which learners can engage with everyday English—perfect for those preparing for IELTS speaking practice.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- "You're right, you're right. Okay, I'm sorry." - A great way to acknowledge another person's point while maintaining a polite tone.
- "Love knows no race, creed, or gender." - Useful for discussions around acceptance and understanding.
- "How about that?" - A conversational phrase used to express surprise or interest.
- "You worry too much." - A phrase that can gently reassure someone who may be overly concerned.
- "In Colombia, there's a saying..." - A great way to introduce cultural references or proverbs into conversation.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively use this dialogue for your shadowspeak practice, follow these steps:
- Listen Actively: Begin by watching the clip without subtitles. Pay attention to the tone, rhythm, and emotional nuances.
- First Shadowing: Listen to a short segment, then pause and repeat what you heard. Focus on mimicking the intonation and pace of the speakers.
- Second Shadowing: Play the segment again, this time trying to speak along with the characters. This technique, known as shadowing technique, will help you build confidence and fluency.
- Vocabulary Focus: Write down any unfamiliar words or phrases. Look them up and create sentences using them to deepen your understanding and retention.
- Discuss or Role-play: Engage with a study partner. Use the phrases in a role-play scenario to further reinforce what you've learned through shadowspeaks.
This method will not only enhance your speaking skills but also prepare you for real-world conversations. Regular practice using the shadowing technique will be invaluable for your English learning journey!
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.