Shadowing Practice: Mom is Struggling - Learn English Speaking with Video
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67 sentences
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1
Ereda Malav, good morning.
2
Good morning, Your Honor.
3
You have two different registrations and you have two parking meter violations.
4
What do you want to tell me about these?
5
Okay, I was here to ask you permission to see if I could pay the...
6
The original fine.
7
Yeah, in the beginning of next month, because right now I'm a little low economically.
8
And to see the other ticket from 2014 that I just found out now, I totally forgot.
9
I'm asking sorry, because I knew that I had that ticket.
10
But I'm a busy mom, I'm always.
11
How many children do you have?
12
My two girls.
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Get them up here.
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Gini, later.
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Okay.
16
This is my nine-year-old.
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Do I release? hi you want to come up here come on Okay,
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you want to speak into the microphone
19
when I talk to you okay now your mom is telling me that she's having some financial issues
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So it's going to be difficult for her to pay these tickets.
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Are you aware of that?
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Yeah.
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You are.
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And she's asking that I give her some help.
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So I can charge her a couple of things.
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So I'm gonna give you just the parameters.
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I can charge her $150, $50 or nothing.
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So what should I charge?
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Should I charge her 50, 150 or nothing?
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Nothing.
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Nothing?
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Now are you asking me to do that
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because she's having such financial hardship right now that she's having trouble supporting you and your sister?
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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Well, I asked you the question, so once I asked the question, I have to listen to you, so I'm gonna do that.
37
Is that okay with you?
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Yeah.
39
All right, so you're a judge today, okay?
40
Yeah.
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Okay, good luck. Of course.
42
Thank you, Your Honor.
43
You're hitting you real tough, aren't you?
44
Mm-hmm.
45
Well, your daughter just bailed you out.
46
Thank you so much.
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You've done a good job with your daughter.
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Thank you.
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And I can tell she loves her mother.
50
I know.
51
Actually, these tickets are because I was parking, because I have to be in a bunch of appointments with her,
52
because she has problems with the thyroid and also absence seizures.
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So, you know, she has a bunch of conditions.
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You saw her there.
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I'm trying my best, I'm struggling.
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Though these tickets are because I was in the office and time expired, so when I got back to the car, I just saw the tickets, that's why.
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You keep doing what you're doing, don't worry about this.
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Okay.
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God love you.
60
Thank you.
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God bless you all.
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It troubles me when I see so many people like this young mother who are struggling financially because of health issues.
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Only 49% of Americans have health insurance from their employers, and those who do have seen their premiums and deductibles skyrocket.
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Unpaid medical are now the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States.
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It's heartbreaking.
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I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know that I was happy to dismiss Ms. Mailoff's tickets
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and wish her and her daughter good health and happiness.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Mom is Struggling”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: ticket, charge, asking, daughter. This video has 67 sentences and 519 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:40. The speaker talks at a steady 142 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 11 of its 67 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| deductible adjective | [dɪˈdʌktəbəɫ] | Eligible to be deducted. |
| skyrocket verb | /ˈskaɪˌɹɒk.ɪt/ | To rise or increase suddenly and extremely; to shoot up; to surge or spike. |
| thyroid adjective | /ˈθaɪ.ɹɔɪd/ | Of, relating to, or being the thyroid cartilage. |
| expire verb | /ɪkˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ | To die. |
| hardship noun | /ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/ | Difficulty or trouble; hard times. |
| parameter noun | /pəˈɹæm.ə.tɚ/ | A value kept constant during an experiment, equation, calculation, or similar, but varied over other versions of the experiment, equation, calculation, etc. |
| heartbreaking adjective | That causes great grief, anguish or distress. | |
| microphone noun | /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌfəʊn/ | A device (transducer) used to convert sound waves into a varying electric current; normally fed into an amplifier and either recorded or transmitted over radio. |
| unpaid adjective | /ʌnˈpeɪd/ | Not paid for. |
| seizure noun | /ˈsi.ʒɚ/ | The act of taking possession, as by force or right of law. |
| metre noun | /ˈmiːtəɹ/ | The basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Système International d'Unités), equal to the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in… |
| economically adverb | /ˌiː.kəˈnɒm.ɪ.kli/ | In an economical manner; not wastefully; not extravagantly. |
| dismiss verb | /dɪsˈmɪs/ | To discharge; to end the employment or service of. |
| financially adverb | In terms of finance or money. | |
| bail noun | /beɪl/ | Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. |
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. |
| get back to verb | Return to (an activity) |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What do you want to tell me about these?
- How many children do you have?
- Are you aware of that?
- Is that okay with you?
- You're hitting you real tough, aren't you?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | You've done · have seen |
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should I charge |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm asking · is telling · are you asking |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | it's going to be · gonna give · gonna do |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 17 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you're, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: hardship /ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/, seizure /ˈsi.ʒɚ/, violation /ˌvaɪ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, registration /ˌɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪˈstɹeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: deductible [dɪˈdʌktəbəɫ], parameter /pəˈɹæm.ə.tɚ/, economically /ˌiː.kəˈnɒm.ɪ.kli/, violation /ˌvaɪ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, registration /ˌɹɛd͡ʒ.ɪˈstɹeɪ.ʃən/
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 deductible, skyrocket, thyroid.
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.