Shadowing Practice: Movie Starving Bug a - Learn English Speaking with Video
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59 sentences
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1
Starving bug.
2
There's a bug.
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He's a very, very big bug.
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He's hungry.
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In fact, he's starving.
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So, the giant bug goes to a restaurant.
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This restaurant's only for bugs.
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No one else can go.
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The bug goes into the restaurant.
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The hostess says, Hi, how many?
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The giant bug says, Just one.
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The hostess says, Follow me.
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The giant bug follows the hostess.
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The hostess takes him to a table in the corner.
15
He sits down.
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The waitress will be with you shortly, says the hostess.
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The giant bug looks at the menu.
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He's very hungry.
19
He decides to order soup, a salad, a hamburger, a steak, French fries, green beans, and a milkshake.
20
He puts down the menu and waits for the waitress.
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He waits five minutes.
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The waitress doesn't come.
23
He waits 10 minutes, then 20, then 30 minutes, but the waitress still doesn't come.
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Now he's really starving.
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He waves his hands to get the waitress's attention.
26
Finally, after 39 minutes, she comes to his table.
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She says, can I take your order?
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The bug says, yes, I'd like a large vegetable soup, a salad, three hamburgers, two steaks,
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french fries, and green beans.
30
The waitress says, would you like anything to drink?
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The bug says, ah, yes, I'll have a large milkshake, two cokes, and a coffee.
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The waitress says, anything else?
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No, that's it, says the bug.
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The waitress leaves and takes the bug's order to the kitchen.
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The bug waits.
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He waits 15 minutes, but no food.
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He waits 19 minutes, but no food.
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He waits 28 minutes, but no food.
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The bug is starving.
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He wants to eat.
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He sees the waitress and calls her over to his table.
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Excuse me, can you check on my food, please?
43
I'm starving, he says.
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Sure, the waitress says.
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The waitress returns with a large bowl of vegetable soup.
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The rest of your food is coming soon, she says.
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The bug's very happy.
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He immediately starts eating the soup.
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But there's a problem.
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There's a small person in his soup.
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He can't believe it.
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He yells, ah, there's a person in my soup.
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He throws the bowl on the floor and runs out of the restaurant.
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Now he's really upset and he's still starving.
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The bug runs to McDonald's.
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He gets 47 hamburgers and eats them all.
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He smiles and says, ah, I'm full.
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I couldn't eat another bite.
59
He's very happy because he got some food at last.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Movie Starving Bug a”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: bug, waitress, waits, starving, soup. This video has 59 sentences and 406 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:52. The speaker talks slowly, about 105 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 74% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| waitress noun | /ˈweɪ.tɹɪs/ | A female attendant who serves customers in a restaurant, café, or similar. |
| soup noun | /sup/ | Any of various dishes commonly made by combining liquids, such as water or stock, with other ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, that contribute the food… |
| starve verb | /stɑɹv/ | To die because of lack of food or of not eating. |
| hungry adjective | /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
| menu noun | /ˈmɛn.juː/ | The details of the food to be served at a banquet; a bill of fare. |
| salad noun | /ˈsæl.əd/ | A food consisting principally of raw vegetables (especially greens, e.g. lettuce), other savoury ingredients (typically cooked), fruit, or confectionary; often… |
| bean noun | /ˈbi(ː)n/ | Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods. |
| steak noun | /steɪk/ | Beefsteak: a slice of beef, broiled or cut for broiling. |
| vegetable noun | /ˈvɛd͡ʒ.tə.bəl/ | A plant raised for some edible part of it, such as the leaves, roots, fruit or flowers, but excluding any plant considered to be a fruit, grain, herb, or spice… |
| fry verb | /fɹaɪ/ | To cook (something) in hot fat. |
| shortly adverb | /ˈʃɔɹtli/ | In a short or brief time or manner; quickly. |
| bite verb | /baɪt/ | To cut into something by clamping the teeth. |
| leaf noun | /lif/ | The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants. |
| bug noun | /bʌɡ/ | An insect of the order Hemiptera (the “true bugs”). |
| coke noun | /koʊk/ | Solid residue from roasting coal in a coke oven; used principally as a fuel and in the production of steel and formerly as a domestic fuel. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| put down verb | To insult, belittle, or demean. |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- She says, can I take your order?
- The waitress says, would you like anything to drink?
- Excuse me, can you check on my food, please?
- He yells, ah, there's a person in my soup.
- He smiles and says, ah, I'm full.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | he's starving · he's really starving · is starving |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | will be · I'll have |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 8 contractions and reduced forms, such as doesn't, I'm, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shortly /ˈʃɔɹtli/, milkshake /ˈmɪlk.ʃeɪk/
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 waitress, soup, starve.
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.