Shadowing Practice: My Pride and Joy - Learn English Speaking with Video
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75 sentences
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1
Michael Garvin.
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Mr. Garvin, your motor vehicle has been booted.
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Yes.
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You have four violations.
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Before I impose the fine and decide whether or not the boot is gonna be released, is there anything you wanna tell me about this?
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Yes, Your Honor.
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Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of the tickets.
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For the simple fact is, I share my car with my daughter's mother.
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and when the tickets were made, I don't know why she didn't take care of them,
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but mainly I drive the car because it's a company car.
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I breed dogs and I travel the country showing dogs
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as one of the things of being a dad and something to take care of my kid as a hobby.
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So I wasn't aware of it.
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Had I been aware of it, honestly, I don't even know if I would have been able to get here to take care of it,
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only for the simple fact is My nine to five job, I have to be in Plymouth, Massachusetts for seven in the morning.
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Sometimes I don't get home back to Providence till nine o 'clock.
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It's those hours and my job is dependable.
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I'm working for building police cars and public safety cars.
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So it's not like I could just, hey, I'm gonna come in late today.
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It's very demanding.
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So - How many kids do you have?
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I have just one.
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Is it a daughter?
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Yes.
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How old is she?
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Chris, I would just turn six.
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Six?
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Yes.
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You see her often?
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Every day.
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Every day?
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Yep.
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Are you supporting her?
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Yeah, that's my pride and joy.
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Yeah, I'm happy to hear that.
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Inspector Quinn agrees with that as well.
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The tickets, the original tickets were $160, but the penalties have raised that to $310.
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$10, there's $150 in penalties.
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So I'm gonna waive the penalties.
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Okay.
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There's a mandatory $100 boot fee.
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And the original tickets were $160, the original tickets.
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It's a total of $260, sir.
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How much of that can you pay today?
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Honestly, Your Honor, I could pay $60 today.
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Well, you have to pay at least $100 to get the boot released.
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I gotta try to pay $100.
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And then what about the remaining balance, Your Honor?
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What would I do?
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I'm gonna release the boot for 60.
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I'm not gonna leave you broke.
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I understand that, okay?
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Yup, I appreciate it.
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You come across as being a very sincere guy.
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I am.
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And I know you're paying for something because it's out of love of your daughter that you're sharing her car.
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I'm impressed by the fact that you see her every day.
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So I'm not gonna place you in an impossible situation.
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So I'm gonna release the boot today.
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Okay.
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How much can you afford a week?
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I could pay $20 a week, $25 a week.
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All right, can you afford the 20 a week?
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Yes.
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20 a week, don't miss the payments because they'll put the boot back on the car.
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Okay.
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If you can't make the 20, call us and tell us.
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Okay.
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I don't think it's gonna go away, okay?
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I understand.
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All right, we'll work with you.
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I appreciate that.
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All right, good luck.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “My Pride and Joy”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: boot, tickets, penalties, Honor, aware. This video has 75 sentences and 524 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:37. The speaker talks at a steady 145 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 15 of its 75 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
12 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| boot noun | /but/ | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. |
| penalty noun | /ˈpɛn.əl.ti/ | A legal sentence. |
| clock noun | /klɑk/ | A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day. |
| inspector noun | /ɪnˈspɛk.tɚ/ | A person employed to inspect something. |
| violation noun | /ˌvaɪ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/ | An infraction or a failure to follow a rule. |
| mandatory adjective | /ˈmæn.dəˌtɔɹ.i/ | obligatory; required or commanded by authority. |
| breed verb | /ˈbɹiːd/ | To give birth to; to be the native place of. |
| hobby noun | /ˈhɑ.bi/ | An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. |
| impress verb | /ɪmˈpɹɛs/ | To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably. |
| sincere adjective | /sɪnˈsɪɹ/ | Genuine, honest, and free from pretense or deceit; heartfelt. |
| dependable adjective | [dɪˈpɛndəbəɫ] | Able, or easily able to be depended on. |
| waive verb | /weɪv/ | To relinquish (a right etc.); to give up claim to; to forgo. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. |
| go away verb | To depart or leave a place. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of the tickets.
- It's those hours and my job is dependable.
- You see her often?
- How much of that can you pay today?
- How much can you afford a week?
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 | has been booted · be released · were made |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been booted · have raised |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | gonna be · gonna come · gonna waive |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm working · Are you supporting · you're paying |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 32 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- Long words — get the stress right: violation /ˌvaɪ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, mandatory /ˈmæn.dəˌtɔɹ.i/, dependable [dɪˈpɛndəbəɫ]
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 boot, penalty, clock.
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.