Shadowing Practice: My Secret Warehouse Tour - Learn English Speaking with Video

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- I built a new massive secret lab that the average person will never find because the only way in is through this fake old, dusty office.

But I'm gonna give you guys a hint.

And if you want a small taste for what's inside, well this is a tennis ball cannon, and this is my childhood hero Nitro from the TV show, "American Gladiators." - Nitro.

- And he's gonna try and shoot me with a tennis ball cannon from the show as I try and not get shot.

The only problem is I've made some modifications to the cannon and it shoots tennis balls stronger than the original.

Like a lot stronger.

Dude.

But before we see if I actually live I'd like to introduce you to my brand new Willy Wonka factory for engineering I've been secretly designing and constructing over the past year and a half.

Not only have I been making all the builds for my YouTube videos here, but it's also the birthplace for the most ambitious thing I've ever done, which I'll show you in a few minutes.

It's got secret passageways and $10,000 in a glass suitcase, if you can fire a tennis ball into the bullseye, the world's longest Hot Wheels track, rooms that magically reveal themselves, and a handful of some new engineering inventions that I came up with just for the lab.

Since I was like eight years old I've had this dream to design and build my own warehouse, and this is it.

Welcome to CrunchLabs.

So today, I'm gonna walk you through my 10 favorite things about this place, and then at the end of the video I'll explain how you can actually come out here to build with me and my team for a day.

With that, let's jump right into number 10, which is basically a way better version of a fireman's pole.

Now, the best thing about a fireman's pole is that it's more exciting than using the stairs, but other than that, they kind of suck.

I either do the thing where I hit the ground too fast and burn my hands, or I do the thing where I sort of squeak my way down and I still burn my hands.

So I thought, what if you could walk off the balcony holding a rope that ran through some pulleys and was connected to some kind of counterweight?

Well, that works great, and you land at the perfect speed as long as you weigh just a little bit more than the counterweight.

But unfortunately, if you weigh less, you're not gonna go anywhere, and if you weigh too much more, you're still gonna land with a crash.

If only there was a way to have a perfect soft landing no matter what you weigh.

Well, it turns out there is.

Using the power of pneumatics.

This is actually the same tube and piston we used for the last devil's toothpaste explosion.

Only this time we just let the natural restriction of the air having to squeeze by the piston slow you down.

So instead of the fireman's pole, we got the fireman's piston.

It's so fun, and you basically feel like a superhero every time you use it, but more importantly, it works the same no matter what you weigh.

Here's a family friend who weighs half as much as I do and she sticks the landing like a pro just the same.

Next up, if we walk over here, we see number nine which is the Nerf armory.

This of course allows me to pick my weapon of choice and then to perch myself up here on the balcony to keep an eye on my team and motivate anyone that I think just isn't working hard enough.

But you'll notice there's a second fireman's piston over there.

Only the rope on this one has a foothold and lowers half as slow, which means on the way down you can get real Jason Bourne with things.

Then number eight, we've got this cool hangout area on the balcony overlooking the workspace.

Of course for entertainment up here we got Chopsticks.

Hey, Chopsticks, play me a banger.

- You got it, Mark.

- The perfect choice.

- Enchante.

- Then right here we've got an original blueprint from a "Mythbusters" episode, a couch that transforms into a couch plus as well as the chair that transforms into a chair plus.

Then my super cool brother Brian made this super cool, old school, retro arcade game as a lab warming gift so I can play all the classics.

Then we stole this claw machine from a Denny's and filled it with Phat Gus plushies, and it hides one of the secret passages into the space.

But I'll show you that one in a second.

And now it's time for number seven, which next to the fireman's piston showcases my second favorite way to make it down to the ground floor.

Now, don't worry, folks, no Mark Robers were hurt in the filming of the segment because down below there was a shipping container with a giant foam pit.

Nailed it. And in addition to allowing for emergency second floor exits, it also allows you to up your Nerf battle game.

But importantly the shipping container is on wheels which means we can wheel it back to its natural habitat in the arena room.

And giant foam pits are awesome for many reasons, but foremost among them is if you have a buddy who's a professional ultimate Frisbee player he could toss you some throws, so you can try and be just like him.

Oh yeah Just be prepared that when he does it after you he's gonna make it look much cooler.

Coming in at number six is all the engineering Easter eggs that we've hidden around here.

As an example, let's take the bathroom, which I think we could all agree is usually pretty boring.

First off, we found this regal portrait of what is ostensibly one of Phat Gus's forebears.

But if you look closely here you'll see there's a magnetic contact switch and then a magnet on the seat lid.

That's because men are pigs, and as long as the sensor detects the seat is in the up position it will deploy the solenoid and keep the door closed.

And now with nowhere to go, you've got plenty of time to reevaluate your terrible life choices.

And then I've always loved the idea from this "Far Side" cartoon, which is like a hand wash detector.

And the best thing about being an engineer is if there's a thing that doesn't exist and you want it to exist, you can just make it exist.

So we have a limit switch here that gets triggered on the flush, and then a capacitive touch sensor here that knows if the faucet's been touched.

And then finally a hall effect sensor here that tells us if the door's open.

And so if the Arduino under here detects that the toilet is flushed and then the door has been opened without the signal the sink has been touched between those two events then this flashing light goes off and everyone knows who not to high five. Honorable mention in the bathroom is the air freshener which is actually filled with glitter bomb fart spray because subversion of expectations equals comedy.

Then coming into number five is how we actually keep the lab location super secret.

If you were to walk in off the street or deliver a package here, this is what you'd see.

And clearly who whoever works here is not who you would expect would be hiding a high-tech state-of-the-art Willy Wonka engineering lab, but when you turn this eagle and the bookshelf slides over revealing a secret passageway down a hallway ending on a dope view of my work bench.

But there's an even more secret entrance hidden in this room and you can only access it by putting a quarter in here and then pushing this button.

Climbing this ladder not only leads you to the underside of the claw machine where you can put yourself right in the mix of things, but then pushing right here means you've taken the shortcut straight up to the cool balcony hangout area.

And I brought my niece and nephew out here to tour the place, and this was perhaps their favorite part, which just might have cemented my status in my ongoing quest to be the favorite uncle.

Were it not for my regrettable actions in the foam pit at the conclusion of the tour. Now I know what you're thinking.

It's not exactly secret now that I've shown 20 million people exactly what the secret entrance lobby looks like.

But after this I'm gonna give this place a complete makeover.

So next time you find yourself waiting your turn at the barber or perhaps stuck in the waiting room at the dentist office, you might wanna get up and just start moving everything around on display because the entrance to the CrunchLab just might be behind that oversized tooth decay poster hanging on the wall.

All right, so before we get to the final four in the countdown, like the world record Hot Wheels track or the Hidden Museum or even how you could come out here yourself, I need to tell you about what else we do here or why we even call it CrunchLabs.

Three of my favorite things are teaching, coming up with new ideas, and getting people stoked about science and engineering, especially the young folk.

And so for over a year, in addition to building this place I've been working on a way to combine those three things.

And here it is.

It's called the CrunchLabs Build Box and it's a monthly tour that gets delivered to you where we build it together and then explore all the juicy physics that make it work.

For a long time, I've had parents reach out to me and say, "My kid is 8 or 12 years old, and they love your videos.

They want to be an engineer like you.

How do I foster that passion?

Like what's the first step?" And I've just never had a great answer for that specific situation until now.

Let's do an unboxing and see what's inside.

Oh, and by the way, this is precisely where the toys are designed, right here in the CrunchLab.

In fact, this first one is this super cool rapid fire disc launcher.

As you know, I love to take something humans do and then build a robot to help me do it way better.

Like with kicking field goals, skipping rocks, setting up dominoes, bowling, golfing, or even throwing bullseyes.

Well, now you get to have the same feeling and build a machine that gives you superpowers versus someone trying to throw this Frisbee with their own lame arm.

What kind of superpowers?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

We engineered the crud out of this thing to optimize six rapid fire shots for maximum glide with maximum accuracy.

You will dominate any mere human who tries to challenge your creation.

So when you open the box, the first thing you see is a link to a video where I not only walk you through how to put it together step-by-step but then we talk through all the physics and engineering juicy nuggets that makes something like this work.

It's like unlocking your own secret Mark Rober video every month.

Only it's better because you're right there in the trenches constructing your own build alongside me allowing the engineering discoveries to really sink in.

It basically bumps into all these stationary air molecules and it causes it to deflect up.

So for example, in the disc launcher we learn all about how useful flywheels are and then each month you earn a gear badge with a different engineering principle, and at the end of 12 months, it will make a really cool gear train like this, at which point you unlock my signature to make it all official.

So the first video is up in its entirety for free over on the new CrunchLabs YouTube channel.

And I'll put a link in the video description so you can see for yourself that we're not cutting any corners here.

And then in addition to the video, as backup, we've also got some simple booklet instructions.

And as a nod to Team Trees, Team Seas, and my buddy MrBeast, we maximize for sustainability in our material and packaging choices.

Even the bags inside are compostable.

And the disc launcher is just the tip of the iceberg.

In another box we built this super cool Rube Goldberg catapult and the gear badge here is for projectile motion.

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Here's a robot guaranteed to outdraw your brother where we learn about linkages.

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Or there's this coin spinner machine that gives you the superpower of spinning a coin better than any human.

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And there we learned about ratchets.

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And you get two of them so you can compete in a "Beyblade" style fight to the last coin standing.

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There's a bunch more but I want it to be a surprise for you.

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So rest assured, we designed our hearts out on every single last one.

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And just like it says on the box, my goal with CrunchLabs is to help you think like an engineer.

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That means you think critically, you could break a problem down into manageable steps.

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Thinking like an engineer makes you a better soccer player or piano practicer or math studier because you're resilient.

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You know it's not only okay but it's important to fail a bunch in order to hit that big breakthrough.

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That's why it's called CrunchLabs.

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So we can crunch and break and fail things so we can learn fast.

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That's literally the process of how I make every single one of my robots that eventually works out awesomely.

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There's just no better teacher than a good crunch along the path to finding the best design and any good engineer knows that's true.

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So if you wanna fight that summer brain drain and embark on this yearlong journey with me, go to crunchlabs.com/markrober.

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Use the link in the video description, where, as an early adopter special, we're giving away two months free.

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Supplies are definitely limited on this first run, so if you don't wanna miss out, be sure to go check out our lovely website after this.

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Speaking of which, I've just got a shout out Shopify 'cause that's how we built it.

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They were super helpful, and I've been friends with them for a long time, and they give you all the tools to turn your idea into an actual business.

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All right, so continuing on with our top 10 list of the coolest things here at CrunchLabs.

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At number four, if you look right here, we've got the start and finish line of the world's longest Hot Wheels track at over a half a mile.

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Here we go.

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Now the Crunch Labs is big, but not exactly half a mile big which is why we had to employ some clever switchbacks to do the trick.

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But after doing one, we realized it only got us like 10% of the way there, so we scaled it up to fill an entire wall.

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Now we're employing over 75 of the official Hot Wheel speed boosters to help manage the balance of our potential and kinetic energies because that's allowed in the rules.

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And it's just kind of fun to watch it go back and forth and back and forth.

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And so after we make it through the mouse hole and travel around the bend, we complete the loop and set an official new world record.

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Next up at number three, if you press this button, you obviously shouldn't press, then these mirrors become see-through revealing sort of a storage room of a bunch of my previous builds.

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And if you come through this incognito door you could even see them up close including the automatic bullseye dartboard, all four glitter bombs, the original double iPad sweatshirt Halloween costume from my very first video, and a handful of other classics as well.

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Now, before we wrap it up with the last two coolest things about this place I just want to submit for honorable mention, not only this bike with a legit train horn attached when the bell just isn't cutting it...

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Dah, that's loud.

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But also to the brainstorm room that has walls covered in floor to ceiling whiteboards, which is a feature I stole from my favorite conference rooms at both NASA and Apple, as well as this decorative massive ant farm we built for the wall.

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It's fascinating to see how they organize and work together, like how both ant colonies instinctively have made a graveyard in the corner for all their fallen comrades.

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And now at number two, we're back with the tennis ball cannon.

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After Nitro put it through the wall...

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Oh, it's literally smoking.

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We decided to give it the half inch plywood test.

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And you can see it passed with no issues.

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Which meant we were left with just one more official scientific investigation to conduct, the watermelometer.

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The cool thing here is you might have noticed this glass suitcase attached to a chain with $10,000 cash in here.

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The deal is you could practice as much as you want, and I've even set up some additional targets for that purpose.

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But everyone gets only one official shot in their whole life to hit the bullseye and make it down the tube and into the box to unlock the $10,000 suitcase.

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So for the avoidance of doubt when you're ready for your official shot you just sign the wall and now the pressure's really on.

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And as for Nitro...

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- I'm gonna be your worst nightmare.

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- Oh, I love it.

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He's talking trash.

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Even though I did make him reduce the pressure to one-fifth full power.

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You suck, Nitro.

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- You're going down. - I still took a beating. - Oh, that was a...

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- But at least I survived.

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Retreat. And finally, the number one coolest thing about this place is you can actually come here.

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Every month before we ship out the CrunchLab build boxes, I essentially cover my eyes, throw a dart, and then I open whatever box I hit and set this inside.

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It's called the platinum ticket.

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And if you happen to be the one who gets the box with the ticket inside that month, then you and your family get to come out here and spend a day with me and my team making whatever crazy idea it is you want us to build together.

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And because I repeat this every month that means you have a new chance to win every month.

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And you know I'm no statistician but supplies are kind of limited on this first run.

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So early adopters really increase their chances of winning this thing right outta the gate.

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You can see a link to all the official rules in the video description.

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Whoa. So if you needed one more reason to get your Build Box so you could have fun hanging out with me a bunch this summer while you learned to think like an engineer, then there it is.

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So just head to crunchlabs.com/markrober or use the link in the video description to get that early adopter special of two months free.

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I've found that thinking like an engineer and having more of an understanding of the amazing world around us is such a lovely lens from which to experience life.

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And creating that spark in the next generation of big problem solvers is why I can't wait for you guys to see these dang boxes.

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Thanks so much for your support over the years and thanks for watching.

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What You'll Learn

This video helps you build two key speaking skills: narrative flow (describing a space or process with energy) and conversational emphasis (stressing key details like "massive secret lab" or "10,000 dollars" to keep listeners engaged). You’ll also practice casual storytelling, as the speaker blends excitement with humor—perfect for real-life chats.

Listen For These Sounds

Notice connected speech: "gonna give you" links to "gonnagiveyou," and "sort of squeak" becomes "sorta squeak." Reductions like "I've" (instead of "I have") and "it's" (instead of "it is") are everywhere. Also, listen for how "Nitro from the TV show" flows with a slight pause after "Nitro" to add emphasis. These patterns make your speech sound natural, not robotic.

Say It Like a Native

Use the shadowing technique to mirror the speaker’s rhythm. Pause the video, repeat phrases like "Welcome to CrunchLabs" with the same upbeat tone, and stress words like "secret," "ambitious," and "perfect" to match his energy. For "the fireman's piston," stretch "piston" slightly to highlight the invention. Practice "shadow speech" daily with this clip—focus on copying the speed (fast but clear) and pauses (before big reveals like "the world's longest Hot Wheels track"). This trains your mouth to move like a native, improving pronunciation and fluency.

Learning English with YouTube videos like this is practical and fun. By shadowing, you’ll master real-world speech patterns, making you confident in conversations. Start small: shadow 30 seconds a day, and soon you’ll sound more natural than ever.

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	I've made · I've been · I've ever done
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	friend who weighs · nine which is · slow, which means
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was connected · were hurt · been touched

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: My Secret Warehouse Tour - Learn English Speaking with Video

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What is the Shadowing Technique?