Shadowing Practice: My Sister Was a Genius… But Here’s What No One Knew - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Sheers Hi my name is Lola and I'm from Atlanta.
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Sheers Hi my name is Lola and I'm from Atlanta.
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Please like and subscribe.
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When I was a kid, my parents and I had adventures all the time.
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We played hide and seek, we fought monsters in our backyard, and I even saved mom from a mean old pirate who tried to steal the last piece of pie.
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My life was fantastic, but when I turned 3, mom gave birth to an evil witch named Genevieve.
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From the moment Jen was born, she used her beady blue eyes to cast a spell on my parents and turn them into her evil minions.
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Genevieve, we love you more than anything in the world.
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Here you go, honey.
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Hey, I was playing with that.
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Jen started walking at nine months old.
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At two, she could write her own name.
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And at three, she could do the alphabet without making any mistakes.
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When Jen was seven, she won her first national spelling bee.
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She got a huge cash prize, and the reporter came over to interview her for the cover story of a magazine.
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I'd like to thank my parents.
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I couldn't have done this without them.
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We're so lucky to have a genius daughter.
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She's our pride and joy.
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My parents kept gushing about Jen for hours as I sat in the corner.
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When the reporter finally said it was time for pictures, I joined my family for a photo.
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But Jen insisted that I stay out of it.
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My parents tried reasoning with her, but she was beyond reason.
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It's my moment, and she'll ruin my image with her stupidity vibe.
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Like, my brain sees pictures with this special lens, and I'll be able to feel her dumbness every time I look at the pictures.
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I can't explain how my brain works.
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Just make her go.
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So mom gave me some money for ice cream and told me to wait outside while the photo shoot happened.
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A couple of months later, I came home from school and found Jen sitting on my bed, And all my stuff was gone.
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Mom and dad said I could switch.
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This room's bigger and has more space for my trophies.
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But this is my room.
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Mom, dad, make Jen give me my room back.
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Lola, stop being ridiculous.
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You don't need a room this size.
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You don't have any trophies.
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Jeannie, do you need anything?
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Should I put up some more shelves?
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A new bookcase?
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I was so mad, I threw myself on the ground and started screaming.
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This sucks.
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I'm leaving and I'm never coming back.
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I'll show you.
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I'll get a new family that will appreciate me.
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I stormed out of the house.
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I got to the driveway and realized I had nowhere to go.
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So I decided to hide out in my treehouse.
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But then something crazy happened.
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My stomach started rumbling, and I searched through my pockets to find a candy bar.
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Then out of nowhere, this girl appeared and snatched it out of my hand.
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Hey, that's mine.
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This is my treehouse.
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Get out.
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I don't see your name on it.
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It's written right there.
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Oh.
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Then the strange girl wrote the word Madison on the wall.
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I guess we're roommates now.
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We'll just have to share.
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Then she tossed me half the candy bar.
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Madison and I spent the rest of the day together, and she was pretty wild.
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She told me about all the adventures she'd had in the neighborhood.
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I found a skeleton in the neighbor's backyard.
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No way!
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The old lady across the street is an alien.
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I saw a spaceship in her garage.
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Madison made up fun games for us to play.
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We had a spitball fight and threw water balloons at the neighbors as they walked by.
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Then my mean old parents told me to come inside for dinner.
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They didn't even miss me or remember that I'd been upset.
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After that, when I wasn't at school or watching Janet spelling bees, I'd run out to the treehouse and spend time with Madison.
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One time, we were pretending to have a sword fight in the backyard.
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It's over for you, Madison.
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Give up now.
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You'll never take me alive.
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Suddenly, Jen appeared out of nowhere.
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Lola, who are you talking to?
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Madison, duh.
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Who's that?
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I turned around to introduce Madison, but she seemed to have vanished into thin air.
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She was just here.
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Must have scared her off with your mean vibes.
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I thought Jen would say something, but she just gave me a weird look.
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Um, I think you're old enough to not have an imaginary friend.
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And went back inside.
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And Madison instantly reappeared beside me.
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Where did you go?
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I didn't want to meet your stupid sister.
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And there, I got you.
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You're dead.
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When I was 12, I started junior high school, and it was the worst.
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All the girls were more interested in boys and makeup than building pillow forts or searching for hidden treasures.
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I had nothing in common with any of them, and most of them thought I was weird.
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I was pretty lonely.
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Then Madison started sneaking into my school.
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She'd make funny faces and tell the best jokes.
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Madison, you're hilarious!
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Stop!
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Please, I'm gonna pee my pants!
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Uh, who's Madison?
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Is she talking to the wall?
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Madison told me cool stories and she was such a gossip.
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She knew everything about everyone.
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And she always had my back whenever a bully tried to mess with me.
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Having her around made me stronger and braver.
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Hey, ugly, get out of my way.
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Who are you calling ugly?
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You look like a rat and your breath smells like poo.
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Once I was cast in a school play and I had to do this huge monologue.
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My parents didn't even bother to come because Jen had a spelling competition the same day.
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I was so nervous I could barely speak.
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But then Madison showed up to cheer me on.
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I shook off my nerves and gave the best performance ever.
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I told my parents all about it, but they didn't care.
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The next day, they dragged me to another one of Jen's boring competitions.
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Madison brought a bag of ants, and we let them loose on stage.
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Jen and all the other kids freaked out and ran around screaming.
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It was hilarious.
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Then one day, things took a turn.
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For my 15th birthday, me and my family went on vacation.
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But when we got back home, I realized that Madison was gone.
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I searched for her everywhere.
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The treehouse, at school, and all over the house.
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She didn't show up.
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Madison, where are you?
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What the heck are you screaming about?
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I can't even hear myself think.
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I can't find Madison.
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What are you, four?
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Look, I'm really busy, but do you want to talk?
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I know you're lonely and have trouble making friends, but this isn't healthy.
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I'm totally fine.
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Just leave me alone and go back to your books.
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If it wasn't bad enough that Madison had just left me, Jen soon got moved up to my class because she was so smart, and all the other kids instantly loved her.
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Is it true?
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You can spell every word in the dictionary?
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Yeah, almost.
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I am an international spelling champion.
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Ugh, please.
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What was so impressive about spelling, anyway?
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When was being able to spell the word crustaceology useful?
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Then one morning, the most popular girl in our class, Emily, handed out invitations to her birthday party.
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Hey, you forgot to give me my invitation.
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Sorry, no freaks allowed.
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Then she whispered to Jen just loud enough for me to hear.
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I can't believe you're related to her.
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I hope you can come.
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It's going to be the best party ever.
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I don't think I have any contests that weekend, so I should be able to make it.
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I watched as all the other kids waved their invites around.
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After school, I walked home and stopped at the candy store to cheer myself up.
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Just then, I caught this boy staring at me.
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Then he started following me around the store.
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I let him down an aisle, hid behind a display case, and when he wasn't looking, I tackled him and put him in a headlock.
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Ouch, that hurts.
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What's your problem?
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Why are you following me?
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He reached behind me and pulled off a huge piece of paper that was taped to my back with the word loser written in bold black letters.
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I was so embarrassed.
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Then all of a sudden, I started to cry like a big baby.
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What's wrong?
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My life stinks.
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My best friend abandoned me.
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My family doesn't like me.
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And all the kids at school think I'm a freak and a loser.
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You're not a loser.
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You don't even know me.
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I just have a feeling you're pretty cool and someone I'd like to know better.
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His name was Hunter, and he was really cute.
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and we had a ton of things in common.
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We loved the same books and movies and he made me laugh a lot.
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We quickly became friends and having him around made me feel a lot less lonely.
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The more time I spent with Hunter, the more I started to like him.
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He never once compared me to Jen and he always listened to me.
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Even when I went on a full-on rant about how my parents gave Jen a brand new laptop on my birthday and I just got some cheap shoes.
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Then one day, my parents called me into the kitchen for a family meeting.
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Guess what, Lola?
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I got into St.
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Florence's Academy.
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Isn't that incredible?
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Jen, we're so proud of you.
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We can't wait to start our new life in Chicago.
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Chicago?
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What?
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No way!
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I'm not moving there.
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I'm not leaving Hunter.
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Lola, don't be selfish.
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You'll find plenty of new friends in Chicago.
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I don't need to make new friends.
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I already have a friend here.
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I'm not moving.
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I stormed off to my room.
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Ten minutes later, Jen showed up at my door.
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Can we talk?
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Why?
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Have you found more ways to ruin my life?
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That's not fair.
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You want to talk about fair?
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Ever since you were born, you've taken everything away from me.
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My parents, my toys, my room, and now my only real friend.
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I know I wasn't very nice to you when we were kids, but I've tried reaching out to you after that, to talk or help you out with your issues, but you just shut me out.
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Issues?
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My only issue is you.
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I'm sorry you feel that way.
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Yeah, right.
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Emily's throwing me a going away party tomorrow night.
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Come if you want or just sit in your room being bitter.
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It's up to you.
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Jen put the invitation on my bed and left.
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I was pissed at her.
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But I'd never been invited to a party before.
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My heart ached at the thought of leaving Hunter behind and never seeing him again.
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Hunter was more than my best friend.
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I felt I was in love with him.
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I invited Hunter to the party and he agreed to go.
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The party was at Emily's Mansion and it was so much fun.
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The food was great, the music was spectacular, and the best thing of all was that Hunter was there with me.
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Then a slow song played.
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It was the perfect moment to tell Hunter how I felt.
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You want to dance?
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Sure.
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Dancing with Hunter was so romantic.
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He held me tight, and his cologne smelled so good.
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I looked up into his eyes.
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I like you.
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I like you too.
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You want to kiss me?
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I really do.
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We had the most magical kiss, but then something strange happened.
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I opened my eyes to find everyone staring and laughing and pointing at me, and Hunter was gone.
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Hunter?
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Lola, what's wrong?
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Where's Hunter?
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He was right there.
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I started to panic.
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Where could he have gone?
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Hey, look at the freak making out with her invisible boyfriend.
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Emily pointed at a huge screen on the wall.
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A video of me dancing alone and kissing the air played on a loop.
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I wished I could curl up into a tiny little ball and roll away.
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I ran out of there in tears and went straight to my treehouse.
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Minutes later, I heard a knock and Jen walked in.
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Lola, please talk to me.
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Tell me what's going on with you.
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I thought Hunter was a real boy I was in love with.
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How stupid is that?
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I'm a freak and a loser like everyone says.
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No, you're not.
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You just found a way to cope with your loneliness.
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That's nothing to be ashamed of.
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Now you know the truth and you can move forward.
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Move forward to what?
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No one cares about me.
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I do.
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From now on, I'll be here for whenever you need me, I swear.
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And we're gonna teach Emily a lesson.
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Jen and I went to my dad's butcher shop and grabbed a bunch of raw meat.
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Then we went back to Emily's house.
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Hey, Jen.
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Hey, crazy.
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You still looking for the invisible boy?
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No, we just wanted to give you a gift.
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A gift for me?
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What is it?
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Then Jen and I dumped the raw meat on Emily's head.
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She screamed like a banshee as Jen and I went away laughing.
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The next day, as the last of the moving trucks were being loaded, I made one last visit to the treehouse, and suddenly both Madison and Hunter appeared.
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How come you're both here now?
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Will you stay for long this time?
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We just came to say goodbye.
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We don't think you need us anymore.
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You have a chance to start over.
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Let other people get to know you.
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They don't know what they're missing.
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You're a super cool friend.
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Thanks, you guys.
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You were there when I needed you the most.
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Goodbye, Lola, and good luck.
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It was sad to watch them leave for good, but it felt like it was time.
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We moved to Chicago, and Jen was true to her word.
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We started spending more time together, and I realized Jen didn't have the perfect life after all.
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I'm so tired of spelling bees.
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I only do the competition to make extra money for mom and dad.
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I just want to be a normal teenager for once and live my life without so much pressure.
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You should tell them how you feel.
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I've got your back.
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I stood by Jen when she told her parents she wanted to stop doing spelling bees.
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After that, Jen and I grew even closer.
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I finally had a real best friend, and she just happened to be my genius little sister.
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Thank you.

Why practice speaking with this video?

Engaging with this video titled "My Sister Was a Genius… But Here’s What No One Knew," not only captivates the audience with an entertaining story but also offers a practical context for speaking practice. By immersing yourself in Lola's childhood adventures and sibling rivalry, you can enhance your speaking skills in a relatable scenario. Practice shadowing the dialogue to improve your fluency and intonation, as it allows you to mimic real-life conversations filled with emotions and expressions. Utilizing the shadowspeaks method, you can better grasp the nuances of spoken English, which is vital for mastering everyday interactions.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

This narrative is rich in expressions and grammatical structures that are useful for learners. Here are some key highlights:

  • Descriptive Adjectives: Lola describes her sister Genevieve as having "beady blue eyes." This use of adjectives not only enriches the narrative but also serves as a model for learners to incorporate vivid descriptions into their own speech.
  • Past Simple Tense: The speaker frequently uses the past tense, e.g., “I came home from school.” This structure helps learners recount their own experiences and is crucial for storytelling.
  • Conditional Statements: “If I had a new family, they would appreciate me.” Conditional statements can express hypotheticals, allowing learners to practice more complex sentence structures while discussing their dreams or frustrations.
  • Direct Speech: “Mom, dad, make Jen give me my room back.” Direct quotes effectively convey emotions and thoughts. This is an excellent way to practice reporting speech and understanding how dialogue flows in English.

Common Pronunciation Traps

As you shadow this video, be mindful of certain words and phrases that can pose challenges for English learners:

  • Beady: This adjective can be tricky due to its unique vowel sound. Pay attention to the correct pronunciation to avoid common missteps.
  • Insisted: Notice the emphasis on the second syllable, which can be overlooked by non-native speakers. Practicing this word will help improve your overall English pronunciation.
  • Stupid: The harsh 'st' sound can be difficult. Make sure to articulate clearly to improve your speaking clarity.

Using the right resources, like a shadowing app, can significantly enhance your ability to improve English pronunciation. By repeating phrases from this video, you can refine your accent and develop a more natural speaking style. Start learning English with YouTube today by practicing with videos like this!

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.

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