Shadowing Practice: Oliver Twist (by Charles Dickens) chapter 1 Audiobook - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Retold by Jenny Dooley
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Chapter 1 At the Workhouse
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Many years ago in England, there were special places called workhouses, where poor people went to live when they had no money
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or work no family or friends to help them and when they had nowhere else to go
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life in the workhouse was hard for the poor people
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and they went there only if they had no hope of a better life
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one cold dark night a young woman arrived in a strange town she was pregnant
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and very tired and she fell down in the street
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no one knew who she was or where she came from
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so the people who found her took her to the workhouse
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An old woman called Sally put the girl to bed and then sat down by the fire to wait for the doctor.
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Suddenly the girl cried out and looked at Sally with eyes full of pain and fear.
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Don't be afraid, dear, said the old woman.
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I've had 13 children and I've often helped the doctor when a child was born in the workhouse.
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Your child will be born soon, but don't worry, the doctor's on his way.
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Something was troubling the young woman.
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She tried to take off the gold chain she was wearing around her neck.
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Sally helped her, and then the girl put the chain, which had a locket with the name Agnes on it, into Sally's hand.
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Take these things.
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Please, keep them safe for my child.
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I'm very sick.
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I don't think I'll live to see the baby.
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Don't talk like that," said Sally.
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Close your eyes now and try to rest.
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You'll need all your strength for the birth.
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Sally put the things into her pocket and just at that moment the doctor arrived.
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soon a baby boy was born the young mother lay in bed very tired
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and very sick when the baby began to cry the girl opened her eyes
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and tried to sit up let me see my baby before
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I die come said the doctor kindly you must not talk of dying he put the baby in the mother's arms
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his name is oliver she said then kissed the child and fell back on the pillow
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the doctor and sally did everything they could but it was too late the girl was dead
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well sally i'm afraid there's nothing more i can do here
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said the doctor sadly to the old woman Where did she come from?
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I don't know, but she walked a long way to get here.
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Her shoes were worn out.
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And the baby's father?
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We don't know anything about him.
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Maybe he's dead.
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She arrived here alone.
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Poor girl, said the doctor, and he sighed as he put on his hat and gloves.
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Then he said goodnight to Sally and went home.
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Good night, Sally.
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When Sally was alone again, she sat by the fire, with the baby in a cradle at her feet.
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She took the locket out of her pocket, and for a long time she looked at it, and at the sleeping baby.
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There were two small locks of hair in the locket, one fair, like the girls, and one dark.
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There was also a gold wedding ring inside it.
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At last she put them back into her pocket, and shook her head sadly.
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Poor baby.
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I'm sorry, but I'm going to keep these things and sell them myself.
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Then I can have a bit of money now that I'm old.
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I've lived in the workhouse for 50 years and life here is very hard.
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Children didn't go to the workhouse until they were nine years old.
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Before that, they lived in another house, where somebody looked after them and received money to pay for their food.
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Oliver went to live in such a house with Mrs. Mann, an old woman who kept most of the money for herself and didn't take good care of the babies and children.
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For the first nine years of his life, Oliver lived there, and during that time he never heard a kind word and he never had enough to eat.
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On Oliver's ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble, a big fat man who wore a uniform and carried a big stick, came to take him to the men's workhouse.
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Mr. Bumble helped to manage the workhouse.
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He had a bad temper, and he was very strict.
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If anyone in the workhouse did anything wrong, Mr. Bumble hit them with his stick, so everybody was afraid of him, especially the children.
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One of his jobs was to give surnames to the babies who had no father.
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No one knew the name of Oliver's father, so Mr. Bumble gave him the surname, Twist.
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Life in the workhouse was very hard, and the boys were always hungry.
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The food was always the same, a bowl of soup, which was mostly water, and on Sundays a small piece of bread.
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The master of the workhouse served the soup from a big pot, and he gave just one bowl to each boy.
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The boys became so hungry that one day, they decided that someone must ask for more.
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They thought that if one boy got more soup, they could all get more.
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They chose Oliver.
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The master served the soup as usual, and the boys ate it quickly.
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They licked their fingers and then looked at Oliver and the big pot of soup.
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Go on then, go on.
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They whispered and pushed Oliver with their elbows.
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Oliver was afraid, but he stood up, picked up his empty bowl, and walked slowly to the master.
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There was complete silence.
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All the boys were waiting, hopefully.
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Oliver held out his bowl.
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Please, sir, I want some more.
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The master couldn't believe his ears.
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He looked at Oliver's pale, thin face and the empty bowl.
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What?
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Please, sir, I'm hungry.
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I want some more, said Oliver again.
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Mr. Bumble, shouted the master, and he hit Oliver on the head with his big soup spoon.
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All the boys waited to see what happened.
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Mr. Bumble appeared at the door.
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What's the matter, master?
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Oliver Twist wants more soup.
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Mr. Bumble's face went red and he looked very angry.
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What?
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It's not possible.
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No one has ever asked for more.
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Oliver Twist, you are a bad, ungrateful boy.
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He picked up poor Oliver by his shirt collar and began to shake him and beat him with his big stick.
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Then he took him away and locked him in the cellar.
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Oliver was cold and frightened, and he cried all night.
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The next morning, Mr. Bumble put a notice on the door of the workhouse.
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Do you want a boy to learn a useful job?
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We will give £5 to anyone who takes him.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 98 sentences and 1135 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:26. The speaker talks at a steady 135 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.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sally noun | /ˈsæli/ | A sortie of troops from a besieged place against an enemy. |
| 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… |
| pocket noun | /ˈpɑ.kɪt/ | A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items. |
| hungry adjective | /ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/ | Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food. |
| arrive verb | /əˈɹaɪv/ | To reach; to get to a certain place. |
| shake verb | /ˈʃeɪk/ | To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly. |
| sadly adverb | /ˈsædli/ | In a sad manner; sorrowfully. |
| finger noun | /ˈfɪŋɡɚ/ | A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other… |
| thin adjective | /ˈθɪn/ | Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. |
| silence noun | /ˈsaɪ̯ləns/ | The absence of any sound. |
| ear noun | /ˈɪə̯/ | The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea. |
| nowhere adverb | /ˈnoʊ.(h)wɛɹ/ | In no place. |
| uniform noun | /ˈjunɪˌfɔɹm/ | A distinctive outfit that serves to identify members of a group, company, prison inmates, etc. |
| shoe noun | /ˈʃu/ | A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of… |
| strict adjective | /stɹɪkt/ | Strained; drawn close; tight. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pick up verb | To lift; to grasp and raise. |
| fall back on verb | To turn to as a substitute; to rely on as a backup. |
| hold out verb | To hold (something) out; to extend (something) forward. |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. |
| sit up verb | To assume a sitting position from a position lying down. |
| stand up verb | To rise from a lying or sitting position. |
| take off verb | To remove. |
| wear out verb | To cause (something) to become damaged, useless, or ineffective through continued use, especially hard, heavy, or careless use. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who found · woman who kept · man who wore |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was born · will be born · were worn |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've had · I've lived · has ever asked |
| Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past | was troubling · was wearing · were waiting |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 20 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thin /ˈθɪn/, ninth /naɪnθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shake /ˈʃeɪk/, shoe /ˈʃu/, shout /ʃaʊt/
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 sally, soup, pocket.
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.